VIDEO: Boston University’s Annual Pumpkin Drop
Boston University held its annual pumpkin drop this week, and now, it just makes us want to throw old pumpkins off the roof.
The event is organized by the university’s Physics Department. According to BU Today, over 30 pumpkins were dropped from the roof of the Metcalf Science Center, which is about 70 feet from the ground. The event also featured a costume contest, cider and other fall treats, and a grand prize for whoever guessed the weight of the giant pumpkin that was dropped from the roof of the Metcalf Science Center.
BU Today noted, “The annual event provides lessons in gravitation, velocity, and energy transition, from potential to kinetic to explosion, and physics students perform physics demos before and after the pumpkins meet their fate.”
Boston University shared a video from the pumpkin drop, which is available below.
9 Massachusetts Colleges in Top 100 of U.S. News & World Report’s College Rankings
Nine Massachusetts colleges have made the top 100 in the latest college ranking from U.S. News & World Report.
The following Massachusetts colleges made the top 100, and their rankings are:
-Massachusetts Institue of Technology (#2)
-Harvard University (#3)
-Boston College (#37 tie)
-Tufts University (#37 tie)
-Boston University (#41)
-Northeastern University (#54)
-University of Massachusetts–Amherst (#58)
-Brandeis University (#63)
-Worcester Polytechnic Institute (#86)
For those wondering who beat out MIT and Harvard to take the top spot in the ranking, it was Princeton University.
How Were These Colleges Ranked?
U.S. News and World Report offers a very detailed explanation about how they calculated their 2025 Best Colleges Ranking. In total, there are 17 ranking factors that determine the list. They are, along with the percentage of importance to their overall ranking:
-Graduation rates (16%)
-First-year retention rates (5%)
-Graduation rate performance (10%)
-Pell graduation rates (5.5%)
-Pell graduation performance (5.5%)
-College grads earning more than a high school grad (5%)
-Borrower debt (5%)
-Peer assessment (20%)
-Financial resources (8%)
-Faculty salaries (6%)
-Full-time faculty (2%)
-Student-faculty ratio (3%)
-Standardized tests (5%)
-Citations per publication (1.25%)
-Field-Weighted Citation Impact (1.25%)
-Publication share in the Top 5% of Journals by CiteScore (1%)
-Publication share in the Top 25% of Journal
What is the Tuition Per Year at These Massachusetts Colleges?
As one would expect, tuition per year at these nine prestigious universities is far from cheap. Here’s a breakdown of the tuition and fees associated with the Massachusetts colleges that made the top 100 of the latest college rankings from U.S. News and World Report:
-Massachusetts Institue of Technology ($62,396)
-Harvard University ($61,676)
-Boston College ($70,702)
-Tufts University ($70,704)
-Boston University ($68,102)
-Northeastern University ($66,162)
-University of Massachusetts–Amherst ($40,449 for out-of-state, $17,772 for in-state.)
-Brandeis University ($68,080)
-Worcester Polytechnic Institute ($60,765)
