BC or BU??? Forum

[CoGar]

Are they basically the same? What benefit do you get for going to one opposed to the other (i.e. Biglaw vs PI, being confined to Boston after graduation vs maybe breaking into another market, etc.) ? Thanks

[cavalier1138]

Whichever one is cheaper for a given student is the better choice for that student.

Also, stop obsessing over specifics like this. According to your last post, you're not planning on going to school for a couple of years. You should only be doing "[School A] or [School B]" questions after you get acceptance letters and scholarship offers.

[CoGar]

Whichever one is cheaper for a given student is the better choice for that student.

Also, stop obsessing over specifics like this. According to your last post, you're not planning on going to school for a couple of years. You should only be doing "[School A] or [School B]" questions after you get acceptance letters and scholarship offers.

This is true.. was just talking with a coworker a little further ahead in the process than me with similar goals and had the impulse to ask. Thanks for the info

[UVA2B]

Whichever one is cheaper for a given student is the better choice for that student.

Also, stop obsessing over specifics like this. According to your last post, you're not planning on going to school for a couple of years. You should only be doing "[School A] or [School B]" questions after you get acceptance letters and scholarship offers.

This is true.. was just talking with a coworker a little further ahead in the process than me with similar goals and had the impulse to ask. Thanks for the info

Respectfully, next time just get the impulse to search. This topic has been discussed 87,000 times around here.

[CoGar]

Whichever one is cheaper for a given student is the better choice for that student.

Also, stop obsessing over specifics like this. According to your last post, you're not planning on going to school for a couple of years. You should only be doing "[School A] or [School B]" questions after you get acceptance letters and scholarship offers.

This is true.. was just talking with a coworker a little further ahead in the process than me with similar goals and had the impulse to ask. Thanks for the info

Respectfully, next time just get the impulse to search. This topic has been discussed 87,000 times around here.

Respectfully, weening through 87,000 posts isn't quite as efficient as throwing it out there and getting a response within 50 seconds.

[NoDayButToday]

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[CoGar]

In the end, I was deciding between BC and BU and it honestly just came down to fit and money. Outcomes are comparable in most areas. Both very strong in Boston/New England and both have some success in NYC/DC/other major markets. I liked the vibe better at BC and they were more open to matching an offer I had from a higher ranked school.

BC is suburban. The law school is on the Newton campus, which is a 10 min shuttle ride from the big Gothic Chestnut Hill main campus. It has the law school buildings and also undergraduate freshmen housing there. It's kind of a funny dynamic, but you only see the freshmen in the law school cafeteria if you're there at breakfast or if you're there really late. BC is 20 minutes from downtown if you're driving on I-90; it's farther by public trans because you have to take a school shuttle to the B line. Most students live in the Cleveland Circle / extended Brighton-Allston areas, and that's where a lot of the social activity is, too. The school emphasizes community and supportiveness and--easier said than done--trying to make 1L not stressful. All of our profs in the fall and most in the spring did practice exams and either they or their TAs gave personalized feedback. All of the profs were open to meeting for office hours and I always found them helpful and interested in getting to know us. BC is Jesuit and at orientation they will make reference to it--Dean Rougeau had us watch a 15 minute clip from A Man for All Seasons and spent about 30 minutes explaining the concepts of discernment and living to serve others. That's the last I ever heard of the Jesuit tie when I was there--but the other place I encountered it was at the university health center where I learned they do not prescribe birth control. So, the Catholicism is a presence but it doesn't generally encroach on students' lives.

BU is urban. It's located on Comm Ave in town, bordered by the green line B and the Charles River. It's not terribly far from Back Bay, from Fenway. I didn't go there, but I visited several times, sat in on classes, and had a lot of friends who did go there. I'm guessing it was a much more Boston-centric experience. People joke about how ugly that law tower is, but they have an insane amazing view from the tower. The tower is recently remodeled and a few years ago they built a whole new, beautiful, modern building next to it to expand the plane of the campus. They also have some really funny, memorable professors--at admitted students day they had the "singing professor" teach a contracts class (Mark Pettit). He has a song for every case. Gary Lawson who teaches property (and doesn't cold call!) has so many pop culture references up his sleeve I almost couldn't keep up. I got the sense that students were a little more intense or competitive. They still seemed like cool people, and maybe they were on the whole a little bit older too, than BC's average--I just didn't feel as at home with the people, personally.

(Note: I ended up transferring to NYU because I wanted to do death penalty defense, which is a strong area of NYU's, but I LOVED my time at BC--I had profs there that were comparable to the profs I had at NYU and I found the academic experience to also be comparable in terms of rigor.)

Great info... I really appreciate you taking the time to put that information out. Living in Manhattan now, I am definitely more drawn to the urban feel, but will certainly visit both as my time to apply nears. Thanks again!