Boston University

Date: Feb 23 2010
Major: Math (This Major's Salary over time)
It's difficult to try to generalize any large school. Firstly, social life/setting is entirely what you make of it. With over 20,000 people, it's impossible not to find a niche. You will meet all sorts. Boston is also quite diverse, safe, and perhaps one of the nicest cities in the US to study in; so your surroundings, too, will be what you make of them. Take advantage of the different museums/cultural landmarks when you can. It's really a nice experience and unlike many other cities, Boston is very pedestrian oriented, given its convenient size and safety.

But let's discuss what's more important with college… academics. BU is a very strange case indeed—simultaneously known for grade deflation and yet absolutely horrible for graduate school prospects (WSJ does the rankings, have a look), the school is a bit… confusing. I fail to see the advantage BU conveys… And it's not my imagination; I've talked about this with kids from lots of other schools (Yale, Tufts, MIT, Bates College, etc), and it confuses them too—how is a student supposed to feel when a 3.4 with only some work experience gets into MIT from one school for a PhD, but a well rounded 3.96 gets rejected from even less competitive programs? It's depressing and makes you feel nervous about the future. This is why I've decided ultimately to transfer… luckily, I had my connections, otherwise… well…

But to be fair, I do think BU provides a good undergraduate experience if you're in the right major. There's no denying some of the professors are really top-notch; and some of the departments are pretty good. You'll also in all likelihood make a handful of really good friends (even after leaving, I'm still in regular contact with a bunch of people there). My best advice then is to find out your future prospects for your major and decide from there.