The OBE Major requires that a student earn a C- or higher in 15 courses. Many of these courses must be taken in a prescribed order. Thus, it is very important to plan out your OBE major early in your career, and try to take at least 4 courses each year that apply to the major. Students who want to study abroad have to plan carefully, as many study abroad programs do not enable students to earn credit towards the OBE major while studying abroad. Study abroad is a valuable experience, so plan ahead: you may have to take more than 4 required courses in the year before or after your study abroad experience.

It is also important to consider what extracurricular activities you will pursue in order to move toward gaining entrance to a post-graduate degree program, or toward employment following graduation. In particular, you should work with the Career Center and your advisor to plan for summer activities that will enrich your academic experience and make you more eligible for post-graduate work or employment. Summer research experience is increasingly required for admission to graduate programs including medical school, and is essential to qualify for Ph.D. programs. Furthermore, students earning high enough grades to qualify to graduate with distinction should plan to do undergraduate research during the summer between their junior and senior years, because a senior thesis (BE499) is required to graduate with distinction and extensive research and writing time is required to complete a thesis.

The department strives to make all OBE courses accessible to all CC students and to offer sufficient sections of all courses to meet the needs and desires of our students; however, there is high demand for most OBE courses. OBE majors must consult with the academic advisor to wisely allocate points during registration. By department policy, OBE faculty generally hold to course limits. If you are on the wait list for a course you need/want, show up the first day of class and you may get in. Faculty are not obliged to overload any course, and you should not expect that to happen. See your academic advisor if you have problems enrolling in an OBE course.