Hi, I am currently trying to decide to transfer to American University of Paris or BU. Here is a bit of background information of my current situation. I’m currently studying at AUP as a summer student. So far I have made a good amount of friends, I love the city, and am enjoying myself a lot. Unfortunately, the school does not have a good academic reputation and the students are not necessarily the most motivated, which is why I am having so much trouble choosing. It is also important to mention that I do not actually care about the quality of the education. I would major in political science at either school because I have an easy time pulling As with that major, which is useful when applying to grad school (probably want to do business school but definitely not going to use political science). I am also afraid that I may have trouble making friends at BU because I am already 21, and therefore not going to live in the freshman dorms, and from what I understand the dorms that contain more upperclassmen tend to be much less social. So to sum it up here are my questions:
Has anyone transferred to BU and lived somewhere other than the freshman dorms, was it easy to make friends?
To what degree does the school I go to effect my chances of going to grad school, will going to AUP instead of BU hamper my chances of getting into a good business grad school, say NYU (this is the most important question)
PS: I am fortunate enough that the cost of either school is not a factor in my decision, my concerns are mainly social and academic.
“t is also important to mention that I do not actually care about the quality of the education.”
Yikes…
I’d choose BU but it sounds like your priorities are rather different. Looking at AUP’s alumni outcomes page shows that some students have gone to strong MBA programs, so it’s possible if you do well. Since you’ve been there for a bit, do you think the advising is bad?
If you want an easy school, don’t go to BU, not known for easy As (though may be easier in some majors than others).
Being a 21 year old new student will be challenging in any school, not just BU. It’s more a matter of how active
and social a person you will be. If you join lots of clubs and get involved, extroverted, you’ll do fine.
If you are just going to hang in the dorm and go to class, of course would be more difficult.
If you are considering staying because you made friends there, how many will be there after summer school ends ?
Might you be starting over in the fall with a new group of people anyway ? If so then BU would be same.
I do not know much about the advising at AUP since I am only a summer student right now I do not actually have to meet with an adviser. However, I did have to talk to an admission counselor a few times, the man i spoke to was very friendly and when I emailed him with questions he would respond via email or Skype chat the same day (not sure if this helps evaluate the advising but this is all I know).
I have three friends who are permanent students here, the rest will all be leaving. I do recognize that I will have to start over no matter which school I choose in the fall, but I just feel like AUP will be the easier transition since I already have a few friends, there are no dorms(everyone lives in student apartments), and the age gap doesn’t mean as much because the drinking age is 18 so people hang out with everybody despite their age difference. Moreover, I like paris a lot, I do not really have much interest in Boston as a city.
So do all of you think that I am going to have a difficult time with grad school if I decide to attend AUP. Like I said I dont intend on using my major, I happen to be very good at writing papers and tend to get As, so quality of education doesn’t matter to me, my question is how much should the reputation of a school matter when thinking about the next steps after undergrad?