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I am from the Boston area and was never interested in BU, but I believe that it's a lot more spread out over the area than NYU is, and that many students have to take the T to get from one place to another, whereas with NYU its concentrated within a few blocks.
Another thing is that a lot of the dorms at BU aren't in the safest locations, let alone that Boston isn't as safe as NYC in general. But the dorms of NYU are very safe, not to mention the fact that you wouldn't normally be able to afford to live in the parts of town that you would were you not attending NYU! lol
But don't take me for an NYU supporter, I'm not, just some things to consider!
I am from the Boston area and was never interested in BU, but I believe that it's a lot more spread out over the area than NYU is, and that many students have to take the T to get from one place to another, whereas with NYU its concentrated within a few blocks.
NYU also has a huge, sprawling campus, though it's possible that as an undergrad you might be able to just stick to the buildings around Washington Square. However, some NYU dorms are definitely a subway ride away.
Actually NYU is everywhere. You'd think it'd be Washington Square but you find it in Union Square and beyond. It's in Astor place. It's in Chelsea. It's in the lower east side. It's in Murray Hill. The whole city in that segment of the island is punctuated with duck-ins that constitute NYU.
In that respect, it's as completely urban as BU, which is concentrated in two discreet areas: an ugly campus that straddles Comm Ave., and the Boston Medical Center.
I would put BU in exactly the calibre of education as NYU, maybe even a hair's breadth better than NYU. They don't admit stupid people.
I love Boston as much as the next guy (and have my fingers crossed over this damn Rays thing right now...). But, just so we don't fool the uninitiated, let's be clear that Comm Ave in Back Bay (what appears to be the first several pictures) is a little, shall we say, aesthetically different from what it looks like around BU (in the later ones). Around the school, you're looking at the Green Line and the one-story retail stores, not the bay windows and the brownstones.
I personally think of NYU as being categorically better (or at least more prestigious) than BU, but that may be because I'm looking at law schools right now. Maybe they're more comparable for undergrad.
By the way, nice pictures Crisp! They make me want to take a fall trip up there..
Last edited by dixiecupdrinking; 10-14-2008 at 08:40 PM..
Reason: clarity
NYU's a little overrated. But it does have good name recognition, which does count for something once you hit the job market.
Horrible school to flunk out of, in personal experience. And if I didn't flunk out, I probably wouldn't have gotten the financial aid I was hoping for in the end anyway and would've had to transfer out since I spent my life savings on two semesters. At that point in my family's financial history I got into CUNY paying nothing not even for books, yet at NYU they felt I didn't warrant a need-based scholarship... go figure. All the required freshmen courses I had to take there (and did actually pass lol) didn't transfer as anything but electives at CUNY if they transferred at all. supposedly NYU does it to make the school more appealing to freshman prospects because you take more interesting courses than the usual required dreck... I took a Caribbean History/Anthropology course for one req. and a Philosophy/History course that focused on the Enlightenment period of Europe for the other... however neither class fell into history or anthropology or philosophy alone like required courses at CUNY (or any typical school) would... so they didn't transfer for crap and I had to take standard European history and Anthropology classes all over again. Great classes, I must admit, but it's something to be aware of if your budget is iffy and you don't know if you can stay there for a full four years.
One of my English teachers at Queensborough CC teaches a similar class at NYU also. We asked him if he dumbs it down for us--and this was an honest guy mind you--and he said "nope, your readings are just as hard as theirs. But I'm a little more patient and lenient here since... well, you guys have jobs and the NYU kids have trust funds." Good answer, haha.
I love Boston as much as the next guy (and have my fingers crossed over this damn Rays thing right now...). But, just so we don't fool the uninitiated, let's be clear that Comm Ave in Back Bay (what appears to be the first several pictures) is a little, shall we say, aesthetically different from what it looks like around BU (in the later ones). Around the school, you're looking at the Green Line and the one-story retail stores, not the bay windows and the brownstones.
I personally think of NYU as being categorically better (or at least more prestigious) than BU, but that may be because I'm looking at law schools right now. Maybe they're more comparable for undergrad.
By the way, nice pictures Crisp! They make me want to take a fall trip up there..
Dixiecupdrinking, I am in law school right now (2L at Brooklyn Law School). I have heard that law school admissions view BU and NYU to be of the same prestige level: one notch below the Ivies/MIT/Stanford/Duke and one notch above most of the "good" state schools. NYU is ranked slightly higher and might have more prestige than BU on a NYC-level, but nationally I have perceived that they are seen as having about the same prestige.
I am glad you enjoyed my pictures but I will state that I believe all of them are good representations of BU's campus. BU's East Campus, particularly the area in which Danielson Hall is located, is merely a couple blocks away from the first few pictures I took. My pictures represent BU's East Campus and Central Campus; I really don't have any pictures of West Campus, which is the "ugliest" of the three even though there are some great new facilities there: a beautiful new gym with rock climbing wall and lazy river, two new highrise apartment buildings, etc.
I am applying to b-schools in boston and nyc. I did live in boston area for some years(did go to bu), so i know what i'm getting into if i move back there again. but i never lived in nyc except for a few weekend visits. how safe and liveable is the area/neighborhood around nyu in particular??? rent?(how expensive for a studio/1 br), etc...
as far as prestige is concerned, i think nyu is slightly ahead of bu, but almost on same level. for b-schools, same scenario; in recent years b/c of economic downturn, bu in partucular soared in popularity and is catching up. but still, nyu is slightly ahead of bu. a lot of times it really depends on where you live; i didn't think bu enjoyed much of respect it deserved in boston area b/c of neighboring academic giants like harvard, mit, etc. but outside of boston, bu name means respect...and lots of money spent...
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