Why I Regret BU

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston University
1

This goes out to the anxious applicants who can’t shut up about their gpas or whatever

I applied early decision to BU, and was obsessed with the school. I wanted to be a terrier.

Then I realized that ED was a huge mistake. It’s not for me. I’m writing about this because I don’t want to discourage anyone on this forum.

I’m writing this because I have a perspective to share, and I’m about to tell you why I’m trying to get out of here as fast as I can.

I tried applying for transfer this year, but didn’t get in anywhere. Now I’m going to go through the process again, and send out applications. It’s tiring and expensive, but I need to get out of here.

I’m studying computer science at the College of Arts & Sciences. CAS also stands for, College of Average Students. It’s the largest college, with a hundred something majors. One problem is that if you’re not in a smaller school within BU, such as School of Engineering or Sargent College, you’re just a number. ENG kids have it all - they get assigned an academic advisor the day school starts. They’re pampered with student advisors, special events, etc. Probably because they’re engineering kids and ENG does have a great reputation.

I got assigned my academic advisor in late September while all of my engineering friends met with their advisors in early September. An advisor is crucial to your college experience because they will help you enroll into your classes and give you their insight on what to take. They will also write recommendations for you. It’s so important that you form a good relationship with your advisor, and you meet with them early on.

BU is a huge school, and if you want to do anything, socially, you’ll have to make an effort. Friends don’t just appear out of nowhere. During freshman year, all of the people that I hung out with, I met on my floor. Hopefully this year, I’ll join clubs to meet people, but it’s hard to make time for clubs while balancing out school work and a part-time job. I want a smaller community, where I can bump into the same people more easily. For me, it’s a big school. But for others, it’s perfect.

Housing is overpriced. You could get a nicer place, off-campus with the same money you pay for the awful Warren dorms. Warren dining hall is awful, and Bay State is usually good. Want to avoid the freshman 15? Don’t drink alcohol and go to FitRec.

Fitrec is great, except there are only five squat racks intended for a school of 20,000+ undergrads. I usually wait 10-30 minutes to use the rack. That’s annoying. But that’s not why I’m transferring. It’s just a pet peeve.

The writing requirement is easy. I barely did any writing work and mainly focused on classes related to my major. The divisional studies electives are a joke. If you’re taking classes that aren’t related to your major as your electives, they’re going to be very easy. High school easy. If you want to challenge yourself, take the classes that majors for that field have to take. However some of my CS courses are on the more difficult side.

You’re going to meet lots of kids who want to be doctors, but then they completely drop their childhood dreams because of CH 101 - General Chemistry. You’re going to meet kids who already want to pursue a Ph.D. Kids who dream big and think way ahead even though they just graduated high school the year before. You’re going to meet kids with huge egos, constantly talking about their new research position or internship. But you’re better than that because by the time fall semester starts, you’ve looked at UROP and found a research position, or found an internship somewhere in the city. Google is your best friend and please, get your resume looked over by the Center for Career Development.

I’ve had my ups and downs here. I don’t quite agree with the overly-theoretical CS curriculum here, or how the CS department is one bureaucracy in one huge bureaucracy. There isn’t that much of a community here, but it’s better than other urban campuses like NYU. And to be honest, the ranking is too low for me. I’m embarrassed every time I tell people that I go here.

Is it worth the money? Do I have a chance of getting in? What’s BU’s reputation? Are my SAT scores good for BU? Gosh if that’s all that you’re thinking, I’m not sure what to say.

2

Obviously everyone has their reasons for wanting to go to BU, and everyone going here has had their experiences, good and bad. What I don’t understand is, you knew BU was a very, very large school before you applied; or even if you didn’t it was something that you should have looked into; I am not trying to sound rude, but the school doesn’t hide the fact that it is in the middle of a city and has a very large undergraduate student base.
Another thing I don’t get, at all; BU is one of the highest ranked universities in the world, and is very well regarded; I don’t understand why you would be embarrassed to tell relatives that you go to BU, unless you have extremely high standards; in that case, maybe you shouldn’t have applied to BU?

Maybe I am just not understanding some of your reasoning… :frowning:

3

@mislysBB Mm that’s why I said that I’m offering perspective. I just have a story to tell. Not trying to assert anything.

Made a mistake - I’m writing about this because I felt like it, and wanted to share. Not saying that you shouldn’t apply here, or should.

Well, people change through their experiences and mistakes. I had different opinions on BU before I went to the school. Maybe it was because of what I experienced at BU. I’m sorry for my flawed reasoning.

4

@orangebanana It’s interesting that you continue to make assumptions about schools, without really knowing first hand information.
I’m referring to your statement in which you definitively state that the community at NYU is even worse than BU.

How would you know? I know that NYU has that reputation, but not finding out first hand leads to assumptions that may not be true. As it turns out my D applied to NYU ED and has been quite happy there–she is now a rising senior. As a freshman she joined explorations housing–themed housing that students with common interests can apply for. She was on a floor of 30 students who all loved theatre and became a very close community. Plus she is a studio art major which is a small major and she has very close relationships with both students and faculty. Additionally she became involved in the scholars program as a freshman–she traveled to Cuba as a freshman with about 75 other students and several deans.

Now that may not be the experience of all students at NYU. But D went in understanding that she would be in a small intimate program in a large school. She knew that being in special housing could it easier to make friends, and so she applied to the program and wrote good essays to try to get in. She took advantage of programs and activities that were available.

