BU VS. BC VS. Northeastern

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston University
61

<p>I’m not a woman, you pathetic moron. If you had any reading comprehension skills, you’d know that.</p>

<p>Thank you though for reading some of my posts, even if you can’t follow what I say. On the UMass board, a kid - meaning a know nothing like yourself - showed up and started saying that UConn is absolutely better than UMass, that it gets a ton more money, that it gets more state funding, when in actuality UMass gets tens of millions more in grant money and the same state funding. Apparently that is all because the basketball program makes the school so great. Now, tell me why research money when you’re interested in engineering isn’t important? Tell me why research money doesn’t reflect how a school is viewed by the funding agencies.</p>

<p>The dolt from UConn also started arguing about who would do better and, believe it or not, there are actual statistics that show no earnings difference between the schools - or frankly between almost all the schools - with the major differences being attributable to location, meaning literally where the school is in the country - which is yet another reason why ratings are a heap of garbage for the gullible. (And please, for anyone else, don’t bring up the outliers like Harvard because that’s not the point.)</p>

<p>Also, tell me why Northeastern gets $40M in external grants and BC gets about that. The numbers are elsewhere in the thread. Research grants are given to programs that deserve them. BU gets well over $300M. Comparison? (Try addition and subtraction, if this point is too hard to follow.) BU is a major research university and Northeastern is not and neither is BC.</p>

62

<p>lol, you’re absolutely insane… I love it.</p>

63

<p>i’ve actually been posting on this thread for about 4 years now, and though there have been a couple of times that i’ve disagreed with lergnom’s point of view, he’s actually pretty spot-on for the most part about BU and comparisons in general. people get heated and offended in these threads b/c a)people put a school down or a person down with no basis and nothing to back it up (give a valuable opinion as to why you don’t like something) or b)someone’s intelligence gets insulted outright because their opinion differs when they are actually being quite civil and realistic with their expressions. everyone in these threads will have different points of view. and if people feel that they want to go based on u.s. news rankings for the rest of their lives, so be it. everyone in this thread that posts to give advice has some sort of wisdom to offer, and it’s your decision to take it our leave it. if you don’t like what we have to say, don’t ask our opinions.</p>

64

<p>

</p>

<p>First of all, I have no idea who ‘Diante’ is, but as far as bias goes, I transferred out of BU, so I’m hardly biased. I actually hated it there, so I dont see how I’m biased…</p>

<p>Thanks for calling me a tool; that hurts.</p>

65

<p>diontechristmas-- why did you hate BU and transfer? My son is going to apply to BU next year as a safety school and really seemed to love what he saw of it, but I’m interested in hearing what the downsides are. In fact, BU lovers feel free to give your opinions as well (my first CC post here:))</p>

66

<p>OP should scrap the decision and go to trade school.</p>

<p>There are going to be two (three? fifteen?) sides to any rankings debate and agree with AliAngel that we’re all biased toward our own school except maybe that rogue diontechristmas. The reason this board in particular got so heated is because, as many people have tried to point out, NEU, BU, and BC are <em>completely different schools.</em></p>

<p>BU kids are always going to be sensitive about the rankings (as is anyone not in the USNWR top 10 probably) because we really do feel like we’re going to a world-class institution that has some incredibly distinguished profs, a very internationally diverse student body, a service-driven aesthetic, a Dean of Students who actually regularly interacts with students, rigorous academics without the cutthroat competition, a baller hockey team, and a campus in a city with extraordinary opportunities…yet somehow we rank 60 this year (apologies for this horribly structured sentence). Thinking about the way the rankings work is too depressing. We’ll argue to the death that it’s bs because we KNOW it’s bs. </p>

<p>There are going to be pros and cons of every school, and most of those pros and cons, imo, strongly outweigh the rankings. Yes, BU is mind-blowingly expensive, but there’s scholarship money available. Yes, we are a big university, but once you join a club or two you start to recognize students, professors, and administrators everywhere. Maybe we don’t have a traditional campus, but I think it’s pretty darn cool to wake up every morning and see the Boston skyline out my window. Yeah…we’re ranked number 60, but would I be happy at NEU or BC? Probably not. And it’s probably a lot more likely that I’m going to do well at a place where I’m happy. Come job-hunt time, the ranking of your undergrad won’t matter a lick if you didn’t do well. The reverse holds too; if you hate the city and want to be a big fish in a small pond, you probably won’t be happy here…ratings become irrelevant.</p>

<p>To be honest I feel completely lucky to go here and to have the experiences I’ve had. Maybe the best way to sum up BU is that if you want to complain all 4 years, that’s fine, they’ll let you. And you’ll still come out with a very valuable degree. But if you decide you want to take full advantage of everything and anything you can, really make yourself a better person, every single door will be opened to you. </p>

