Boston University

BU is not a Big 10 school of jocks getting drunk every weekend and has a bit of a grad-school-esque vibe. There are a lot of kids who go to parties off campus on the weekends, but an incredible amount of kids make use of the city by going to music concerts and new restaurants. This is not a huge public school where a majority of the kids are looking to get hammered every weekend, though I would say that most students drink.

Not to stereotype the entire student body, but the students here are INCREDIBLY open-minded and liberal. Additionally, most are not religious and openly make wise-cracks about it.

Everyone I meet here is a character, which is something that I really appreciate about the school. Most students are VERY worldly and sophisticated. Also, just take a look for yourself at the student body. BU has international students from EVERYWHERE. I have close friends from Mexico, New Zealand, Bolivia, and Japan, and I'm sure most students are in my situation. Additionally, though BU is sometimes known as a school of rich kids, most everyone I bump into is on some form of financial aid and I have close friends from rural america, suburbia, and large cities.

As a side note - yes, there are the catty girls with their ugg boots and miniskirts, but they make up a tiny part of the student body and tend to stick to themselves. And yes, there are some fashion conscious people here, but most students dress in whatever ridiculous outfit that they feel fits for the day.

BU is not a typical college experience in the sense of going to football games every night and getting hammered... but at BU I've grown so much as a person - everyone is so open-minded that it makes it incredibly easy to interract with people from all different backgrounds and lifestyles and every day I discover something new that I never knew I was close-minded about.

All in all, anyone will find their niche here, though I'm sure really preppy people who want the greek lifestyle will probably get annoyed. The students here are dorkier than at most schools, but are incredibly open-minded dorks who like to explore new things and people and have fun. Every student has a choice of either getting drunk for four years and going to football games and frat parties, or meeting friendly, offbeat students of all different backgrounds. Personally, I don't think there is a choice.

Lastly, the professors here are INCREDIBLE. I've moved from hating certain subjects to loving them. I would major in everything here at BU if I could.

And the lack of campus... What is nice about BU is you really get a choice. If I'm in a campusy mood I'll go hang out at the BU beach behind the CAS building and will completely forget that I'm in the middle of Boston. And if I'm in the mood to interract with the city, I'll walk to class down Comm Av with the T and the world of Boston passing me by. And if you're just dying for a real university campus, just bop on over to Harvard or MIT to study.

For those looking at NYU, I'd recommend investigating both cities, because they are incredibly different with very different feels. Boston has a tad bit more grass than New York, New York has a better subway system and taller buildings, and, most importantly, in Boston people could really care less how you look or what you're wearing and how much it costs or whether or not you're eating in the new "hot" restaurant. People in Boston are more into politics and the intellectual environment. And not to insult Newyorkers, but as they can be described as "independent", Bostonians can be described as a bit less self-involved. In terms of an education, the classes are great, but mostly the BU students have made me a completely different person than who I was when I first came to BU. I can be whoever I want here with NO judgment and I've learned how to accept and befriend people from all different backgrounds and lifestyles.