the main issue with my BU acceptance is that they gave me a weird plan where i take a gap semester and then start in the college of general studies and switch to arts and sciences. i know i can take electives for my major during these 2 years in cgs but it’s just really off-putting and not what i wanted at all (would’ve preferred guaranteed transfer over this).
rutgers is appealing because i’m already familiar with it, could go straight into my major, would easily find roommates from my current high school, etc; but it’s not prestigious in terms of name like BU is and might not have as many opportunities.
BU is appealing because it is extremely well-known and i like the city of boston, which would be a nice change of pace from the suburbs i’m used to. cons are the admission plan and the slight increase in price. is it worth it?
thanks everyone!
Rutgers is very well known. Prestige is a relative term. I wouldn’t use that to base your decision on.
How long would it take you to complete all the requirements for a CS degree? A gap semester might put you off track in terms of sequences. Would you need an extra term? Some upper level classes get filled up quickly. It sounds like you got a considerable amount of aid at BU. Is that going to be carried forward for all years? Even potentially if you need extra time?
Also for CS, internships are key. See what the internship placement is like. Also look at the career center and find out what types of companies are hiring CS grads from each school
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You say “BU (OOS)” in your title. BU is a private university that doesn’t differentiate between in and out of state students.
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Rutgers is well known. So that’s not a reason.
The issue with the gap semester is how do you integrate when others know everyone?
However, others will be in the same boat. So they will have a cohort of sort.
Our friends kid did it. Went to England in the summer with the program.
Doesn’t like BU but that’s more the lack of partying in bars. Apparently 21 means 21 which as a parent is great. And I’m told big ragers - which this person wants.
I wouldn’t choose a spring start school. In essence you fill a need for them due to study abroad and early graduates.
That said if BU is right for you that’s the trade off.
If not, take your next best option.
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Not sure what BU does, but many schools that do this semester have a whole cohort of students who do it. And often the schools pull them all in together.
Yea. And she lives with a girl in a brownstone same program. And they all went to England as part of their program in summer
She’s looking transfer UTK Her need aid is too much. Parents won’t let her.
BU has a very nice rundown on their website of a typical course sequence for students in each major who attend CGS (the program with the fall gap semester). As far as I can tell, there should be no problem completing in four years, unless you change your major. And then I’m not sure.
The issue that I see some people might have with CGS is that rather than getting to choose whatever classes interest you to meet the HUB requirements (BU’s very flexible core), you have to take the CGS courses to meet the requirements. If you are interested in those courses, which primarily focus on civilization and rhetoric, then it is a good fit. But if you really dislike those courses and had a selection of other topics you wanted to study to meet your HUB requirements, it’s probably not a good fit.
Also, BU has some sort of guarantee on keeping your funding steady over the 4 years, although I don’t remember exactly what the details are.
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To be accurate: you don’t declare your major at Rutgers until your sophomore year. But yes you can start taking CS classes right away.
It’s a good school for CS, and probably a better option than BU CGS route, unless you want to live in Boston (more fun town for college kids than New Brunswick).
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Are those your only 2 options?
I wouldn’t take CGS at BU for CS, especially since it’s more expensive than Rutgers (if you’d been admitted directly into your major at BU, it may have been worth it, but here you’re paying more and must wait till you can study what you want…)
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the idea is to take a summer term and still be able to graduate on time. the aid would transfer year to year im sure, and im determined to finish in 4. as for rutgers, i know they have great internship and job placement because of all the people i know that go there. a lot of fintech companies recruit, as well as the well-known faang (or manga) companies. i’m struggling to find out this specific information for bu, but i can’t imagine it would be worse than rutgers ?
i just feel like there won’t be a lot of stem students doing this, and i intended to take as little english in college as possible (ap lang gets me out if expos 101 at rutgers) so a bunch of writing classes for 2 straight years sounds crazy to me
yeah these are my only two options. i think i missed out a lot by not applying early but the past is in the past
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i don’t really prefer 1 over the other, and maybe staying close to home will help me adjust better ? i could try transferring if i end up not wanting to stay anyways so location isn’t a big factor
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Being close to home certainly has its benefits, but I would strongly recommend not going home every weekend (which is what a lot of NJ based kids at Rutgers end up doing). That way you can integrate better into college life.
First, it’s never a good idea to start your college journey intending to transfer out. Second, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to transfer to BU (or anywhere else) next year.
So pick the college you want to be at for the next 4 years.
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I don’t know the BU gen ed requirements - but yes, CGS is going to be gen ed stuff - so it may not be right for you.
BU has a core course requirement for all students. IIRC it’s 8 courses…across a lot of different disciplines.
The OP would need to fulfill those.
BU’s general ed requirements are the “HUB requirements“ which are 26 units. But one class can fulfill multiple requirements. The requirements are pretty broad and there are so many classes offered at BU that for students not in CGS they should be able to meet all of the requirements without taking any classes that they really hate.
https://www.bu.edu/hub/advising-and-the-hub/hub-requirements-for-students/hub-requirements-for-entering-first-year-students/
The CGS info says that the CGS courses will meet all (or almost all) of the HUB requirements and students should not need to take classes to specifically fulfill the HUB requirements outside of the CGS requirements.
The CGS requirements are very strict, though. So students don’t have the flexibility to choose how they will meet their general Ed requirements. They are a couple of semesters of rhetoric, a couple of semesters of politics/economics (ancient world & modern world), a couple of semesters of literature/art (ancient world & modern world), a couple of natural science classes (biology & ecology), an ethics class, and another SS/politics class (it looks like there are some choices).
My son, for instance, would rather meet his natural science requirement with an introductory physics class than biology. But since he was admitted to CGS he won’t have that choice. On the other hand, he doesn’t mind the world history/politics/literature required classes.
My advice to the OP is that she should really look into the CGS requirements. I don’t think there’s a problem with starting in the spring, and there are some things about it that I think are very nice. But if she hates the look of the CGS general ed requirements, she might want to choose Rutgers instead.
https://www.bu.edu/cgs/resources-for-current-students/academic-advising/pathways/cgs-courses-january-program/
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Sorry I missed this in your OP. Rutgers is prestigious enough and well known among employers in the tri-state region. Grads place very well, so I wouldn’t worry about opportunities at all.
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I would actually expand that beyond the tri-state region.
I tried to get an outcome report. Surprising it’s blocked to students but OP can ask CS for it.
So I did the next best thing - linkedin.
First student, '22 grad at Microsoft in Washington State
Second, '18 - NYC Google
Go down a few to get outside NY - to the 5th - Meta in California.
I would say Rutgers is prestigious enough to regularly place nationwide although an outcome report would show that…of course that’s if people are open to going.
Fine school.
Of course my U of Arizona Poli Sci nephew works in NYC for a major company and had no CS experience - just in past roles -but he passed all their tests…he obviously did some programming in the 7 or 8 years he was out of school…well I assume he did. His brother is self teaching - but hoping to get into analytics. He has an accounting degree from UNLV.
So I think CS is not so brand oriented - but if it is, there’s nothing wrong with the Rutgers name - I’d venture to say most anywhere.
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