Boston University Top Questions

What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?

Bob

It's honestly really difficult to answer this question because I absolutely love my experience at BU so far! However, if I had to point out the worst thing, it would be the cost of living. Boston is so expensive!

Timothy

I honestly can't say much bad about it, except that its honors college is not well run.

Cristian

What I would consider the worst thing at Boston University is the size of the campus. Coming from a small, middle-of-the-suburbs high school, coming to BU was definitely a drastic change. I would consider this the worst part about BU because at times, you can feel lonely. It is really interesting, because it is not loneliness, as in no one is in your near proximity. Rather, feeling lonely despite that there are thousands of people around you, which is ultimately much worse. The constant cold weather with sunlight diminishing at around 3 PM only proliferate this.

Jeray

I'd say the grade deflation. It's kind of reassuring to have the curve to fall back on when it comes time for semester grades to get passed out, but we don't have that. It's a bit rough taking home a B and having to explain to your parents that you valiantly for it.

Jessica

The worst thing about BU is its financial aid. Freshman year was tough but I was expecting to be granted mroe aid as my college career continued however, BU has given me less and less money. Now entering my third year of school, there is no way I'd tranfer even though financially I literally cannot afford my education. Instead of giving me less and less financial aid, I would've prefered if my university would reward me with more and more financial aid as I stay academically focused instead!

Avra

it is very clique ish, people are very wealthy and often live in a fantasy, they dont understand the value of money or true hardwork, they just show off and try to beat out their friends

Joseph

BU spends much of its time promoting itself for prospective students, but not necessarily as much pleasing the students currently there. Some of its administrative rules are pretty strict, but other than that, its a great school!

Ashley

The worst thing about Boston University is that it is a very large campus where classes can be very spread out. While there will be at least 10 minutes in between each class if you have a back to back class, and teachers are understading if you are a few miutes late, it can still be difficult it make it to class on time.

Constance

The worst thing about BU is the length of the campus, which stretches about a mile. The shuttle service can be unreliable, so bring comfortable walking shoes and always carry an umbrella.

Jonathan

Some people may consider the social scene to be a bit dull. The security here is very strict, which means that just about any sort of party has to be held off campus.

Jacqui

The worst thing about BU is that they had no football team. Hockey was the star performer.

Jillian

The price. And the mice in the basement of the dorms.

Michael

The worst thing about BU is probably the size. The huge university makes it difficult not only to meet new people, but also to gain advice from administrators, form a bond with classmates, and to know what is going on around campus. In addition to the population size, the campus is essentially a straight line for about two miles, which can make it difficult to get from one class to the next if they are on different parts of campus.

Emily

I would have to say the worst thing about Boston University is the cost. At around $54,000 a year, it makes you wonder how much a college education is really valued at.

Amanda

The worst thing about my school is the large number of undergraduate students. This is bad to me because it makes for huge class sizes (300+ in some cases), and it is very hard to have a one-on-one relationship with a professor.

Shanelle

Although a respectable institution, Boston University lacks the proper learning atmosphere. Diversity has a notably profound presence on campus; however, diversity of intellect is the one less valuable trait of Boston University?s student body. It is apparent that there are students that reduce the intellectual stimuli in the classroom. Thus, for many students, certain classes fail to inspire or spark an element of academic fervor. In addition, many of the University?s colleges are old-fashioned, containing lockers, old desks and constricting classrooms. Due to the high school reminiscent atmosphere, this moreover, hinders an optimal learning experience.

Chelsea

Every time I turn around small expenses are popping up. Boston University is the epitome of an urban school, right down to the costly price of city living. This includes pricey cereal and subway tickets that are routine necessities I would have a hard time giving up. Just when I think I have covered all monetary items I discovered that two more have suddenly appeared. With tuition where it currently is, small everyday costs really tighten my wallet, not to mention stress me out.

Emily

The divisional credits...BU expects you to fit in 8 divisional classes that are supposed to give you a well-rounded education, but after experimenting with Russian and the School of Theatre during freshman year before deciding on philosophy and art history, all I feel is pressed for time, not well-rounded. Plus, when it comes to the lab credit and math class I have to take, I just want to get an easy class and get it over with. And is that fair to the professors who have to teach these classes that no one wants to take?

Jessica

The large number of students and the caliber of the staff can make it intimidating to try to get to know your professors.

Stefanie

The campus is one long street rather than a usual college campus and sometimes it's a let down not to have more greenery around.

Erin

print quota, weather, class size, work load

Samantha

It's a large campus with a lot of people. The financial aid is really high when they want you to attend the school, but it gets consistently lower as the years go on. There is grade deflation so that you will have to take classes over again over the summer.

