Did anyone visit BU for their BME open house? Need information

[arrxing]

I am currently waitlisted for the BU BME PhD program and have an offer for the MS program. Unfortunately, since I live in CA, I can't afford to take a trip to Boston to visit the school (since the school will not fund me to visit).

 

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or impressions from the visit that they could share, to help give me a sense of the environment. I have a few specific questions:

 

 

1. Do most graduate students get to work with their first choice faculty? (This is very important to me)

2. How does the campus feel (is it a small campus)? What are some nearby things to do?

3. What housing options are there for graduate students? 

4. Did the graduate students seem happy? 

 

Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated as well! I would just like to get a sense of the campus community to help me make a decision on my plans for next year. Thank you!

[braindump]

I visited! This was my last visit of several so by this point I was a bit burnt out, but I loved my visit. I liked Boston a great deal, and it seems like an awesome place to live. I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can remember.

 

1. I asked this same question, and the responses I got made it seem as though either everyone got into their first choice lab, or were very happy with the lab they got into. If there's only one professor there with whom you'd like to work, attending the program is a bit riskier than if there were at least 2-3. But overall, it seemed like most students got into their first choice; no one remembered an instance in which someone ended up in a lab they did not want to be in.

 

2. There is not much of a campus feel, as far as I could tell. We mostly stuck to one building for our visit, since most of the professors' labs were in the same one, so I don't know too much about the rest of the campus, but the campus is in the middle of Boston. So it has a "city feel," not a campus feel. That being said, I really liked the city (I had never been to Boston before, and did not know what to expect because I'd heard as many positive things as negative). It was very clean and pretty. Since it's in the middle of the city and surrounded by academic institutions, it definitely seemed like there is tons to do, and something for everyone. I'm pretty sure you'll have no trouble finding something related to your interests.

 

3. I believe most students live off campus in surrounding apartments. Boston is expensive, so some chose to live further away for lower rent prices, but the cost of living was much lower than I expected it to be (still quite high though, but the students said the stipend was more than enough to live comfortably). I believe most used public transportation to get around the area and recommended not having a car. I don't know too much on this subject, so it may be better to defer to someone who knows more about Boston.

 

4. Simply put, yes. The environment was surprisingly relaxed; everyone seemed very chill and happy with their program (including the professors!). The students I met seemed very close-knit and friendly with one another, which was a great sign. I personally loved the environment. You do need to take into account the weather, particularly since you are coming from CA.

 

All in all, I wasn't too sure about BU before I visited, but I genuinely loved my visit and the program. I do think you should take my opinions with a grain of salt and do as much research as you can if you aren't able to visit, and talk to more people. But I think it seems like a great place to be. That being said, my own personal research fit is not as close as it is with some of the other programs I visited, and I believe I will be accepting another offer soon. Hopefully you'll have a chance at my spot!

 

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

[bkcsmn]

I attend BU now and was accepted to the BU BME PhD program but decided to go elsewhere.  I love BU!    That said, the campus is 1.5 miles straight on Commonwealth Ave, no real campus like most schools.  But, the students make up for it by being really involved in school activities.

What I know about the labs, is that you do a rotation thru 3 different labs while you are there.  The professors are very friendly and awesome, they really want to be there!

There is grad housing available.  Google   bu grad housing  and the website will come up.  There isn't much but there is some BU grad housing.   Housing in Boston is tough, if the rents are reasonable, then the landlords are awful.  It's city living in a college city!  But the city's website has a lot of info about the landlords.  I would warn you to stay away from Alston which is right off the BU campus, a lot of undergrads move there and it's party central!

Even though the campus is not your traditional campus setting, there is a very large sense of community, both between the undergrads and the grads.      

I would definitely be staying if I did not receive an unbelievable offer somewhere else where the research is more in line with what I want.