Preparation phase:
I decided on the BU because I really wanted to live in a city on the east coast, as I had already seen a lot of the American west coast. In addition, the university’s reputation was very important to me and it is excellent at the BU. I have also heard from a number of friends who have told me about the beauty of Boston and New England. If you have good grades at your home university, it is not that difficult to be accepted.
Unfortunately, finding an apartment was the only shortcoming of Boston. The search in advance turned out to be quite difficult, as the numerous students are fighting for the unaffordable apartments. After several weeks of searching, we found an apartment close to the university, but unfortunately it was also relatively expensive. We would also have had the alternative of living on campus, which we refused because we didn’t want to buy a food plan that is necessary to live on campus.
BU:
One of the great things about the BU was that the university really took care of the foreign students. Numerous activities were offered, which made it very easy to get involved in university life and to make contact with other foreign students.
My chosen courses were:
- Introduction into American Management
- International Economics
- International Business Management
I found Introduction into American Management the most interesting, as we learned a lot about Boston itself in this course. Factors that drive the city, make up the population and what kind of important events take place. That way you got to know a lot more about the city you live in. There was also a lot of discussion about American politics and its clichés.
The level was easy to master and with a little diligence it was not difficult to get good grades.
- Check topschoolsintheusa for more about The School of Law at Boston University.
Therefore, in the almost 5 months that I studied in Boston, I had a lot of time to travel and was able to collect numerous impressions of the rest of America, which I can only recommend! I can only recommend trips to numerous coastal towns in New England! The best time to travel for this is in the Indian Summer, where the leaves have the best colors and the lobster tastes best!
There are many buses you can take to New York for very little money (around $ 15), which you should definitely do!
Boston:
The city is just beautiful. It is incredibly international due to its 8 major universities. There is an enormous amount of culture on offer, which drives the city and makes it very interesting. The architecture is very impressive and walking alone through Boston is a lot of fun. The beautiful location at the harbor is also priceless.
It is highly recommended to visit Boston’s numerous sports teams. The tickets for basketball and baseball are really affordable with Student Discount and it’s an amazing event!
The BU itself has a very good ice hockey team where you can watch a great game for $ 20!
To go out, you should rather go to the numerous sports bars, as downtown clubs are quite expensive. But the sports bars are also really great and you can dance a lot there too! There are also all the students there.
Travel:
Fortunately, traveling is not incredibly expensive, and you can book relatively cheap flights to major American cities, for example with JetBlue. Round-trip flights are often available for under $ 100. Rental cars and petrol are also very cheap compared to German conditions. I’ve been to New York, Chicago, Toronto, San Diego and Washington, all of which are highly recommended! If you are ever on the east coast I would definitely visit Washington and Chicago. Chicago with its indescribably impressive skyline and the location on Michigan Lake, and Washington with the Capitol and White House really an absolutely worthwhile trip! Especially in Washington the sights are free and you can save a lot of money.
Conclusion:
I really enjoyed the semester abroad in Boston! The city is beautiful and the university can only be recommended. The many trips at reasonably low prices is also a great bonus point. The only drawback is the poor housing situation and the high costs, as Boston is unfortunately a very expensive city. I got to know a lot of interesting people, even if unfortunately not many Americans. I can only advise you to take advantage of the “Buddy Program” offered by the BU, where you meet and do things with American BU students for a few hours a week. All in all, it was an amazing experience and I can only recommend it to everyone!