<p>Anyone have advice for incoming freshmen? 
anything is appreciated!</p>
<p>Best advice I can give is to keep your priorities straight. Think it out in advance and try and stick to your plan. No longer will mom and dad be around to guide you so its all up to you. College is the most amazing journey of social discovery and you will make more friends, connections, and relationships than you can possibly imagine. But always remember that you are at college to earn a degree and do well in your classes. I had some problems with this. I would love going out with friends wayyyy too much. Don't wait until it is too late to learn to balance social life and academic career. Just keep that in mind when you have a paper due in a day or two but your friends invite you to that party that sounds oh so enticing :)</p>
<p>Warm boots. Wear layers in winter: something windproof / waterproof with a hood over fleece or something is a really good idea. Lots of stores right around school sell that stuff but budget for it. </p>
<p>Use ratemyprofessor.com. It's generally accurate, though I think BU students tend to be more critical than students at some schools.</p>
<p>Get a good alarm clock.</p>
<p>If you have something odd in your schedule - like you take a language that doesn't have a placement exam - talk to the department before orientation so you know which level to select. Otherwise, you may end up with a hard to fix conflict.</p>
<p>Do well on your AP exams because you'll get credit.</p>
<p>Remember you can change your dining plan at any time so you don't need to worry about your choice. Pick a maximum plan if you want and cut back. Learn to eat something for breakfast because it's a lot easier to work if you're not desperately hungry. </p>
<p>Look at your schedule and set aside blocks of time for studying. You won't stick to it like it's a job, but having some set time means you won't crush yourself with late nights. </p>
<p>Very important: visit your professors and email them. You'll have a mix of senior professors and more junior staff. You might find the most senior teacher is the most open to students, but you have to go by at office hours to find out. Talk to your teachers and TA's. It pays off both in grades and in the quality of your experience. </p>
<p>Go out. Boston is a great place. You can go anywhere, including other schools. A great place to study or relax with some reading, for example, is the courtyard at the Boston Public Library. It's beautiful and it's blocks away from campus. If Espresso Royale gets too familiar, go to the Starbucks on Boylston (which is huge) or even the food court at Prudential. Eat in some of the gazillion ethnic restaurants in Allston - from the Super 88 Food Court on up Harvard and Brighton Avenues. Use the T and take the bus or the subway to Central and Harvard Squares. </p>
<p>Don't be afraid to be a tourist. Go to Filene's Basement downtown, especially when the wedding dress sale is on, and find stuff on Automatic Markdown. Go to Old North Church and see the "Sacred Cod" in the State House. Realize that Park Street Church is where America the Beautiful was first sung and learn the Boston trivia like Ho Chi Minh worked at the Parker House and the future King of France lived above Union Oyster House, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in America. Learn that you can get $1 slices at Haymarket Pizza (ask them to heat it) or 1/4 of a pizza slices for $3 at Ernesto's on Salem Street in the North End. Or learn that Galleria Umberto has the most amazing stuff, that the line takes forever, that they close whenever they run out of food and, though they're on Hanover St - the main street of the North End - they close for the entire month of August because they're not for tourists. Decide for yourself if Maria's, Mike's or Modern makes the best Italian pastries.</p>
<p>If you have an interest in something that extends beyond school, you can pursue it. If you love classical music, NEC for example has a million free concerts at incredible Jordan Hall and the BSO has cheap student tickets. The MFA is free on weekdays for BU students. There are many groups that extend beyond BU, whether religious, cultural, sporting or artistic. </p>
<p>If you rollerblade, bike or run, cross the bridges from campus and use the paths along the Charles. Especially in the beautiful times when the mist is on the river or when everything is in bloom. The views are amazing.</p>
<p>Learn to say "Bahston" instead of "Bawston." The more pronounced the "ah" sound, the more native you are. Try it with Jordan's Furniture. A local says, "Jahdan's." BTW, the old Boston pronunciation of Filene's is Fuhlene's but that's largely died (and Filene was the name Wilhelm Katz took when he came to America).</p>
<p>When scheduling you're classes don't be afraid to schedule them back to back. There IS enough time to get from class to class and it's far more annoying to have 1/2 hour to 1 hour break in which you can do just about nothing.</p>
<p>Go to as many club meetings as interests you. You don't need to commit to all of them, but go and see what the people are like. We have over 450 clubs plus a ton of Service clubs, sports teams, etc. Find something you're interested in and run with it.</p>
<p>Go to your Professors office hours! They want to meet you, but they won't hunt you down. </p>
