<p>I am 90% sure I am going to end up at BU as a freshman this fall, so I have a question (well, questions). I come from a very small, rural town mostly comprised of farmers. I live down the road from a buffalo farm. My town is the kind of place where most people don’t ever lock their doors (shh, don’t tell anyone). Does anyone on this forum who currently attends BU (or knows someone who does) come from a small town? Am I going to die from the shock of moving to a huge city like Boston (jkjk)? Do you have any suggestions for making the transition easier?</p>
<p>I feel the same way. I’m from the midwest and I am heavily considering BU (I’ve always wanted to go to college in a big city), but I’m not sure how much of a culture shock it is going to be. I suppose I’ll just jump in and try to get used to it from the beginning.</p>
<p>Yeah… I’m not listing any of the main freshman residences in my top 5 in hopes of getting one a bit quieter and smaller to make the transition a bit more smooth, haha</p>
<p>The problem with smaller dorms is that the smaller dorms tend to have more Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors who have already made their friends. In the larger freshmen dorm, everybody is looking to meet new people. However, if you do choose to and are able to live in a smaller dorm, the key to being happy at BU is to get involved. They have a big student activities fair the weekend after you arrive at BU and there are tons of options to get involved for every interest.</p>
<p>Also, when you go to orientation during the summer, they have activities which allows you to get to know Boston better. During the orientation they really push you to be open and meet people. Also, definitely do the FYSOP program in the fall. My son decided to work another week at his job instead of going and he was sorry that he did not do the program. FYSOP is great way to learn about Boston, meet friends while doing community service and then have time at night to have fun in the city with the people that you have met during the day/week.</p>
<p>FYSOP stands for Freshmen Year Service Opportunities program. The program runs the week before the weekend that the dorms open up to move in. During the week you will be assigned to groups and you will perform community service around Boston based on where you interests lie- perhaps working with kids, building and painting projects, etc. You can read about the specifics on the BU website. Aside from the plus of performing community service and getting to know the city and college projects through your work efforts, you will also get to know other fellow freshmen. You can work together during the day and then meet to have fun in the evening. The other plus is that you will be able to move into your dorms a week early and avoid the craziness of the main move in days for BU and other Boston colleges over the Labor Day weekend. Many who have done have said that they made their best friends in college through this week long process. Also, it is a great way to meet people in a more structured/smaller environment.</p>
<p>[FYI, I’m actually pretty sure I will not be attending BU anymore, but you guys can still comment in case future prospective students have the same question. I’ll just unsubscribe from this thread. Thanks for all of your input!]</p>
<p>I visited on Friday, and I and my parents kind of felt like it wasn’t the right school for me. I could definitely be happy there, but I don’t think I’d be as happy as I would be at some of my other options (namely, a gap year and applying to smaller schools). I’m coming from a class size of 65, and I’m used to being “known,” if that makes sense. BU is an awesome school and I love it, but college is a decision that’s going to impact the next four years of my life, let alone the rest of it in general, so I want to be sure that I am going to go to a school that fits me as perfectly as possible. :)</p>
<p>That being said, there is a possibility that my college counselor will tell me that taking that gap year is the worst decision I could make in my entire life, in which case it’d be back to a decision between BU and another school.</p>
<p>I know this thread is basically closed and all but I’ll add my 2 cents! </p>
<p>I’m a freshman at BU and I came from a small town! My graduating class was 90 people and we all came from 7 towns to one high school (and some people rode tractors to school). Living in the city is a dream if you’ve always known you’ve wanted to be in one! I’ve always wanted to get out and see what else was out there so it’s been a pretty great experience for me! </p>
<p>Similar to you, in high school everyone knew my name, because, well, everyone knew everybody’s name. It is a little difficult going from that into a class of 4000+ where no one knows you unless you make the effort. </p>
<p>Right now, I live in Warren Towers and I got assigned to one of the (dreaded) all-female floors. A lot of the floors in Warren are really close and spend a lot of time together, but all-female floors tend not to be like that. One of my friends (who I actually met at orientation) lives in an all-female floor too in another tower, and her floor is just like mine. I know some people who live in West and love it, but it’s pretty similar to Warren. If I had to do it all over again, I would have chosen something smaller like a Bay State Brownstone, even if it’s not truly the “freshman experience.” Warren is overall too noisy and crowded and big for me. There’s over 1000 people living in the same building, and when they’re all trying to get to class, or go to the dining hall or get in the elevator, everything is packed and crowded and just overall really annoying. </p>
<p>So would you say to not request a floor that consists all of the same gender? Are the all female floors just competitive and dramatic or… what’s the problem?</p>
<p>I think it’s more of a luck thing. Like some dorms, such as Towers has all-male and all-female floors no matter what. In Warren, most floors are co-ed, but sometimes you get unlucky and wind up on an all-female floor. I’m not sure if you can request to not be put on one.
What I’ve noticed from all-female floors is they are dramatic, but they are also less friendly in the sense that there is less floor bonding. It’s a different dynamic than having a co-ed floor I guess, but I’m not really sure why it’s so different, besides the fact that there are no males. </p>
<p>There’s nothing much to the questionnaire. You basically is a space to state any special concerns or request. I think in most cases you will be put on a coed floor unless you specifically ask for a single sex floor. However,if it’s important to you, let them know. Also, you will most likely get put in Warren, West or Towers which are larger dorms. If you really want to be considered for a smaller dorm, you should state so and why.</p>
<p>Back in 2009, DD and I attended an information session at BU. There were four students on the panel. I have no idea what the other three students looked like or said, but I will never forget the student like you. This student was magnetic - pretty sure almost everyone in the audience both laughed and cried during his speech as he described his transition to BU. Short story - never been outside of Nebraska - never been on a plane - didn’t own a suitcase. His town by his own description had zero diversity - he had never met a non-white, Jewish, or gay person in his life. This amazing student packed up his belonging in cardboard boxes, and took the T to campus for freshman orientation. Unfortunately, he took the T and schepped his stuff to orientation at… Boston College, where they told him that he had not gotten in. What a nightmare until he pulled out his admissions letter and they pointed him back down the green line to Boston University. He moved into his room, and within 5 minutes had learned that his random roommate was gay, black, Jewish, and hysterically funny. They became friends immediately, and roomed together all four years. He talked of some homesickness early on - he was sitting in a huge lecture class taking a test and quietly crying because he didn’t have the funds to fly home for a friend’s funeral. The professor tapped him on the shoulder, took him outside, and “adopted” him for the rest of his four years into his own family. Pretty sure he was responsible for a large spike in BU admissions - best ad for BU I’ve ever seen. FYI, there are several BU professors who open their homes for Thanksgiving dinners every year to any student who is in town - the University is quite aware that not everyone flies home on breaks. </p>
<p>@shoot4moon me or some of the other posters in this thread? I’m taking a gap year and actually was hired at my school as an intern (will be teaching English, tutoring, faculty advising some groups and acting as an advisor for students). Teaching isn’t my ultimate goal in life, but I’m still SO excited for this next year, and I know I made the right decision. :)</p>