mish4 Posted March 29, 2010 Posted March 29, 2010 Hey all! I was wondering who else is considering the school? I think Boston would be a pretty awesome environment to be in. I am going for a computer science phd. It seems like BU is more well known for some of the liberal arts. Anyways, any thoughts are welcome...
Ziegler1988 Posted April 2, 2010 Posted April 2, 2010 I'll be attending BU in the fall for a PhD in Organic Chemistry; I really liked the campus/area when I visited and I'm looking forward to living in Boston.
mish4 Posted April 14, 2010 Author Posted April 14, 2010 Cool, I sent in my acceptance to BU. I'm looking forward to a change of scenery from my current school. I hope that finding housing isn't too painful. I don't know much about the Boston area either.
pitz Posted May 4, 2010 Posted May 4, 2010 I was accepted to BU's Masters in Biology program last Friday and I'm really excited to be coming to Boston this fall. I lived in Somerville a few years ago and loved the area so I'm psyched to be coming back to Boston. Any other BU Biology folks out there?
pragmaticphdapplicant Posted May 7, 2010 Posted May 7, 2010 I'm starting at BU this fall for a Ph.D. in History. I haven't visited the campus yet but I hear the Charles River Campus is great, not to mention the city in general.
kamo Posted May 26, 2010 Posted May 26, 2010 I'll be starting my PhD in History as well. Have been checking out craigslist for housing, not sure it's worth visiting some of the university-managed apartments. Has anyone figured out where they're living yet?
chocolate_blanche Posted November 27, 2010 Posted November 27, 2010 Do you guys remember in general when BostonU starts notifying people? And how is the usual size of the funding package? Any info would be greatly appreciated!!!
newms Posted November 30, 2010 Posted November 30, 2010 Do you guys remember in general when BostonU starts notifying people? And how is the usual size of the funding package? Any info would be greatly appreciated!!! A resource I use to determine information like this is thegradcafe's survey of past application seasons. You can search and see when people got interviews and acceptances. Sometimes people post how much funding they got in the comments. It's very useful
beanbagchairs Posted March 19, 2011 Posted March 19, 2011 (edited) Hi All, I am planning to attend BU for Biomedical Engineering (Bioinformatics) this fall. I am extremely excited as it is one of my top choices!! The downside is that I dont know any single soul in Boston. Well, I know a single soul, but she's pretty swamped with having a new baby and all. I am interested in finding a housemate; but, I am not sure how to go about it. Is there any BU internal forums for roommates listings? How do you guys plan to find an apartment?? I am just overwhelm with the moving arrangements. Any thoughts? Edited March 19, 2011 by shashakoe
hyperzero4 Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 Yeah, BU BME. Get a good broker. For Boston, I would absolutely do it, and make sure you get a cool one (a lot of the brokers are just college grads who didn't want to leave Boston and know super cheap places for you to stay, if you are persistent). I trusted my instinct and after putting up with a little bs, I cracked her and now she's very straight-forward with me with the good and the bad (at least as much as she can be for a broker). Make sure when they ask the fatal question "What's your budget range?", always give $200 less than you would be willing to pay. I went though a lot of "top" of my budget apartments before I finally convinced her otherwise. Good luck.
amleta Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 I'm starting my Art History PhD this fall. I actually moved to Boston last September, so I can provide a little info re: housing. Craigslist is a good place to start, just to get a feel for the prices and the options in different areas. You will probably have to deal with a broker, though, so be prepared for their fees. Also, start looking early - most good places at reasonable prices will be gone by July 1. In terms of where to live, I would personally recommend not living too far from BU if you plan to walk or take public transit. The green line is convenient, but it's slower than death (especially the B-line - it literally stops every 1-2 blocks). I also work on campus at the moment, so I can speak to the Charles River campus. It feels like the middle of the city on Commonwealth Ave, which is the central campus artery, but it's a city entirely of BU students and staff. It definitely has a campus vibe despite the city appearance. There are a lot of shops, restaurants, etc., "on-campus." The B-line (part of the T's green line) runs right through campus, so even though BU is spread out a bit from east to west, you can always just take the train if it's cold or you don't want to walk. If you walk off campus, you can be in a variety of different places within a few blocks: Kenmore Square, a park alongside the river, quiet residential areas, Brookline, or the Fenway area. Like any major university, there are some really nice buildings and some less nice ones. The science buildings tend to be very shiny, though the humanities ones tend to be a little older and generally less well maintained and updated. As for Boston in general, I love it. I live in Brookline, which I recommend if you can find a place in your price range. Boston is a little cozier and more welcoming than New York (as you might expect), but it definitely feels like a major city. I would say that it feels larger than it actually is. Hope at least some of that was helpful for someone