<p>Most of all, have fun. Boston has a lot to do. So experience it over your four years here. Don't find yourself trying to cram all of those touristy things in senior year when you <em>should</em> be trying to find a job. :-)</p>
<p>Oh yeah. And buy long underwear. Seriously. Do it.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>If you love classical music, NEC for example has a million free concerts >></p> </blockquote>
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<p>The music department at BU also has terrific concerts. They usually perform at the Tsai Performing Arts Center and concerts are free. The BU Symphony, BU Chamber Orchestra, BU Wind Ensemble, BU Symphonic Chorus, and BU Women's Chorus all put on at least two concerts a semester. They are excellent. You certainly <em>can</em> travel over to NEC, but the quality of the performance by the ensembles at BU is also terrific. </p>
<p>Oh...and if you are not a music major but you still want to continue your music, look up BUMO (Boston University Music Organizations) for the all-campus ensembles (orchestra, band, jazz band, chorus, pep bands).</p>
<p>My kid plays in an ensemble so I know they are quite good. The various CFA groups - music school, in other words - are excellent. Also, they do opera scenes and more complex and extended works. What I actually meant is that NEC has tons of free professional level concerts. Sorry I wasn't clear. Boston is blessed with 4 high quality music schools: BU, NEC, Boston Conservatory and Longy. Probably more classical players per square foot in Boston than in any other city in N. America. </p>
<p>If you play in an ensemble and you're in say CAS, then you can take it for credit or not. The only advantage to taking it for credit is a few honor points that will slightly adjust your gpa.</p>
<p>Go to at least one Sox / Yankees game, even if you sit in the bleachers or get standing room. It's an experience. The games tend to high drama, with an atmosphere that equals playoff intensity, even in April. Over the last 4 plus years, they've played about 93 games and the Red Sox have won 47 and the Yankees 46.</p>
<p>I know Boston is supposed to be colder, but how different it is from states like PA, NY, MD?</p>
<p>(See above question) and CT? Also, would saying that I'm a Yankees fan be a bad idea? I'm far from a die-hard one and rarely watch baseball, by I did always root for the Yankees when I was younger. Oh, and can you find a part time job as a freshman; is it relatively easy?</p>
<p>-The Yankee Coot66</p>
<p>Sure, you can say your a Yankee fan, I happen to be a huge one and love to get all crazy about it. You might get some jokes or silly negative comments but thats expected. Don't worry about it. Especially if your not a die-hard. Personally, I bleed pinstipes and have worn my Arod jersey down Comm. Ave. That was quite an experience. Fun though.</p>
<p>First, weather. Boston is next to the water so it usually doesn't get very cold, but the air is rarely super dry so the cold can be a little more penetrating. We sometimes don't get much snow and sometimes get a lot - and it sometimes doesn't come until February, which is the heart of the winter here. The worst thing about the weather is that we're on the edge of the time zone and it gets dark very early in December. The fall is beautiful and can last into December. The spring is variable. In northern NE, they say the seasons are summer, fall, winter and mud. </p>
<p>In comparison to MD, it is colder and spring comes later. In comparison to parts of PA and NY, it's actually warmer - and much less snowy. The snow really starts about 50 miles north of here. The weather in NYC is not much different. It never gets as hot as in Philly in the summer.</p>
<p>Part-time jobs not as work-study are available on campus, but they aren't plentiful. Students do have off campus jobs but you aren't in control of your hours as well. What you get depends in part on your experience. I know people who work retail in Back Bay</p>
<p>Just to add to what Lergnom said, I am an SMG undergrad and have a non work-study job in an office at SMG, so it is definitely possible.</p>
<p>It's actually relatively easy to get a non-work study job in some of the science fields.</p>
<p>Lergnom: Do you have to be a science major? And is it really boring science stuff? I'm in the school of business, and don't really like science...</p>
<p>kiki81ny: Are you a freshman/sophomore? Would an entering freshman have a shot at such jobs?</p>
<p>-The Boring Coot66</p>
<p>How difficult is it to get a non-work study job in a non-science field?</p>
<p>All I know is that some departments actively advertise for help and that science departments do that a lot. They obviously give preference to people in that college, in that major, etc. but you'll have to see. </p>
<p>There are jobs on campus, from working in the food court to other stuff.</p>
<p>There's no reason you shouldn't be able to find a job (although they may not always be on-campus). At the very least, the studentlink has a ton posted all the time. I was able to work all four years (self-employed for three, part-time at a small CPA firm for 1.5).</p>
<p>There's also a job thing called the Quickie</a> Board.</p>
<p>ryanbis: Self-employment? Care to elaborate?</p>
<p>-The Elaborate Coot66</p>
<p>I was a DJ for various clubs and bars.</p>