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I've always heard that Boston is a great city, then I learned it was that 'best college town' in the USA. Plus, I heard Boston University was a very good school so I looked into it, but now I'm not so sure since I've heard so many different things about it one here. What are Boston University's pluses and minuses, and how would you rank it's educational quality?

By Oceanblue52 (Oceanblue52) on Sunday, February 15, 2004 - 12:31 pm: Edit

Boston University is a very reputable school. Great academics, located in the heart of Boston, with a wide array of majors to choose from. I almost applied...

Until I went to a regional admission/info session. Every kid there was blabbering on about how hard their AP schedule was, complaining about their 4.5 GPA, and whining about getting a 1450 on their SAT. The spokesperson had a memorized speech about all the great stuff about their school, but not enough factual data. Then a student came to the podium and talked about how well rounded she was because she was fluent in Spanish, volunteered at a community hospital, went to Africa to help with an AIDs awareness session...

I was very turned off by this school. Everyone I spoke to was very off putting and rather cold about the whole admissions process. Judging from the kids at the info session, it is likely a very competitive environment with an emphasis on loads of extra curriculars and GPA comparing. One of my friends in Boston visited with a marine biology major and was also turned off by it. I believe she is now applying to Tufts.

I really dont mean to offend anyone with this post, perhaps you've met some really awesome people that go there or they have excellent facilities for your major. This is only my opinion based on an hour long info session...

By Thumper1 (Thumper1) on Sunday, February 15, 2004 - 03:27 pm: Edit

DS is a freshman at Boston University and loves it. He really wanted an urban college campus with lots of folks with varied interests (he is a music major in the college of fine arts). He finds the classes challenging. I asked him if the kids were snooty...he said he's sure there are kids like that, but there are plenty who are not. His music classes are small in size, and offer what he considers to be excellent instruction. His private music teacher is top notch. And of course, there is Boston which DS says is just a terrific place in which to live. BTW, DS also met several students before he applied, right after acceptance, and more even at orientation. He says they are all terrific...not as you described. But this is the college of fine arts, and perhaps in Arts and Sciences there is a different "feel" to the campus.