Meet the New Center for Computing & Data Sciences Building!

Bridgette Lang (CAS’23)

As one of the tallest and definitely most striking buildings on campus, it’s hard to miss Boston University’s new Center for Computing & Data Sciences (CDS) building. While this building has already made an iconic debut to Boston’s skyline, it also has a number of perks and opportunities to offer Boston University students starting in 2023. As of last week, I’ve been able to take a walk around the new CDS building, and here are some of my favorite features as an undergraduate student:

1. Saxby’s – At least for me, no study session is complete without coffee. It’s incredibly convenient to grab a drink on the first floor of CDS before you start a class or a study session. Saxby’s also offers grilled cheese sandwiches and other bakery items.

2. Many study spaces! – CDS might have the most study spaces of all BU buildings. After all, it’s a 345k-square-foot building. On the first through the fifth floors, you’ll find tables, chairs, and benches at every turn. All of the furniture is brand new too, so head to CDS to study in style.

3. BU Spark! – BU Spark! aims to help students realize their potential by providing access to resources, knowledge, and expert networks to support their innovation journeys. BU Spark! hosts an event space in CDS, which will hopefully make their amazing programming even more accessible to students. Learn more about Spark!’s undergraduate project support and funding here.

4. Outdoor patio – Although it doesn’t appear to be open at the moment, there is an outdoor patio that looks like it will be absolutely delightful in the summer. It’s like a little, green oasis in the shiny and high-tech CDS building. Once it warms up outside, I can’t wait to hit the patio to catch great views of Boston and soak up the sun.

5. Great views of Boston – Standing at 19 floors tall, CDS surely has some of the greatest views of the city. Featuring wide windows and an observatory patio on the fifth floor, nearly every floor overlooks the city. With views of the Charles River, I would also imagine this is a great spot to watch the Charles Regatta in the fall.

Did I also mention that CDS is also eco-friendly? The list of great things about CDS goes on and on. Although, one of the negatives to CDS is that is incredibly crowded, as all of Boston University’s students want to check out and use the new facilities. Give it a few months, and hopefully, the chaos will quiet down. If you’re interested in learning more about CDS, visit this website for information on the construction and live cameras.

    Advice: From Senior Me to Freshman Me

    Marie Kimball (CAS’23)

    Stuvi 1 in the spring

    As I embark on my last semester here at Boston University, I've of course been thinking about the future. In between classes, I've been scrambling to apply to graduate school and figuring out work for the summer. However, the past has also been on my mind. Almost four years ago, I began my journey at BU - it's unbelievable how fast the time has flown. I think that no matter what happens during your undergraduate career, including a global pandemic, it's easy to get caught up in the moment. Now that I've had the opportunity to reflect, here are some things I wish I could go back and tell my freshman-year self.

    1) There are only 24 hours in the day! Make sure taking time to relax takes up an hour or two of those 24. Every semester, I've found myself rather busy with classes, work, friends, sports, extracurricular activities, and studying. With such a busy schedule, it's convenient to maybe eat lunch on the go or stay up an hour later some nights. I wish I could go back and tell myself that taking these shortcuts just make you plain tired and put you in an even worse spot to take on your day. I wish I would've been more intentional about making sure I took time to refocus so that I could really make the most of my day.

    2) Explore Boston - the green line is right there! With so much going on all down Comm Ave, I never made it into the city as much. I regret this, as some of my favorite memories are from adventuring through Boston. Faneuil Hall is a few stops away with tons of shops, restaurants, and plenty of walking space. I loved going there for breakfast with my friends. The theatre district is vibrant and always bustling with people. I had the opportunity to see Wicked and it was incredible! Finally, even though its more of a commute, the Seaport is gorgeous. The Institute of Contemporary Art is there, along with plenty of good food and beautiful views.

    3) Rely on the people around you! BU is such a supportive community. Kilachand Honors College in particular is a community of such friendly, passionate, and thoughtful people. I wish I could've told my freshman self to check in with my advisor a few more times or to attend a few more Kilachand Teas. Everyone is so driven to accomplish their goals and just as enthusiastic about supporting their classmates. It's just a great group, and I wish I would've hung out with everyone a bit more.

