Boston University MA/PhD Fall 2009

[sunshine88]

I decided today that I will be going to BU for my MA in the fall. I saw some other threads for people who are going to the same schools to chat so I figured I'd start one for BU since I didn't see one yet.

So who is going to BU in the fall for either MA or PhD? I'm really excited about BU and will be visiting next month to find housing. Have any of you decided if you will be living off-campus or on yet?

Anyway, I thought we could all chat about BU here and become friends.

[ibanez]

Hey there, I am going to BU for my PhD in the fall.

Is there on campus housing? From my understanding, it is very limited for graduate students.

I have a roommate and we expect to pay around $800 a month each.

PM me and we can be facebook friends.

[desperateAS]

I'm going for MA. Cheers!

[sunshine88]

Originally Posted by ibanez

Hey there, I am going to BU for my PhD in the fall.

Is there on campus housing? From my understanding, it is very limited for graduate students.

I have a roommate and we expect to pay around $800 a month each.

PM me and we can be facebook friends.

I just PMed you a link to my page. If anyone else wants to be facebook friends, just PM me!

Well from what I gathered on the website, they have two options for grad students, but are very limited like you said. They have studio and one bedroom apartments at one complex and then they have dorms for grad students too where you can have a roommate, but I think the bathrooms and kitchen are shared by the floor and not private. Personally, I'd like to find a roommate and live off-campus somewhere because it seems to be a lot cheaper. I definitely don't want to spend more than $1,000 a month. I'm from Texas and rent here is only $600 for a huge 2-bedroom so I'm realizing how ridiculously more expensive the northeast is.

If anyone is looking for a roommate (boy or girl), then let me know and maybe we can see if we would be compatible as roommates.

[sunshine88]

Originally Posted by desperateAS

I'm going for MA. Cheers!

yay! I'm excited to meet other MA students! Do you have facebook?

[ibanez]

Sunshine, are you just MA or are you MA/PhD track?

What is your math background? What are you anticipating first year to be like?

When are you visiting?

[sunshine88]

Originally Posted by ibanez

Sunshine, are you just MA or are you MA/PhD track?

What is your math background? What are you anticipating first year to be like?

When are you visiting?

For now, I'm just MA and then going to law school, but I think I eventually want to get my PhD in Economics. In regards to my math background, I have taken Calculus I and I am currently enrolled in Linear Algebra and Calculus II. I was told to take more math like Calculus III over the summer, but I think I'm just going to buy the math for economists book they teach the class with and just study that all summer before the math placement exam. I'm actually REALLY excited, yet nervous about starting the MA program because it seems to go by really quickly since it's only a year long program. I've looked at the class schedule for the fall though and looked at the syllabi for the classes and the classes honestly doesn't seem TOO bad. So I'm really excited!

I'll be visiting Boston in late May or early June with my mom to look at housing and stuff. I've never been to Boston so I'm not sure what to expect.

How about you?

[sunshine88]

oh yeah, and I've taken statistics and econometrics. I totally forgot about those classes lol

[pddxm]

I am choosing which program I should take MA econ BU or MA econ GWU.
Can you give some suggestions on why to choose bu and decline GWU(since the locations of both univ. are good, and I really don't know the US students attitude towards the ranking things, is that very important for the job market?).
Thank you. BY the way I was rejected by NYU today, what a pity my dream school.

[sunshine88]

Originally Posted by pddxm

I am choosing which program I should take MA econ BU or MA econ GWU.
Can you give some suggestions on why to choose bu and decline GWU(since the locations of both univ. are good, and I really don't know the US students attitude towards the ranking things, is that very important for the job market?).
Thank you. BY the way I was rejected by NYU today, what a pity my dream school.

NYU was my dream school too

I picked BU over GWU because of costs, length of program, and strength of department. The only thing that was really pulling me towards GWU was location because of the political opportunities in DC. I liked that BU was only a year long program because I will be going to law school after my MA so it's really convenient that I can finish my MA in a year so I can apply to law schools this fall. Costwise, even though tuition at BU is more expensive than GWU per year, BU still ends up being cheaper since you only have to pay a year of tuition and a year of living expenses compared to 2 years at GWU. Finally, BU seems to have a better econ department than GWU. This was an important consideration for me because I eventually want to get my PhD in economics and it seems that the opinion on this forum is that the reputation of your MA program is a factor in PhD admissions. I also think I read that BU is a good MA program to prepare for PhD, but I can't remember where I read that at.

What are your opinions of BU and GWU, and which way are you leaning right now?