<p>Hi everybody-- </p>
<p>I'm taking D and friend (10th graders) to Boston on Wednesday and we just want to walk around BU, get the feel of the place, nothing formal. I'd love any suggestions, where to eat, what to see, etc. Thank you!</p>
<p>I think that you could spend the whole day walking up and down Commonwealth Avenue looking at Boston University. There are a lot of things to do in Boston but a lot of them are in other places and doing them would mean fewer time looking at the school. I don’t have any food recommendations around BU other than the asian food court at the 88 Supemarket - not fine dining by any means but good and cheap asian food.</p>
<p>If you are interested in getting a feel for the school, I’d eat in the cafeteria if they’ll let you. (You may have to stop by their admissions office to get some sort of pass.) It’s really a good way to get a feel for the student body and of course the food at the college.</p>
<p>I haven’t been in the cafeteria (it’s more like a food court) in two years but I didn’t have any trouble buying and eating there. It’s a lot of chain-fast food type places. There are a lot of food places (and a ton of bars) further down on North Beacon St into Brighton.</p>
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<p>I’m not getting your thought process … why not sign up for a tour of the campus? If your daughter is not interested in doing that avoid that area of Commonweath Avenue like the plague as the BU section of the street could hardly be more boring. Shopping stinks unless you’re after Red Sox garb or a Fender guitar. The BU food court is open to anyone that has money. But as far as the strip … after you’ve hit up a coffee shop or some Asian food your daughter will be ready to split faster than she can say ‘take us to Newbury Street.’</p>
<p>I second the Asian food court at Super 88 if you don’t mind a pretty bustling/chaotic atmosphere. It’s great for visiting with teenagers, because if they don’t like the food at one of the places there are a dozen others to try. </p>
<p>If you like Asian food but want more of a conventional restaurant atmosphere, there’s the Brown Sugar Cafe, a really good Thai place on Comm. Ave. a few blocks uphill (west) of BU, near the Paradise rock club. That’s in the same direction as the Super 88, but not as far.</p>
<p>In the other direction, it’s a pretty short walk to Kenmore Square, where there are lots of choices. Basically the entire BU area is crawling with informal, inexpensive places to eat, as you would expect.</p>
<p>As far as places to see, aside from Fenway Park, which is almost within a Manny Ramirez home run of the campus, the river is nearby, and I believe there is at least one pedestrian overpass somewhere on the BU campus that will take you over Storrow Drive to the pedestrian/bicycle path that runs along the river. Walks in either direction are nice, but I would walk downstream toward the city past the Mass. Ave. bridge, where you will soon get into the Esplanade area, which is beautifully landscaped with little lagoons and footbridges. From there you could cross over the Arthur Fiedler footbridge to the Public Garden and Boston Common, and then back toward BU through the Back Bay via Newbury Street if you like shopping.</p>
<p>That’s a fair amount of walking I just described, so it depends on how ambitious you are, but that will give you some idea of what’s nearby.</p>
<p>Thanks all-- I see I wasn’t clear enough…I meant we would walk around the BU campus itself. They are just excited to be on a college campus, and I’ve only gone through on Comm Ave so am trying to figure where to walk so they can get a sense of the college itself. (The logic of not taking a real tour is 16 yr old logic…they feel they would just die of being too young…but we’ll be right there and they just want to see the super-cool college kids. The food court sounds about right.)</p>
<p>If they just want a feel for being on a campus, I’d suggest a university with more of a unified campus. There are many other universities in the area with that feel: offhand, I’d suggest Boston College, Harvard, MIT (more of an urban feel), Wellesley, etc.</p>
<p>Yeah, basically, it’s not much of an exaggeration to say that walking up and down Comm. Ave. is touring the campus. There’s more to it than that, but not a lot more–although I can’t agree with ctyankee’s assessment of the area. I like the BU/Allston area and always have. It’s not the Back Bay, and that’s what I like about it. Not everybody is a boutique type.</p>
<p>If the kids really just want to check out a college campus, and it doesn’t matter which one, then I agree with BCEagle91. To his list of campuses I’d add Northeastern, which is just as urban as BU, but a bit more ‘campus-y’ (though not much prettier). And there’s more to do and see right around Northeastern (the MFA is right across the street, for instance).</p>
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<p>Ah, I see … so just a ‘taste’ of college so to speak. Then the food court does sound about right based on what you just shared. But as far as “too young” goes, just remember that some of those super-cool college kids will only be one year older than your daughter.</p>
<p>I would also agree with others Harvard, BC and Tufts would be a lot more interesting campuses if you just plan on looking around. BU is an up and back campus, most of it directly on Commonwealth Ave. But if it’s just student watching, it really doesn’t matter much other than to have a nice day so they are out and about.</p>
<p>I believe the concept was that the kids might be interested in going to BU not in seeing a college. </p>
