Web-Registration
Use the Student Link to plan your schedule and register. Please be sure to log onto your BU Student Link (www.bu.edu/studentlink) as soon as possible to verify your specific registration time and to be certain that you are in compliance and will be eligible to register at your assigned time.
Fall 2023 Semester COM Registration Calendar
Please note that this information includes the process on how to register for additional COM credits above and beyond the COM credit limit at your initial registration time. At your assigned registration time, we encourage all students to register for their full spring course load. Full-time students generally take 16 credits each semester. Please read and note the dates carefully.
Monday, March 6 – Fall 2023 planner goes live on the Student Link.
Saturday, April 1 – COM graduate students register via the Student Link for up to 20 COM credits.
Rising Seniors
Sunday, April 16 – COM Rising Seniors (majors, minors) register via the Student Link for up to 14 COM credits.
Tuesday, April 25 (at midnight as Monday the 24thbecomes Tuesday the 25th) – COM Rising Seniors (majors, minors) register via the Student Link for up to 20 COM credits.
Rising Juniors
Sunday, April 16 – COM Rising Juniors (majors, minors, CGS) register via the Student Link for up to 14 COM credits.
Wednesday, April 26 (at midnight as Tuesday the 25th becomes Wednesday the 26th) – COM Rising Juniors (majors, minors, CGS) register via the Student Link for up to 20 COM credits.
Rising Sophomores
Sunday, April 23 – COM Rising Sophomores (majors, minors, CGS) register via the Student Link for up to 6 COM credits.
Monday, April 24 (at midnight as Sunday the 23rd becomes Monday the 24th) – COM Rising Sophomores (majors, minors, CGS) register via the Student Link for up to 10 COM credits.
Thursday, April 27 (at midnight as Wednesday the 26th becomes Thursday the 27th) – COM Rising Sophomores (majors, minors, CGS) register via the Student Link for up to 14 COM credits.
Non-COM Student Registration
Tuesday, May 2 (at midnight as Monday the 1st becomes Tuesday the 2nd) – Cross Registration – Non-COM and Non-CGS register via the Student Link for up to 8 COM credits provided seats remain available.
Academic Advising Appointments
COM first-year students are required to meet with a COM Undergraduate Affairs academic advisor at least once in the spring 2023 semester. Furthermore, we encourage all COM undergraduates to meet with a COM Undergraduate Affairs advisor at least one time each semester.
Appointments with a COM Undergraduate Affairs advisor can be made via Handshake, please visit https://bu.joinhandshake.com/appointments/new, then choose “COM Undergraduate Affairs” from the menu and follow the prompts.
Non-COM students who wish to meet with a COM Undergraduate Affairs academic advisor please email us, at comugrad@bu.edu, before trying to set your first appointment with COM Undergraduate Affairs via Handshake, with your full name and BU ID number so we can tag your Handshake record to make you eligible to use the system to schedule a meeting with our advising team.
Due to the overwhelming number of academic advising appointment requests we receive, we strongly encourage you to plan early and set an advising appointment as soon as possible to discuss your registration and other plans. As we approach the fall 2023 registration dates, we anticipate our available appointments reaching capacity.
COM curriculum guides are available on our Curriculum Guides and Minors page for your reference. Please be sure you are referencing the correct guides based on your entry method and date to Boston University.
Fall 2023 Registration Information
To ADD/DROP or CHANGE SECTIONS a student must use the Student Link and may only do so on a space available basis (for adding or changing a section). Please use the Change Section function on the Student Link if you are already in a course or discussion and simply looking to switch the section.
If a COM course is at capacity, COM Undergraduate Affairs, our advisors, and the COM professor of record for the course cannot add students over the limits enforced via the BU Student Link.
If a COM course is full, your best course of action is it to keep an eye on the BU Student Link to see if a seat becomes available as another student drops the class or switches sections. We also encourage students to reach out to department offering the COM course to see if there is any waitlist or course demand list that they can be added onto. The Film and Television Department can be reached at filmtv@bu.edu. The Mass Communication, Advertising and Public Relations Department can be reached at mcadvpr@bu.edu. The Journalism Department can be reached at jodept@bu.edu.
