Kenmore Square, Fenway and Back Bay are all a short walk from the BU. The walking time varies depending on which end of Comm Ave. you start from, but the shopping and restaurant destinations of Newbury and Boylston Streets in Back Bay are easy to get to from BU, by foot or the Green Line.
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sorry for the tangent, but I have heard that McGill and Montreal can lose some of their appeal if a student does not speak French. Anyone care to comment on this?
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McGill is an English language university and Montreal is home to 600,000 anglophones. 70% of the population is bilingual.
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Agree that the Museum District/Hermann Park and Rice Village are both areas to check out since the kids spend quite a bit of time at both. Hope you enjoy your visit! Houston has great restaurants and oddly really good ice cream places. Every time we visit my daughter we get ice cream, and we are from the midwest which is dairy farm central!
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She has already applied but Tulane got a thumbs up. D keeps her cards close to her chest so we don’t expect effusive reviews.
Prior to our Tulane visit we took an interesting tour of the French Quarter and ate some good restaurants. So, positive impression of NOLA. The Tulane campus has green spaces with huge Live Oak trees that support some sort of tree fern. The admissions person (graduate, current grad student) and tour guide both seemed extremely outgoing and social so I was surprised my introvert wasn’t overwhelmed. Both stressed relationships with professors and positive academic experiences.
As a parent, I worry about party culture and strong Greek presence. Guides made is seem different that other southern schools, but who knows. Interestingly, both had a connection to a club Ultimate which is my daughter’s sport.
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Back on theme of thread?
Visited Swarthmore and UPenn.
Swarthmore - off the list, though perhaps more due to her preexisting view of it as being overly intense than anything we saw on the visit. Gorgeous campus, convenient to Philly. D didn’t like the honors program which she thought created pressure and two tiers of students within a very small school. Just generally didn’t vibe there.
UPenn - way up - our first larger school and first urban school. Did seem a bit impersonal and more sink or swim then the LACs we have been visiting (tour guide mentioned connecting with his advisor once per term by email) but she was very energized by all the amazing facilities, kids that she found very smart but more down to earth than those at other Ivies she visited and really like the campus within the city. Of course getting in, especially without playing the ED card, is another story… still opens up other bigger and urban schools as possibilities.
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One of my kids is a BU grad. The college really is in the city. The T (train) runs through the campus. Very easy walking or riding access to anywhere in the city of Boston. My kid wanted an urban campus with city access…and he says….BU has that. The city of Boston IS the BU campus.
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I agree that you could function at McGill and in Montreal with English only, but why would you want to? Going to McGill would offer an outstanding opportunity to learn and speak Quebecois fluently, which would enrich one’s life in immeasurable ways. No university in the US can offer a comparable experience, even with a year-long study abroad. Access to all of French and Quebecois culture – Poutine, escargot, Anne Hebert, Denys Arcand, delices erable, the best bread imaginable… I wish I had been bold enough to study there rather than at some lame Ivy.
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Agree with Swarthmore perceptions of pressure. Those schools that require all to complete thesis/honors projects seem more beneficial to students than the very selective and competitive Swarthmore way.
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This may have changed, but when I lived in Montreal, it was absolutely impossible to learn Québécois, because the Québécois refused to speak in Québécois to me - the second they heard I was not a native they switched to English and stayed there. Note that I had spent several months in France before moving there and was as fluent in French as I was in English. Didn’t help.
Frankly, if the PP’s kid isn’t worried about going to Tokyo, they shouldn’t be worried about going to Montreal.
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That was our experience in Montreal as well, and my first language was French. As soon as people heard my H speaking English, that was the end of the French. Quebec City however was totally different and everyone was happy to converse in French.
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I also felt that everyone was sizing you up, trying to sort you into the Anglo/Franco buckets before you even opened your mouth. Because I was round faced and fair, but wearing European clothes, people tended to give me the benefit of doubt until I opened my mouth and they heard my accent - didn’t matter that it wasn’t an Anglo accent, just not Québécois.
Yeah, I wouldn’t romanticise just how multicultural Montreal is, especially as compared to a place like NYC. I mean, I liked poutine, but…(shrug).
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Visit the Menil Collection and Rothko Chapel, for sure. Free, world-renowned, close to Rice, and in a bucolic neighborhood.
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Another reminder to stay on topic.
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Very true and exactly why my S didn’t want to attend BU. Fit is really important. He was intrigued with the Boston area but really didn’t want an urban setting. Had to see it to confirm but was easily confirmed upon tour. Not good or bad, just not him. His buddy attended and loved it. Frequently told us stories of outings all over the city. Very easy to navigate Boston and Cambridge. The city really is the campus.
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My husband thought that Swarthmore was prettier than Haverford. S22 went in already biased with the idea that it is very competitive.
Haverford went up even though it was his first choice. He really liked that there were so many single rooms. He kept mentioning the student to tree ratio even though he doesn’t like the outdoors. lol
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You were in Boston and I can’t think that the “central” part of Boston would be that interesting for a college student, if you are thinking the common/ state House/ Downtown Crossing…. He’s right at Kenmore Square, super handy for Fenway Park…not too far from Newbury street (expensive shopping). I haven’t been to Downton Crossing since Filene’s Basement closed. Those were the days…
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I went to High School in Boston. I could never quite figure out the appeal to college kids. Unless you’re old enough to go to the bars, it just never seemed that exciting to me. I was never really into museums or culture in college (nor could I afford it) and I had no $$ to shop so I was never quite sure what college kids did in Boston.
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Please continue any discussions about Boston in PMs or in the Parent Cafe.
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