<p>If that’s the case, I’d suggest a couple of things. First, of course BU has an admissions office and tours. Second, the campus divides into two general areas, the older part that’s closer to Kenmore Sq. and what’s generally called West Campus, which is farther out on Comm Ave. I’d suggest, for example, walking into the student center - called the GSU for George Sherman Union - which also connects to the main library and to paths in back that lead to the river. You can then walk along the river or along Comm Ave or along Bay State Road, which is a quiet street lined with BU housing and offices. (The admissions office is on Bay State.) </p>
<p>An advantage to being on that end of school is that you’re in Kenmore and next to Back Bay so you can easily go out to lunch, etc. In Kenmore, I’d suggest Eastern Standard, which is an all around good restaurant that’s reasonably priced with a nice atmosphere. If you need more specific reqs, feel free to post a question. </p>
<p>As mentioned above, the West end of the school runs into the Allston section and that is home to dozens of restaurants of very diverse ethnicity. The Super 88 Food Court mentioned above has some terrific food stalls that serve excellent Cantonese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Indian. All are pretty darn “authentic,” if that’s what’s desired. I’m less in love with the Korean, though both are fine, and I don’t recommend the Thai place.</p>
<p>Boston University has a private high-schooled called BU Academy - they might find it interesting that there are high-school students studying on the campus. BU also has an observatory that should be open to the public on certain evenings - that might be fun to do for an evening. I usually go back to Boston University to use their libraries but you need an ID to get into Mugar (the main library).</p>
<p>We haven’t tried the Thai at the Super 88 but we do like the Indian, Chinese (opposite the Korean), Korean and Lollicup places.</p>
<p>Lergnom that’s exactly what I was looking for-- thank you so much. Yes, BU is a bit of a dream for both of them. If we go through the Student Union can we then walk to ‘the beach’ (which I guess is what BU has for a common area)? And I at least will go to the admissions office and see what literature is available.</p>
<p>If you want to have a little more of a nice sit down dinner, I would recommend a French restaurant called Petit Robert on Comm Ave. It is a casual bistro atmosphere and very reasonable for a French restaurant in Boston. Also Duck Tour is good way to see Boston for the first time. Newbury street, Prudential center, and Copley Place for shopping. MIT and Harvard Square are also good places to walk around. For museum, MFA and Museum of Science are good choices. You can also catch a show like Blue Man Group in theater district.</p>
<p>When you walk around BU you have to remember it is an URBAN college campus…not the kid with a college green and such. If it were me, I would walk down commonwealth, then head towards the Charles River and walk down Bay State Road. It’s quite lovely. It is where some of the brownstone housing is located and the place you go to if you are visiting is there too.</p>
<p>Re: eating…lots of choices in Kenmore Square…but if you like Thai food…head over to the west end of the campus…very west on Commonwealth to a Thai restaurant called Brown Sugar. It’s very good.</p>
<p>thanks so much everyone-- great suggestions</p>
<p>When we visited BU with S we ate at UBurger on Commonwealth Ave. – just a couple blocks from the heart of the school.</p>
<p>My 2 cents
Take the tour…
I took my student (a soph) last yr…There are lots of kids taking tours–lots of sophs…</p>
<p>Loved BU</p>
<p>fogfog’s point is a good one. My tenth grader went on many tours with his sister when she was a senior taking her final looks sees. I many cases they thought he was the student and she the “younger tag-along.” She still remembers to this day.</p>
<p>He fell in love with Vassar that day and developed his own independent response to the school. I think it did nudge him to improve his grades and test scores. I know I was shocked that he studied for the PSAT online. I thought the alien beings had returned a pod person in place of my son.</p>
<p>He did ultimately choose a different school, but this was an important part of the process.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say they “should” do anything, just that they"could."</p>
<p>My nephew and niece and a close friend of S’s are all at BU and all have adored the school.</p>
<p>The interesting thing is that they’re very different kids.</p>
<p>Nephew: Mainstream, apolitical kids who loves food and money. He did the Hotel Management school, and may have already lined up a fabulous job in Manhattan for after graduation. He is disappointed. Although a native NY’er, he wants to stay in Boston.</p>
<p>Niece: A prep school transplanted NY’er who ended up in Atlanta. She is studying the Music Conservatory at BU and having a wonderful experience.</p>
<p>Best Bud of S: A very political, committed kid who went from being the most “lost” and alienated of their group to a commitment to environmental law. To give you an idea – the leader of their pack went to Princeton. This kid had the smarts but not the ambition and focus to earn those HS grades. He found that focus there.</p>
<p>I love all these three kids. You couldn’t hope to find more different kids. And all had a great experience there.</p>
<p>If the girls opt out of something “official” to do, I would look for an public event to attend. In my family that would have been a concert or movie screening. Death to lectures. That might extent the day a little and have them mingle in an anonymous fashion.</p>
<p>You guys are so great, thank you. I will see if I can gentle them into a tour-- D is fanatical about theater and dreams of a BU BFA…she doesn’t want to drag the friend, but I don’t think the friend will feel dragged. Mythmom, I love those tales of 3 different wonderful kids–Plutarch couldn’t do better.</p>