Breaking Down the Dreaded "GCR"

One of the big deal-breakers for seniors making their college choices are the General Curriculum Requirements. And, sorry to break the news, but unless you're going to Brown or a very liberal, quasi-hippy school out West, almost every school has some sort of core. Lucky for you, loyal followers of the GDub blog, our university is pretty lenient about what they tell you to take and, believe it or not, it usually ends up working in your favor. So, let me give you the lowdown - no smoke and mirrors, I promise - about how this stuff actually works. (Trust me, you'll thank me when you don't end up at a school asking you to take a bunch of mandatory Christianity courses).

Here's the most important thing. There is no one class that GW tells every student they MUST take. Your requirements differ depending on the school you apply to. "But what if," prospective students often ask, "I enter GW in one school and end up wanting to be in another?" Do not fret, because people are changing schools here all the time, as it is very natural for your college major to change. Once you switch schools, your GCRs just change. There seems to be some overlap, though, so don't worry that the classes you took so far were all for naught (that's why GW doesn't force you into taking super specific courses for your GCRs).

I myself am in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences which, along with being the biggest school at GW, is also where you'll be placed if you're entering undecided. For this reason particularly, the GCRs for CCAS, as we call it, are pretty broad and vague, but split into 7 categories to help navigate you towards what you'll eventually want to be your major. Even if you're like me and are totally set on a major, the GCRs help you to remain well-rounded and not end up taking 5 classes a semester in psychology (which, believe me, I would do). It breaks down like this: three writing courses (your University Writing and two Writing in the Disciplines, which I'll explain later), two math courses, two natural lab sciences, two social/behavioral sciences, one creative/performing art, four humanities, and two foreign language/culture courses. Now, you might be saying, hold up, those are a lot of requirements. But, it's actually really doable. A lot of the courses overlap into two requirements, and most of you come in boasting AP or IB scores, which can sometimes give you credit out on a course-by-course basis. I'm a double major, and I still don't find it too challenging to get in my GCRs -- sometimes, I forget that certain courses I'd already be taking are counting towards them!

The other most popular school here at GW, the Elliott School for International Affairs, has a different system. As a basis for the Elliott School, students are asked to take five specific courses within their first two years: Intro to International Affairs, Micro and Macroeconomics, Intro to Comparative Politics, and World History. You're asked for one intro course in either Anthropology, Geography, or Political Science. Also required are the University Writing, the two Writing in the Disciplines, two maths or sciences, and three humanities. Elliott School students must demonstrate third-year proficiency in a foreign language. More specific, yes, but when you're in a school of people all studying a single major, you don't have as much legroom. Still, since the requirements are done in the first two years, you have a lot of freedom in course selection, which is what it is all about.

As for the School of Business, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Medicine and Health Services, and School of Public Health and Health Services, the curriculums are specific to the major, but if you fall into one of these schools, feel free to browse the University Bulletin: http://www.gwu.edu/~bulletin. You'll find the specifics laid out there.

Now, for that University Writing you hear so much about -- this is the one course that all undergraduate freshman have in common. It's basically your standard freshman college writing course, but instead of all being mandated to take the same one, there are usually about 20 sections each semester on different writing topics. Selections this semester range from Hipsterism in the American Culture 1940-Present to The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict to It's a Mad, Mad World: Writing About AMC's TV Series Mad Men. I currently take The End: Writing About Death, Dying and the Dead and am absolutely in love with it; I waited to take my UW this semester specifically because I couldn't get a spot in the class last semester. After completing UW, every student moves on to their Writing in the Disciplines (or WIDs). This is any class that offers a strong writing component as opposed to a more exam-based format. Any class that is considered a WID will have a W next to it on the schedule of classes, so you could be taking a random Anthropology course and it count for your WID. Want more guidance? Check out fellow blogger Shireen's post on WIDs: She's a sophomore, so you can take her word over mine - a lowly freshman!

The bottom line about GW: we're not forcing you into anything. At some universities, students feel their hands are tied as they try to complete a maddening amount of GCRs, or the demanding well-rounded program of a small, liberal arts school. Here, we are given some guidelines but ultimately are choosing our courses, and the curriculums that are in place help to guide students toward what they really want to do - or even just something they didn't know they enjoyed. My genuine interest in astronomy has been sparked due to my science requirement, and I find myself strangely excited to take a sociology class and compare it to my psychology classes.

Whether you're positive or completely clueless about what you want to study for the next four years, GW's a great place to do it. Any questions about GCRs or beyond? Get at me at gmdepalo@gwmail.gwu.edu. I promise, I don't bite. :)

See you on campus,
Gina Michele