Question:
Can you suggest a good place to hone up on the requirements of the American Bachelor degree? At this stage, I understand that it is normally a four year degree consisting of a collection of subjects taken at one of two levels [low or high][are there ONLY two levels?] which must add to to 120 points and which contain a prescribed mix [which I am not sure about] of humanities and sciences, contain a "Major" study of about 36 points [how much of this has to be at "low" and how much at "high" level?] and a "Minor" study of about 18 points [at what levels?]. There appear to be absolutely no specific High School subject prerequisites to enter these courses. Is this correct?
Answer:
Most colleges number their undergraduate courses in the 100 to 400 series (100 for freshman year, 200 for sophomore, 300 for junior, and 400 for senior), but there is some flexibility in the year in which you take a course. You are, however, correct in a practical sense: Many schools simply divide their courses between lower level (100-200 series) and upper level (300-400 series).
Also correct on a practical level. However, while the norm for a bachelor's degree is 120 credits, some colleges and universities require 128 or even 132 credits. The "prescribed mix" you describe is called a distribution requirement. This changes with each school, and within a school, it changes with the specific degree title (Bachelor of Arts versus Bachelor of Science) or with each major.
Some schools also have specific requirements, for example: A specific course in college-level Math, a course in Computer Science, specific courses in the Social Sciences (for those whose majors fall under the Social Sciences umbrella), courses in Finance and Economics (for business majors), specific courses in the Physical Sciences (for healthcare majors), etc.
Again, correct, although the major may run from 30 to 40 credits, depending on the school and the subject area. As for the balance between l;ower and upper-level credits, that also depends on the school. At TESC, for example, one could take all lower level courses but have some of them counted as upper level.
As a general rule, that is correct. There used to be specific high school requirements such as an academic curriculum and two years of a foreign language, but these have fallen by the wayside over the past 25 or so years. In fact, many colleges will admit students who have not even earned a high school diploma, since higher education today is geared much more to adult learners than in the past.
