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anyone from boston?

C

CanOWorms

Lifer
Anyone here from Boston or attend Boston University?

I randomly decided to apply to the engineering graduate school at Boston University and apparently got accepted. I was wondering if anyone can tell me what the university is like, what the area around the university is like, how Boston is, etc.

Anyone know how their engineering facilities are? Anything about the university will be great to know - positive or negative aspects.

I've lived in the South almost my entire life, so going to the Northeast is going to be a change for me if I decide to go 🙂

Thanks!
 
I'm in Boston U..... Computer Systems Engineering....

A freshman, too. You have any questions let me know.
 
Originally posted by: ducci
I'm in Boston U..... Computer Systems Engineering....

A freshman, too. You have any questions let me know.
Click to expand...

Can you tell me what the engineering buildings are like? Are they old and decrepit, new and high-tech, average, etc? At my current university, they had horrible buildings in my first 2 undergraduate years and then they demolished/remodeled the main building which was really nice!

What are the graduate students like? I'll be a graduate student 🙂
 
Originally posted by: CanOWorms
Originally posted by: ducci
I'm in Boston U..... Computer Systems Engineering....

A freshman, too. You have any questions let me know.
Click to expand...

Can you tell me what the engineering buildings are like? Are they old and decrepit, new and high-tech, average, etc? At my current university, they had horrible buildings in my first 2 undergraduate years and then they demolished/remodeled the main building which was really nice!

What are the graduate students like? I'll be a graduate student 🙂
Click to expand...

It depends on what your specialty is, I suppose. If you are in Bio-Med or Chemistry Engineering, the departments are roughly nonexistant, although they do plan on building a new building for Bio-Med. If you are Mechanical, Aerospace, or Manufacturing, they have excellent resources. The buildings are relatively new, especially the Photonics building - its very impressive. Electrical and Computer Engineers kinda get thrown around everywhere.

The building themselves are nice, the Science building has the traditional look to it, but the inside is relatively new. The Photonics building is brand new, built in like, 94? or close to it. Very modern, very clean, I like it. And the manufacturing building is pretty funny. From the outside you barely notice it, but once you go inside it's massive.

I'm an undergrad freshman, but I work with graduate students. The main complaint I hear from them is housing. Apartments in Boston are like NYC apartments, small and expensive. Finding housing in your price range close to campus is a challenge. I don't think you'd want to live on BU residences, not because they're bad, but just because all of the graduate students I talked to want their own place. Plus if you live in a BU residence they force a meal plan on you.

Anyway, any other questions feel free to ask.
 
Originally posted by: CanOWorms
Originally posted by: ducci
I'm in Boston U..... Computer Systems Engineering....

A freshman, too. You have any questions let me know.
Click to expand...

Can you tell me what the engineering buildings are like? Are they old and decrepit, new and high-tech, average, etc? At my current university, they had horrible buildings in my first 2 undergraduate years and then they demolished/remodeled the main building which was really nice!

What are the graduate students like? I'll be a graduate student 🙂
Click to expand...

The building is fairly new built in 96/97 I think. A lot of the graduate students are foreign students, some from the BU undergraduate program and the others from various colleges in the states.

Boston itself is not as vertically imposing as NYC... Boston University is near Kenmore Square which is a couple blocks down from Fenway park.

 
Thanks for answering my questions guys!

Heh.. I think most engineering grad schools are mostly international students. I think BU thinks that I'm an international student even though I'm not since they did include an international student estimated expense sheet with my letter.. gotta see if that was a mistake 🙂

Do you need a car in Boston?
About how much a month is rent (off-campus)?
 
You don't need a car, and rent is expensive. For a studio apartment (not 1-bedroom) you're looking at at least $1000/mo
 
Originally posted by: stultus
You don't need a car, and rent is expensive. For a studio apartment (not 1-bedroom) you're looking at at least $1000/mo
Click to expand...

