Boise State University Admission
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The Facts

Boise State University is a moderately sized public institution located in the city of Boise, Idaho; it is part of the Idaho Higher Education System, and is home to over 10,000 undergraduate and 6,000 graduate and part-time professional students. The students can take classes at one of the seven undergraduate schools or the graduate school. The schools offer academic programs in the areas of arts and sciences, business, education, health science, public affairs, technology, and vocational technical education. These academic divisions offer broad majors in the areas of biological science, business (which includes a wonderful marketing and merchandising program), communications and the arts, computer and physical science (which includes a unique seismology and geophysics program), education, engineering and environmental design (home to a unique construction management program), health professions, as well as the social sciences. Boise State University offers its students a wide variety of majors in both the liberal arts and preprofessional studies; some of the most popular choices are business, art, theatre and education.

Admission to Boise State University is not terrifically competitive; however, the number of qualified out of state students has been increasing in recent years. Last year, over 4,000 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 3,600 of those students were accepted; of those, about 2,100 enrolled for the coming Fall semester. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1013 to 1080, and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 21 to 26. Additionally, more than 58% of the admitted students were ranked in the top 25% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of about a 3.4.

Boise State University has a manageable student to faculty ratio of 22:1, and while some of the general education classes are held in lecture halls, most of the upper-level courses tend to be in small seminar classes. In general, students give their professors high marks in terms of accessibility and willingness to help students out when they may need it, although there are some professors who seem to vanish into thin air right after class.

The Social Scene

The city of Boise offers students many options in terms of entertainment and culture. There are plenty of restaurants, movie theaters, bars and clubs to keep students quite occupied on the weekends. The city may not be terribly cosmopolitan, but students seem to be very fond of it. The university is home to seven national fraternities and sororities, which aren’t terrifically popular with students in terms of membership; however, their weekend soirees are the place to be. Drinking abounds at Boise State, even though the administration has made recent efforts to crack down on the amount of binge drinking that occurs. Students love to party, but so far, it hasn’t seemed to impinge terribly on their academic work as a whole.

The dating scene is not terrifically diverse, but it’s chock full of fun-loving hotties who would make pretty sufficient dates we hear...

What’s Good

“People are pretty good at knowing how to balance fun with work. It’s nice to have that balance.”

“Even though this is a state university, it isn’t mammoth, and it certainly doesn’t feel anonymous.”

“Boise itself is a really well-kept secret. Not many people would think it’s a happening city, but it really is!”

What’s Bad

“The whole party scene is just the same thing over and over again; drink and ton and then stagger home in the wee hours of the morning.”

“It seems sometimes like we’re not challenged enough by our professors. It’s up to you to make it tougher for yourself.”

“The administration is really tough to get a hold of; they’re so spread out no one knows what the deal really is.”

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