Boston University Class of 2015 Forum

[pdeturk]

Answered my own question. Sorry for taking the first post on the page for a stupid question.

[BigBlueLaw]

Just registered for the March 30th Preview Day. Just need to get a hotel and I'm set. Does anyone know if the admitted student reception on the 29th is worth it? I'm going to miss the one they have in NY and I'm not sure if the one in Boston is worth the extra night.

[ThreeRivers]

Minn / Boston

I have a 23 k a year scholarship offer from Minnesota... If Boston comes close to matching that I'll be attending BU, if not Minn

I'm planning on going to them with 23 k a year offer from Minn / 20 k a year offer from W&L and see how they respond.

edit: Wow I just realized any BU addcom could probably easily figure out who I am lol

I'm in a somewhat similar position - 30k/yr from Minn. I really want BU to match or be higher, but I don't know when it is appropriate to assume they won't be giving any more offers/approach them.

About them figuring out who you are - I agree, I've thought about that before, but... I figure I don't post anything bad on here! Plus, they probably only care if it is offensive.

I e-mailed them trying to negotiate and got a generic response

Response they sent me:

XXXXX,

Thank you for your interest in Boston University School of Law. We know that scholarship aid is an important factor for law school applicants and we continue to review or admitted students to determine merit scholarship awards.

We do encourage all of our admitted students to apply for need based scholarship aid so that we can consider you for all available types of scholarship aid. Our instructions are on our website - --LinkRemoved-- ... rships/jd/.

If you would like us to add the information about your other scholarships to your financial aid file, please forward copies of your award letters to us.

Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

[landla]

I e-mailed them trying to negotiate and got a generic response

Response they sent me:

XXXXX,

Thank you for your interest in Boston University School of Law. We know that scholarship aid is an important factor for law school applicants and we continue to review or admitted students to determine merit scholarship awards.

We do encourage all of our admitted students to apply for need based scholarship aid so that we can consider you for all available types of scholarship aid. Our instructions are on our website - --LinkRemoved-- ... rships/jd/.

If you would like us to add the information about your other scholarships to your financial aid file, please forward copies of your award letters to us.

Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I am guessing that they haven't given out the majority of their aid yet, so I'm going to hold off of sending my other scholarship offers until I see what they offer first.

Thanks so much for posting this! It actually made me feel better about not having heard yet.

[landla]

Just got home to a package from BU. Thought it might be scholarship information... but it was the timeline with a very nice, detailed letter from a professor. While it looks interesting (and different from what I've received from most schools), I was hopeful.

[StarLightSpectre]

I applied in late October and never received any correspondence from BU. No emails, no snail mail, no status checker.

I just got my acceptance phone today. : )

[Worker and Parasite]

guys about finaid:

Financial Aid Application Checklist


Signed copies of 2011 federal income tax returns
Please include a signed copy of the 1040 form, all schedules and all W-2 forms for the applicant and the applicant's spouse, if applicable.
Parent federal tax returns are required if you will be under 24 years of age by December 31 or claimed as a dependent on your parents' federal income tax return.
Please do not submit state tax returns.

I assume we physically mail all that info? Other schools have websites where you input that information but BU is different I guess?

[landla]

guys about finaid:

Financial Aid Application Checklist


Signed copies of 2011 federal income tax returns
Please include a signed copy of the 1040 form, all schedules and all W-2 forms for the applicant and the applicant's spouse, if applicable.
Parent federal tax returns are required if you will be under 24 years of age by December 31 or claimed as a dependent on your parents' federal income tax return.
Please do not submit state tax returns.

I assume we physically mail all that info? Other schools have websites where you input that information but BU is different I guess?

As far as I know, yes. I mailed mine.

[johnson.jelly]

Hey Everyone!

Excited to join this thread and congrats to all the admits!

Am signing up for reception/preview day on the 29th/30th and am wondering how everyone else is planning it? It's a lot of hustle between the diff places (esp if you don't have a car/don't know someone in Boston).This is what I got so far:

DAY 1:

-Arrive airport - 1 hour T-train to Hotel

-Arrive Hotel - 40 min T-train to Reception (at law firm)

-Leave Reception - 40 min T-train to Hotel

DAY 2:

-Leave Hotel - T-train to BU Law

-Leave BU Law - T-train to South Station (Getting on a bus)

If any current students can chime in too, that would be great! Especially since you are more familiar with how everything works!

[cstan]

any news on scholarships?

[sumner]

Hey Everyone!

Excited to join this thread and congrats to all the admits!

Am signing up for reception/preview day on the 29th/30th and am wondering how everyone else is planning it? It's a lot of hustle between the diff places (esp if you don't have a car/don't know someone in Boston).This is what I got so far:

DAY 1:

-Arrive airport - 1 hour T-train to Hotel

-Arrive Hotel - 40 min T-train to Reception (at law firm)

-Leave Reception - 40 min T-train to Hotel

DAY 2:

-Leave Hotel - T-train to BU Law

-Leave BU Law - T-train to South Station (Getting on a bus)

If any current students can chime in too, that would be great! Especially since you are more familiar with how everything works!

you can just call it the "T" haha and u can PM me if u need directions or want me to estimate travel time from ur hotel

[eaper]

Anyone know of any good bars in Saugus? I'm staying there and don't feel like trying to get back there from Boston after drinking a bit

[rasengan]

Anyone else's status checker still stuck at 01/20 or earlier? I'm assuming that if we haven't heard anything back by now, we shouldn't expect good news.

