<p>I am from Long Island and visiting Boston University this Friday, however i was wondering aside from there not being a campus persay. Are the buildings attractive even though it is not a traditional grassy campus? Do you get a sense of comraderie with the students or is BU just completely isolated with a lack of campus?</p>
<p>Also how are the dorms?</p>
<p>i thought the buildings were pretty and weren't as gray and boring as say, nyu. also there are a lot of "townhouse" type buildings around commonwealth, which is thought was cute. i've heard that BU students don't have a lot of school spirit, but i too am gonna go back and visit it to see if that's true. oh and the dorms - the ones i saw were bit small but they arent that bad i guess. there is space so you can at least move around it lol</p>
<p>i think come building are attractive, the the exception of com because i think it's just ugly. bay state is BEAUTIFUL. when i want to feel the "typical" campus vibe, i just walk down bay state on a nice day because it is just that nice. </p>
<p>we do have a campus by the way, it just isn't in a circle or square. i imagine if it was, it would be the size of any large university campus.</p>
<p>we do have school spirit. some people don't and there are people like that at every school in the nation. during hockey season you can really "feel" the school spirit, also during matriculation and orientation as a freshman.</p>
<p>dorms ... it really depends on what you're looking for. as a freshmen you probably won't get something awesome, say a bay state brownstone, but you'll get better housing [hopefully] as the years go on. the large dorms are super social and where you'd probably end up [and want to end up] as a freshman. anyway, bu has every kind of on-campus living you could desire.
when you visit on friday talk to the ambassadors in the office! they're like walking students waiting to tell you everything you want to know about bu [they should introduce themselves to you & they'll be wearing kick ass navy blue polos].</p>
<p>xoenjoli88, is bay state the place they call "the beach"? cause i thought that was what made the school seem pretty much like a campus - i love that area! lol.</p>
<p>lol - the beach is a patch of grass off of bay state - behind cas & the chapel and in front of the law school. the entire area is so nice! i hate comm ave & couldn't live in warren [the most popular freshmen dorm] because of that. bay state is quieter, prettier, and gives me a campus-like feel.</p>
<p>it's the best part of campus!</p>
<p>I think that there is a pretty decent amount of school spirit here at BU. It's not in the traditional, football-team rooting sense, but most everyone I know is involved in some sort of club or sport and BU feels like its own little community - even with 20,000 or so students it really has a "homey" feel and the students are VERY friendly and open to hanging out with whoever.</p>
<p>The campus is laid out along Comm. Ave, which means it's not compact. The end toward downtown extends all the way into Kenmore Square, which is where Fenway Park is. My kid lives there. BU has a vast mix of housing - and the housing numbers for next year were assigned so it's a big topic now. You can live in a small dorm, a specialty house (a brownstone) on the quiet street behind Kenmore and Comm. Ave, in apartments on the Brookline side of the campus, in large dorms like Warren or the West Campus dorms or in the growing Student Village. StuVi is now almost all jrs and srs but they've broken ground for 2 new towers that will open in about 2 years. </p>
<p>The campus is not particularly pretty; it's urban. The buildings vary. CAS, for example, is an attractive older building. COM and ENG front on a park on Comm Ave, while SMG is brand new - as is SHA. CFA and CGS are at the top of the list for renovations. </p>
<p>The BU Beach is the are behind the GSU (the Union - think food court) and the library and law school. It has wireless as of this week! BU has a fair amount of green space and they're looking at schemes to cover over the area where the turnpike cuts through - but that's a ways off. </p>
<p>BU also has direct access to the Charles River. There's a boathouse almost under the BU Bridge and a couple of pedestrian bridges that run from BU over the highway to the riverside. You can sail on the river, which is a big, wide basin. A park runs along the river all the way downtown and people use the path for running, biking and blading. You can go all the way out to Watertown and back but a typical loop is to the Science Museum or the Longfellow Bridge (great view from on top) and back or about 4 to 5 miles. The part farther in town is called the Esplanade and has a lagoon and the Hatch Shell where they have concerts and movies. </p>
<p>Unlike some urban schools, BU also has playing fields at campus. FitRec is simply a giant, amazing facility and Agganis Arena has everything from concerts and hockey game to ice shows, but there is also an entire set of athletic facilities in West Campus.</p>
<p>Lergnom,</p>
<p>You are a great resource of BU info. </p>
<p>Are you in BU faculty or Grad school?</p>
<p>No. I have a kid at BU but I know this stuff mostly because I've lived next to BU for years. I also know people there. </p>
