<p>If a student had to choose to spend a semester in one of these two cities which would you recommend? </p>
<p>Which is better in terms of cultural life, diversity, museums, restaurants, nightlife, things to do, internships, public transport, etc?</p>
<p>Desperate to get out of boring suburban environment and into a real city.</p>
<p>Appreciate any insight you can provide. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Which semester? If it were the fall I’d do Boston, and the winter/spring I’d do DC, simply because of the weather: January/February in Boston can be brutal.</p>
<p>Both cities offer plenty in the way of everything you list, although to my mind Boston is somewhat better for the arts/music and a bit less so for diversity. What sort of things is the student interested in?</p>
<p>DC is better if the student is interested in government and policy. </p>
<p>It also depends, of course, on the people one will be seeing regularly.</p>
<p>If your student is in any way interested in politics or government or non-profits- I’d pick DC. It is the heart and center of all things politic. Metro system is easy to use, lots of nightlife, restaurants, theatre, etc. And, of course, more free museums than you can possibly see in a semester.</p>
<p>I agree that Boston is pretty brutal in Jan/Feb, but it is a fun vibrant city as well. Very different - more history, more native Bostonians (everyone in DC is from somewhere else), great ethnic neighborhoods. Good public transportation as well. </p>
<p>Another plus for DC - there are tons of students studying/interning there for a semester. Your student will have lots of company.</p>
<p>It’d be difficult to beat DC for museums since it has all the Smithsonian museums as well as a number of others. It’s also hard to beat DC for internship opportunities and even if not particularly interested in politics/government there are other opportunities in finance, engineering, and many other fields but when it comes down to it only one actual position is really needed. DC has pretty good coverage with the metro subway and one can live in an urban environment if they wish. One can live there very easily without a car and a car can be expensive to have there due to the cost of parking (if one lives right in the city).</p>
<p>I think DC is really the internship capital of the country and students from all over regularly flock there for internships.</p>
<p>I’m sure Boston would be interesting as well. Another possibility might be NYC.</p>
<p>I live in Boston, and while the weather here can get pretty extreme (from below FREEZING to horribly HOT) there is something to do for everyone. Boston has the oldest subway in the nation, so it branches out to an overwhelming variety of places and you can get around pretty quick. Personally, I love the Chinatown in Boston because of the the amazing food (gotta say, there are a lot of taiwanese cafes), but it’s funner to go for dinner because while the sun is out you’re more aware of how unclean it can be. There’s also a “Korea-town”, “Little Italy”, etc. for cultures from everywhere, and so it’s nice if you want a little piece of your homecountry or just want something weird to eat. There are cultural “cliches” of all kinds, so no matter where you’re from you can find a second family, almost.
Internships, there are a bunch of top tier colleges/universities in the area, such as Harvard or MIT that you could try applying for. But there is a lot of competition for those internships, obviously, just as there is heavy competition for the internships in WASH DC. As for museums, Boston has it’s own famous history for being one of America’s major cities since colonial times to the present day. Although personally, it is nothing grand compared to the incredible Smithsonian and monuments in Wash DC. There’s a more, classic, vintage charm to all of the historic buildings.</p>
<p>I’m only describing Boston because I’ve only spent a summer visiting Wash DC and I don’t trust the validity of what I know about the city, ahah. But yes, the weather differences are obvious, and Wash DC is where many students go for internships or to study government or politics. But based on the feel of the cities, I think Boston and Wash DC are fairly similar, only that Wash DC has this international grand wah-ha aura, Boston is more cozy and tight-knit.</p>
<p>DC - politics, government & great (free) museums.</p>
<p>Boston - financial services industry. top research universities for science & tech. </p>
<p>I’m a DC native and think there’s lots to see in DC if you’ve never spent time there. From college tours, it felt like there is a relatively bigger student population in Boston.</p>
<p>S1 lives in Boston; S2 in DC. You can’t go wrong in either place as they both meet your criteria. If cost of living is a concern, it seems to me from what my kids say that DC is more expensive to live in, altho Boston is not a cheap city by any means.</p>
<p>My oldest son and his wife live in Boston (Cambridge, actually) and my two younger sons live in DC.</p>
<p>We love visiting both places.</p>
<p>Will your daughter be going as part of an academic program? which is stronger in her interests? Or, if she is planning on an internship, where is she more likely to get the right internship? Make the right connections for an after-college job?</p>
<p>Both cities have great culture, lots of diversity, a lot to do for a college age student with tons of kids their own age. So she can’t go wrong picking either one on these criteria. So I would go with the more global criteria in making a decision.</p>
<p>There’s a huge amount of medical research in Boston if that’s an area of interest.</p>
<p>It will be in the fall semester. Interest is more towards economics/finance than IR (although still interested in IR) so i thought Boston would offer more in terms of finance/consulting or am i wrong? Also, i hear D.C. is not like a typical city in that it does not have a “downtown” centre; can anyone elaborate? What is the cost of living there? </p>
<p>Was leaning towards Boston because of the proximity to other major northeast cities.</p>
<p>Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean by “downtown”. DC has the mall which essentially is a ginormous public park. Public transportation is decent. Check [Metro</a> - Home page](<a href=“http://www.wmata.com%5DMetro”>http://www.wmata.com) and google for the website of the DC circulator bus (no it isn’t in the other website and I have no idea why). Transportation to other east coast cities is easy with Amtrak, Megabus and Boltbus. Baltimore can be reached by MARC rail for less than Amtrak. For cost of living in each location, have your student get contact info from students who are currently in the programs he’s specifically looking at. They would be the best sources for inside info.</p>
<p>I live in DC now, but I’m not sure what you mean by ‘downtown.’ We have plenty of bustling city areas (Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Capitol Hill, the Mall area, Farragut, etc. etc.), and I’ve never had an issue being bored!</p>
<p>S2 pays more in rent for shared housing in DC than S1 pays in Boston. Sales tax on restaurant meals in DC, including fast food, is 10%. S1 can get to more places he needs to go on foot from where he lives in Boston than S2 can in DC, so his transportation costs are less (neither has a car).</p>
<p>You can’t beat DC for museums. Not only are there a kajillion of them, most are free. There’s also a pretty lively art gallery scene, excellent theater (Arena, Folger), a lively music scene, great restaurants (especially ethnic ones). DC’s major downtownish shopping area is probably Georgetown with another sub-center around Dupont Circle. The downtown downtown is offices and museums. There’s is also major shopping on the more northern end of Wisconsin Avenue. There’s one of the world’s great zoos. There are parks where you can hike in the city (Rock Creek and more outside the city Great Falls area.) From DC to NYC is 4.5 hours on the train. From Boston to NYC it’s closer to six. Philadelphia is closer to DC. What major NE cities are closer to Boston? Providence?</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. I like Boston. It has nice museums. It also has a pretty river. It has a lot more colleges and a denser more settled feel. Taller buildings. (Nothing is allowed to be taller than the Capitol Building in DC.) More history.</p>
<p>For political, international, NGO internships, DC is much better.</p>