Boston University

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: English. I’m in the Honors College.
Minor: Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Bisexual Female

Summary

I haven’t gotten into any clubs yet because I’m trying to figure out how much work I’ll have this semester, but I’m going to try to get into an improv group and also be active in beekeeping.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

High School Experience: Public school outside of Tampa, FL with a graduating class of about 550 students. There was a culture of going to college
First Generation College Student: No
Major: English. I’m in the Honors College.
Minor: Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies

Extracurricular Activities: I haven’t gotten into any clubs yet because I’m trying to figure out how much work I’ll have this semester, but I’m going to try to get into an improv group and also be active in beekeeping.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
I’ve taken two introductory English courses so far. There are lots of essays and readings. The number of essays is more than I expected but the readings aren’t too bad.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
I love the English department so far. They are really good at communicating with the students. We get emails pretty much every day from the head of the English department with internship opportunities and outings to go to that are English-based. For example, they had an entire day where they read The Iliad and had different readers come in to read it, which was cool.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s very collaborative. People are very, very easy to communicate with about needing help and the professors are very open about office hours and having you come in to talk.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re very accessible. Especially last semester, they were very empathetic towards the first-years who were still adapting to college. They were very appreciative and open to students coming to their office hours and they stressed that they were there.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I’ve been set on majoring in English since my sophomore year of high school so it was cool to come here and be able to fully immerse myself in it. I love to read and write and I wanted to do that more in my career, and it’s been everything I’ve always wanted, which has been fantastic. I don’t regret it at all and plan to continue on the trajectory that I’m on.

Reasons to Attend

1) The community here is amazing. In my mind, it’s uncommon for a school to feel like home within two weeks of being here.
2) The amount of pride we have as terriers.
3) Campus safety is pretty good.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If you can’t afford it. The price tag is huge and that can throw you for a loop. [Total estimated costs for 2019-2020 is $72,052.]

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: I live on the east side of campus in Kilachand Hall with four suitemates. I live in a double room that’s connected to a triple and we have a bathroom that we all share. It’s the Honors Dorm because I’m in the Honors College.
How was transitioning from Florida to Boston, MA in terms of location?
It was kind of crazy because I’m from the country in Florida and am not familiar with cities as big as Boston. I had never come to Boston except for visiting the campus one time. I move here and am now woken up by the sound of construction on the street and the building has a panoramic view of Boston. It was crazy coming from a rural environment and being thrown into this crazy environment where I can do basically anything I want at any time of the day. The transition was pretty easy for me just because I was able to find friends that I connected with closely within the first week of school.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
It’s extremely safe. It’s way safer than I thought a school pretty much in the middle of Boston would be. We have a security guard in the lobby of our building 24 hours a day and you have to swipe to get into the building and to the hallways. Also, walking across campus doesn’t feel scary.

Social Opportunities

What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you like to participate in?
The huge thing at BU is Allston Crawling. Allston is where all the frats are so you walk around and try to get into those parties. Usually, it’s a hit or miss situation, I personally probably have a higher miss ratio to my hit ratio, but it’s still fun to just walk around, get all dressed up, and be with your friends. A miss is just when the party is already dead, the music is bad, or it’s too hot and too full of people. There’s also an LGBT bar called Machine that’s very popular here because it’s 18+ on Fridays.
What nights of the week do you regularly go out?
Friday nights after hockey games are really huge here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many students be excited about something other than our hockey team. I also go out on Saturday nights sometimes.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
Going to the North End is one of my favorite things to do just because the food is so good. Going to get cannolis is a great quiet night out. Sometimes my friends and I go to Downtown Crossing to walk around too.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
The fact that most of the parties are in the frats says a lot about what Greek life does for nightlife. It’s pretty crazy how many fraternities there are in Allston and that you can just hop from one house to the next. They’re vital to that sort of nightlife, but they don’t need to be what drives your nightlife if you don’t want them to be. Like, you could easily go to a nightclub and go dancing or go to the North End and get dinner.
If at all, how has being a person who identifies as LGBT influenced your nightlife experience?
Because I’m more feminine, it hasn’t been an issue.
How happy are you with the weekend options at BU? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m pretty happy with the nightlife at BU. I don’t go out as much as my friends do, but my friends who go out a lot keep going out because they have so much fun every time they do.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
When we had freshman orientation before classes started, people would all meet up in the lounge area of the building and talk and hang out. I met most of them during the first week of school hanging out in that room and we immediately clicked. After that, we would just hang out in my room and it started this weird friendship that I’m very grateful for.
How would you describe the social scene?
Everybody here is so nice and so open with who they’re talking to. It’s easy to meet people who are so genuine and happy. It’s been easy for me to make friends. As an introvert, it’s nice being around people who are already so open so it makes it easier for me to open up. I think the social life is pretty great here.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix on campus?
In my experience of going to some of the Q meetings, which are weekly meetings at the [Center for Gender, Sexuality, & Activism] CGSA, it’s less easy to meet people who are both LGBTQ and people of color. In order to meet more people who are LGBTQ, it’s easiest to meet them at different meetings. I’ve also met people just by walking around my building and it seems that we have a very high ratio of LGBTQ people here.
How would you describe the student body?
Very, very diverse. I can talk to people from all over the country. [About 32% of students are White, 22% are Asian American, and 23% are international students.
How do you like the size of BU in terms of undergraduate enrollment? [There are about 16,600 undergraduates.]
It’s huge. We have orientation in sections and then when I saw how many people were at the matriculation ceremony, I was blown away by how many people there are. Just walking around, it’s difficult to distinguish who’s a first-year and who’s an upperclassman. I like walking down Commonwealth Ave. and seeing everybody representing BU, it creates a big source of pride in the school. Something about everybody here having the same common ground of going to BU makes the experience more enjoyable. I have a lot of pride for my school and you can tell that other people do too.
How would you describe the LGBTQ community? How strong is it?
It’s pretty strong. I took [an introductory level] Women’s Studies class and a lot of the people there were LGBTQ, so my first semester was circling around being involved in that. It’s very sizable and vocal. You can find the population.

Careers

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how accommodating were they to your needs?
I’m at BU because financial aid was so good to me. The merit aid deadline is kind of tricky to catch, but I applied before that and I am very thankful how much they were able to accommodate for me. When working with them, they’ve been clear and responsive.