Some courses will have seats that are reserved for transfer students from outside Boston University. Those seats will open via the BU Student Link (if any remain) on the first day of classes (at midnight as Monday, September 4 becomes Tuesday, September 5).
Rising Seniors and Rising Juniors will register on Sunday, April 16, please refer to the Studentlink for your registration time.
Rising Sophomores will register on Sunday, April 23, please refer to the Studentlink for your registration time.
KHC students are encouraged to meet with a KHC advisor as well as an advisor in COM Undergraduate Affairs prior to Spring registration.
Cross-Registration
Most non-COM students may register for COM courses on a space-available basis beginning Tuesday, May 2 (at midnight as Monday, May 1 becomes Tuesday, May 2). COM CO 101 is the required gateway course for COM majors. COM CO 101 for fall 2023 will be available during regular registration times. Most other COM courses will become available for non-COM students at cross-registration. Most non-COM students will be limited to 8 COM credits via the BU Student Link.
Additional Notes
Most COM courses are marked as “permission required.” This means that you need to be a COM (or CGS) student to register for them at your assigned time, so unless there are flags or you do not meet the pre-requisites, COM students and CGS students do not need permission to plan and register for any COM classes at your assigned time. Students from any other school or college (non-COM, non-CGS students) must wait until the cross-registration date on Tuesday, May 2 to add any COM courses, provided seats remain, that list “permission required”.
If you have applied for a fall 2023 study abroad program, please be sure to register at your assigned time for classes as if you will be taking your fall courses through the Charles River Campus. It will be much easier to drop Charles River courses later to add your aboard program than to have an abroad plan change and have to add Charles River courses late when many will be at capacity.
The Ad Lab course number is changing effective fall 2023. If you have taken the course under the previous number it will still fulfill the same graduation requirement. If you have not taken that course yet and do in the future, you will take it under the new course number. Please note, no more than 8 credits of COM CM 420/421/585/586 can count toward the 128 credits for graduation and only 4 credits may count toward Advertising program requirements.
Enrollment Status
All COM undergraduates (except for some second semester seniors) are expected to be enrolled as full-time students (12 or more credits in a semester). The normal academic load in COM is four courses (16 credits). Students may take up to 18 credits without incurring extra charges. For more than 18 credits, please refer to the Overload Up to 20 Credits Form on our COM Undergraduate Affairs forms page.
Any final semester senior who plans to be part-time (fewer than 12 credits in a semester) must be registered in the final courses they need to graduate in January 2024 and then must contact comugrad@bu.edu to request their status to be changed to part-time. Any international students planning to be part-time in their final semester before finishing their degree must also clear this with ISSO.
In rare cases, COM undergraduates who are not in their final semester are allowed to be in part-time (take fewer than 12 credits) in a fall or spring semester. This is not allowed for international students who are studying in the United States. Undergraduate COM students in this situation wishing to be part-time must submit a petition to COM Undergraduate Affairs (comugrad@bu.edu) in an effort to request part-time status. The Petition Form and instruction on the process are on our COM Undergraduate Affairs forms page.
Please keep in mind that students have a maximum of seven (7) years in which to complete their degree.
If you have a question or would like to make an appointment with a COM Undergraduate Affairs academic advisor, please visit https://bu.joinhandshake.com/appointments/new, then choose “COM Undergraduate Affairs” from the menu and follow the prompts. We do not accept appointment requests via email, but quicker questions that do not require a full advising appointment can be sent to us at comugrad@bu.edu. Please be sure to include your name and BU ID number.
New COM Students starting at Boston University in September 2023
COM incoming first year students accepted to Boston University for the first time in September 2023 will be contacted via email at a later date about the fall 2023 registration process. Similarly, incoming transfer students who will be joining Boston University from an outside (non-BU) college or university for the first time in September 2023 will be contacted at a later date about the fall 2023 registration process. All incoming BU students starting at BU for the first time in September 2023 should be sure to sign up for a Boston University orientation session. Information regarding Boston University Orientation is online here.