I think you went into BU with certain expectations, but you did not take action to make the transition work for you. It’s not flawed reasoning, or changing your opinion. Don’t consider being at BU a “mistake.” Instead you need to be really proactive to make BU work for you, since you are still attending school there.

All schools have their pluses and minuses. Part of the college experience is about making choices that can help you work things out. Don’t worry about BU’s reputation. Don’t get stuck on the fact that it is large and therefore lacks community. Make a community. And certainly don’t go around with an attitude that you’re smarter than everyone else. BU has great programs and a lot of students who could have attended Harvard but didn’t in order to get merit aid. Again, don’t make assumptions so quickly.

In terms of advisement, have you spoken to your counselor so they can get to know you? Not to whine, but to find out about clubs or activities or classes that you would find challenging. Don’t write the school off–try lc make it work, even if you continue to look at other schools.

But remember carefully research other schools and programs. Don’t just assume it will be a better fit automatically.

Good luck!

5

Curious - what schools are you targeting for transfer?

Everything you say seems to match many many top schools, so unless you are going into left field somewhere, I am not sure things will improve.

My husband went to an Ivy League school, and sure he was assigned an advisor early on, but the guy was never available. He insisted on changing his advisor, so he had no real advising until start of sophomore year. But he loved the classes and his new advisor was great.

6

I am not saying your reasoning is flawed; I just don’t entirely understand it. That’s something on my part.

7

@uskoolfish
Thanks…for giving advice that I didn’t ask for.

I was just telling my story.

@rhandco
I wanted to study cs at a women’s college, because I think that in an all-female class I won’t have to separate my gender from my identity. I was also looking into top 20-30 schools where tech companies tend to recruit cs majors. They visit a small handful of specific schools each year, usually the ones with the strongest computer science rankings from us news & report - ex. UIUC, CMU, UMich, etc.

8

This is pretty much the case at any school, even small LAC’s.

You made a mistake. It is not BU’s fault for being what it is as others have said. .

9

Thanks for sharing your experience!

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@TomSrOfBoston
I didn’t say that it’s BU’s fault. I’ve seen you around in the BU and Northeastern forums. I know how you respond to people. Can’t believe you’d read my shit.

I’m not trying to promote or demote BU. If I post anything on this forum, it’ll get eaten up and attacked.

11

I don’t see how ANYONE here is attacking you…?

12

I would suggest that you not apply to the same schools that rejected you for transfer and apply to different schools.
Nothing will have changed much from previous experiences.

Another thing to remember, I had to explain to my kids, that they can’t expect wonderland at their schools and to not have any preconceived notions about great times. They are at their schools to get in and out in 4 years.

13

@aunt bea
Some things changed for my application - developing apps, building websites, and powerlifting. I think that makes me a stronger applicant.

14

Literally!

15

Apply as a transfer then? No one’s stopping you… It’s your time and money.

And no one is attacking you. it’s just petty to blame the school (you come off as that??) for things like finding friends when it’s technically your fault.

16

Blaming BU for finding friends? Did I say, BU is why it’s hard to find friends? No I just said that you have to make an effort because it’s a big school.

Friends don’t come out of the air, but in schools with different environments/circumstances such as smaller student body, it’s easier to get to know more people. I think that people here are just pointing that out because it’s easier to misinterpret or find fault in the reasoning. But I wasn’t arguing at all. No reasoning in what I wrote. I just felt like writing my feels.

17

As another computer science student at BU I can agree with you. I can’t lie and say my first year over here was great, but things have gotten better. I remember being really hyped up and excited to go to BU, but that quickly changed the first year. I was involved in clubs, had a job, and also had somewhat of a hard time finding GOOD friends. I wanted a big school in a city, but I didn’t realize how it would be until I actually experienced it. To be honest, in such a big school I felt alone, and was pretty unhappy. I actually also applied to transfer, but ultimately decided to stay since I ended up really liking BU sophomore year! In sophomore year, I found and met genuine friends, classes got better, and…well things just felt right. Maybe I just needed some adjusting or maybe it was that classes were smaller and I got to know people better. If you’re a prospective student wanting to major in Computer Science, orangebanana is right about a few things. (I’ve known a lot of people and friends that the beginning is terrible and I’ve definitely heard some of the same things about BU that orangebanana has posted) The Computer Science department STAFF is pretty crappy. Trust me, I know. I have had to advise myself since my advisor was useless. But for me, the professors have made up for that flaw. The professors I have had have been very understanding, passionate, and genuine. So I guess the point is that every school has its flaws, I’m not disappointed in BU, but I’ve heard and understand not everyone is super happy to be here. So orangebanana, I just want to tell you that you have an awesome name, and that I hope things will improve for you here and thanks for sharing your feels :slight_smile:

18

@friendlygiraffe
Another major red flag was that, I wanted to attend the grace hopper conference, which you probably know is a big deal for women in cs. Registration opened in June, and right now they’re distributing tickets and it’s too late to sign up since there’s a wait list. I kept on emailing Snyder about grants, but the cs department hasn’t even thought about issuing grants for the conference. I was kind of annoyed about that.

19

@orangebanana
Yeah agreed the department can be really unhelpful sometimes. I tried to do something similar with an internship where I needed to get academic credit. I asked the department and Snyder with some help, but was ignored. I guess you have to be very upfront and go in person with some very strong arguments to at least try to get something done. But I hope things will turn out for you and that somehow you can get the money to go to the conference cause that would be awesome! …Maybe they haven’t even thought about it since they’re not many of us females in the department that have asked about it. If I sign up at the right time to attend next year then I will try to push for it too and that might wake them up.