Michelle

The worst thing about my school is that there are many students smoking outside the dorms. As a non-smoker, I can't stand the smell of secondhand smoke. It is very annoying and bad for the health.

Jessica

Some of the classes are very large and it can seem daunting to get to know your professor, especially if you are not exceedingly outgoing. But all hte professors do have office hours, you just have to go to them.

Sean

the business school feels it is better than everyone and frowns apon transfer students from other schools with in BU and also wants all college kids to look smart everyday for class with no track pants ect... hard for student athletes (like my self) who come straight from practise and i dont want to be biking all over campus in nice pants and tops ect.

Stacy

The worst thing about BU is that it is extrememly expensive, $50,000/year. On top of that we don't even have a Medical Amnesty/Good Samaritan policy to protect students who have a medical emergency involving drugs and alcohol. Many students get hurt or die because they are too afraid of losing their housing/scholarship, etc. to call for help for themselves or a friend. The administration only pretends to listen to students concerns. They are run more like a business than a school.

Jessica

The school is so large that it becomes difficult to feel comfortable and at home.

Natalia

The worst thing about BU is the cost to go here.

Angela

size, its hard to know most of the people at school

Logan

The worst thing about BU is the difficulty of making friends after the first semester or two. Once you get past that, people tend to pick up a new friend or two per semester, but the social groups are pretty much set. However, everyone is really friendly in that first window, and you could always join a new club if you really needed friends.

Joseph

Honestly, the worst part about Boston University is the amount of extra curricular activities available to students. It is not a bad thing to have these activities available; however, they all appear interesting and fun, that one might try to take on too many activities at once. Add that to the amount of course work a student has and he or she might become very overwhelmed. Therefore, students should exercise a bit of caution when join extra curricular activities.

Xiao

I don't like the campus. There's not much grass, mostly just a few blocks lined with buildings on both sides.

Daniel

The size.

Nazmul

The deflation of grades at this school is horrible. The way professors deflate grades and consider the average based on the entire class is a very bad policy and hurts many regarding their GPA's

Cristin

The lack of spirit or community is the one thing lacking from Boston University. There is no definitve campus, just a busy city street. The lack of spirit for school sports is disappointing. The athletes do very well, but games are not well attended. Although there is much support for the hockey team, the sport only rallies a small portion of the population. Basketball and football are two sports a wide variety of people can enjoy. The lack of a football team/ the quality of the basketball program bring down school spirit.

Alex

All of the frats and sororities. It makes it difficult to find parties outside of that realm, but they are all very friendly so it really doesn't matter all that much.

Samantha

The lack of financial aid is the worst thing about BU. Everything else is great, the facilities, the professors, the extra curriculars, etc. But for the amount BU charges per year, they should really offer more to their students who need help.

Nicole

the grade deflation and the stress levels

Yosi

I find it hard to keep a balance between school work and social life, or even having a social life at all. It feels like my life is consumed with homework and on-campus activities that I barely have time to go off-campus or anything and I don't understand how people have time to do this and how they can have fun during the school year because I certainly can't.

Emily

The worst thing about BU is the tuition cost, but the amount of financial aid given makes the school affordable for most students.

Shelby

There is not much help from counselors, FINANCIAL AID IS TERRIBLE AND SCHOOL IS OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE

Katelyn

Boston University is a very large and very urban campus, which I don't think I was entirely ready for. The winter is dreadful, because despite the cold weather, students walk to class; public transportation is not efficient in Boston. Also, the cost of the school is too high.

Sarah

The fact that there isn't enough housing and many freshman are forced to live in the Hyatt hotel in Cambridge, which is all the way across the river and not even a dorm.

Kyle

The school is so large that I never felt very connected to it as a community.

Chelsea

The urban campus kind of takes away from the community feel. It is a long stretch of a city block so things can be far, which sucks in the winter. It would be nicer to have a more square shaped kind of campus.

Rebecca

Being that this is a metropolitan school, there is a lot of social competition amongst students. Sometimes it is a bit threatening when you are surrounded with people who treat you as their inferior just by the way you act or dress-it is often very intimidating. There just seems to be major class differences and people really take into account each others financial status'. Even in times of economical crises, students still treat others based on their status.

Christian

The school has a fairly ineffient beaurocracy.

Samantha

A lot of rich brats

Khevana

One of the worst things at this school is, in addition to being one of its attributes, is the lack of initmacy or individual attention given to students by faculty and administration. For students who are struggling or are lacking a sense of professional direction, this can be a large problem as they are simply just another face in the crowd.

Elena

My school does not have a way to integrate students with different majors and allow them to be friends.