We’re visiting in June and I was wondering what are the fundamental differences between let’s say BU, Northeastern, and BC ?
Some older threads:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2079322-boston-college-vs-boston-university-vs-northeastern.html
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1878794-boston-university-vs-boston-college-vs-northeastern.html
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/boston-university/679497-bu-vs-bc-vs-northeastern.html
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1759581-help-bc-vs-bu-vs-northeastern-vs-umass.html
Most basic:
Northeastern – urban with a campus, large, well-known for co-op (two semesters off school to intern, 5 yrs to graduate)
BU – urban, feels like the city is the campus, large
BC – suburban on the border of urban, traditional campus, medium size, Jesuit Catholic
What factors are important for your case? What major? There may also be financial aid differences; run the Net Price Calculators. I believe that of those three, only BC claims to meet full need.
@evergreen5 Northeastern also meets full need but at all schools it is the colleges’ determination of need.
It is possible to complete most Northeastern programs in four years with two coop periods.
Northeastern and BC both meet full need for all…by their own calculations, of course.
BU does not.
Not an advertisement here, but you might also consider visiting Tufts in Medford. Easy to get to/from downtown Boston. My son attended the Eliot Pearson lab preschool there when I was a visiting prof at Harvard for a year.
@RonaldP66 What are you looking for exactly? There are sooooo many schools in the Boston area besides the three you mention. My girls have loved NEU but there are small schools and many great schools just outside of Boston too.
My daughter is looking for a medium sized school in an urban setting that is strong in the science area. She was raised in Portland, Oregon which isn’t big and isn’t small. She also attended a program at Yale last summer (Explo) and really loved it. She’s going back again this summer and has really enjoyed the feel of the east coast with its rich history, etc. I know she hasn’t spent a winter there but she experienced a number of winters in Oregon and they’re wet, cold, and often icy.
@RonaldP66 The only other urban school then would be UMASS Boston, but that is even a bit removed. I don’t know much of their programs.
I’d say the other schools, like Tufts, are more suburban but have access to the city. BC definitely feels a bit more suburban as well. Of course MIT and Harvard are right over the river too…
What about Olin college of engineering or Brandeis University.
Both Olin and Brandeis are not directly in Boston. If the focus is nursing, Simmons has a good program. It is an all girls undergrad though, but is part of a consortium with three other schools near the Fenway area. Emmanuel and Mass College of Pharmacy and Health Science (MCPHS) are also close by.
Tufts doesn’t feel suburban to me. It is a 10 minute walk to the Red Line which goes to Cambridge in one stop, then Boston. BC feels suburban to me though. Personally, I love Tufts (don’t have kids there,no). It is very strong in science. Tufts is quite selective, and is one of the “little Ivies” along with Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Wesleyan, others. Davis Square, where Tufts is located, is a hopping place and has become very desirable.
BU and Northeastern are both big schools. Northeastern used to be more working class, geared to jobs via coop, and less selective, but it has changed and risen in recent years. It is near NEC, Berklee, Boston Conservatory and Mass College of Art.
BU has done some building with a big new dorm skyscraper and large fitness center etc. The classes I took there were large with a star lecturer and grad students leading discussion. The kids I know who went there have done well after college…I have always like the campus. No traditional green or ivy (!) but along the river and so close to downtown Boston as well as Brookline and Coolidge Corner.
Surprisingly at UMass Boston, the professors taught small classes without TA’s, but that was in the humanities and I assume science would be different.
If your daughter really wants an urban experience, I would discount BC honestly, but it is a good school.
I would go for Tufts!
Another school I like is Clark in Worcester which might be worth looking at. It is on the Colleges that Change Lives website. Clark is very involved with the local community and also runs a school. It is about an hour or hour and a half from Boston.
Have fun! Visit Charles Street, the Public Gardens, Harvard Square, as well as the areas around the various schools.
I agree to checking out Tufts and Brandeis while you are in the area.
I went to BC and was just there this week visiting with my daughter. I loved it back in the 80’s and it’s even more wonderful today. As a freshman/ sophomore used to take the T into the city weekly for leisure. As a junior / senior had a two day a week, part time job in the city and lived off campus in city and was at many of the big hospitals in the city for my nursing clinicals. It was perfect balance of city/ suburb for me.
Definitely check out Brandeis because you’ll be there, but we thought it didn’t really feel like it’s near Boston at all - it feels small and and quite out of the way. D19 was looking for urban and scratched Brandeis off the list almost immediately.
I visited tufts some years ago when a friend was a grad student there and agree it doesn’t “feel” suburban either. It’s more competitive than the schools OP mentioned though.