Ebeth

I’m glad you asked this because I am wondering the same thing about BU and MGH! I went to both open houses yesterday and am happy to share my opinions, but I should say that I walked in a bit biased towards BU to begin with. It is financially better for me and I spent more time at their open house due to time constraints. They both seem to be great programs – I think there is no bad decision. MGH is a really rigorous program. In addition to the four semesters, you have to complete 2 summer semesters. You can also specialize by taking some extra credits, which is cool. They really emphasize the quality of their clinical placements as they are well connected through the Partner’s Healthcare System. Additionally, the faculty is incredibly distinguished. MGH has a large program, with about 50-55 students, but students said that their program felt smaller and that faculty was always easily available for help and support. What I like about BU is that as a university with a campus, it offers some resources that MGH doesn’t. For example, there is a library, gym, and on-campus graduate housing. The open house included an extensive tour where different faculty members talked their specialty and/or research, which was really interesting. The students seemed really happy and offered us information and reassurance on everything from prerequisites to finding housing and roommates to clinical placements. Although MGH bragged about their clinical placements, BU had a lot of the same ones. BU’s program is also a lot smaller (usually 25-30 students, although by accident they had 40 last year). BU’s location is also better than MGH’s. It’s pretty centrally located and easily accessible, while MGH is out in the Navy Yard and you have to take the T and then a shuttle. It doesn’t sound too bad and I though it was a nice area, but it definitely takes longer to get there. I have pretty much decided that BU is a better fit for me, but one thing is throwing me off. Before I even heard back from BU, I told someone who is very knowledgeable that I got into MGH, and she said that if I got into MGH I should definitely go there because it is a GREAT program that really prepares its students well. It was an offhand conversation, so I didn’t get to ask her any specifics and I didn’t mention BU because MGH was much more on my radar at that point. Does anybody have any insight as to the reputation of the programs in this regard? I know they are both wonderful, but Ihave this last nagging question about how people outside of the graduate school setting see them. Overall, students at both programs said they felt really well prepared, and that the supervisors at their clinical placements were impressed with their knowledge and background. The professors at both also seem friendly, accessible, and distinguished. I tried to talk to some other prospective students that I noticed had been at both open houses, and everybody seemed conflicted. Some were leaning towards BU and others towards MGH, and some had no idea. It really seems like both programs are excellent and we can’t go wrong!

Hello, I've also been following this forum while I try to decide what to do! I also applied to schools in Boston with no prerequisites. I know that both Emerson and MGH have a summer session where you can take all 5 prerequisites before their programs start. I believe they reserve spaces for people attending their programs, but it's worth giving them a call if you're going to be moving to Boston anyway! I think BU only offers most of them, but not Intro. to Communication Disorders. At the same time, online classes are probably less expensive.