Boston University Top Questions

Classes are tough, and make sure that you really study the material. The competition keeps you sharp!

Academics are tough at BU because you always are competing with students who were in the top tier at their schools. Professors will vary from good to bad depending on who you get but that is everywhere. They offer classes that are degree mandatory and those that are fun like The History of Sex. As you progress further, all of your teachers will take a great interest in you and know your name as long as you take a minute to stop and say "Hi". Teachers are understanding and also enjoy to make the learning process fun. When some of my senior year classes allowed a more casual setting we would go to the BU pub.

The real reason students choose to attend BU is because of the great academics. The class sizes vary depending on the subject. Typically, you will have about 100 people in a lecture and about 20 or less in a discussion for the same subject (not all classes are run this way, but majority are). I am a psychology major and I must say the department is extremely welcoming available to guide you on your future plans as well as answer any questions you may have. If you choose to attend BU and you are taking a psych class I recommend Professor Mercurio -- she is amazing ! She wants all her students to do well and most professors at BU are like this. They enjoy their subject matter and want to make sure the students are understanding it not just memorizing information for an exam to later forget it and never think about it again. The most unique class I have taken was my first semester freshman year and it was Reasoning and Argumentation, which is a philosophy class, but I didn't know that when choosing it. After finding out I thought I would hate the class, I loved it and ended up doing really well. I feel that the requirements at BU are fair, although sometimes I feel annoyed with the language requirement. However, I know that in the future I will be happy to be fluent in another language as it will be beneficial in whatever career field I choose.

I've taken so many cool classes at BU. I am a music major so my schedule is mostly music heavy. But for my liberal arts credits I've taken Ancient Greek Civilization, Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Art and Architecture of Ancient Americas, Sociology, World Beat, a writing class on Dante's Inferno and a few others. My classes in the music department are always fantastic. The faculty really know their craft and are willing to spend hours with you so you can really learn a subject. Plus, my classes are always small and the students usually all know each other. I feel I've really learned my craft and have been getting prepared to get a job with confidence in my skills. I am a music ed major, so I spend a lot of time in education methods courses - those are my FAVORITE because we address ways to improve education in our own classrooms and on a broader scale. The music ed faculty is comprised or active researchers and teachers in their field with years of experience. The most unique class I'm taking is CFA's African Drum and Dance Ensemble. It's a class that meets once a week at night for 2.5 hours of drumming and traditional West African dancing. It's SO Much fun and a great workout!

Classes are initially quite large, especially in the sciences. There exist what many Freshman call "weed-out" classes that basically contain up to 100-200 students and in my experience grades have sometimes been curved at the end of the semester once many students have dropped the class. However, despite the lectures' large sizes, there are discussion sections which are broken up into smaller groups to expand upon and review information, and almost all professors are available outside of class to answer questions. BU does require two semesters of writing for pretty much every student, which many consider redundant, but is also useful for some who need honing of their writing skills before they enter higher level courses that expect good writing.

The academics are rigorous to say the least. Coming from a high school where it was easy to be a big fish in a small pond, it was a bit of a challenge to adjust to the rigorous academics. Luckily, you'll quickly found that you're surrounded by tons of motivated students who push you to motivate yourself as well. I like that the professors challenge us, yet they are so accessible during their office hours. It's really nice to know that you can always meet with them outside of class to clarify topics or assignments. I am dual enrolled in BU's School of Education (BU's smallest school- around 400 students) and the College of Arts and Sciences (BU's largest school- around 8,000 students), so I really get to see both sides of the spectrum. In both schools I am academically challenged, yet never feel too overwhelmed. It's all about balancing your academics and free time wisely.

BU is a challenging school. It is possible to skate by at BU but that's for a student who doesn't want to take advantage of all the opportunities available. There are really interesting, challenging classes for motivated students. Depending on your tract the work can be harder or easier. Engineering is more difficult than a lot of other programs, but for students who are excited about learning (and most BU students are) then there are a lot of chances to challenger yourself and teachers are really eager to help students who are excited about a topic. Expect to do work coming to BU, expect to study, expect to write papers, and expect to challenge yourself.

Academics are strong -- there are courses in just about every subject you can imagine, with world-class faculty. If you get to know your professors, you'll have a great experience. If you sleep through lecture and turn in high-school quality work, you won't. It's all about choosing challenging courses that are going to encourage you to grow, not taking the easy way out. But yeah, I think there are some folks who leave without having learned anything because they found the easiest profs on RMP and got an upper-classman to hold their spot. The best professors are the ones who challenge you to better yourself.

Again! depends what you want to do. Acting and College of Fine Arts stuff is hard as hell, but really prestigious. I was in the College of General Studies, which has the stigma of stupid kids on campus, and that sucked. Hard. Really boring classes, one good professor. The COM school is fun though, definitely give that a chance if you can. There are fun classes here, but you have to have the right professors.

Barely any professors know your name unless you talk all the time in class, which is pretty pointless because the classes are just power point lectures. The smaller classes are definitely more personal, but most freshmen end up taking introductory classes that are huge. Some students study all the time, others barely manage to make it to class. With huge classes, no one notices if you don't show up. Once outside of the class, students completely forget all about it. If you aren't in the school of Fine Arts, you can't take an art class. It is ridiculous the restrictions and course requirements. And getting into the classes you want is difficult, especially with the registration schedule that is completely unfair. Students aren't too competitive. The education at BU is totally geared toward getting a job, nobody takes classes just to learn. They think about what the class could mean for their future, and once they take it they forget about it. Not learning for learning's sake.