<p>Freshman year I pulled an all-nighter with a friend and at 6 am we decided to trek to the BU Bridge and watch the sun rise. As I sat there, I was thinking a lot of things, but not one of them was “Crap, are we still ranked number 60? My job prospects are SHOT.”</p>

<p>long post=I have a lot of feelings, ok?</p>

67

<p>Bailey=the bomb, end of story.</p>

<p>BUBailey has just summed up basically anyone’s sentiments regarding a school they love. Go with your gut, not want anyone else tells you (including U.S. News). Life is too short to go to a school you’ll hate because they’re ranked 10 spots higher. I’ve loved BU, Bailey has loved it, and 95% of all other posters in this thread have. Wherever you go, just make the most of your experience. Put yourself out there and you’ll gt ahead both socially and academically. Good luck to all of you, and let’s end this ridiculous banter about BU vs. BC. vs. NU.</p>

68

<p>

</p>

<p>Because I didnt feel that the education I was receiving was worth $200,000. I also wasn’t too happy socially.</p>

69

<p>In a nut shell, CO-OP + campus>comm ave when comparing BU and NU
Also, I saw somewhere in here that NU doesn’t school spirit… at the Beanpot we had 3 more sections of the garden filled than any other school. Also at the Hockey East quarter finals, NU had about double the sections of BU, and six times as many sections filled as BC and U Mass Lowell. As far as BC goes, their business program is very prestigious, it all depends on how you value prestige against experience (co-op). Basketball is a lot bigger at BC than NU or BU, same with football, which BU cut in 96 along with their baseball program.</p>

70

<p>Hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but I think the OP has decided on U_Rochester.</p>

71

<p>it’s all good, BU isn’t for everyone so no hard feelings lol</p>

72

<p>dunno, I’m pretty upset.</p>

73

<p>Personally I went to Northeastern last year and while I did enjoy it and what it had to offer, the idea of 5 years and no time off really was a downer on me. I feel that the co-op program is a good program but not for me. I wanted a more traditional college experience(i.e. a liberal school vs a hands, on integrated learning school). I have applied for transfer to BC and as far as I know am in, but I’m still waiting for the official letter (I have an option to pay deposit online). </p>

<p>NEU is a good school but jut not for me. West Village has a nice feel to it but the rest of the campus is kinda bland, reminds me of a commuter school and it was not really appealing to me. I also did not enjoy the lack of athletic success on campus, the hockey games are great to go to, but thats about it. Basketball is alright but not near enough fan base to make the games intense. The football team is, well they are decent but again, terrible fan base and not to mention the stadium is off campus. The location is great (of NEU), and its very easy to get to downtown Boston in a manner of minutes via the T. </p>

<p>What made my decision to transfer was the lack of support for my academic decisions. I came in as an engineering major (asked to transfer at orientation but was talked out of it), after 1st semester I decided I still wanted to change my major, applied for transfer into Bouve, but was denied because I didn’t have enough “lab based credit”. So I then became a physics major, however the department was not what I consider to be a strong department (they do not even offer the physics class I need in the fall, setting me back another semester, and wanted me to pay more to take it this summer). So really it came down an academic experience that I do not wish to repeat. I feel that NEU is more so a school that you should go in hard set on what you want to do and not have that freedom to try new things and figure out what you want to do for a career. Again, I am not putting down NEU in anyway, just relating my experience there and giving reasons for my transfer.</p>

<p>Wherever you go, good luck and enjoy college, its a blast.</p>

74

<p>So we’ve reached the end of another admissions cycle.</p>

<p>It’s humorous in a sad way that people focus so much on itty bitty personally perceived differences in prestige and rankings, especially when they don’t understand (and haven’t even read) the methodologies of rankings. These issues show up most when it matters the least, as in BU versus BC or Yale versus Princeton. </p>

<p>I also post on the Yale board and the UMass board and I post on the law school board. What’s sad is we see the same defensiveness from Yale students who feel they must absolutely defend Yale, a school that needs no defense because it is so solidly at the top. It’s ridiculous to read Yale students - and usually prospective Yale students - saying, “Well, Yale gives more attention to undergrad than Harvard” when they don’t go to both schools, maybe haven’t gone to any, maybe aren’t even going to get in, when they’re repeating garbage that’s passed around from year to year that has no basis in fact. </p>

<p>And then when I hear kids always recommending, even pushing their schools, I can’t help but think, “What a fantastic case study in groupthink; we see the need to persuade others because that validates our own choices.” They don’t understand this is the same process by which people spread misinformation that denigrates black or Arab or Jewish Americans. If you believe something because you’re told it, if you then repeat that, ask yourself whether it’s true, why it’s true, what stake the person who told it to you has in it being true, and what your stake is in believing it. You want to believe your engineering school is the best choice for every single kid who asks … because you need to believe not because it’s true. This year in particular I’ve read the silliest things - not necessarily on the BU board - with kids, often again not even students in college, recommending specific colleges absolutely, out of this twisted need to believe and thus misplaced loyalty, even when the college doesn’t even offer the program. Just because it’s Yale doesn’t mean it’s the best in every single thing and the fact that UConn has terrific basketball teams doesn’t make it a top tier school.</p>

