Some professors know my name, others don't. I've interacted a lot with professors in smaller classes, but otherwise I'm not one of the ones who goes out of her way to introduce herself. But the professors have always been approachable, so whoever wants to know them well, can.
My favorite class has been organic chemistry. It's not terrifying and impossible to learn, and my professor is ridiculous. His 8am lectures always fill up quickly so I still have to get there 15 minutes early. His lectures are hilarious and fast-paced and he's backed this year by a TA who is very, very capable on her own in helping students more closely in discussion (some TAs don't make discussion worth it. She does).
Least favorite are definitely any intro classes. You don't want to be there, the professors don't want to be there, and these are usually the classes that ask the trivial questions. Also, I took some unnecessary intro classes. BU doesn't really outline for you what is required and what's not. You have to be careful and can pretty much just hope you meet a few good upperclassmen who have figured it out and are willing to share.
I have friends I haven't seen for a semester because they've been locked up studying, and I have friends who I've never seen study. It depends on how challenging your coursework is and how much you want to rock it.
I hate class participation. It's somewhat common in the small classes.
I think most people find friends who have similar interests and who can talk about intellectual stuff outside of class. Of course, there are also a lot of idiots.
Competitiveness depends on the student and the program. Premed is definitely very competitive. People chase the professor, ask questions in class, and actually go to office hours. But I haven't had to worry about it reaching the level of sabotage or being cutthroat. Just a lot of people running very, very hard.
Most unique class I've taken so far would either be Sympathy for the Devil and my Peoples and Cultures of Africa classes. Sympathy for the Devil is a WR150 course, the professor is funny and British, the works aren't so forbidden or evil, but it gets you a look into a lot of important classic literature, and you read Master & Margarita, one of my new favorite books plus other modern stuff. People and Cultures of Africa, the professor is amazing. We've referred to him as Mufasa. He's a passionate, humorous, approachable professor who is very informed (he wrote one of the books in the class, and it was my favorite out of about a dozen we read). Careful: the final assignment is a 30 page paper, which isn't so bad either.
I was previously in international relations. I didn't like the intro course, but the upper division ones are definitely all amazing. Biochemistry & molecular biology (BMB) is a very difficult major, but it's put me with a group of students that are at a higher caliber of science-geared students than I've ever worked with. Premedical program here is known for being tough. It's competitive, the classes are very hard, but the premed students are definitely not as smart as the BMB students and can be frustrating to work with. French, I've only taken one class so far, but I loved the professor, and I've only heard good things about the others, so I'm excited to finish my minor.
I wouldn't spend time with my professors outside of class, but I have run into them or ended up chatting with them before or after class, and I know a lot of people can relate to them as peers and have fun.
Academic requirements are typical of a liberal arts education, luckily they took all my APs. They are manageable. Just the writing requirement a lot of people think is stupid.
Depends on the department. My science classes, I feel like I'm just trying to get into med school, but the other ones have felt more like they really just educate me on the topic. You decide what job you want and what courses will apply, they'll make sure the course provides a lot of good information on the subject.