Advice for newbie Grad student BUSPH for Epidemiology for fall 2010? (Boston: neighborhood, school)

[Deef1]

Looking for anyone with advice or tips for a newbie Grad student to Boston Univ School of Public Health concentration on Epidemiology for Masters program. Any advice or tips to make the Program more successful and meaningful would be awesome!

[dhwm]

Hello, and welcome to BUSPH!

I am a dual-degree student in the School of Social Work/SPH, so I have only completely my core courses. I can still hopefully offer a few tips!

1) You will be on the BU Medical Campus (BUMC) as opposed to the Charles River Campus (which is undergrad, law, social work, ed, etc.). So you'll be in the South End neighborhood. Food: Flour is good for lunch though a bit pricey. Toro, Orinoco, Franklin St. Cafe I all recommend for dinner but there are quite a few good other restaurants. Yelp is your friend. BU's Campus stores called City Convenience mark-up all of their sodas/candy/water to the point that it should be considered a crime. Go to Walgreen's or CVS instead.

2) BU Fitrec - beautiful fitness center on Charles River Campus (CRC). If you are a gym rat, request to get on the locker list right away and hopefully by your second semester or second year you will have a locker in the locker room. They charge like $40 a year for it, but when you're paying $36k in tuition, who cares.. right?? Also, towel service for $40, just check at the pro-shop. You can take the BU Shuttle to the CRC and it's a quick and pretty easy ride, but the buses are usually crowded.

3) Be prepared for big core classes. You'll be looking at 80-150 students per class which is a bit counterintuitive for a graduate program. But, with certain professors you'll have a wonderful learning experience, and the classes get much smaller as you proceed through the degree. Here is who I recommend:
Biostat - Lisa Sullivan
Epi - Wayne LaMorte (I don't know if he teaches core section but find a way to take him). A little bit dry, but a brilliant lecturer. Wayne should be an instructor of graduate-level pedagogy.
Policy - Alan Sager is an expert in the field. Some people love him, some people don't, but you can't pass up an opportunity to study with him at a time like this.

4) BUSPH just posted all of their most recent student evaluations of professors online (though you may need BU id to access):
http://dccweb.bumc.bu.edu/SPHCourseE.../default.aspx?

5) Get involved in research whether it be for a practicum, pay, or volunteer. You can read about faculty and contact them to see if they have any RA positions available.

Good luck!

[Deef1]

Originally Posted by dhwm

Hello, and welcome to BUSPH!

I am a dual-degree student in the School of Social Work/SPH, so I have only completely my core courses. I can still hopefully offer a few tips!

1) You will be on the BU Medical Campus (BUMC) as opposed to the Charles River Campus (which is undergrad, law, social work, ed, etc.). So you'll be in the South End neighborhood. Food: Flour is good for lunch though a bit pricey. Toro, Orinoco, Franklin St. Cafe I all recommend for dinner but there are quite a few good other restaurants. Yelp is your friend. BU's Campus stores called City Convenience mark-up all of their sodas/candy/water to the point that it should be considered a crime. Go to Walgreen's or CVS instead.

2) BU Fitrec - beautiful fitness center on Charles River Campus (CRC). If you are a gym rat, request to get on the locker list right away and hopefully by your second semester or second year you will have a locker in the locker room. They charge like $40 a year for it, but when you're paying $36k in tuition, who cares.. right?? Also, towel service for $40, just check at the pro-shop. You can take the BU Shuttle to the CRC and it's a quick and pretty easy ride, but the buses are usually crowded.

3) Be prepared for big core classes. You'll be looking at 80-150 students per class which is a bit counterintuitive for a graduate program. But, with certain professors you'll have a wonderful learning experience, and the classes get much smaller as you proceed through the degree. Here is who I recommend:
Biostat - Lisa Sullivan
Epi - Wayne LaMorte (I don't know if he teaches core section but find a way to take him). A little bit dry, but a brilliant lecturer. Wayne should be an instructor of graduate-level pedagogy.
Policy - Alan Sager is an expert in the field. Some people love him, some people don't, but you can't pass up an opportunity to study with him at a time like this.

4) BUSPH just posted all of their most recent student evaluations of professors online (though you may need BU id to access):
PreLogin Re-direction Page

5) Get involved in research whether it be for a practicum, pay, or volunteer. You can read about faculty and contact them to see if they have any RA positions available.

Good luck!

You are AWESOME! Thanks a heap!!! Think of anything else please post...appreciate the advice. Speaking of lunch...Where is Flour? On campus or near campus? Any Dunkin's or Starbucks around the campus there?

[holden125]

Originally Posted by Deef1

You are AWESOME! Thanks a heap!!! Think of anything else please post...appreciate the advice. Speaking of lunch...Where is Flour? On campus or near campus? Any Dunkin's or Starbucks around the campus there?

Flour is on Washington St, at the corner of Rutland, a block or two from BU Med. Great pastries. There's a DD in the Boston Medical Center and one on Mass Av. near Washington. Dunkies is never far.

[Deef1]

Originally Posted by holden125

Flour is on Washington St, at the corner of Rutland, a block or two from BU Med. Great pastries. There's a DD in the Boston Medical Center and one on Mass Av. near Washington. Dunkies is never far.

Great! Thanks!