Underrated

Introduction
A BU student has to not mind the general lack of campus, a great deal of personal acadademic autonomy, a cliquish student body, and a high price tag. If these things don't bother you, academics are way underrated, professors tend to be excellent, and general campus life is better than most schools.

Campus Life and Social Life
Parties and Greek life are fairly minor. The advantage that most students at BU would cite is that there are parties if they want them, but parties are just as easy to completely avoid. We have no football team, which can be lame- but at least we've been undefeated since 1997. Hockey takes the place of football, and our hockey team tends to be really good. Hockey games are a big deal on campus, but other sports are generally ignored. There are more clubs on campus then anybody should ever need- something for everyone to join. Weekends are divided between the two BU camps: the party goers (minority) and the chill kids (majority). Thurs-Sat is party time for the partiers, while most of the campus hangs out and goes into the city. Sunday is a hard work day for nearly everybody. The food is really pretty good on campus, better than anywhere else I've seen, with a good selection. We also have a killer food court in the student union. Dorms range from low end of average to absolutely amazing, but overall are completely livable and generally large. Academics
BU tends to be somewhat underrated, but that mostly comes from the fact that some departments are terrible, but others rock. Engineering and Education tend to be the weakest, Liberal and Fine Arts tend to be competitive, and Law, Management, Communications, Hospitality, and Public Health tend to be very strong- some among the best in the country. Professors teach nearly all classes, with TAs leading discussions. Even in large classes, TAs are qualified and professors accessible and often really good. We work really, really hard...I dare say we are one of the two or three hardest working schools in Boston, and one of the more rigerous in the country- all in effort to improve our rep. Work doesn't rule our lives, but there is a lot and it is hard. Don't expect A's as the average student at BU will graduate with about a B-. It's not because we are dumb- it is a very hard earned B-.

Student Body
There is no typical BU kid. With 16,000 undergrads, there is a little bit of all. The raging stereotype is of affluent suburban kids who are well dressed and a little snotty. They do exist, and most of the student body does have money. But there is a little bit of everything, and most BU kids are very liberal and accepting of everyone- good because there is a huge population of minorities and gays- and they are completely accepted. So basically, most students are from upper middle class families in the Northeast and West, are generally socially liberal, open to all experiences and people, and are hard-working slacker types. Everybody is really skinny, too.

In Closing...
BU is a very good school with an international reputation. Its expensive and lacks the domestic rep of many top private schools. The administration is finally settling years of constant change and beginning to do huge things around campus. It's a really great school for the right people.