Boston

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone in my neighborhood does.

Kids at BC, BU, Northeastern, Tufts, Amherst, Wellesley. A lot in New England in general—Vermont, Maine, Providence.

Amherst is not anywhere near Boston

- Amherst alum

less than 2 hrs

You thinking this is close just reveals that you are not from New England.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone in my neighborhood does.

Kids at BC, BU, Northeastern, Tufts, Amherst, Wellesley. A lot in New England in general—Vermont, Maine, Providence.

Amherst is not anywhere near Boston

- Amherst alum

We can tell you are an Amherst alum because you feel the need to say you are an Amherst alum. Without your revealing your bona fides, we would have no idea whether what you are saying is true.

That’s because you weren’t smart enough to get into Amherst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvard and MIT are desirable. BU and BC are not.

Porsche and Ferrari are desirable, but many settle with Mercedes and BMW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone in my neighborhood does.

Kids at BC, BU, Northeastern, Tufts, Amherst, Wellesley. A lot in New England in general—Vermont, Maine, Providence.

Amherst is not anywhere near Boston

- Amherst alum

We can tell you are an Amherst alum because you feel the need to say you are an Amherst alum. Without your revealing your bona fides, we would have no idea whether what you are saying is true.

That’s because you weren’t smart enough to get into Amherst.

What you are saying therefore must be true. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NEU is pretty popular, but I think the “you aren’t really able to start at the Boston campus” reality is likely bringing the likeability down.

Boston’s a tough town - you’ve got to want it, be pretty independent and able to figure it out on your own. With the exception of BC, which might be more of a cohesive campus, these campuses don’t offer a traditional experience. DH describes it as Darwinian (he went to BU), and after living there a few years personally, that’s pretty accurate. He did not enjoy his time at BU at all.

Then there’s the weather.

What do you mean by tough? And why independent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NEU is pretty popular, but I think the “you aren’t really able to start at the Boston campus” reality is likely bringing the likeability down.

Boston’s a tough town - you’ve got to want it, be pretty independent and able to figure it out on your own. With the exception of BC, which might be more of a cohesive campus, these campuses don’t offer a traditional experience. DH describes it as Darwinian (he went to BU), and after living there a few years personally, that’s pretty accurate. He did not enjoy his time at BU at all.

Then there’s the weather.

What do you mean by tough? And why independent?

NP. I'm not sure what PP meant, but my guess would be that was a reference to Northeast culture, as some people tend to come off a bit more gruff or aloof than in other parts of the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NEU is pretty popular, but I think the “you aren’t really able to start at the Boston campus” reality is likely bringing the likeability down.

Boston’s a tough town - you’ve got to want it, be pretty independent and able to figure it out on your own. With the exception of BC, which might be more of a cohesive campus, these campuses don’t offer a traditional experience. DH describes it as Darwinian (he went to BU), and after living there a few years personally, that’s pretty accurate. He did not enjoy his time at BU at all.

Then there’s the weather.

What do you mean by tough? And why independent?

NP. I'm not sure what PP meant, but my guess would be that was a reference to Northeast culture, as some people tend to come off a bit more gruff or aloof than in other parts of the country.

But not compared to the DC area! We have a beach house in MA and the Bostonians are 100% friendlier than people in our DC area neighborhood. So anyone coming from this area should be used to it. Plus it's college and kids at most of those schools are coming from all over the country.

[Anonymous]

All the non-Boston schools you mentioned are state schools (assuming by Ohio you meant Ohio State) and all the Boston school you mentioned are private. Other than Michigan, which is as much as a private OOS, they are cheaper than private tuition.

The Boston schools are also smaller than all those state schools, and they still receive a ton of apps (Northeastern more than 100K I think) and are very selective. Plenty of people applying.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by tough? And why independent?

I'm the PP. By tough, I mean the people and the environment. The people aren't necessarily friendly, I found it cliquey and hard to break into. I was taught to look at people in the eye, greet people, etc - people there just look past you.

In terms of independence, to use an old term, you kind of need to be a self-starter. Not a lot of hand holding and assistance, and certainly don't show emotion.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, DH attended and I lived there but did not attend BU (but lived near BC). He did not feel like BU cared about students at all - I think something like 5 kids out of his original freshman floor graduated. Lots of smoking, alcohol and drugs, especially in the winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Overpriced safety schools with poor weather.

Of course none of those are safety schools, but you know that...

[Anonymous]

BU doesn't have a "campus" feel.
Many are turned off by winter weather and it can be horrible sometimes no way to get around it.
Not going to find southern hospitality if a kid is looking for that. "A place with a bunch of book-ish nerdy snobs" a friend once said

[Anonymous]

Local culture wrt newcomers is different. Other than students and faculty, a huge share of Massachusetts people are FROM THERE. Multigenerational families.

Contrast that with DC, more newcomers.

[Anonymous]

BU and BC car comparables are Ford and Chevy. They are not top schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NEU is pretty popular, but I think the “you aren’t really able to start at the Boston campus” reality is likely bringing the likeability down.

Boston’s a tough town - you’ve got to want it, be pretty independent and able to figure it out on your own. With the exception of BC, which might be more of a cohesive campus, these campuses don’t offer a traditional experience. DH describes it as Darwinian (he went to BU), and after living there a few years personally, that’s pretty accurate. He did not enjoy his time at BU at all.

Then there’s the weather.

The "not on Boston campus" is a huge factor. 3 years ago my kid wanted on campus, but the year before they overenrolled, so most offers were for "start elsewhere". My kid got first year abroad or Oakland, but the program wasn't well defined until over a month after the offer. For my kid with tons of AP credits (in the STEM area as an engineer) they wouldnt' have had Calculus to take the entire year, only spring semester. So that is a Hard NO. NEU even stated "if you have a lot of outside credits this program may not be for you". And initially, there was no guarantee of housing when returning. After 4-6 weeks of complaints, that changed, but to us it seemed disorganized and that NEU only offered things when they thought they were loosing $$$/students. Because yeah, the reason they didnt' want to offer on campus housing for soph year was because there isn't space. There still wasn't once they "offered it", lots of forced doubles and triples began because of that.

But most schools in Boston are smaller than the large State Universities you listed. So yes kids who want those are not as interested in the 5-12K undergrad schools in Boston

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to an instate flagship for $32k or 400 miles away for $100k, for one.

Why go to instate flagship for $45k a year, when first two years of community college is practically free?

Because that is not an equal comparison. 4 year vs 4 year is a fair comparison