<p>Even putting prestige aside (where Brandeis far exceeds BU), the two schools are extremely different from one another. To begin with BU is a large and impersonal urban school with no distinct campus of its own. In contrast, Brandeis combines a nurturing, small liberal arts college and world-class research university-with the smallest student body I believe (less than 800 in a class) of any top tier national research university. And that small student body is matched with high-powered professors who actually teach in small classes. As you can imagine, the research opportunities are tremendous. Plus it’s very close to Boston but on its own suburban campus.</p>
<p>BU is a good university, but, as I’ve mentioned to others on CC, for undergraduate students, Brandeis is truly amazing. Its intellectual environment is comparable in many ways to its University Athletic Association sister school, U Chicago (perhaps no coincidence that the President of U Chicago is a Brandeis alum). Yet its students are down-to-earth, friendly and non-competitive with one another. FYI in a recent Forbes national college rankings survey, Brandeis was ranked 15th among research universities and 30th overall among all private univerities and LAC’s–a testament to its focus on undergraduate education. Larger schools, including some Ivies, were ranked much lower. </p>
<p>Despite its small size and relative youth, Brandeis’ alumni are very distinguished–to name just a few: Nobel Prize winner for chemistry Rod Mackinnon, Fields Medal winning physicist Edward Witten (often called “Einstein’s successor”), 3-time Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman of the NY Times, The Earth is Flat etc; Mitch Albom of Tuesday’s with Morrie (about his Brandeis professor), the Creators/Producers of Friends; actress Debra Messing; Robert FX Sillerman (billionaire businessman–currently owner of American Idol and Graceland) and Christy Hefner, former CEO of Playboy). Also, if you’re into social justice (Angela Davis and Abbie Hoffman are alums as well, I could go on) or theater/music/art, it’s a very exciting place to be.</p>
<p>With respect to pre-med, Brandeis students acceptance rates to med school are excellent. See:</p>
<p>[Brandeis</a> Admissions | After Brandeis | Graduate School](<a href=“Life After Brandeis | Why Brandeis | Undergraduate Admissions | Brandeis University”>Life After Brandeis | Why Brandeis | Undergraduate Admissions | Brandeis University) </p>
<p>Also, if you haven’t seen it, you should watch the interview on the Brandeis website with Greg Petsko, Professor of Biochem, who left MIT to come to Brandeis. He discusses his reasons as to why he found Brandeis to be, in his words, “a better place” to teach and for his students to learn. Here’s a link to the “video tour”: </p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.brandeis.edu/admissions/videotour/]Tour[/url”>http://www.brandeis.edu/admissions/videotour/]Tour[/url</a>]. Then, you may need to click through to the faculty interviews to find Petsko.</p>
<p>As for your interest in International Relations, Brandeis’ IR/Global Studies curriculum is very strong. One case in point is Politics Professor Robert Art (who also teaches at Harvard and MIT, but spends most of his time at Brandeis). He has trained many accomplished Brandeis alumni in that field including Robert Galluci, longtime Dean of the Georgetown School of Foreign service who recently became President of the MacArthur Foundation.</p>
<p>Also, FYI, the school is very diverse undergraduate and graduate, with a strong international flavor (in fact the majority of its International Business School is international students).</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>