[landla]

Anyone else's status checker still stuck at 01/20 or earlier? I'm assuming that if we haven't heard anything back by now, we shouldn't expect good news.

There is some discussion of this in the Admit/Deny/WL thread, but I wouldn't count yourself entirely out yet.

[landla]

First, based on the other thread, it seems that BU has started sending out scholarship info to those accepted after mid-December.

Second, who is attending which ASD? I'm going to the one next Friday, personally, as well as the Boston reception the following Thursday.

[BigBlueLaw]

First, based on the other thread, it seems that BU has started sending out scholarship info to those accepted after mid-December.

Second, who is attending which ASD? I'm going to the one next Friday, personally, as well as the Boston reception the following Thursday.

I'll be attending the one on the 30th. I won't be able to leave work early enough to make the reception the night before though.

[JDProspect]

Congrats to all those who have been accepted. I'm one of them!

I registered for the March 30th Admitted Student's Day, but I'm still planning my trip. I'm traveling from SF and are looking into hotels in the area. I'm on a very tight budget so I'm wondering if any of you out there might want to share a hotel room? It's worth a try.

[ThreeRivers]

Catching a flight at 1 PM to Boston!

I'm guessing I'll be in my hotel by 5ish... anyone know something I can do on Thursday night in Boston to kill some time?

Will be staying at Best Western Terrace Inn on Commonwealth Avenue and without a car

[landla]

Catching a flight at 1 PM to Boston!

I'm guessing I'll be in my hotel by 5ish... anyone know something I can do on Thursday night in Boston to kill some time?

Will be staying at Best Western Terrace Inn on Commonwealth Avenue and without a car

I'd say some of us could meet up, but I'm going to an event tonight. Sorry!

I'd say try going around and checking out Boston itself, but the specifics depend upon what you are most interested. (ie, history buffs might walk some of the Freedom Trail, shoppers might check out Prudential, Newbury Street, etc., foodies (or Italians) might check out the North End (get there early due to lines and afterwards get dessert at http://www.yelp.com/biz/caff%C3%A9-vittoria-boston-3 or Mike's, but I prefer Caffe Vittoria) and people wanting to just be touristy might go to Faneuil Hall) I also suggest checking out the T a bit to get a feel for it and see different areas you might live.

For anyone looking to plan trips and unsure of the T, go to mbta.com and use the trip planner. You can enter locations (Logan Airport) or stops or addresses.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me. I don't want to just list and list things!

[BigBlueLaw]

If you guys don't mind, could you let us know how this Friday's ASD goes?

Anyone else going to the one on the 30th instead?

[landla]

If you guys don't mind, could you let us know how this Friday's ASD goes?

Anyone else going to the one on the 30th instead?

Of course! However, I am going to UConn's ASD on Saturday, so it may a delayed review.

[BigBlueLaw]

If you guys don't mind, could you let us know how this Friday's ASD goes?

Anyone else going to the one on the 30th instead?

Of course! However, I am going to UConn's ASD on Saturday, so it may a delayed review.

Understandable. Just curious to know what to expect. Thanks.

[sumner]

i can post something about it tm.

[sumner]

If you guys don't mind, could you let us know how this Friday's ASD goes?

Anyone else going to the one on the 30th instead?

I'll just ramble about the day:

hey so overall the ASD was a pretty good day and definitely worth going to. It started with a little breakfast (coffee and pastries) and there were about 80-100 students there. Definitely get there at 9 because I got there around 9:30 and apparently I missed an opportunity to have a tour of the building. But there were different student organizations with tables there. Everyone seemed pretty nervous and awkward in the morning but loosened up as the day went on. Then we had a mock class with Prof. Farnsworth. Overall, he seemed like the most impressive of the professors we got to hear from. He basically talked about the Mcdonalds coffee cup case for an hour but he made it interesting. Throughout the day we were in a bunch of different classrooms in the building and it made me feel a lot better about the building because all the classrooms were newly renovated and very comfortable. The building is only really ugly on the outside. Then we went to the auditorium for a student panel and they obviously picked the four most impressive students possible, which was intimidating but the Q&A was still helpful and hearing from the director of the Office of Career Development was nice. She seems like someone who works really hard to help people get jobs. She was also very candid and realistic about BUs strengths and weaknesses (someone asked her about the prospects of teaching law or going into academia after graduating from BU and she said BU isn't the right place for that).

Lunch was probably the most helpful part of the day there were both current students and one faculty member at each table who were very nice and easy to talk to. The prof. at my table was Professor Macklin and he was really intimidating but not outwardly mean. Dean O'Rourke spoke at lunch and was very convincing about the atmosphere and her commitment to improve the Law schools prestige and reputation. Probably the most important thing she talked about was the renovation that will most likely take place during our second year, maybe our first.

