<p>I am making a trip to Boston to visit a few colleges. However, the way the schedule is working out I only have room for one more. I originally chose Boston University because they say they track interest while Boston College says they don't. Now though everyone keeps telling me how much I'll love Boston College because it's more in line with what I want. I am looking for somewhere urban, yet has a distinct campus. I don't want a campus that just feels like a "strip mall". Any advice on which I should take the time to see?</p>
<p>Visit the school that seems like a better fit for you. In this case, that would Boston College. There are other ways to let a University know that you are interested i.e. speaking to a professor in your major of interest and writing about it in your supplement. </p>
<p>Why can’t you do both in one day? I once visited BU, Northeastern, and Boston College in one day. If anything, it’s okay to be late/skip the information session and go on the tour instead, which can be much more valuable in determining what you want. If BC sounds like a better fit, go with that. BU has more of a “strip mall” type campus, but it is definitely urban whereas BC is suburban but has a distinct campus. </p>
<p>I can’t visit them both in one day because first I have an all day event at Northeastern. Then the next day I have time for one visit in the morning before I go to Brandeis for the afternoon (which includes an interview).</p>
<p>BC isn’t really urban, more suburban, but it still sounds closer to what you want.</p>
<p>Yeah BC seems to be closer to your needs as it seems to encompass what you wanted in a college. BU is the opposite, more metropolitan, more urban, and less campus based. Out of all the schools you listed, I believe Northeastern is the only one that has everything that you want, and was definitely the one I enjoyed the most when visiting. If it came down to Northeastern and BU, all things constant, I’d choose Northeastern for ts better campus feel. However, I’d still take the time to visit BC as it is very different from the other ones you described and it has a jesuit affiliation, which may or may not affect how you feel about the college. If you never go, you’ll never find out if it is a fit for you. Good luck!</p>
<p>On paper (or rather web), Northeastern is definitely my favorite. Hopefully this trip will help me narrow down my options! Thanks for the input!</p>
<p>BC sounds like more what you will like (as long as you have an academic profile that fits BC and a Jesuit school appeals to you). I’d also look at the timing and see if you can squeeze in a visit to BC either before or after Northeastern’s program or maybe see if you can add one more half day to your Boston trip so you have time to see everything you want</p>
<p>Another thing I probably should mention. You could always take a quick walk around campus or see if you can engage some current students even if there is no scheduled tour and such. Sometimes you can learn just as much about the campus walking around and just talking to people. That’s how I found some schools wern’t for me before we spent the extra time going to their info sessions and tours. (Alternatively you could shorten your Northeastern visit, as you might not need to stay there the whole day, but it is a really enjoyable place to be around)</p>
<p>We did tour/info sessions last week at NEU, Tufts and a drive-through of BU. BU’s admissions office will give you a nice map to self tour, and they will note that you were there too.</p>
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<p>We didn’t see BC but I can say BU doesn’t have a very distinct campus. Def strip mall feel.</p>
<p>As a Northeastern student, awesome choice spending a day visiting Northeastern for a day. :)</p>
<p>BU is much more spread out and lacks the campus feel, but it is definitely an urban campus. BC, on the other hand, doesn’t really feel like it’s in Boston. It definitely has a more suburban feel and felt more like schools I visited in the midwest. It also has a different feel being a religiously affiliated school.</p>
<p>If you really don’t have the time for a tour, though, I would at least drive through/around the campus to see what it’s like. You’ll definitely see the difference between BC/BU.</p>
<p>If you are qualified to be accepted at BC, you are probably well qualified to be accepted at BU, a less selective school, and don’t need to worry about “showing interest” anyway. Actually, it’s hard for me to believe BU bothers to track that sort of thing. They are inundated with applicants and the info sessions and tours are huge. I suspect BU admissions are heavily numbers driven, regardless of what they claim.</p>
<p>There’s no reason your can’t go to BU after Brandeis and just walk around to get a feel of the campus. Or skip the Brandeis tour - the campus was done in a style known as Early Ugly (actually Brutalist). Definitely the worst looking campus we saw.</p>
<p>^^Despite its size, I’m pretty sure that demonstrated interest is taken into account at BU</p>
<p>BU is probably trying to avoid the Tufts Effect - where they get a lot of applications as a safety for the Ivy crowd that have very low yield. There are many ways to demonstrate interest other than taking a formal tour, and just make it clear in your essays that you truly want to go to school there - it is not a backup.</p>
<p>Not sure you really need to visit BU. BU isn’t as good as BC or Northeastern, it definitely has a “strip mall” campus feel and doesn’t sound like it has the reputation you are looking for in the programs. </p>
<p>BU’d reputation is similar to Northeastern and BC’s… Sounds like informative has a vendetta.</p>
<p>Yeah, they are all solid universities with similar rankings and calibers of students, but they appeal to different audiences and have different focii.</p>
<p>NU and BU are both urban environment schools. The plus for NU is the Co op program. BU has a great graduate program and you are in the heart of Kenmore square. You can walk to basically everything. BC has a gorgeous suburban campus but only 30 minutes from the city.(best of both world) The T stops right in front of the school across from St Ignatious church. I’ve done all three tours, and NU gave the best presentation and BC the worse. BC is also a Jesuit institution if that matters to you, but the student body is pretty diverse. ( all coming from a J Crew catalogue) lol! There are sketchy parts around NU but remember your in an urban setting. </p>