    4) Think about your interests! I think that sometimes while I was completing assignments the thoughts in my brain consisted more of, "This is due in a few days. Try to power through as much of this tonight," and less of, "What do I think of this topic?" and, "Is this something I'd like to continue exploring?" I think after reflecting on everything I've learned over the years at BU, I'm able to sift through and find the nuggets of information I was notably passionate about and interested in. However, I wish I would've taken a few extra seconds in the moment to think about whether or not what I was learning was something I would've liked to follow-up with more seriously. Thinking this way would've made figuring out the next steps after undergrad a bit smoother.

    5) Finally, be proud of yourself! Everyone works so hard here at BU to accomplish their academic and professional goals and everything in between. One thing I've truly loved about going to BU and especially about being a member of the KHC community is that everyone is really putting their best effort forward. Almost everyone I meet is pretty awesome and pretty humble about it too. I wish I would've reminded myself more often that I should be proud of all of the ways I was growing academically and personally. Being an undergraduate at BU is a busy, fulfilling, challenging, fun, incredible ride - freshman-year me should've stopped to look around and appreciate that a few more times and given myself a pat on the back.

    I hope that as you think about attending BU and KHC that this advice helps guide your decision. One thing I know I wouldn't tell my freshman-year me is that I made the wrong choice. My time here at BU and KHC has been amazing, and I'm so excited to talk about this opportunity with anyone who would like to learn more about it. Feel free to reach out to me to chat about the BU and KHC experience!

    The KHC Residential Experience

    Rebecca Sarkisian (Questrom'23)

    If you ask KHC students what their favorite part of being a Kilachand student is, one of the most common responses you will hear is the Kilachand community. While the KHC community is built in many different ways, Kilachand specialty housing is often the first introduction.

    All Kilachand first-year students live in Kilachand Hall. Living in Kilachand Hall is a really unique experience because first-year students typically live on floors occupied by other KHC students in their class year. This means that you see a lot of friendly and familiar faces from your KHC seminar and Studio classes.

    The first floor of Kilachand Hall is home to Kilachand Commons, where many Kilachand community events and co-curriculars take place. It’s also where you’ll find the Kilachand offices with the Kilachand advisors (and also the much-loved coffee machine that is a staple of many KHC students’ mornings). I particularly loved having class in the seminar room on the first floor, which meant a really easy commute to class.

    During my freshman year, when I wasn’t in class, you could typically find me in the ninth floor study spaces. The views from the ninth floor are some of the best that you can find at BU, especially during the fall. I also loved being able to meet with my classmates on the ninth floor to study or work on projects without having to leave the building.

    The view from the ninth floor of Kilachand Hall prior to renovation

    Kilachand Hall is currently in the process of being renovated, which is scheduled to be completed in August 2023. A major aspect of the construction is the complete renovation of the ninth floor, which will certainly still have the same amazing views in an even more comfortable environment.

    While not required to live in Kilachand specialty housing after their first year, many students choose to stay in Kilachand Hall or move to Kilachand House, a brownstone on Bay State Road. Many other students choose to move to other housing options on or off campus with other KHC students.

    I opted to stay in Kilachand Hall for two additional years. I loved being able to study on the ninth floor, being in close proximity to Kilachand events taking place in Kilachand Commons, and living alongside other KHC students.

    During the renovation on Kilachand Hall this year, there is a Kilachand Floor in the residence at 610 Beacon Street, which is where I have moved to for my final year at BU. Living in Kilachand specialty housing has really shaped my BU experience. It’s provided me with a smaller community feeling while also allowing me to benefit from all of the resources that a large research university like BU has to offer.

    An Engineering (and Honors) Student’s Guide to Being a Pre-Med

    Carolyn Glasener (ENG’25)

    Picture this: you’re a high school student. Maybe you’ve done some volunteering or research or been on your school’s robotics team. You know you’re interested in both medicine and engineering, so you apply to be an engineering major with a pre-medicine designation at BU.

    Now, you’re at BU and Kilachand, and all your advisors are telling you to get involved in extracurriculars. The options are so overwhelming. You have to volunteer, manage engineering and honors classes, do research, join clubs, and gain clinical experience?! What even is a clinical experience?!

    Fret not, anxious student. As someone who’s lived it (and survived), I’m here to give you the engineer’s guide to being a pre-medical student.