After lunch there was a faculty panel. The most useful information we got at this panel was a more in depth description of the clinics offered at BU. They basically all stressed their commitment to teaching and having an open door policy rather than focusing on research or their own practice. The last info session was about financial planning and it was run by someone in the financial aid office. It was basically a powerpoint and if you are on top of your loans and financing you probably won't learn anything new. FInally, there was an "ice cream social" on the 12th floor in the same place lunch was served. There seemed to be more current students there than at lunch and I had some more conversations with admitted students. Most people there seemed to be on the fence about BU having not heard back from some schools about scholarship info. I was definitely in the minority who had already sent in a deposit, but I probably didn't talk to a representative sample. After the ice cream thing the current students led a bunch of people down to a bar. I didn't join because I had stuff to do but it seemed like a good amount of people went.

I don't know if any of this was helpful but if you were as nervous as I was it might help you out to read this. Even if you are pretty shy like me there is really nothing to worry about.

NOTE I did not proofread this post.

[ThreeRivers]

I guess I'll offer my perspective. I mostly agree with Sumner though. I'm lazy so I'll just comment on what Sumner said / add my own points. I also apologize, the whole time I was there I basically was comparing it to UMN (other school I'm seriously interested in), so from my perspective I'll probably mention it compared to that.

On the breakfast part, lol yea I'm glad I wasn't the only one that felt the nervous / awkward vibe. I normally find myself to be pretty sociable / easy to talk to but I had 2 conversations with faculty members here and 1 with a current student and all 3 conversations were kind of awkward and choppy for some odd reason. I'll actually put the blame on myself for that, idk it was hard to explain but it was just kind of just walk into strange building and there's about 100+ people awkwardly walking around, it had a kind of weird vibe. Those who talked to me appeared to be nice individuals / I probably came off as awkward to some of them but o well I doubt they'll even remember me. Also I arrived early enough for the tour and I must say you didn't miss much. They took us to about like 4 floors and just pointed to what's over there but that we can't go into now, took a step in the library for 20 seconds, and walked into a classroom (that we later would use for Farnsworth' mock class). I think it is pretty obvious the tower isn't a selling point for them.

I liked the mock class with Professor Farnsworth. I know it wasn't completely legit because we were talking about something just based on common knowledge, but it felt more meaningful than the class I sat in on at UMN. At UMN they had us sit there and just watch a 3L Advanced Corporate Law Class. None of us knew anything that they were talking about and we all completely zoned out. Farnsworth's was much more interesting and if he teaches his regular class in such a manner (which is what he stated) I'd imagine he'd be an interesting professor. I didn't think the classrooms were that nice actually, and in general I wasn't a fan of the Tower (even on the inside). It does have some nice views though and it is serviceable. Imo, I can careless what the law building looks like though, its number 999999999 on list of importance.

I thought the career development thing was a complete waste. At UMN they had the director of career services stating very useful, candid information, and answering questions completely honestly. BU's was pretty much just their elite / VERY impressive students talk about all of their accomplishments. One guy talked about his work with the United Nations, another his former pro-basketball career and now big law job, another about being editor-in-chief of law review (he was also a pro-tennis player for 4 years), another fellow who stated he's on moot court, law review, and a ton of clinical and how easy balancing those is when you love all of them. I hope I am not coming off as unappreciative or rude as all of those on the panel had amazing credentials and it is nice to hear success stories... idk though I just didn't really see the point of listening for 20 minutes on each student's wonderful accomplishments. The only one I found interesting was a girl from Indiana who is having great success but also seemed to come across as more normal / easier to listen to. I was fine with their stories, just wish they were shortened tbh. The very short q&a with director was pretty good though and I also appreciated the honest answer of (ummm yea, you won't become a law professor if you go to BU).

Lunch was great (even though I hated the food). Idk, my table all just started bull-shitting / we all seemed to get along great and was fun to just actually talk normal. Than the BU student sat down and she was great, gave us wonderful information but the continued to flow naturally. Then the BU professor sat down and he was great as well, both in information and personality. I also found the dean's speech to be pretty impressive.

I completely agree with everything Sumner stated about faculty panel, financial aid office, ice cream social so I won't have much to add there. I'll just add I felt they were all done very well and were informative. The ice cream social was interesting and some current students who weren't part of the ASW staff just sat down with us and they were all great / easy to talk to. They also seemed to legitimately enjoy being at BU in a complete natural manner.

I thought the bar was cool as well, was able to talk to admitted students / current students in a much more relaxed and open setting. At UMN i really didn't get to meet anyone but this was far from the case at BU.

Basically for me, ASW was a tale of 2 completely different "vibes" Up until lunch I thought the "vibe" was weird / up-tight and most of the information was pointless. Starting with lunch and for the remainder of the program I felt great being there, everyone was easy to talk to, I found all of the session interesting, etc.. Can't really explain why but that was just my personal experience.


Note: I did NOT proofread, and I am sure there are 99 errors in here