$1000 :Q Is that rent all throughout Boston or just in the area near BU?
 
Originally posted by: CanOWorms
Originally posted by: stultus
You don't need a car, and rent is expensive. For a studio apartment (not 1-bedroom) you're looking at at least $1000/mo
Click to expand...

$1000 :Q Is that rent all throughout Boston or just in the area near BU?
Click to expand...

That sounds about right... If you have stipend and do work for a professor that will definitely help. If you move away from the BU area to like Allston it should be cheaper.
 
You should've applied to Notheastern University, they have a better engineering program. My mom tells me that in the next few years Northeastern's ranking will pass BU's. BU is still cool though, very convenient..
 
Originally posted by: psy44
You should've applied to Notheastern University, they have a better engineering program. My mom tells me that in the next few years Northeastern's ranking will pass BU's. BU is still cool though, very convenient..
Click to expand...

I've never heard of Northeastern, but it seems to be a good school and deal from what I've just looked up.
 
Originally posted by: Storm
Originally posted by: CanOWorms
Originally posted by: stultus
You don't need a car, and rent is expensive. For a studio apartment (not 1-bedroom) you're looking at at least $1000/mo
Click to expand...

$1000 :Q Is that rent all throughout Boston or just in the area near BU?
Click to expand...

That sounds about right... If you have stipend and do work for a professor that will definitely help. If you move away from the BU area to like Allston it should be cheaper.
Click to expand...

What's the Allston area? Is it some run-down area, unsafe, etc? I've never been to Boston so I don't know any of the local areas 🙂
 
Originally posted by: CanOWorms
Thanks for answering my questions guys!

Heh.. I think most engineering grad schools are mostly international students. I think BU thinks that I'm an international student even though I'm not since they did include an international student estimated expense sheet with my letter.. gotta see if that was a mistake 🙂

Do you need a car in Boston?
About how much a month is rent (off-campus)?
Click to expand...

Car, no. Just get a monthly T-pass for about $65 (last I checked) and your good for a month on all the lines

EDIT: My sister was renting a place in Braintree about 1 mile from the T station there for about $750/mo
 
Originally posted by: CanOWorms
Originally posted by: Storm
Originally posted by: CanOWorms
Originally posted by: stultus
You don't need a car, and rent is expensive. For a studio apartment (not 1-bedroom) you're looking at at least $1000/mo
Click to expand...

$1000 :Q Is that rent all throughout Boston or just in the area near BU?
Click to expand...

That sounds about right... If you have stipend and do work for a professor that will definitely help. If you move away from the BU area to like Allston it should be cheaper.
Click to expand...

What's the Allston area? Is it some run-down area, unsafe, etc? I've never been to Boston so I don't know any of the local areas 🙂
Click to expand...

It's pretty much a safe area, rent is getting crazy in Boston though, it's about 1,100-1,500 for a nice furnished studio in that area. There's tons of public transportation in that area, you won't need a car, plus parking is hard to find in that area...
 
Originally posted by: malbojah

Car, no. Just get a monthly T-pass for about $65 (last I checked) and your good for a month on all the lines

EDIT: My sister was renting a place in Braintree about 1 mile from the T station there for about $750/mo
Click to expand...

What's a T-pass? Is that a subway system?
 
I live in Boston/Brighton/Allston. I live in Brighton/Allston. I also refer to it as Boston. 🙂 BU is in Boston but part of it is near the edge of Allston. I don't know anything about BU. My friends just complain about how expensive it is for what you get.

There is a public train system that runs up/down along all of BU campus. It's a long campus. You don't need a car to get around Boston. It's a nice walking city. A car is nice if you want to get out of Boston though.

Rent isn't too bad if you share an appartment. A single bedroom appartment is expensive though.
 
Wow, you guys weren't kidding about rent. I checked some places online and they're pretty expensive. So, besides Allston, what other areas are good to live in but affordable?
 
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