<p>If you come to visit, they have some BU presentations and tours but you should take time to check out the surroundings because they are an important part of BU. Back Bay is both a wealthy neighborhood and the main upscale shopping area, while Allston is the funky end, filled with terrific, mostly cheap, ethnic restaurants, some great thrift stores and really a whole mish-mosh of stuff. Kenmore Square will become very lively in a week when the Red Sox open at home and that's also the night club center - which also has a huge outpost (The Paradise) at West Campus. Cross over a bridge to the esplanade and walk along the river with its views of the city. Go to Espresso Royale, across from the GSU. This would be your home, not just your dorm room and classes.</p>
<p>Wow! Sounds wonderful! I can't wait to visit with my S who just got in BU with scholorship. </p>
<p>He was feeling so down for a day with Harvard rejection letter but bounced back the next day and said to me " I would rather be in the top 1% at BU than a nobody at Harvard". I am thankful that he is resilient.</p>
<p>I can't wait to start visiting him at Boston. He loves the place. He spent his summer at Harvard taking undergrad courses (for credit). </p>
<p>Somehow, I had never visited north of the river though. We plan to visit in April. Thanks much for all the info you have been posting so earnestly. It's a great resource for parents and kids.</p>
<p>As much as people say BU doesn't have a campus... it sort of does. It's just fragmented and stretched out really far. But as far being in the city... most of the people on the streets are students. I consider going into the city as in taking the T inbound a few stops. BU obviously doesn't have the grassy campus feel like Penn State, but it's not the complete opposite. Warren personally, is an eyesore, but the brownstones are beautiful (on Bay State).</p>
<p>Dorms... I think you really can't predict it. Some floors are social, others are really quiet. This applies to even the big dorms like Warren and West. But chances are, your floor will be social versus say... a South campus appartment.</p>
<p>Too bad the chances of freshmen securing a brownstone is fairly small.. the prospect of living in a brownstone was one of the reasons why I applied to BU lol. hopefully i'll live in a brownstone (if i do end up going to BU) sophomore year-senior year!</p>
<p>Dawn, even though you might not be in a brownstone freshman year, your more likely to get one sophomore year and most likely during junior year!</p>
<p>Dawn, you may change your mind depending on your friends. You might, for example, meet people who have an apartment in south campus. South is right over a bridge (over the turnpike) from the heart of campus and is next to a little shopping area in Brookline with a market, a bunch of restaurants, etc. Very quiet, nice area. You can get "pulled into" a housin arrangement or you can swap into one. You never know.</p>
<p>Now that there is the new FitRec center and Student Village that adds a whole new dimension vis a vis a campus feel. Student Village areas have a cobble stone courtyard feel with a little outdoor cafe. When you visit get off Com Ave. and meander back between the buildings and the river. There are grassy areas, the Bay St Brownstones, that patch of grass with the Zen sculture and both South and West campus have more of a traditional campus setting. West has the 3 buildings connected to a central courtyard and great views of the river and city plus a terrific dining area. Still, it is urban but you can take a long walk straight down Comm. Ave. and the tree lined streets, or a quick T ride, and hit Boston Common for a nature fix or hang by the river or Esplanade along the campus.</p>
<p>PHARMAGEL
Which scholarship did your s receive? Congratulations. Remember even if he is in the top percentage of the student body in terms of his stats with a huge school like BU that is a lot of students. Will he attend the Honors Program?</p>
<p>Back to the campus tour.... don't miss popping into the lobby and inner areas inside the new SMG building. I think its breathtaking, OK maybe thats a little much, but it does have a WOW factor. The Student Village has their reception room covering the entire top floor with wall to wall windows and views of Boston and the river. It is not pretty and bucolic like many smaller schools or like Harvard. You get a little grit with an urban environment but theres also a different level of excitement and the city becomes an extended campus. When you visit be sure to check out the Newberry St area and Little Italy for ethnic Boston restaurants. The Common has the swans in the pond and that area encompasses Emerson.</p>
<p>North End, not Little Italy. Students will find affordable ethnic food is mostly next to BU in Allston or near BU in the Fenway.</p>
<p>They've broken ground for the two new StuVi towers. One will be like the current ones but the other will be more of a high-rise modern dorm, probably more for freshman. </p>
<p>You should see the pond in the public garden before they fill it each spring. Full of yuck - and then it becomes bucolic. They bring in swans, you know. One was stolen a few years back. My favorite, though, remains the Make Way For Ducklings statue nearby. In the summer, it's kind of stroller heaven for toddler photos.</p>