<p>I’m not gonna be able to visit far away colleges and I feel like research has only gotten me so far. Can any BU students tell me about
- the general atmosphere (academic + social life, and whether the pendulum sways more toward one or the other)
- surrounding life + whether the school feels really isolated or integrated
- research opportunities–are they hard to get or can anyone start researching right away if they seek out opportunities?
- what are the students like? Is the college diverse or is there a “typical” student?
- history, anthropology, other social science majors–generally, are they amazing, good, okay, or subpar?
- the quality of the premed program or advising/whether it has much success or not</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say the pendulum swings one way or the other really. You can always find a party though if you want or you can choose not to find a party. CGS kids probably party a little more though in my experience.</p>
<p>I tend to disagree with the vast majority of people on this point but BU does have a real campus once you get past the fact that a major street runs through it. 95 percent of the people that you will see between Kenmore and Agganis go to BU but it is easy to access areas such as Kenmore (red sox), Newbury street, or Allston that have more diverse people.</p>
<p>I got approached to do research from one of my professors freshman year but it didn’t work out. I wouldn’t say it’s particularly easy. </p>
<p>I mean most of the students are pretty wealthy due to the price tag of BU. About half of the students are full-pay if that puts it in perspective. The vast majority of students are white, asian, or asian-international. There is some diversity but I wouldn’t call BU a bastion of diversity especially coming from a public high school in Texas.</p>
<p>Social Science majors are generally okay at BU… they tend to rank around or a little lower than where BU ranks as a National University.</p>
<p>The premed advising isn’t great. If you get the grades… then you will get a letter of recommendation from the pre-med advising committee. If you don’t have above a certain GPA you won’t. If you see yourself as a borderline pre-med applicant, honestly, you won’t cut it with the grade inflation. FWIW, average grade in Bio 108 and CH 101/102 is C+/B-.</p>
<p>Rising junior, FWIW.</p>
<p>Be sure you check the College Vibe section of this website - there are lots of visit reports on many schools that will give you a picture. Had we known this before we visited, we could have avoided a couple of schools. I went to a school of 3000 where students were the only ones on campus, and weekend activities were completely centered on college events. The community would come to us for concerts, etc. If that is what you are looking for, you can carve it out. However, if you are looking for a school where you have the option of going to an excellent concert, climbing to the top of Beacon Hill, hiking through a fabulous park, eating amazing Italian food, and participating in lots of non-collegiate experiences when you want to, this is a great school to consider. I think DD’s experience was less isolated than a traditional campus like mine, and am frankly a bit jealous of the freedom she had. FWIW, campus parties were the center of life at my school - I started out as a non-drinker, and became much more of a partier (probably out of social survival). I think people certainly do that at BU, but it’s one option - not the only option. </p>