Hacking and hockey...MIT and Boston University

Final photo op before leaving Boston University

Dinner in Boston at L'Espalier with Boston University
Asst. Director of Admissions, Chelsea Moylan
and Brown University alum, Grace Yuen

Group photo at the stairs of Undergraduate Admissions at MIT

Our own private campus tour at Boston University

Kathleen, Erinn, Erin, Frank and Andrew

Today was jam-packed with a campus tour at MIT this morning and followed with a tour at Boston University. It was very interesting to hear about the vast differences of the schools and yet they are only a few miles apart. I will let the students go more in depth about what their perceptions/opinions of the schools and I will speak more about what each campus we visit looks for in potential students, breakdown in SAT/ACT scores, essays, letters of recommendations, transcript evaluations, etc. I must say that I was very impressed with both MIT and Boston University. There is certainly a sense of pride at MIT that is very apparent when you walk on campus. Our tour guide also spoke a lot about “hacking” which is what students do at various times during the school year as harmless pranks. One time, students decided to attach a fire hose to a water fountain in front of a lecture hall on campus. We had a hard time figuring out how on earth students found the time to come up with these pranks and actually follow through with them given the reputation of the rigorous course work at MIT.

Boston University had a much more urban feel to it. It is in the heart of Boston and is spread out. We were lucky enough to have our very own tour guide who was very helpful and tailored the tour for us given what the students wanted. Boston University is a big school with lots of extracurricular activities offered to the students. Our tour guide was particularly fond of hockey but shared that anyone can find his or her niche at B.U. They pride themselves in attracting students who challenge themselves in high school by taking demanding classes and are also involved in other activities. They are looking for well-rounded students and people who are “doers.” I was pleasantly surprised with Boston University and I believe a few of our students may even think about applying in the fall!

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around downtown Boston and checking out the sites. It was a beautiful day to be out and about. We met Chelsea Moylan and Grace Yuen for dinner at a very nice restaurant called L’Espalier. Chelsea is the Assistant Director of Admissions at Boston University and Grace Yuen graduated from Brown last year. We all learned so much from them and enjoyed amazing meals!

On our drive back to Providence, the icing on the cake was the full, moon that shone bright in the sky. Erin, Erinn, Kathleen, Andrew and Frank were all chatting about the events of the day and how much fun they had. This is just the beginning! Tomorrow we are off to Dartmouth!

Mr. Ramsey has excellent taste in restaurants!