All incoming Busch School students are paired up with an upperclassman Busch School Mentor, who will serve as a guide, resource, and friend to help new students navigate through their first year. Students should expect to receive an email the week before classes begin to arrange a first meeting.

This course provides you with the resources, knowledge and skills to begin your career discernment process in your first year in the Busch School.

• Credit(s): 1-credit
• Required?  Yes.

You’ll learn why business is a force for good.  You’ll be guided to discover your individual gifts, preferences and talents and gain clarity about your future goals and plans.  Along the way, you’ll practice business  by starting a small, online business to personally experience the entire spectrum of inventing, creating and running a business.

• Required?  Yes. 

Offered in Fall & Spring semesters.

See the latest business course descriptions here.

The first of a two-part sequence, this course gives you the foundational economic knowledge to think like an economist and understand the market economy. Taught from the perspective of social research, it integrates practical and theoretical thinking.

• Required?*  Yes, unless you have AP or transfer credit for microeconomics (see here). 

*Honors Students may take SRES 101H.

Offered in Fall and Spring semesters. 

See the latest business course descriptions here.

• Required?  Yes, typically.  You choose a course that fits your needs and interests.  We recommend you complete the six courses outlined on this page.  However, in consultation with your advisor you may decide to complete a reduced course load. 
• Options? Yes.  You’ll have many options.  Your first step is to decide which type of course to complete: 1) a language course, or 2) a mathematics course, or 3) a liberal arts course. 
  

Which type of course is right for you?

• Our first recommendation is a language course.  If that isn’t right for you, then we suggest a math course.  If neither a language nor math is the right choice, then we recommend a liberal arts course.  Here’s how to figure it out:

• Language Course: We recommend you get started right away in completing your language requirement.  All students must fulfill the intermediate language requirement (unless you have an accommodation, see below).  This means completing a language to the 104-level.  Your Language Placement Test (see below) determines the level you start at: 101, 102, 103, or 104.  
  • If you place out or have an exemption, then we recommend a math course...
• Mathematics Courses: All business students must complete a mathematics course.  You should take the Math Placement Test (see below) to help you decide.  
  • If you place out, then we recommend a liberal arts course...
• Liberal Arts Course: All business students must complete a course in the different areas of our Liberal Arts Curriculum: such as Literature, Fine Arts, History/Politics, or Natural Science. 

In the fall, you’ll be introduced to some of the greatest thinkers in history and how they tackled questions that still resonate today.  In the spring, you’ll continue by studying modern thinkers and their answers to these questions.

• Required?  Yes. (Honors Students should see below.*)  
• Options? No. You will be enrolled in this course automatically.  It will be on Monday/Wednesday/Friday at 9:00am or 10:00am. 

This is one of your two Learning Community courses that form the First-Year Experience.  With roughly twenty other students, you’ll have a shared, year-long learning experience in the liberal arts.  

Course Description:  An introduction to philosophy, using the original writings of several philosophers from the ancient and medieval periods, with a more general consideration of the history of philosophy. Enduring Questions addressed: (1) What does it mean to be human? What is our place in nature and in the cosmos? (2) What makes a life good? How can we live a good life or best pursue it? What is opposed to it? See more philosophy course descriptions here.

ENG 101: Writing and Rhetoric OR TRS 201:Foundations of Theology I: Scripture and Jesus Christ 
You will complete ENG 101 in the Fall and TRS 201 in the Spring, or vice versa.  By the end of your first-year, you’ll have completed both. 

• Required?  Yes.  (Honors Students should see below.*) 
• Options? No. You will be enrolled in this course automatically.  It will be on Monday/Wednesday/Friday at 9:00am or 10:00am. 

This is one of your two Learning Community courses that form the First-Year Experience.  With roughly twenty other students, you’ll have a shared, year-long learning experience in the liberal arts.  

ENG 101:  See the latest English course descriptions here.

TRS 201:  See the latest Theology and Religious Study course descriptions here. 

• Required?  Possibly. 
• Determine what credit you may be eligible to receive and submit documentation to Catholic U.

Did you complete any Advanced Placement (AP) tests?

• Yes.  Typically, if you scored a 4 or a 5 on your AP test(s), you can receive college credit.  See the AP Equivalency Chart here.  Review the College Board instructions for sending scores.  You can send electronically to Catholic University using our school code: 5104. 

Did you complete any Dual-Enrollment courses?

• Yes.  See the Dual Enrollment Equivalency Chart here.
  To view the process to submit dual enrollment courses, visit the Undergraduate Studies page.

Did you complete any International Baccalaureate (IB) courses?

• Yes.  Depending on the test, if you scored a 4 or above on high level exams (or their equivalent), you may receive college credit. See IB Credit Guidelines here.
  

• Required?  Yes. 
• Unless they have AP or dual-enrollment credit for calculus posted by the Transfer Credit office, all business students must take the Math Placement Assessment

• Required?  Yes. 
• Determine your language placement by answering the questions below.

All students at Catholic University must fulfill the intermediate language requirement.  This requires the completion of language courses to the 104-level.   

Did you study language in high school or take an AP test in a Language?

• No.  You should register for a language at the 101-level.  If Departmental consent is required to register for a modern languages course, email arguetaf@cua.edu.
• Yes, for one year.  You should register for a language at the 101-level.   If Departmental consent is required to register for a modern languages course, email arguetaf@cua.edu.
• Yes, for two or more years.  Unless you took an AP test (see guidance here), you must complete a Modern Language Placement Test or a Greek or Latin Placement Test. Based on your results, you will register for a language course at the appropriate level.  It is important to complete the test during the summer.  Caution: Should you fail to take a placement test before the semester begins, you must take Catholic University's Placement Test during the first week of classes. You will not be allowed to stay in your language class until you have completed the test. Please note that such a delay will result in greater difficulties registering for the class section of your choice.
  

Did you grow up speaking a foreign language? 

• No.  Please see the guidelines above.  
• Yes.  We have a Heritage Speakers placement test to place you at the proper level. If you are not sure if you are a Heritage Speaker and/or to schedule a date and time to take the placement test, contact Dr. Anastasiya Stoyneva (stoyneva@cua.edu). 

Have you had difficulty with language? 

• No.  Please see the guidelines above. 
• Yes.  You may be eligible to complete two approved courses in lieu of the intermediate language requirement. The Office of Disability Support Services (DSS) determines eligibility based on an individual’s learning history and documentation of a disability that impairs foreign language acquisition. To see if this is the right option for you, check the DSS page on accommodations.

• Required?  Yes. 
• Students have options to do a group orientation or individual Zoom session.
• Receive approval for registration (see “Register for Classes” below) 

By mid-June, you will receive instructions for Busch Academic Services about how to sign up for one of our scheduled orientation/advising sessions.  Keep an eye out in your University email for this! 

• Required? No.  Students requiring accommodations should register.   
• Register here with Disability Support Services

• Required? Yes.
• Add courses to your Shopping Cart in Cardinal Station
• View detailed instructions on enrolling for courses on the CACS checklist.
• You can visualize your class schedule using Coursicle and then register for classes in Cardinal Station.
• If, while registering for ENT 118A, SRES 101 or BUS 199, you receive an error related to a prerequisite, complete our Incoming Business Students Fall Registration Help Form and Academic Services will assist you.

• Review and confirm your final choice of courses
• Make changes using the Search and Enroll or Swap courses function in Cardinal Students.

• Register for Orientation by August 1.

• Find information about how to download the Catholic University orientation app and view the schedule here.