<p>It continually blows my mind that every year we get disgruntled transfer kids who need to vent their disappointment, as though kids don’t leave every school - including Yale, btw - and as though kids don’t transfer into BU (and nearly every school). Your personal experience is your personal experience and, guess what, that you blew your choice of school is not the school’s fault. You should be looking in the mirror to ask yourself why you made this choice because blame isn’t the way to learn from experience.</p>

<p>Perhaps the problem is that most of the posters who can’t handle critical thinking are young males and that may reflect testosterone and late maturity. (Like when I’m at the gym and they have a special TV that nearly always shows young people doing “extreme” sports and every single one is a guy.) Young men, it seems, also have trouble understanding that their experiences are not yours and they have a need to make you take their perspective seriously. As a former young man and the father (not mother) of girls, I see girls as constantly evaluating how they feel in context with a much more common awareness of the limits of their own perceptions.</p>

75

<p>Is there a significant difference between a school ranked #66 (UConn) and #102 (UMass)???.. yes, of course… Is there a difference between a school ranked #34 (BC) and #60 (BU)… yes!!! Is there a difference between a school ranked #2 (Yale) and #3 (Princeton)… no, of course not… Lergnom, you gave a very poor example… That wacky Lergnom is at it again. :-)</p>

76

<p>Rankings are stupid lol… You should only see them if you know what they are grading on. I saw so many people saying this school is only #77 rank and that school is #50 so im going with that school regardless of how much I actually like it.</p>

<p>I don’t believe that any college can be compared on a sole number scale and the rating system should be separated into more detailed things i.e. student/teacher relations. Things that you would really need to know the school to give an accurate depiction. Opinions of schools based on alumni and students of these forums are the most important parts. The people who try to bash other schools are just despicable since troubled and confused teenagers are the people here who really need the help (like me).</p>

<p>I was told that Boston has such a great linkage in universities that it hardly matters which school you go to - you will always be part of something bigger. That was told to me by a Tufts alumni, which I took to heart when making my decision.</p>

77

<p>rdsoxman5 wrote:

</p>

<p>This is what turned my son off too and why NEU was at the bottom of his list. Even when his father and I suggested it would be no different than going to a regular 4 year school and working during the summers but with the added benefit of graduating with 1.5 years of experience, he saw it like you described - 5 years with no time off.</p>

<p>He’s going to BU in the fall and plans to major in Physics as well. It has been his top choice school all along; however, we needed a “Plan B” just in case, which is why NEU was considered. Your post is a confirmation of what he’d suspected and what his father and I had dismissed as irrelevant. Good thing he knows what he wants!</p>

78

<p>I can’t believe you guys are even comparing BC and BU. The only similarity between the two is that students at BU and BC were both accepted to BU.</p>

79

<p>

</p>

<p>What happened? WashU didn’t want you?</p>

80

<p>I have 3 years of data from our high school - which is large, Boston area, one of the best public high schools in MA (and the country). The data shows what I’ve been saying:</p>

<p>BC has slightly better stats, which is exactly what you’d think considering it’s half the size in undergrad. If I look at the graph of the data, BC is slightly above 1300 in SAT - I don’t count writing - while BU is at 1300. Northeastern is about 75 points below that, at 1224. In terms of GPA, the schools are fairly close, with BC and BU at 3.49 and 3.43 and Northeastern at 3.36.</p>

<p>If you exclude the outliers, the picture is only slightly different. All 3 schools admit some pretty darn bad students: BC has a cluster of 3 kids admitted with 800-900 SAT’s and below 3 GPA; Northeastern has 1 with an SAT of about 800 (slightly above 3 GPA) and then a cluster of almost a dozen with below 3 GPA’s and various SAT’s ranging from 940 to 1440; BU has 1 kid with 825 SAT, 3.2 GPA and 7 or 8 kids with below 3 GPA’s and various SAT’s ranging from 1040 to 1350. </p>

<p>If you assume the highest scorers are likely using the schools as back-ups, then you’re back to the same thing I said above, that BC and BU are pretty darn similar and that Northeastern is somewhat behind. Not a light year behind, but not the same either. </p>

<p>BTW, the numbers involved are quite large; we’re talking nearly 300 apps to BU, about 150 to BC, and about 250 to Northeastern. I’ve said many times that this is how the schools are viewed and the data says exactly that.</p>