    1. Studying and Time Management

    The first thing you have to do in college is adapt. The course load can feel overwhelming for an engineering student. If you’re in Kilachand, you take additional classes, adding to this feeling. Before getting involved, you have to first establish strategies for success in your classes. This often means learning how best to study.

    Part of studying is actually planning. This is where the best tool known to a busy college student comes in: Google Calendar. I use my calendar to track all my classes, exams, volunteer hours, and club meetings.

    Establishing study habits and time management early on in your college career are the best things you can do for yourself. Do this before volunteering and clinical experiences!

    2. Clubs

    What you can (and should) do while establishing your student habits is join clubs. Go to Splash, BU’s club fair, and sign up for whatever sounds interesting to you. You can narrow down the list of what you actually want to be involved in after the club’s initial meeting. Pick clubs that you’re interested in, not just clubs that you think medical schools will like. They’ll like it more if you have a genuine interest. Clubs are a great way to get involved from the start of college, without having to commit huge amounts of time.

    I highly recommend joining BU’s Pre-Medical Society, as you’ll get to interact with other pre-medical students, attend events, and even gain a mentor through the Physician Mentorship Program.

    3. Shadowing

    Shadowing is a great way to be exposed to healthcare. BU’s Physician Mentorship Program is a great way to do this, as you get matched with a physician. As someone who didn’t have any personal connections to doctors, this was great for me! My physician mentor is super nice and offered to let me shadow him before I could even ask. Shadowing can be difficult if you have a lot of classes during the day, but you can shadow during the summer and over breaks, regardless of if you’re in Boston or not.

    If you don’t want to do the program, you’ll have to do some extra research to find physicians to shadow and reach out to them on your own.

    4. Research

    Another thing you’ll hear from your advisor is that you need to get involved with research. Luckily for you, BU makes this super easy! BU has a whole webpage dedicated to helping undergraduates find research opportunities. If you don’t see anything you’re interested in, you can email professors directly.

    As a student in the College of Engineering and Kilachand Honors College, you’ll complete a Capstone project at the end of your college career. For engineering students in the Honors College, research in your department counts as your Capstone!

    5. Volunteering

    Medical schools want to see some form of volunteering on your application, but this can come in a few different forms. A good way to start is by looking at BU’s pre-medical webpage on volunteering experiences. Start a list of what you like and apply broadly. Volunteering doesn’t need to be in a hospital, but it does help.

    Currently, I’m a volunteer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the Medical Career Exploration Program. I found this program through BU’s website! It’s made specifically for pre-health students and involves volunteering in multiple departments. This is a great way to get exposure to different forms of volunteering, as well as the inner workings of the hospital.

    Caution: a lot of volunteer programs closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and are just now starting to open up again. This may limit what’s currently available to you.

    6. Clinical Experience

    Gaining clinical experiences as a pre-medical student is one of the most confusing and frustrating processes I’ve experienced as a student. They deserve their own blog post, so I’ll just give a brief overview here.

    Clinical experiences are basically anything involving firsthand patient care. Common clinical experiences involve being an EMT, scribe, CNA, or phlebotomist. These are often part-time jobs on top of an already crazy schedule and often involve training programs before you even start, so it’s best to research these early on.

    My best advice: talk to the pre-health advising office. They know engineers have packed schedules, and they want you to succeed. The advisors can suggest training programs that other students have completed and suggest experiences and companies that would best fit your schedule.

    7. Final Takeaways

    I hope this guide has demystified some of the stress that comes with being in both engineering, the Honors College, and medicine. While this list is neither a complete, step-by-step guide nor a checklist, I hope it’ll help you think about what you want to do and how to successfully get involved. Again, the most important thing is establishing yourself as a student, rather than jumping into the deep end.

    With these suggestions in mind, take a deep breath, complete your EK125 problem sets, and be the best engineer/pre-med/honors student you can be.

    A First-Year Seminar as a Way to Break the Pre-Med Monotony

    Brianna Spiegel (SAR'24)

    Hopefully, the title didn’t give you too wrong of an impression - I do love medicine. I’m excited to spend my life helping people live the healthiest lives they can. I love science and all of its nitty-grittiness: connecting cell-signaling pathways, figuring out reaction mechanisms, understanding how big systems in our body supply fuel to every cell.

    But sometimes, pre-med classes can be exhausting.

