Ask a BU Freshman - Page 2

odin64x · 10-02-2009, 01:18 PM

Aw, you're all freshmen? So you've yet to experience a BU Hockey game? Make sure you go, the season is starting soon!
I'm a currently a junior and I'd be happy answer any questions you guys might have as well.

Ny0rker · 10-02-2009, 03:55 PM

A few questions..

1. do students venture out to other areas of the city much?

2. on the app, should I list the other schools i am applying to?

3. how is the food?

4. do you find the classes challenging? do students take their work/studies seriously?

thank you=]

Hanita · 10-02-2009, 09:15 PM

1. Yes, I go there at least once a week and so do most of the people imho. If you like the city and enjoy being away from the campus, it's really easy to get pretty much anywhere in Boston. If you prefer staying on campus most of the time, you'll still find lots of things to do there.

2. If they ask you to do so, then yes, it can't hurt you.

3. The food is great! SO much to choose from every day, everything's tasty and it's easy to eat healthy if that's what you prefer. If not, burgers and pizza are on the menu everyday too.

4. I'm an international student and I took a year off after high school so I returned to school after approx. 15 months - it took some time to get used to studying again. The work isn't extremely hard, but it's time-consuming. People usually take it pretty seriously, especially in SMG and probably in the other schools to.

lw6272 · 10-03-2009, 09:05 PM

Hi,
I'm applying to BU and am interested in doing pre-med. Do you know people who are pre-med? What do they think of the program?

Alectricity · 10-03-2009, 09:43 PM

pre-med. ooo lah lah are you in for a treat hahah! pre-med as you can expect is just plainly rigorous. there is alot of reading, reading and more reading. if you happen to be really good with time management (which few people in college are) then pre-med shouldn't keep you up all night doing hw. However, going by what i've seen so far, pre-med people just procrastinate and stay up all night making sure they're ready for that quiz the next day. The pre-med program here is good and you can transfer to some pretty good med schools.

Mare_Crisium · 10-04-2009, 12:48 AM

Can anyone give me some info on the School of Management? I'm really interested in the MIS program.

Alectricity · 10-04-2009, 11:02 AM

Mare_Crisium! MIS is probably one of the lowest concentrators in the entire SMG school. It's a little bit new I would say but out of last years class, only 50ish graduated at MIS concentrators. However, many people double concentrate because it is pretty easy to do so. SMG it self is an intense program. As a freshman, it is my class with the most work but undoubtedly my favorite class because I just enjoy learning about it. For MIS, there are some courses you have to take such as one(1) programming class but that's just to learn the basics about systems and such. Then there are some more specialized fields. I recommend you contact the school for more info about that since I'm only a freshman who is also interested in that field and I know almost nothing about it!

sak09 · 10-05-2009, 05:43 PM

lw6272: I am currently a pre-med student at BU. It does get hard and stressfull at times, and I do agree that time management is key. There are many students that come to BU as pre-med but by the end of their freshman year, many drop out of the program. This is mostly because a.)they think it's too difficult after taking chem101 (which btw, is awful) or b.)they just lose interest. Many still keep up with though, and if you are determined and focus you should have no problem. Pre-med at any school is hard...especially schools like BU but you just need to keep up with it. There is definitely a strong science program here though.

TheMan777 · 10-05-2009, 09:42 PM

CH101 ftl =(.

surabhi19991 · 10-08-2009, 12:33 PM

hey brightside can u tell me hows Bu in terms of quality of teaching, accessibility of prof and class size

Lauren591 · 10-10-2009, 07:37 PM

Ny0rker-
1. Being at BU, you already are right in the city, so it's pretty common to venture out a bit more into it. I'd say weekends in particular are popular for that in particular, but any day works. It's readily available though, and I'd say most students use that to their advantage.

2. I agree that if it's a question, then just answer it.

3. The food is good. The best dining hall is in West, but it often has the longest lines. Towers and Shelton have smaller dining halls, and Warren has another very populated large one. I go to the Warren one mostly since I live there. It has a good variety with the same core options of salad bar (very good salad bar!!!), some type of burrito/wrap, order sandwich bar, pizza, and grill (like burgers and all), and then a bunch of daily things. Some days are better than others, but you can always find something.

4. Classes depend on your major. Generally, people take it seriously though. My friends all study, do homework, and care overall. If you're a science major, plan to spend your life on chemistry between this ALEKS program, labs, studying, all the class components...not going to lie, it sucks. Some other majors seem to have less of a workload, but it really depends.

surabhi19991,
BU obviously has a mix of big lectures and smaller student-prof oriented classes. My Chem 101 and Psych 101 classes are huge lectures, but my Spanish 5th semester class and Writing class only have 20 students. Class size fluctuates, but will generally be smaller as you get into more specific classes within your major. Still, if you want to see any professor, it's always possible. All profs have office hours, and if you're in a big lec, you will also have TA/TF grad students available to help you out. I think pretty much every professor would love to see students at office hours, and it could only show your dedication. I really like all of my professors so far quality-wise, but again, in a big school like BU, there are surely some so-so professors too.

Hope you guys apply here! It's great!

pumpkins · 10-13-2009, 07:07 PM

How rigorous are the pre-med classes at BU? How well do you think BU students are prepared for the MCAT and medical school?

applicannot · 10-13-2009, 07:29 PM

Have you guys heard anything about the new Honors College? It is being introduced for the class of 2014. How bad are the winters - be brutally honest (I live in MD so we have four seasons)? Is it really noticeable that BU is only 2.8% black (!!)? How are the other types of diversity - specifically socioeconomic? What did your financial aid packages look like?

TheMan777 · 10-13-2009, 08:46 PM

applicannot - I find that minorities tend to group together a lot, so although it is only 2.8%, they tend to be near each other a lot. If you are black - trust me you won't feel left out. BU is a very diverse school anyways, so there are also very diverse friendships.

Also - as a freshman I have yet to experience winter - but I hear its BRUTAL, my brother is buying a $300 parka just to keep me warm.

BUBailey · 10-15-2009, 07:10 PM

winter is pretty rough, though it makes spring that much more amazing

I actually don't find Nov/Dec to be bad at all...I just hate Jan-March when the sun sets at 4 pm. Last year though we were lucky to get gorgeous weather early in the spring semester. Don't worry though, you get used to it and survive it.