Oxy vs BU

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I got into 2 of my top choice schools with considerable financial aid (over 40k in grants to both).</p>

<p>Obviously, this decision will be mine to make, but I was hoping for some wisdom from the CC forums to help me out. I'll be visiting Oxy in a week for an overnight visit, but because of financial reasons, I'm not visiting BU. I suppose the "plan" is that if I absolutely loathe Oxy then I'll go to BU. With that, there's also the possibility of BU being better for me. Anyway, enough of this rambling. </p>

<p>What I plan to go into: Sociology or Political Science (something in the humanities... Not sure yet). Graduate school is the eventual plan. </p>

<p>Oxy:
Pros- Warm weather, beautiful campus, intimate classroom environment, strong academics, a strong core curriculum that centers on a more global understanding
Cons- Too small? I don't want to feel stifled, LA is hard to get around w/o a car, smog, traffic if I do have a car</p>

<p>BU:
Pros- good academics, Boston is a fantastic academic environment, it's a historical city that is much easier to get around, the school is large which means a greater number and variety of people, as a university there would be more academic diversity than a LAC
Cons- lack of traditional campus, COLD, too large? Sacrifice intimacy of Oxy, potentially indifferent administration</p>

<p>These aren't all my thoughts, but a summary of them. I'd really appreciate it of anyone could clarify some of my concerns over the schools and share any thoughts on what you think about them. These are all from accounts online/seconday sources, so I don't really have a true understanding of the schools at present. Thank you so much. Ultimately, I realize it's my decision. But I'd love some help.</p>

2

<p>You would have to visit BU before you considered attending. I thought it was the right school for me, then i visited it. There is no campus feel to it. which was disappointed me. I thought for sure id be applying there, but now im not. Of all the schools i visited, BU was my least favorite, but im glad i visited it because i now know not to apply their.
The academics are great but you absolutely HAVE to visit BU. Can you really envision yourself their for the next two years?
As I said before and what you said, it lacks a traditional campus. That was a HUGE turnoff for me and was the ultimate deciding factor for me.
Ive never been to occidental, but BU is definately not for everybody.</p>

3

<p>Yeah, BU’s lack of campus is a great concern. </p>

<p>I guess it boils down to liking Oxy better as a school, and Boston better as a city to go to college in.</p>

4

<p>These two campuses are about as different as you can get. OXY is in a residential area of Pasadena, BU has virtually no campus and in bounded by city streets, and two major thoroughfares. This is offset by having Boston at your doorstep.</p>

<p>The only other thing I’ll add is that BU has a very Northeast big city vibe to it, it is more in-your-face than OXY will ever be. The attitude may be a shock if you didn’t grow up with it.</p>

5

<p>Oxy! But really it should be your choice. While I didn’t apply to either BU or Oxy, I did consider Oxy but decided it was too far away. But it sounds like it’s not too far away for you? Anyway, you’d have a much more intimate learning environment at Oxy, if that’s important to you. I also think people would be more interested in learning for learning’s sake and exploring a variety of interests as opposed to BU, where I think there would be more of a “career” vibe. But this is just my opinion. Good luck, you have two great options!</p>

6

<p>I live in Iowa so either way, I’ll be going very far away, haha. It will be a shock to my Midwestern environment either way too, I think.</p>

7

<p>My vote is for Oxy. I will tell you that the are around Oxy is not necessarily the best part of LA, and might be a huge negative when comparing it to Boston. But considering the close intimacy of the campus and the interaction you’ll have with other students, you are bound to make friends with someone who has a car.</p>

<p>Also, when taking into consideration grad school interests, I think Oxy will be better at “holding your hand” in guiding you through the process. The small classes and the interaction you’ll have with professors should be an asset when it comes down to getting letters of recommendations.</p>

<p>The one thing that I think BU has over Oxy, might be the career resources. Large universities usually have better resources in aiding you to find a job.</p>

8

<p>I think I’m leaning towards Oxy. Hopefully I love it when I visit.</p>

<p>Thank you everybody for the insight [:</p>