What are schools comparable to BU in terms of overall strength of academics & prestige/reputation?
Don’t care about location, size, atmosphere
Maybe Boston College, Northeastern & Villanova
Thanks for quick answer! Yeah, I know the two first you mentioned are usually compared to BU, but BU seems to stand close to Ivies and the top-top colleges…
Maybe Boston College, Northeastern & Villanova
I consider BC and Villanova close to Ivies as much as BU. Northeastern has become very competitive lately and their co-op program is hard to beat.
Georgetown also and I believe that is the hardest one to get into out of all of these.
But in world rankings (times higher edu, Shanghai) BU has a better position. Also I feel like people get more impressed when you tell them you go to BU.
Maybe you’re right though, I am not super knowledgeable about US education system
I’ve heard of Georgetown being a good school
In an analyis from a few years ago, BU reports a standardized scoring profile slightly below those of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, the University of Tulsa, Bucknell University, College of the Holy Cross, Union College, Franklin and Marshall College and St. Olaf College; equivalent to those of the University of California-San Diego, Ohio State University-Columbus, Brigham Young University-Provo, Lafayette College, Occidental College, Rhodes College, Hillsdale College and Santa Clara University; and slightly higher than that of George Washington University.
https://www.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9
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Rankings are not perfect but according to US World News National rankings Georgetown is #22 BC is #38 and BU #42. You’ll probably find other rankings with totally different numbers. As far as where people will be impressed I feel BC and Georgetown are just as impressive as BU. You can’t go wrong with any of them. NYU is also another school similar.
Wow, that’s quite a list, thanks.
Heard of UNC and UIC.
Also University of Southern California
Nothing especially impressive about BU, and certainly not “close to the Ivies”. Also a very urban school with no real campus that may not appeal to many. I wonder what kind of PR the school did to get such an overblown reputation internationally?
Lol looks like someone got rejected
Hahahaha
I think being urban or rural is more of a personal preference
And the campus is good because you don’t get lost in it, but again it’s subjective
Boston University is an excellent school but it is not comparative with a 25% acceptance rates to low single digit Ivies or others mentioned (Georgetown 17% no common app) in terms of prestige or exclusivity.
In fact Parchment suggests Georgetown being chosen 85% vs BU, BC 68%, NYU 69%, USC 87%, Cornell 89%, UCB 90%, etc. While not an in exact tool the consistency of the Parchment results is hard to refute. Those with alternatives to BU in the peer group you ask about choose the alternative at a significant rate.
Rankings (terrible method of comparison) place BU between 78 Forbes and 48 USNews. This suggests a solid school but not in the higher end portion of the peer group you put forward.
Comparable schools based on your reputation and academics criteria would be Northeastern, Maryland, Penn State, URI, George Washington and Villanova.
And no I didn’t get rejected nor did I apply.
BUs own words:
http://www.bu.edu/today/2016/three-new-rankings-show-bus-luster/
Yes, but people choose college for different reasons.
I agree though that BU isn’t as selective as the mentioned ones. And definitely schools like Ivies, UBC or Stanford look more solid than BU, but I think NYU is the only competitor. BC - I just can’t believe… Georgetown - maybe, idk much about it, USC - same
You asked about prestige. Exclusivity is a function of selectivity. Students are consumers and long term prospects, reputation, and comparative differences drive school selection. BU suffers by this “real world” market driven result in which it appears to be a bit of a bridesmaid.
BC, Gtown, USC, NYU are much more sought after post graduate in the finance field and are generally thought of as superior schools in my experience. If you had already concluded your decision why ask the question if by your own admission “idk much”?
Recently published reputation summary;
“While BU isn’t known for their scholarly achievements like the tripod above, it’s general knowledge that the majority of the school comes from a good chunk of wealth. Holding the reputation of uppity rich girls, self-absorbed frat boys, and anyone rejected from BC…they’ve landed themselves the subject of the (admittedly clever) chant, “sucks to B-U.” But guys, with over 30,000 students at this school, I’m going to take a stab in the dark and say that BU is home to a wonderfully diverse culture of students…with just a couple of snobby, self-centered folks strewn in”.
Again a good school but a solid tie for number 5 by reputation in Boston area.
Harvard
MIT
Tufts
BC
BU-Northeastern
Haha I am not saying I am right.
I actually didn’t understand what you meant under “appears to be a bridesmaid”.
And what I have seen as a student is that often they choose schools less prestigious or with less rigorous academics for reasons that personally seem to me unconvincing, like campus, vibe, location etc.
And of course BU cannot be perfect in every field, that’s why I said overall strength.
Haha yes, I don’t know much, that’s why I am trying to discuss. “I don’t know much”, that’s why I am not saying that BU is better. My impressions come from experience.
I’ve always thought Boston University, New York University and George Washington University were peers. All were /are bridesmaids in their respective markets, large, secular and successfully transitioned from local commuter schools into nationally known residential universities, though with inflated reputations, IMO. BU and NYU have had reputations as being crazy expensive since I was looking at colleges in the 1980s.
This student is an international transfer student…and needs what sounds like significant financial aid to a transfer school.
Best bet is to look in their home country.