<p>We are taking my son to campus for the open house on the weekend of October 20th. What would be within a student's walking distance or a usual student destination on the T that would give him more of a feel for what it would be like as a freshman living on campus? Something other than all of the things that the open house will show him. Also any fabulous restaurant ideas? Last time in Boston I think the restaurant we liked was Umbria but might want to try some place new.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Just walk down to Newbury Street - it is the hot shopping/eating area…if you go in the other direction, you will be about a 5 minute walk to Fenway Park…it is a win win either way.</p>
<p>Definitely head over to the North End, a short T or cab ride from NU. There are so many amazing restaurants to choose from… Fiore, Lucca, Antico Forno and The Florentine Cafe just to name a few.</p>
<p>Symphony is a good area to walk around too-- St. Stephens is a really pretty street where many undergrads live, down Westland which has a Whole Foods and Cappy’s Pizza (popular late-night stop), maybe down Mass Ave to Newbury. The strip of Huntington between Prudential and campus is also worth checking out-- some very popular NU spots like Panera, Starbucks, Espresso Royale, Our House bar, Temptations.</p>
<p>All the city stops like North End are fun too, but as a college kid you spent most of your time in the areas immediately surrounding campus, both the symphony side and the Columbus ave side.</p>
<p>As Emily said, “student” stuff would be around campus (Symphony/Columbus/Prudential Center). </p>
<p>Weekends during the day with friends for little mini special trips would be Newbury or North End- maybe Cambridge if you were feeling really fiesty. When I moved off campus, I branched out to spend more time on Boylston and Newbury, since I lived around there.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d walk from campus out on Huntington towards the Prudential Center (see the Christian Science Center). Cut through the Pru, get out on the Boylston side. Then I’d walk along Boylston all the way down to the Boston Commons, checking out the shops. Roam the Frog Pond and the commons a bit, maybe check out some of the cafes around Emerson. If I actually felt like shopping, I’d wander over to Downtown Crossing. Then if we felt like continuing to walk- we’d cut through downtown over to North End, get munchies at Fanueil Hall, hang out at the waterfront for a bit, then get lazy and take the train back to campus. Can’t even count the amount of times I’ve done that route.</p>
<p>Great detailed ideas! Thanks</p>
<p>A real freshman living on campus will spend a lot of time on campus. It would be fun to explore Boston too, but if time permits have him explore campus areas (library, rec center, dorms - IV/Honors is lovely, student center).</p>
<p>I echo what others have said - my freshman daughter and her friends have not ventured very far on any regular basis. Her travel circle is mostly the museum of fine arts, the shops down Mass Ave (CVS, Whole Foods), and the public library on Copley. She is in IV and they mostly socialize in IV: the dining hall, the lobby spaces, the classrooms downstairs, the gym on 2 (by the laundry), and the various common rooms. Even in terms of doing school work - she uses the computers and printers in IV. I would recommend checking out the curry center and rebecca’s cafe (my daughter’s favorite on campus eatery).</p>
<p>^colorado_mom</p>
<p>I am hoping that these places are on the campus tour. If not I will add them to my list.
Thanks</p>
<p>I think tour content does vary. IV/Honors is a bit out of the way, so I don’t remember if we saw that on a regular tour. </p>
<p>Most college tours point at the library… but we used to like to peek inside as much as allowed (there may be security restrictions). We used to also like to take a break (lunch of coffee) in areas where student mingle. Or buy a meal in the a dining hall.</p>
<p>Sign up for both the campus tour (the “Explore Northeastern” tour) and the International Village tour. Our campus tour walked us into West Village H where we sat in a classroom for about 10 minutes of general Q&A with the audience. Then to Huntington Ave. so we could see where the Green Line stops, across Huntington into a campus grocery store (we could see part of the Marino fitness center from the lobby but we didn’t explore the fitness center itself) then into Stetson Hall (East I think) to see a (depressing-looking) freshman dorm room (but not into the cafeteria), through the Curry Student Center, past the entrance to the library, across the Centennial quad (with slacklines set up there, which was cool) and back to the visitor center. (I might have missed a stop or two in this description, plus it was raining during our tour so they might have taken a slightly different route to minimize our exposure to the rain.) </p>
<p>The IV tour took us through the Ruggles Station and then into the IV building. We rode the elevator up to see the laundry room (with “smart” machines that you can check remotely to see if they’re free) and the workout area, then up to the 17th floor so we could look at the view of Boston from two different windows. Then we visited a (non-realistic) dorm room. It was a single room for a handicapped student (unoccupied) that didn’t have the configuration of a typical honors room. The typical honors freshman room configuration is to have two double rooms, connected by a bathroom. The bathroom has “smart” locks so that when a student enters and locks the lock on one side, it automatically locks on the other side so that you don’t have to worry about being walked in on by someone in the other double room. After this, the tour was basically over. The guide mentioned the dining hall and the Jamba Juice and coffee shop that are in the building, but didn’t take us there. I was disappointed by that. I strongly suggest that you eat a meal or two in the IV cafeteria. I had a breakfast and lunch in there. You don’t need permission, anyone can eat there. Breakfast was $8.25 and lunch was about $12 (?). Probably not worth it money-wise but it was good to get an idea of what sorts of foods they serve. Variety was great for a meat-eater but I’m vegetarian and the vegetarian/vegan station was boring - not many selections and they appear to be almost exactly the same items every day. (I would love to be proven wrong here by anyone with more information!)</p>
<p>Thanks everybody…all great suggestions!</p>
<p>Neuchimie…Your suggestions were exactly what we were looking for. We followed almost as written (with a few wrong turns but ending up in the same places by backtracking) but did not see inside of the Pru until on our way back to the T. My son loved the areas surrounding campus. He’s not sure about the school though but keeping an open mind for now. I highly recommend your suggestions for anyone else wanting to get a feel for the areas surrounding campus.
Open House days do not allow time for a tour of IV but will save for another visit if son becomes more serious about Northeastern.</p>