<p>I only have four more days to make a decision so this is an urgent question. Does the honors program at BU really offer advantages to those students who are participating in it? Do students tend to enjoy the honors classes or are they obscenely difficult? And is there a community among the honors students or is that not really apparent?</p>
<p>Hi Emma, I read your question previously and was hoping a student would answer, but you sound desperate for a response so I'll reply:</p>
<p>My son is a freshman and is in the honors program. The only advantages are honors sections of some courses and honors housing. Honors classes tend to be smaller, more accelerated and have the "best" professors. He will be living in the honors dorm on Bay State Road next year, and I would say that's a huge advantage to live in a brownstone as a sophomore! He met a bunch of fellow honors students at the beginning of the year at an honors retreat and has maintained a strong friendship with several of them. Overall, honors isn't a huge thing at BU but it does offer an opportunity to meet, socialize and study with others who share an aptitude for learning at a more challenging level.
I hope this has been helpful! Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks jjsmom! I'm assuming your son chose to live in regular dorms rather than in brownstones his first year - did he think that was a good choice? And how does your son like BU? I'm trying to decide between BU, GWU, and a full ride at my state school (Maryland), and BU and GW would cost quite a bit more...I'm kind of trying to gauge whether the experience is 'worth' the extra money.</p>
<p>Hi again emma,</p>
<p>My son is in Warren this year (and yes, it was his first choice, based upon what we read here on College Confidential!) but he's not thrilled with it. But, he's dealing. :). It's just a bit too crazy for his taste. I think if he could have done it all over again, he would have applied for either of the honors houses or the Core Curriculum house (he is completing his CAS academic requirements thru Core vs divisional, which turned out to be a great choice for him. The honors sections of his Core classes are his favorites!). The specialty houses are more intimate, less noisy, and I think he would have benefited from the camraderie of being with others he has met in his core and honors classes. Barring that, I think he would have enjoyed Towers more than Warren Towers as a freshman. Towers is still a large dorm with all of the benefits of Warren (tons of freshmen, great location -- on Bay State Road!! -- decent dining room, Late Night, etc) but isn't as overwhelmingly immense as Warren Towers.</p>
<p>He turned down his reach school, Vassar, to go to BU. There were several reasons for this. Firstly, he decided that going to small school in a bubble with lots of faculty hand holding and with kids with whom he was very much alike in terms of personality, intellectuality, interests, background, wasn't going to be much of a social learning experience. BU offered him the opportunity to reach beyond his comfort level and to really mature. BU is definitely succeeding in that regard!! He is joining clubs, making new friends of all backgrounds and interests, seeking out faculty for assistance when needed, exploring the city of Boston, and more, and doing so with independence because that's the only way to survive in a school and city this large. Also, he fell in love with Boston. It's a wonderful place to go to college! Finally, he received a very generous, 1/2 tuition, merit scholarship, which will help him to afford graduate school. </p>
<p>Whether the BU experience is "worth the money" is a very subjective thing. My other son turned down a full ride at Rutgers to attend Tufts and in retrospect it was the right choice for him. He is graduating in two weeks and already has a dream job lined up. What do your parents say? Is money an issue? If not, you have to go where you feel the right "fit."</p>
<p>I hope this is helpful!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a long and informative response! BU and GWU would each run me a little over 25,000 a year - thanks to merit aid. Like your other son, I was accepted to Tufts, and while I absolutely love the school and the intellectual yet quirky environment, it would run me around 15,000 a year more than the other two schools...so while it continues to be at the back of my mind I've eliminated it as an option for the most part. </p>
<p>My dad has become kind of stingy with college money since I do have the full ride as an option, but my mom is willing to pay for either of the schools (though I feel some guilt in taking the money where I could go to a great school for free). There's also the matter of being able to use the money she would give me with for grad school (or law school if I choose to take that path). </p>
<p>Basically there's no obvious right answer. So this last week before the decision has to be made has basically been absolute torture for me. But its really helpful to hear about your sons great experiences with the school! Has he found that the environment is intellectual at all? I definitely want to go somewhere where people are capable of having fun, but I also don't want to go to a school where rich kids take college as an opportunity to party 24/7...I do care about learning.</p>
<p>Hi again!
Well, overall, my son hasn't found the B.U. environment as overwhelmingly "intellectual." If he wanted that, he would have gone to Vassar. What B.U. offers is the opportunity to have a great balance of fun (hockey, Boston, hanging out, and yes, "partying") with as much intellectual challenge as he wants. The latter he finds in his honors classes, his Core Curriculum classes, and especially in his extracurricular activities, Model UN and the Philosophy club. Yes, there are those who skip class, choose classes based upon the professor's easy grading pattern versus the content of the class material, but I think you'll find "them" everywhere. B.U. is so large and has so many opportunities, it's really up to you what you get out of your education. If you're like my son (and you sound like might be!) seek out those activities, classes, housing, and so on, to best fit your vision of your collegiate experience and you won't be disappointed!</p>
<p>I have relatives at Vassar. I wouldn't say "intellectual" is the word. Maybe MIT or some other tech school are actively intellectual in many dimensions, but I don't think many places are "intellectual" generally. That said, BU is not "intellectual" in part because it's simply too big to be, which may have been your point. There's a broad range of people in a big place, spread across many colleges and disciplines. Within your realm of study, you have intellectual interaction but you can't expect 16k people to act that way.</p>