<p>Hello,
I am a high school senior looking to apply to BU. I wanted to know how difficult it really is. BU is one of my top choices along with GWU and U of Miami. I really like this university and i am thinking of applying early decision, However I am not sure if i have any chance of actually getting in. How does BU compare to universities such as NYU or GWU? I am living in Geneva Switzerland right now and going to an international school. I was thinking that may be a plus even though I am a US citizen. Right now, my grades are well, alright. In Freshman year I was in the US and received all A+ with a nearly perfect GPA. The next year, I received anywhere from A- to a B-. This year i have received an average of 4.5- 5 out of 7, (about 1 B-/ C+ maybe) in the International Baccalaureate , which is not great. It is an extremely rigorous curriculum and it is challenging to receive top marks. On my SAT, i did not do fantastic, scoring a RC- 640 M-570 W- 640 for a total of 1850. I really like this school and want to apply, but also want to be realistic. It seems i do not fit within the average range, but not sure about that. I heard BU has some sort of program where you are basically accepted with an asterisk and you are accepted but have to take a year of basic courses with support until you join the regular program. My college advisor told me this program existed is they see potential in you but you did not fit there normal criteria. Is this true? Im sorry to dump this on you all, but i just wanted to ask some people who have gotten into BU or have experience with the school whether or not i have a chance of getting in or whether, realistically, it is not normally possible.
Thanks</p>
<p>BU is probably better than the other schools you have mentioned above taking into account a number of factors. Even though in the current rankings BU may or may not be higher than these schools, in the near future its rankings are going to improve drastically because of the lower acceptance rates and high number of applications. In the last 2 years alone the acceptance rate has gone down from 58% to 45% which is a 13% drop and might slip to 40% next year. You must work harder in your IB scores and try getting a higher score on the SAT and you could also take the SAT 2’s to give a boost to your application. If you will get in or not is a separate question but you must try and apply if you really want to go to BU. I am an international student and I was accepted to all the schools you mentioned above but chose BU because of a number of factors. It is a great school you just have to believe in yourself and work harder! Hope this helped :D</p>