<p>Compare and Contrast? Thanks!</p>
<p>I have a d who is a senior at U of R and she chose it over BU for several reasons. She wanted an actual campus experience and she also felt the openness of the U of R curriculum was more flexible for her choice of double major.</p>
<p>Depends on what you want to major in (it always does) and the amount of aid you will/might receive.</p>
<p>I was between these two places last year at the very end of the process. I was actually leaning towards U of R because of their open curriculum and broad course selection in the Brain & Cognitive department and Neuroscience department, but they gave me terrible financial aid in comparison to BU. I was really bummed out, because they had given me a scholarship during my junior year. I received a research grant, but the cost wasn’t even comparable. I ended up falling more in love with BU as I researched it, and decided that it was where I would be attending.</p>
<p>I know people that are quite happy at U of R. I probably would have been too. However, now, I can’t ever imagine myself going there. The city of Boston has completely enriched my college experience in countless ways already in the past month and a half. There is always so much to do, and so many social aspects that I am completely in love with here. I was weary of the huge student body size, but it’s perfect now. You meet someone new everyday, and yet you see your friends on the street or around anywhere you go. U of R obviously has a more classic campus, but BU has more of a campus vibe than anyone credits it for before they come here. It has both a campus and a city. It’s perfect for me, but of course, that’s largely personal taste too. Then again, I was uncertain what I wanted in terms of that at the same point last year. Now, I can’t imagine being a more rural setting and sacrificing everything that BU has to offer.</p>
<p>Good luck! Things like this tend to work themselves out.</p>
<p>They’re both good schools. Rochester is a big research school but is relatively small as a university. Rochester as a place is better than Syracuse - which is a low bar, I admit - and yeah the weather can be snowy, snowy. </p>
<p>Depends on your interests.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the comments so far!</p>
<p>How is grade deflation at BU though? (I know this is in other forums, but I’d like to know more about it in comparison to U of R) Which one do think is better for undergraduate studies? I’m assume they should be at the same level though?</p>
<p>There is no grade deflation at BU, GW or almost any of the other schools that high school students somehow pick up some rumor about. </p>
<p>How can anyone decide which is “better” for you? Each person is different and has different needs and wants.</p>
<p>ok thanks for the posts. But grade deflation is a problem at BU. the new york times has an article about grade deflation at BU, even BUToday has an article about it. This is no rumor, its a reality.</p>
<p>Those articles were written years ago. Those times have passed. Study, do well on your exams and you’ll do well. I’m definitely not the most hard working person you’ll meet and I have a 3.7+.</p>
<p>Total ignorance is always interesting. Did you read the NYT article? It’s not about grade deflation at BU; it’s about how some schools have reined in grade inflation. The BU Today article was about grades because BU, like GW and a host of other schools, was being talked about as “grade deflating” and the article showed how the gpa was going up, that it had been going up too fast in the 90’s so the school intentionally slowed it but the trend was still up. It still is up.</p>
<p>(Now, the next thing we usually hear is about grades at Harvard. Grades at Harvard have nothing to do with grades elsewhere. And yes, they are very inflated.)</p>
<p>I’m in the same pickle as you, gingeralelover! I’ve been accepted into both, and yesterday, I received a letter from U of R saying that they’re going to give me $7,000 a year for all four years in scholarship. BU didn’t give me a scholarship at all, but money isn’t really an issue for my family.</p>
<p>I’m really not 100% on this, but I’m leaning towards BU because I think networking’s really important in college, and if I went to Rochester, I’d only get to meet people in either Engineering and Music. (Plus, being there would feel kinda sterile if everybody studies more or less the same thing…) On the other hand, if I went to BU, I’d get to extend my network to Communications majors, Management majors, Music majors, Engineering majors, etc. Plus, they have much better career services at BU.</p>
<p>“There is no grade deflation at BU, GW or almost any of the other schools that high school students somehow pick up some rumor about.”</p>
<p>i hope you don’t have high school-aged kids of your own [but i assume you do], considering your feelings towards all of us “ignorant teenagers”. seriously, all you do is unnecessarily bash high-schoolers & call them ignorant ~5 times in a single post [refer to one of your last posts on this topic. oh, yeah, & every other post you make, here.]. or does it make you feel smarter to make kids 30+ years younger than you feel dumb??</p>
<p>Kids are highly computer literate. They can read. There must be - literally not figuratively - 500 threads that discuss “grade deflation.” In many cases, like this one, there are threads from the same day about it. It doesn’t take much effort to look this up. Maybe I should have said “lazy.” How many times can one subject come up? You don’t seem to realize that there are bunch of kids asking questions but only a relative handful of people who actually contribute answers. Today, after all the threads about this topic, I got a private note asking me about it. </p>
<p>I’ve answered questions on this board for over 4 years. This board is one of the busiest on CC, btw, and I’ve never understood why. Each year, I put up with the one kid who is unhappy and has to explain to the world that somehow this is all BU’s fault - because it could never just be a bad fit or never his / her fault. Sometimes this board will get kids from other schools who just want to talk about why their school is better, which is ridiculously inappropriate and merely discourage kids from posting. (I’ll never understand some of the personality quirks of posters. We had a kid from Princeton who engaged in a long, hysterical exchange because I noted that SMG has a grad school-like curriculum - not a traditional business curriculum - and he took that to mean I said it was like grad school. That kid had issues.) </p>
<p>I don’t feel smarter than kids, because kids can learn. I do feel smarter than many of the genuine idiots who post nonsense in the politics forum, but that’s because they’re older and thus very unlikely to be anything but what they are. </p>
<p>BTW, lisa, reread that other post. I hope the tone is then a little more clear. It’s called: do a little research. If a little sarcasm teaches you to look stuff up, then I’ve done a good thing. Praise teaches best but a little negativity does too. It’s called: learn how not to get negative feedback. If you don’t like being told you’re ignorant, then do research. That is how it works in college and how it will work in your jobs in real life. </p>
<p>College is not high school. You will get little praise because the professors are not with you 5 days a week in their rooms, available each morning for questions. Go to office hours. They’ll almost always be delighted to see you - because almost no one ever comes by.</p>
<p>
Interesting that you say that. Rochester is a much smaller campus that BU (and is actually a campus) and has only 3 schools - Engineering, Eastman & College of Arts & Sciences. Eastman has its own campus, but Engineering and A&S are on the same campus. The kids interact quite freely, and there is no separation between them. They share dorms, cafeterias, etc. You’ll get to know art history majors, literature majors, bio majors, psych majors, French majors, and virtually any other major you can think of at Rochester. Engineers can take whatever classes they want (and have time for) from A&S.