    Huge lecture halls. Always a sea of unfamiliar faces. Clicker questions. Long computer-based tests. 

    Day in and day out, most of my STEM classes have functioned in this way. And while I am grateful to my professors for making the best of this format and teaching me so much, I often find myself longing for the days of my freshman year at Kilachand. 

    For my first required seminar, I chose IR102, Spies and Terrorists of Boston, led by Professor Woodward. He is a faculty-in-residence at Kilachand Hall and a former CIA agent! This course proved to be unlike anything I ever experienced before. In contrast to my huge general chemistry lecture, for example, seminars at Kilachand are tiny: there were just about a dozen of us in the whole class. I got to know everyone so personally despite the Zoom format (it was fall 2020, arguably one of the hardest times to start college, but that is another story). And unlike individual-based assessments common to my other classes, IR102 was almost completely based on partner work. We read historical and current literature and were assigned sections to research further and present on in class as a pair. Collaboration and teamwork were the themes of the course, so being assigned a different partner each time put these principles into practice. One pair served as “maestros,” leaders in charge of organizing the pairs and coordinating rehearsals outside of class. Our presentations were actually known as “briefings”: under time pressure, we were expected to be clear, complete, and concise, always stating the BLUF - Bottom Line Up Front. And in true briefing fashion, we had to be ready to respond to tough questions on the fly. Even our exams were oral exams! As a reward for our efforts, Professor Woodward took our class on a (socially-distanced) tour of spy sites of Boston, showing us cool spots that even as a local I had never heard of before.

    One stop on our tour was in front of this building near the gold-domed State House. This was actually the first site of BU’s College of Arts and Sciences. You can spot the BU seal if you look closely! 

    Image source: https://www.bu.edu/articles/2021/boston-university-history-class/ 

    I am so grateful to IR102 both as a course, for the ways in which it pushed me to grow outside of my comfort zone, and as a community, providing me with connection in a challenging transitionary period. I highly recommend this seminar for incoming first-years!

    Club Spotlight: The Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Activism (CGSA)

    Hannah Martin (CAS '25)

    In the basement of the George Sherman Union located in Central campus, you will find a lot of different, cool places. One area being the BU Central, where student organizations can book the space and hold events, largely shows or something to utilize the stage in the room. There are also the Boston University Student Government offices, and even a Plan B vending machine which was put in by Students for Reproductive Freedom (another club on campus). These additions to the BU campus are great, and truly deserve more foot traffic than it receives since it is hidden down in the basement. However, the true hidden gem of the building is the Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Activism (CGSA). 

    CGSA is the one of the only student organizations on campus that maintains a fully student-owned space. It is dedicated to being a safe space for all students, regardless of identity. It is an extremely welcoming environment, as there is usually candy and stickers at the front desk, an art wall, and the legendary purple couches decorated with pillows and throw blankets. Students can go down there to study, hang out with friends, attend club meetings, sleep, and eat bagels (for free on Fridays!) at the CGSA. This organization is truly like no other due to its defining and unique characteristics, and I am going to tell you why. 

    THE SPACE/ROOMS

    At Boston University, it is really rare for clubs to have a physical pace. However, CGSA is responsible for four rooms in the basement of the GSU. When you first arrive, you are in the main room which connects to a partial kitchen. The main room looks similar to a typical living room; there’s couches, a small table, and a desk right next to the door. If you turn to your left you will see a kitchen area, supplied with a refrigerator, freezer, toaster, and even a coffee maker! There is also a large table where you can do homework, or eat a meal with friends. 

    This already seems pretty great, huh? Amazingly, it gets even better. There are two doors you can enter after you walk through the main area. The door on the right allows you to enter into the Womb Room. The Womb Room is a space on campus where students can be completely alone for a while to take care of themselves. Students can take a needed nap or even cry in this room. It is stocked with affirmations, sensory items, and a couch. Currently, the CGSA is trying to get more rooms like this put in across campus!

    Directly across from the Womb Room is a new addition to the space: The Gender-Affirming Room for Belonging (GARB). GARB is a physical space on campus for transgender, non-binary, or otherwise gender nonconforming students to explore and affirm their identity and expression. The room is stocked with makeup, clothing, shaving products, and other gender-affirming items! It just launched this November, and to launch the room CGSA held a fashion show for all to attend. It was a great success, and everyone is so excited for students to have this necessary resource on campus. 

