<p>Hi everyone
I am a rising sophomore at BU. However, I put in a transfer to Emory University and got accepted. Now I am at in a complete limbo. I have no idea what to do–I thought I wanted to leave BU (because of its big size and lack of personal attention, as well as grade deflation) but I dont know about starting all over again.
I was concerned about BUs grade deflation, my GPA (3.3), and prospects for medical school. But Emory is even harder, but without the grade deflation problem. It is also expensive to go to, considering my younger sister is going to college this year too.</p>
<p>Though Emory is a better school, Ive been reading everywhere that I shouldnt come trusting the name because it is virtually unknown. BU has international recognition (there are sooOOoOoo many international students) because it is a bigger school and in a major city.</p>
<p>I love the city of Boston and Atlanta kinda blows compared to Boston …and its such a fun college town.</p>
<p>But theres also the prestige of attending a top 20 school </p>
<p>Im stuck. I really dunno.</p>
<p>EMORY vs. Boston University. Anyone Say Anything!</p>
<p>You don't say what your major is, which could have some impact. My wife and I attended Emory years ago, and our son will be a freshman at BU this year. We have always loved Boston and rank it as our number one city in the northeast. However, we both loved living near Atlanta and the southern lifestyle and didn't really want to leave it. Cost of living there is probably a lot less, too, and you don't get many blizzards.</p>
<p>Emory's stature has grown quite a bit since we were there. If you are interested in law or medicine, or even one of the sciences, such as chemistry, you probably can't go wrong.</p>
<p>My impression is that BU probably has something for everyone, and while individual attention may be lacking, college overall is what you make of it, not how much attention you get in class. There are always classmates and many other sources of help.</p>
<p>Our experience is that choice of grad school, and advisor there, is much more important than your undergraduate choice. Of course, if you are just going to major in philosophy and stop with a BA, it probably doesn't matter where you go, jobs are going to be much harder to come by.</p>
<p>Frankly, if you like Boston, I wouldn't transfer unless you have a very specific reason, such as "Emory has a great XXXXXX program that BU can't match." I wouldn't base the decision on stature of the school.</p>
<p>Sorry, I missed the part about being interested in medicine.</p>
<p>You probably can't go wrong at either school academically.</p>
<p>Have you ever been to Atlanta? It is quite different than anything in the north. I was from the midwest before going to Atlanta and I loved it there.</p>
<p>It may come down to whether you are more miserable in hot weather or cold weather. Our son would never consider Atlanta because he hates hot weather.</p>
<p>Emory, by the way, is not virtually unknown. It has a great reputation internationally although anything with the name Boston attached to it will have more instant recognition. Yes, Emory is a very difficult school and still may be known as the Harvard of the South.</p>
<p>Yes, along with Vanderbilt, Duke, UVA, and UNC-Chapel Hill, Emory claims to be the Harvard of the South... :)
Undergraduate instruction in the liberal arts and sciences is almost certainly better at Emory. If you were in COM, CFA, or maybe Sargent at BU, I would say Emory would serve you rather poorly in comparison, since BU is so strong in those preprofessional areas. (I'm a violinist in CFA. Incidentally, my dad used to teach at Emory, and I almost went to Vanderbilt.) However, for general premed studies in the arts and sciences, I would say the instruction at Emory is likely to be better.</p>
<p>if i were you.... i would stay at BU... UNLESS you fully plan to go down south for a job later in your career... the connections you can make in boston are endless... im not sure i would say the same for Atlanta.. But it also matters if you wanna study down south... its your call, but dont just leave just to leave... make sure the benefits outweigh the risks</p>
<p>I already paid my deposit. One of the major issues I have at BU is grade deflation. Oh, and I'm not in CFA, COM, or SAR. I'm in CAS---which isn't too promising. I don't know.
I am sad about the networking I can do in Boston, but in the end, the most important thing for me right now is getting into medical school, and things weren't starting off so well at BU...</p>
<p>Have you read all the info on line about the end to the so called grade deflation issue since the new head of BU came in and the old dean that championed tough grading is on his way out? It looks like it is being addressed and when a statistical analysis was reported on line it was barely evident except in a handful of specific classes. I think the spread was 3.0 vs 3.01</p>
<p>Starting all over can be tough since the Sophs will have already made friends but worth it and perhaps not too difficult if you are the outgoing type. Both are great schools so it may come down to the southern vs. Boston lifestyle.</p>
<p>FYI, the NYT ran an article on BU's grading policy. It's not deflation but a slower rate of inflation than at many schools. The number of A's and B's has increased but at a slower rate than at some other schools. Not all, btw, just some - and some, it appears, have simply thrown in the towel and stopped grading meaningfully at all.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! =) Hopefully everything will be fine.</p>
<p>Oh, and I did read the NYtimes article. Frankly, I just don't want to deal with grade deflation or a slower rate of inflation, or whatever. I just want to go to a "normal" school that does not grade on such a harsh curve!</p>
<p>These minutes are from March. There are later ones but you'll have to search for them. They actually conducted research across BU and the less inflated grades situation was not as significant as the myth of it. It was practically non-existant, the numbers were very small and they identified the specific classes and professors that were being addressed
in relation to this issue.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, schools with inflated grades are dealing with that issue since thats more where you see the problems. Someone like you, whom BU could lose because of this perception, should definitely send an email to the new Provst mentioned in these minutes or call and let your voice be heard since it can only help accelerate the "denouncement" plan with accompanying formal BU stance on the matter.</p>
<p>My S is a rising BU Jr. with a GPA of 3.7. He feels he only had one or two courses, Freshman year, where he felt there was a curve issue. If you check on memories section of BULiveJournal-BU Unite there is support for this perception and they identify professors to avoid. (as well as via ratemyprofessor.com )</p>