Visiting US Student Registration

We welcome you to participate in Boston University Summer Term 2024. No special admission is required. The summer 2024 course listings are now available. Registration for summer 2024 is now open.

 If you are a visiting domestic student (American Citizen or Permanent Resident) and have never taken classes or been affiliated with BU before, simply follow the process below to add courses to your wishlist and complete a registration webform. 

Register online  

Students new to Boston University can register online by completing the following steps:   

• Click this link to move straight to the Registration Dashboard of the MyBU Student Portal.
• From the Dashboard, click “Class Information” followed by “Class Search” to filter for courses based on specific criteria (term, instructor, course number, instruction mode, etc.).
  1. To help narrow your search, browse all course offerings by clicking “Course Catalog.”
     
  2. Please note the following details when registering:
     1. Use the “Instruction Mode” filter to select in-person or online courses. 
     2. A course “Status” with a green “O” label indicates the course has open seats e.g. if a course status indicating “10/35” indicates the course has 10 remaining open seats.
• Once you have identified the course(s) you want to register for, click the “Add to Wishlist” button.
• Back under “Class Information”, select “Wishlist.” From here, you should click the red button labelled “Next: Registration Form.”
• Follow the steps to complete the Registration Form.
• Once you have completed the Registration Form, this will take you back to your wishlist where you can now add courses to your schedule and complete enrollment. You are now registered! 
• If the system identifies you as someone new to BU, an email will be triggered within an hour from ithelp@bu.edu for you to claim your BU account.
• Follow the steps to claim your account.
• In around 24 hours, you will have full access to the MyBU Student Portal. 

If you have taken classes at BU before, have a BUID and/or BU Kerberos Login, you should be able to register directly via the MyBU Student Portal. Follow the instructions for current BU students.  

Additional Registration Resources (please note, these require a BU Kerberos Login to access).  

• Schedule Builder—Watch this video tutorial to learn how to use Schedule Builder, a course planning tool within the MyBU Student Portal that allows you to build and evaluate various course schedule options prior to enrollment. A detailed guide is also available here. 
• Methods of Registration—Watch this video tutorial for a comprehensive overview of the three different ways to register for classes within the MyBU Student Portal: from your Shopping Cart, from Schedule Builder, and from Class Search. A detailed guide is also available here. 
• Student Glossary—Click here for a guide to MyBU Student Portal terminology, including definitions for the following concepts: academic plan, session, shopping cart, term, and much more. 

Please note that visiting international students coming to BU for the summer should follow the instructions on the international section of the Summer Term website.

Registration for standard Summer Term courses, 2024

Start and end dates for standard Summer Term courses, 2024

Note: Some instructors do not allow students to join their course once it has begun. It is recommended that you register for and attend summer courses by their first meeting date. During add/drop week, if you want to add a course after it has started, you should first contact the instructor to receive permission to add.

Standard courses are courses that start and end on the official dates of a six-week summer session: Summer 1 or Summer 2. Nonstandard courses have a class meeting schedule that differs from an official six-week session. Add/drop dates for nonstandard courses are individually determined and can be found next to the course on the MyBU Student Portal or summer course listings.

Course loads

A full course load in a standard six-week session at Boston University Summer Term is 8–10 credits (generally two courses). Visiting students wishing to take more than this number of credits should seek approval from the director of Summer Term. Overload courses need to be added using a Summer Add/Drop form.

Course codes

All Summer Term courses are assigned a college and departmental code, a three-digit course number, and a section identifier. For example, CAS EC 101S A1 means that the course is offered in the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS), by the Economics Department (EC). The course number 101 indicates it is an introductory course, the S indicates it is a summer course, and section A1 indicates it is offered in Summer 1. Please see Course Codes & Numbers for further information on the numbering system.

Payment

Charges for tuition and fees will appear on your student account soon after you register for courses. These charges will remain, and you will be responsible for payment, unless you officially withdraw or drop your course(s) by the published deadlines. See the Tuition, Fees, & Payment section for additional payment information.

Still have questions? Our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page for visiting students might have the answer. If not, please contact us and we will be happy to help.