    There is one other room in the CGSA and frankly, I think it is underrated. This room is titled the Library Room, and it is exactly what it sounds like. Students can go in this room to study, collaborate on a group project, or even take a zoom call. There are bookshelves, tables, and even a tiny trophy with Rhett on top of it. 

    THE CLUBS

    CGSA hosts clubs in its space, and allows organizations to become “CGSA clubs”. This basically means that they get the opportunity to use the CGSA space, whether that be for storage, meetings, or other events. A lot of students find CGSA through attending meetings for another club in the space. In order for clubs to gain this affiliation they must have some key feature that aligns with CGSA’s main goals. As of this semester the CGSA has six clubs: PERIOD., Students for Reproductive Freedom, Students for Justice in Palestine, Active Minds, Transgender Listening Circle, and the Young Democratic Socialists of America. Everyone in these clubs has the opportunity to collaborate with one other, and it really allows for a gigantic and welcoming  community. 

    SAFE SPACE

    Above all else, CGSA is truly a safe space for all students. It strives to be a place for students to feel comfortable being themselves, and have the opportunity for their expression and identity to be celebrated. This is the primary goal of CGSA, and it is heavily portrayed through its actions and messaging. 

    ADVOCACY 

    Since it is in the name, CGSA does have a focus on activism as well. On the walls of the main room there are multiple protest posters, the club itself attends protests and rallies that aligns with its values, and debate and discourse about ongoing issues is welcomed. However, the club still manages to keep the actual space very safe, and oftentimes has to hold sensitive conversations or events outside of the physical area of CGSA. 

    Overall, CGSA is a very multifaceted club, and is a great community to be a part of. I have never met such a welcoming and friendly group of people before becoming involved in CGSA. To become involved students can volunteer, apply for an e-board position, or even be part of one of their many subcommittees! The options are endless in the CGSA, and I would highly recommend checking out the club, or at least the space, during your time here at Boston University.

    A guide to navigating the MBTA aka the T

    Haley Alvarez-Lauto (COM '25)

    I grew up in the ultimate suburbia. If you walked 15 minutes in any direction, you had barely moved a neighborhood down. I grew up being driven around everywhere and then got my license and drove myself everywhere.

    Growing up in suburban Florida, with a barely functioning public bus system and not even school buses in operation, I came to Boston heavily reliant on driving to get just about anywhere – and a complete novice when it came to navigating the public transportation system.

    But, I quickly began to familiarize myself with the MBTA. I would now consider myself at least a little qualified to give you sometimes what I wish I had read before I moved to Boston. In this guide, I’ll talk about the basics of the MBTA and my best tips for navigation.

    General Overview

    Boston has five main T lines, all color-coded for the section of the city it travels through: Blue, Green, Orange, Silver and Red Lines,. (Although, technically the Silver Line is made up of underground buses).

    • The Blue Line will take you to the beaches, and Boston Logan International
    • The Green Line (the one you should get the most familiar with since Boston University has six stops along the B Line of the Green Line.
    • The Red Line which takes you to Harvard, MIT, and UMass Boston.
    • The Orange Line which takes you to Chinatown, Assembly Row, and the Arnold Arboretum.

    For the purpose of this guide, I will be focusing on the Green Line, as it is what BU students take the most frequently. However, it does get a little bit more complicated, as the Green Light is composed of 4 branches, notated by their end destinations or letters: Boston College (B), Cleveland Circle (C), Riverside (D), and
    Heath Street (E).

    The B line is the most important line to get familiar with as a Boston University student, as there are 6 stops along our mile stretch of campus. If you are ever trying to get into Downtown Boston, 9 times out of 10 you are taking the B train from campus. The fare for the subway is $2.40 one way, and $1.70 for buses.

    If you are interested in learning more about the logistics of the MBTA, I encourage you to check out MBTA User Guides on their website.

    https://www.mbta.com/schedules/subway

    Now, onto my personal tips.
    1. Get a CharlieCard One of the first things you should do when you start at Boston University is get a reusable CharlieCard, which you can load cash value or passes to pay for the T or busses. CharlieCards are available at fare vending machines in most subway stations, MBTA staff at most subway stations. They’re free other than the cash value you load on to them. It’s a lot more durable and convenient than a printable CharlieTicket. In a pinch, the T and busses accept cash as well.

