College Knowledge

You spent months thinking about what you’re going to do at BU this year, from making new friends to discovering Boston’s best hangouts. You bought extra-long sheets and new posters for your dorm room. And you figured out how to get here, whether via a cross-country flight or a drive up the East Coast.

But what happens now that you’re here? Where’s your room key? How are you going to get all that stuff onto the 12th floor of Warren Towers? And what are you going to do before classes start on Tuesday?

We’ve mapped out your first 72 hours at the University (your first 180 hours if you did FYSOP), providing information on what to do, where to go, and whom to ask when questions come up. Click on the slide show above to get a look at FYSOP, move-in, and Matriculation, and read below for links to important offices and centers on campus.

Oh — and welcome!

FYSOP: A week of service to the city
August 28–September 1

Last year more than 400 first-years spent a week becoming community service superheroes; this year they got a “Clue” about getting involved in service to the city.

Using the board game Clue as the week’s theme, the student coordinators of the 17th annual First-Year Student Outreach Project (FYSOP 17) brought hundreds of new students to locations around Massachusetts for a week of volunteer work. FYSOP, organized by BU’s Community Service Center, offers first-years a chance to meet new people and learn more about their new home.

“You’re going to learn so much,” a coordinator told last year’s students, “and you’re going to be changed by it.”

Students are divided into groups focusing on eight issue areas: children, disabilities, elders, the environment, gender, HIV/AIDS awareness, homelessness and housing, and hunger. Volunteers spend their first day learning about their issue areas and the next three days performing service throughout the community. Each year participants typically complete more than 13,000 hours of community service.

Move-in: Scarlet Squad to the rescue
September 2 and 3

More than 100 student volunteers — known as the Scarlet Squad — are on hand to help you with move-in on Saturday, September 2, and Sunday, September 3. For an in-depth guide to move-in, click here.

You will have a place to park your car, wheeled carts for your stuff, and plenty of people to give you directions and an extra hand or two. (Just keep an eye out for the ones in red T-shirts.)

And once you’ve settled in, ask your resident assistant or housing office about what there is to do on Saturday and Sunday nights — they’ve been making plans for you all summer long.

Matriculation and Splash: from ceremony to celebration

The Matriculation Ceremony marks the formal start of the Class of 2010’s Boston University career, and it’s the first of just two occasions when the 4,000-plus members of the class will gather as a group. The second — and last — time is four years later, at Commencement.

The faculty and administration of every undergraduate school and college will be present to welcome the first-years, along with President Robert A. Brown and a few upperclassmen. Student Union President Brooke Feldman (SED’08) will be on hand to give you an insider’s guide to getting involved in student life at BU. Matriculation begins at 10 a.m. — sharp — in the Track and Tennis Center at 100 Ashford St.

After all the ceremony and solemnity, it’s time for some fun and games. Splash, the annual post-Matriculation party held on Nickerson Field from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., features games, prizes, vendors, music, and a barbecue. Students can meet their classmates, find out about groups and organizations on campus, and get cool gifts and prizes. (And rumor has it that last year’s mechanical bull will be back.)

Classes start
September 5
Your schedule will be posted on the Student Link, and professors often add the syllabus and a list of required textbooks. A hint from the pros, also known as the Classes of 2007, 2008, and 2009: keep your receipts when you buy books, in case the class you’ve picked doesn’t work out. And don’t oversleep!