chocolate_blanche Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 Reading the comments here I feel that Boston is really going to win my decision. I have a question here for those that are awarded a Teaching Fellowship like me. It says on the website that every Continuing Graduate Student has to fill out a new Financial Aid form every year. While I talked to my department's graduate coordinator he said that the Teaching Fellowship is renewable up to 4 years. My concerns are: - To your knowledge has it ever happened that a graduate student (especially international) fails to secure Teaching fellowship/ financial aid at the same level in the subsequent years after first year? - For those who do not get the Presidential fellowship the first year is it even possible/ conceivable to apply and be nominated in the subsequent years? I am in need of guidance and will talk to the prof and other students but any comment here will be greatly appreciated. Leven2 1
amleta Posted March 26, 2011 Posted March 26, 2011 Reading the comments here I feel that Boston is really going to win my decision. I have a question here for those that are awarded a Teaching Fellowship like me. It says on the website that every Continuing Graduate Student has to fill out a new Financial Aid form every year. While I talked to my department's graduate coordinator he said that the Teaching Fellowship is renewable up to 4 years. My concerns are: - To your knowledge has it ever happened that a graduate student (especially international) fails to secure Teaching fellowship/ financial aid at the same level in the subsequent years after first year? - For those who do not get the Presidential fellowship the first year is it even possible/ conceivable to apply and be nominated in the subsequent years? I am in need of guidance and will talk to the prof and other students but any comment here will be greatly appreciated. My understanding is that the Dean's Fellowship (not sure if this is the same - I'm familiar with the School of Arts and Sciences) is only for incoming students. I also got the impression that once you have a teaching fellowship, you're extremely likely to keep it. However, the professor that I spoke with phrased this as an unspoken department policy, so depending on where you are, the procedure may vary. Obviously, the current students and profs will know better than I do.
chocolate_blanche Posted March 27, 2011 Posted March 27, 2011 My understanding is that the Dean's Fellowship (not sure if this is the same - I'm familiar with the School of Arts and Sciences) is only for incoming students. I also got the impression that once you have a teaching fellowship, you're extremely likely to keep it. However, the professor that I spoke with phrased this as an unspoken department policy, so depending on where you are, the procedure may vary. Obviously, the current students and profs will know better than I do. Thank you. Have you firmly decided on BostonU? I should add that since my above post I have also come to the understanding that the Presidential/ Dean's Fellowships are only for entering students. And as I browsed through the other departments and talked to my prospective advisor it seems that the teaching fellowship is there for you as plan B but the department will try to give you better things e.g. RA without the commitment of teaching, external grants etc.
amleta Posted March 27, 2011 Posted March 27, 2011 Thank you. Have you firmly decided on BostonU? I should add that since my above post I have also come to the understanding that the Presidential/ Dean's Fellowships are only for entering students. And as I browsed through the other departments and talked to my prospective advisor it seems that the teaching fellowship is there for you as plan B but the department will try to give you better things e.g. RA without the commitment of teaching, external grants etc. Ah, interesting - that certainly makes sense. Thanks for the info! Yes, I'm definitely starting at BU in September. I'm in the very fortunate position of being able to do the program part-time if funding doesn't work out.
papertigerwords Posted March 28, 2011 Posted March 28, 2011 Hi! I'm going to the archaeology PhD program at BU next year! Any other archaeology people around?
Herbie Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 Just checking in. Art History for Fall 2011. [: Will now jump on the apt search bandwagon. I'm so thrilled that I can't even use an exclamation mark.
amleta Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 Just checking in. Art History for Fall 2011. [: Will now jump on the apt search bandwagon. I'm so thrilled that I can't even use an exclamation mark. Yay! What's your field?
Herbie Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 American/Contemporary, with a focus on critical/race theory. Yours?
dogfishing Posted April 4, 2011 Posted April 4, 2011 I'm going for an MS in Speech Language Pathology and just sent in my enrollment deposit for fall last week! Super excited, but definitely nervous about finding a roommate/place to live since I live in Seattle!
Herbie Posted April 4, 2011 Posted April 4, 2011 Well hey, a friend of mine is moving to NYC and we're stopping by sometime in July to look at apartments/real estate in Boston. If and around that time someone is looking, just PM me. It'd be pretty cool to tour in an unofficial group.
chocolate_blanche Posted April 4, 2011 Posted April 4, 2011 I have not heard anything about an enrollment deposit for grad study at BU. I just did some searches and still could not find it. Can anyone tell me whether that is program based (I am attending the PhD program in a different field)?
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