    2. My favorite apps for navigating the subway. Be sure to download an app that will help you navigate the subway. My favorites are ProximiT, Citymapper (which you can use in other cities), and also the Terrier Transit App
    (which also has the BU bus schedule and estimated times). These apps allow you to enter your destination and get step by step directions. In addition, ProximiT uses GPS tracking to give an estimate of when the T or a bus will arrive at a station.

    3. Keep in mind the hours of operation. Most bus and train service starts around 5 AM and ends around 1 AM. So if you’re planning on taking the T after a late night, remember to catch the last train before 1 AM or Uber back.

    4. Kenmore is your best friend if you live in East Campus. I lived in Kilachand Hall my freshman year and absolutely loved being so close to Kenmore Station since 3 of the 4 green lines stop at Kenmore. If I was ever coming back from
    Downtown Boston, I knew I could hope on any green line train (just not the E line!) and end up at Kenmore.

    5. Get to know your vocabulary: inbound vs outbound
    Inbound is always toward the 4 stations near Boston Common and outbound services travels away from those stations: Park Street, State Street, Government Center, Downtown Crossing.

    6. Requesting a stop on the Green Line street level. You do not need to request your stop on the Red, Orange, or Blue Line. Or, on the Green Line when it’s underground – trains stop at every station. However when the Green Line trains are running at street level (basically the majority of our campus and into the Allston Brighton neighborhood), you will need to request a stop. Press
    the yellow or black tape near the windows, or pull the gray cable near the ceiling of the train.

    7. Hang on tight! The T can be vicious sometimes with sudden starts and stops, so make sure to either take a seat, grab a hold of a pole or hand hold, and hang on tight. Sometimes when the T gets super crowded, it’s impossible to hang on. So, make sure to stand with a wide stance, with one foot slightly in front of the other to maintain your balance. Trust me, nothing is more embarrassing
    than falling on the MBTA.

    Fellow Kilachand Student Smaran Ramidi and I rode a Green Line Train headed to Seaport last December!

    A Summer in Review: Boston Edition

    Smaran Ramidi CAS'25

    The city of Boston is beautiful. Running across campus to get to your next class, you often see the skyline of the city in the background. But with so much homework, club meetings, and going to work, it's often difficult to truly explore the city.  When I had the chance to stay in Boston over the summer, exploring the city was my first priority after work. So join me in reflecting on my summer in Boston.

    Seaport:

     A so-called essential part of Boston to visit, Seaport became my second home as I went there every weekday to work. So while the glitz and glam was interesting at first, the overpriced food and long commute made it less fun overtime. While everybody should visit Seaport for its winter market and the Institute of Contemporary Art, frequent trips aren’t necessary.

    South End:

     The South End of Boston is an amazing neighborhood. With a vibrant culture that traces its roots back to being Boston’s BIPOC community, the lack of public transit access to the city makes historical sense. So while it's a bit of a trek to get over to the South End, the walk itself has a beauty in itself. With a very different vibe from the rest of the city, the pop-up summer SoWa market along with the year round indoor SoWa market, it was a great visit. The South End also houses the city’s art community with open viewings of many art studios and beautiful works. It might take a little bit more planning and time to visit the South End, but it’s totally worth it.

    Cambridge:

     Between the sprawling campuses of MIT and Harvard, it's difficult to see the beauty of Cambridge. While it isn’t the city of Boston, Cambridge is close enough and has its own charm. While it also takes a little bit more walking, you get the chance to explore a lot more local Boston spots. From the overflowing clothes of the Garment District to the graffiti alley in Central, Cambridge has its fair share of hidden treasuries. All it takes it just a little bit time to look past what we normally see.

    Walking:

     Walking is not the name of a part of Boston, but my favorite way to get around in the city. Yes, Boston is indeed the most walkable city. In the rush of life, taking the bus and the T is our best option. But when you have the time, a good walk is all it takes to feel like you have control of everything once again. My favorite walking trip? Walking from Marsh Chapel to the North End.

