College Spotlight: Boston University
Have a taste for heading to the East Coast for college? Well, Boston University (BU) is a really great choice for many reasons, but first let’s start with the city of Boston itself.
Located on the coast of Massachusetts, Boston is home to much of our nation’s history and many historical landmarks. It is also home to 52 colleges and universities, enrolling somewhere around 250,000 students each year. BU is right smack in the middle of all that, claiming residence along the Charles River, very near to Fenway Park. There is great public transportation by way of the “T” and public busses, but BU also operates its own bus system that travels around a large portion of town that is free for students. One can catch the T right across the street from campus and get all over town in minutes, including getting to the airport in under half-an-hour. (And, there is now a non-stop flight from Honolulu to Boston!)
BU is a large (but not too large) campus of 18,500 undergraduate students. Almost all freshmen live on campus, and because housing in Boston tends to be on the expensive side, 75 percent of all students live on campus in a variety of living arrangements.
Because it is on the larger size, the range of academic programs is very broad at BU; one would be hard pressed to not find the major that you wanted. But even though it is a large school, the student/teacher ratio is on the lower side at 10:1. The most popular majors are in business and social sciences, but STEM programs also have a strong showing there.
BU has an impressive list of alumni and current or present faculty. Did you know that in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in a BU lab? Or that Dr. Martin Luther King got his PhD in Systematic Theology there in 1955? BU counts eight Nobel Laureates, 21 Pulitzer Prize winners, ten Rhodes Scholars and nine Academy Award winners among its alumni and faculty. Eleven governors, seven U.S. senators, and 32 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are alumni, and even one president, William Howard Taft, was a lecturer at the school of law from 1918-21.
BU is home to the Terriers, their NCAA Division I athletic program that fields nine teams for men and 13 teams for women. The Terrier’s Men’s Ice Hockey program is one of the most storied teams in NCAA Division I hockey, playing its first-ever game in 1918 and winning five national championships, while making 22 appearances in the Frozen Four. BU also has extensive club and intramural sports programs for all student participation.
As a private university, BU tends to be on the more expensive side at $56,000 per year. There are scholarship opportunities for exceptionally academically talented students and there are athletic scholarships as well. Academic scholarships require an additional application and essay to apply.
Ninety-nine percent of freshmen who applied for need-based aid were offered aid of some type – REMEMBER to fill out your FAFSA’s!
BU is on the more selective end of the spectrum, with 22 percent of applicants admitted. Average SAT scores range from 1,330 to 1,500.
There is a special program offered through their College of General Studies that has slightly less selective requirements Per the BU website: “CGS is an interdisciplinary program that gives students a comprehensive foundation in humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and rhetoric. All students participate in the January Boston-London Program, beginning their studies in January with a semester at BU in Boston and completing freshman year with a six-week semester abroad in London during the summer. During students’ two years at CGS, they fulfill most of their BU Hub general education requirements and complete electives toward their majors. In their junior year, they continue into their specific majors in one of the University’s degree programs.”
Give BU a look if you are looking for an East Coast experience in a great city where students thrive. As always, if you have any questions, contact me! Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!
Maryanne Hogan is an Independent College Admissions Consultant working with students on Maui. Visit her website, thecollegeauntie.com, for more information or to make an appointment.