<p>I haven’t heard anything very inspiring about Boston University’s Science Department.
HAs anyone heard of its reputation?
I must decide between Boston U and Rutgers U and am confused on where to go so I’m using the reputation of their science departments as a decided factor since I’m going into science. </p>
<p>Thanks for your help!!</p>
<p>Science? Each kind of science has its own department.</p>
<p>oops!
biological sciences</p>
<p>well im in sargent which is health and rehabilitation sciences and my friend is a president's host and she said sargent is world renowned and BU's pre-med program is extremely reputable and our biomedical engineering program is #7 in the country as of last year...so our science dept is pretty good but i also dont know much about rutgers...ur talking about rutgers new brunswick though right?</p>
<p>yep Rutgers New Brunswick</p>
<p>and i really think i'm leaning towards BU
even though both RU and BU are really close on the USnews top 100 schools list i think BU just has an overall better rep right?</p>
<p>thank you for your help!</p>
<p>I'm a current physics major at BU. I must say that every moment that I spend dealing with the physics department makes me glad that I chose BU. The beautiful thing about sciences here is there is a very heavy emphasis on undergraduate research, and a decent amount of funding for it throughout the university. The research is really the best way to get your hands into the science, work with professors and see where your interests lie. I know that the physics department is relatively small, so bio experience might be a bit different, but the overall mission of making as many resources available to undergrads as possible seems to sound throughout the university. I don't know anything about Rutgers, they may be just as good in these regards as BU, but I'm just sharing my experience with BU science.</p>
<p>You bring up a good point: BU is a research university. It's not one of the biggest in dollar terms (compared to Michigan or Harvard) but it is a large research university.</p>
<p>I suspect you're from NJ if you're even considering Rutgers. I am from NJ as well and while I don't know much specifically about the school and its program, it is LITERALLY the VERY last school on the planet earth I would attend and that is coming from someone who had a full ride there. To me it just comes off as dirty and the campus is soooo spread out and just all over the place. In my experience it is just where all NJ kids go when they don't know what else to do. I know these reasons aren't very specific or anything but my overall impression of it is just scummy. Hope that helps in some way.</p>
<p>What is your educational goals? Is it research or just to learn? BU is a research university and as such, many of the professors, in my opinion, aren't exactly the greatest teachers. They are great scientists, which may have drawn them to BU, but they cannot teach for anything. A lot of those professors are the ones teaching the intro classes (the weed-out classes that most everyone takes). [Please understand this as directed towards BU science department. I cannot comment much on their liberal arts/humanities departments]</p>
<p>However, if you are good at self-teaching, and you're considering research, than BU sounds fitting to you. If research is not in your interest, and you would much rather appreciate good teachers over scientists, than Rutgers seems your choice. I am a BU engineering student so I have taken classes in both ENG and CAS, as well as winter and summer courses at Rutgers; I must say that I much prefer the teachers at Rutgers over BU in terms of teaching quality.</p>
<p>astor, i agree with you in regards to SOME of the professors...im also a pre-med (besides just in sargent) and have taken all the pre-med weed out courses already, and yes i have had a couple professors that were'nt wonderful at teaching but have had others that were absolutely incredible lecturers. people figure out quickly how good of a teacher their professor is, and for the ones that arent good teachers, fortunately in these courses their are discussion leaders are free tutoring centers. i can only speak for sargent and the pre-med courses, but my science experience thus far at bu has been both extremely challenging yet rewarding and wouldn't trade it for the world, especially if the alternative would have been rutgers</p>
<p>AliAngel, I noticed you are part of BU's MMEDIC. Does that program entitle you to take a year off after undergraduate graduation or are you obliged to begin MS-1 studies right after graduation?</p>