    Yes it took 2 hours, but it was the most calming experience of my summer. I took it with fellow Kilachand student Monet Ota. Together we set out to walk all the way to the North End with the motivation of a delicious cannoli to end the trip. A walk full of recapping our summers so far, a break on Newbury Street for mochi donuts, playing on the playground in the Boston Commons, and finally a delicious tiramisu cannoli. College is stressful, but then you remember having moments like this.

     Every tour I give at BU, I always make my group pause and look at the Boston skyline from Comm Ave. I always remind them that Boston University is in the city of Boston. But I forget that fact too, suck in the BU bubble. So after this summer, I’ve made a promise to myself to take the breaks I need to visit the city I came to BU for.

    5 Tips for Studying for the MCAT During the School Year

    Emma Hartman ENG'23

    Since freshman year, every pre-med student has had it drilled into them: “the MCAT is hard and the MCAT is important.” While that may be true, studying for the Medical College Admissions Test doesn’t have to take over your life. Here are 5 tips for studying for the MCAT at BU without destroying your GPA or social life.

    1.) Make a schedule
    I added my study hours to my Google Calendar and treated them like another class with mandatory attendance. If you don’t have a set time to study (no matter how brief), your MCAT studying could be just another thing to slip through the cracks. Pick a reasonable amount of hours that you can maintain consistently once your schoolwork picks up.

    2.) Find a study location outside of your dorm
    Most people seem to agree with this tip when it comes to studying for anything. Leave your home and all of the distractions you have in it. You could go somewhere on campus like the Stuvi study rooms to be around other people or the upper floors of the Mugar Library for silence. You could even get excited to study by studying at a different coffee shop every week.

    3.) Tell your friends
    If your friends know about your plans, they’ll want to support you. If they have a loose understanding of your schedule, they’ll try not to distract you during your study hours, cheer you on, and can even help keep you accountable if you start to slip. Luckily for me, one of my friends was studying for the MCAT at the same time as me, so we were able to study together, which kept both of us from bailing on our prep hours.

    4.) Be flexible
    If schoolwork winds up taking more of your time than expected or if you’re just overwhelmed, it’s okay to modify your study plan. Even if you have to cut back on studying, it’s better to have a smaller number of high quality study hours than a ton of “study hours” where you were too stressed to retain any info.

    5.) Don’t stop living your life
    Life goes on! You only have 4 years at BU and you don’t want to miss them. When you’re not studying for the MCAT, don’t waste your time thinking about the MCAT. Keep up with your friends, clubs, and all of the things that make your BU experience special

    The Five Best Places to Study at BU

    By Gabrielle Gewirtz CAS ‘24

    As a new semester is getting underway, it’s time to revisit the best study spots on BU campus. BU is well known as a big campus, which can seem intimidating, but with this list, you are sure to find new places to help you crank out that paper that’s especially hard to write or just do some last-minute readings.

    Questrom Starbucks

    In my opinion, the Starbucks located in Questrom is the best Starbucks on campus. The coffee is great, and there’s usually good music playing. The booths are particularly comfortable to sit and camp out in, and it’s even more fun when you’re studying there with friends.

    3rd Floor of Mugar Library

    The first floor of Mugar is also a great study area but is usually incredibly crowded. The third floor, however, is usually less crowded and is a just as good, if not better, study spot. The rows of desks give you a bit of privacy while also being able to talk to the person next to you if you are with friends. Studying within the bookshelves also, at least for me, makes me feel more studious and gets me in the mood to do work.

    1st Floor of CGS

    This might seem like a weird spot, but the comfortable couches are too hard to ignore. I also really like the atmosphere; most people are also doing work, and everyone is usually doing something different, so this is a great space if you are working alone on an assignment.

    CAS Think Tank

    This is for all the people that need a quiet study space. The Think Tank is usually silent, and so this is a great place for people studying alone. There are a lot of outlets to charge any devices you have, and there are different seating arrangements (desks, chairs, couches) so that you can choose the spot that makes you the most comfortable.

    Kilachand Common Room

    This is not a quiet space, so if you need to be in absolute silence to do work, this is not the place for you. However, it’s always nice to go downstairs (especially if you are living in Kilachand) and study while also getting into conversation with whoever else is in the common room at the time. The close proximity to the kitchen is also really nice for eating snacks while studying.

    I hope this list has helped you find new places to study, or even just new places to hang out. Good luck to everyone this semester!