Boston University | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Rachel

Class: Alum
Major: Theatre
Gender: F

High School: Plano Senior High School
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

BU is a college whose "campus" is spread along Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. For me, it was the perfect mix of a college experience, and a city-integrated university. Having come from a smaller town, Boston was a great place to attend school. As a city, Boston is a comfortably sized, moderately populated, entertaining city that was fun and exciting to explore during my four years there. With the newly built Agganis Arena, many huge music acts as well as sports team land on the BU campus during their tours through the country, making it a great place spend a Friday night for BU students and Bostonians alike. The on- campus housing is impressively beautiful, particularly if one stays on campus until their junior or senior years, when one becomes eligible to live in the new high-rise of 10 Buick Street. I lived in 10 Buick for a year and still have yet to find another apartment that rivals it in terms of comfort and it's unmatched view of Boston along the Charles river. The largest complaint overall is the price of tuition. At $40,000 and rising, it can be an added burden that sometimes can raise question marks when places such as the Fine Arts Building or the College of General Studies suffer from long-overdue ned of renovation. However, that voice is being heard to some extent - on a recent trip back to BU, I saw changes being made not only within those colleges, but across campus. It is definitely a college for people wanting a more city-integrated experience within a large university.

Academic Life

My experience is limited to the College of Fine Arts, where I was an acting major and had a wonderful and unique experience. I would recommend BU highly to anyone looking for an intensive conservatory style training while also having the "college experience" of growing and finding one's self within a university setting. My teachers were not only passionate and strong in the classroom, but always had their doors open for conversation and questions. My biggest "regret" is not taking advantage of the university's liberal arts classes as much as I could have. While I took a few wonderful classes in art history and photography, there were classes with such acclaimed professors as Eli Weisel that I wish I had taken greater advantage of.

Student Body

Again, my time at BU was mainly spend within the College of Fine Arts, where I was fortunate enough to have a close knit community of friends. BU's campus is a large one with an even larger population of students. At times it can be hard and overwhelming to meet new people, but overall I would say that I was surprised with the diversity and friendliness of BU students. To go into the GSU, a popular place to eat and study, one would see a room full of 100+ tables with moderately diverse students. Most of which would be eating a slice of pizza or a salad while studying with a group of 10 or more other classmates, all with lap tops open. It seemed to me that while there were a good number of students from the Northeast, the balance came in students from not only other parts of the country, but from overseas as well. BU benefits from a large number of study abroad programs across all Colleges and Majors. People always felt open to letting me and other friends join in at a table or in a game of frisbee on the BU beach.