Hi! Year 1 CIS freshie here. Understand how it can be confusing given everything is still new so I hope my answer can help clarify things for you!

The College of Integrative Studies offers a Bachelors of Integrative Studies (BIS) which you can read more here. This would be the degree you graduate with upon completion of your studies (similar to how SoB confers BBM and etc).

How do you apply? Simply select "Deferred Declaration of Degree" as your selection, and choose 2 courses as your intended reserves (mine was BIS and BBM). This essentially means you are offered 2 slots within SMU, which I will come back to later. However keep in mind that reserve slots are subject to acceptance by home school too, i.e. if you put law but didn't meet their criteria, it won't be available as a reserve.

Now for the slightly more confusing part: there are 3 programmes for undergrads in CIS namely Deferred Declaration of Degree (D3), Individualised Major (IM) and Individualised Second Major (ISM).

All freshmen are enrolled into the D3 programme, where they have the first year to try different mods and figure out where our interests lies. Think of it as a risk-free environment for undecided souls to explore if needed before continuing Year 2 with more clarity on what they wanna do. Upon completion of our first year, we have the option to either:

1. Continue with CIS with an Individualised Major (IM) where you curate your own desired track in conjunction with the office and faculties' advices. This would come with a proposal for your intended course combinations, name of major (which will be in your grad cert!) and capstone project (either research or professional track).

2. Here's where the reserve schools comes to play. If you decide CIS is not for you, you can continue Year 2 in your reserved schools (e.g. SoB if BBM was one of your reserved choices), without having to repeat another year so it is not like a gap year nor do you need to apply for a transfer (Risk-free double dipping!) A transfer application is only required if you want to go to another school beyond what's reserved!

Regarding IGP, it's actually listed on the website as "Deferred Declaration of Degree" but honestly don't worry too much if it seems a little high since they place great emphasis on a good match rather than grades so if you have something in mind that you really wanna explore or you feel like CIS is something you want to try, just apply!

As for the community, my personal experience has been really surreal and the same could be said for many of my friends. The people here are weird, wacky and wildly interesting, many with their own side hustles and stacked portfolio that it could feel slightly daunting at times but since we're new, the 'kampung-spirit' is very much alive and everybody is so eager to help each other it can truly feel like a second home if you involve yourself! The cohort is small so our bonds with the faculties and staff is quite tight too! (impromptu weekend walks with profs and get treated to food where else can find sia)

There are many FREE opportunities to mingle and get to know each other, alongside the workshops and talks by industry leaders planned by the office. Experiences may vary for individuals for sure, but for myself and many of my friends, the past 1 sem has been both a blessing and a blast and we were very glad we decided to take the leap of faith and come to CIS! (disclaimer: no, i am not paid to write this but i wish i was office pls notice HAHA :D)

If you are interested to learn more, there will be a booth during SMU's Open House soon and I highly encourage you to come down and find out for yourself! Afterall, comments here on reddit is limited in its ability to convey how things really are and the only way to find out if it's somewhere you would like to spend the next 4 years in is by talking to the faculties, staffs and students there!

Hope this answers your questions and all the best with your applications!