Given Rochester’s open curriculum, you won’t find many people studying “exactly the same thing” since electives are so diverse.</p>
<p>BU, however, is (at least according to the kids I know who go there) much more segregated. There are many more individual schools at BU which are much larger, and much more spread out physically. There’s less opportunity for socialization unless you affirmatively go out and make friends from other schools. And it is often harder to take classes in the other schools.</p>
<p>If you haven’t visited both campuses, I highly urge you to do that. Last year, my daughter was accepted to both BU and UofR to study biochemistry and in the end chose BU. She visited both schools prior to being accepted, and then again in April once she was officially accepted. You look at the school differently when you’re on a tour before you know you’re accepted, but once you have narrowed down your top 2-3 schools, your final campus visit will help you immensely. My daughter liked the people she met on both campuses, both students and professors, but the overall feel of the BU campus grabbed her and she ended up there. I never would have guessed that she would have chosen BU in February, but now after nearly completion of her freshman year, it was clearly a great fit for her. Her friend from HS chose UofR and that was a great fit for her as she didn’t prefer the urban environment. Both girls are brights, love music, and are good at math/science/english, and have active social lives. In the end, your heart tells you more than a website.</p>
<p>“I’ve answered questions on this board for over 4 years…Each year, I put up with the one kid who is unhappy and has to explain to the world that somehow this is all BU’s fault”</p>
<p>maybe it’s time to get a new hobby?</p>
<p>“If a little sarcasm teaches you to look stuff up, then I’ve done a good thing.”</p>
<p>nope, sorry, it’s only reflecting badly upon YOU. i will still ask as many repeat-questions as i please ;] maybe i’ll even start PMing you, myself.</p>
<p>“College is not high school.”</p>
<p>you know what else college is <em>not</em>? an internet forum.</p>
<p>~this.girl.is.a.G., not ‘lisa’ ;)</p>
<p>You’re funny. You should do well. Sorry about the Lisa. </p>
<p>Don’t reach so far to argue and I’d only ignore the PM’s.</p>
<p>Lergnom, thanks for all the info you have posted on the BU forums… I remember reading info from you last year as my daughter was making her college decisions and you were always right on with all things Boston and BU. Now she’s a freshman at BU and happy as ever with her decision. Thanks for all the advice and comments.</p>
<p>When I was applying to colleges I faced that decision and chose BU.</p>
<p>My daughter faced the very same question. She spent one year at Rochester, and then chose to transfer to Boston University DESPITE the fact that I graduated from there.</p>
<p>The reasons she is happier there are many:</p>
<p>First of all, the course selection is enormous. When she read the course offerings she said she felt as though she were surveying an enormous buffet of mouthwatering meals.</p>
<p>Opportunities for networking and alumni involvement are many; even though BU is large, the individual colleges within the university are smaller and the deans, advisors and faculty are very involved with their students.</p>
<p>The weather in Rochester was, frankly, very depressing. Always grey skies and very cold. Boston, while not exactly a subtropical city, has four seasons and students have been running, studying and enjoying the “BU Beach” along the Charles River.</p>
<p>Boston v. Rochester recreational and intellectual opportunities? No comparison. Instead of getting drunk at frat parties, she and her friends have been attending concerts, visiting the aquarium, Science Museum, MFA etc. etc.</p>
<p>She felt Rochester was akin to another year of high school. I am amazed by the newfound confidence she has, and the new maturity she is exhibiting. </p>
<p>By the way, she is in the College of Arts and Sciences, if that is any help. Good luck with choosing. It is sometimes difficult to make that choice, but bear in mind it is not permanent and if you are not happy, transfer !!!</p>
<p>And I now have a child who will be going to Rochester. The schools are very different but both are good places.</p>