Trying to compare Boston Colleges for DC

[Anonymous]

DS wanted the same.

We thought BC would be his number 1 choice given what above posters said, but when we toured he said he felt it was “too Catholic.” We aren’t religious and I suspect what he meant by that was “too religious.”

After that he became flexible on the Boston-part of his checklist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will visit BC, BU, Tufts, NE in the fall for my DC. Most likely will be an Econ/Math major. trying to get a sense for each place before visiting. DC thinks they want a school with a lot of school spirit and a fun and social energy but with kids who also take academics seriously. Would love thoughts from parents with kids at one of these.

Wow. You almost don’t have to visit: BC is ED1.

The other schools don’t fit. Visit Holy Cross instead — very good for Econ and Math, not far from Boston, and fits your description nicely. That’s your ED2. You’re welcome.

With BC and Holy Cross as your ED1 and ED2, better make sure you run the net price calculator, because both of them are gonna cost ya.

[Anonymous]

BC doesn't work if you're not Catholic (we're not);
Tufts doesn't work if hour kid wants to be in the city (it's in the burbs on a hill - FWIW, my kid thought Tufts would be #1, but after visiting, didn't like the vibe);
BU doesn't have much of a campus (full city college);
NEU has the best of all - city campus (inbetween 2 T-stops), excellent Econ (my kid is an Econ major at NEU), but I'm not going to lie, this is our third kid, and their admin is a hot mess. Billing is a disaster, always late and always wrong, and housing is a joke (your kid doesn't find out whete they'll live until mid-July if you're lucky, but possibly as late as mid-August). Makes planning difficult

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BC doesn't work if you're not Catholic (we're not);
Tufts doesn't work if hour kid wants to be in the city (it's in the burbs on a hill - FWIW, my kid thought Tufts would be #1, but after visiting, didn't like the vibe);
BU doesn't have much of a campus (full city college);
NEU has the best of all - city campus (inbetween 2 T-stops), excellent Econ (my kid is an Econ major at NEU), but I'm not going to lie, this is our third kid, and their admin is a hot mess. Billing is a disaster, always late and always wrong, and housing is a joke (your kid doesn't find out whete they'll live until mid-July if you're lucky, but possibly as late as mid-August). Makes planning difficult

Why do you say BC doesn’t work if not Catholic? It’s my Jewish nephew’s first choice. Seems better than some Pro-Hamas campuses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What you've described is BC.

x100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC doesn't work if you're not Catholic (we're not);
Tufts doesn't work if hour kid wants to be in the city (it's in the burbs on a hill - FWIW, my kid thought Tufts would be #1, but after visiting, didn't like the vibe);
BU doesn't have much of a campus (full city college);
NEU has the best of all - city campus (inbetween 2 T-stops), excellent Econ (my kid is an Econ major at NEU), but I'm not going to lie, this is our third kid, and their admin is a hot mess. Billing is a disaster, always late and always wrong, and housing is a joke (your kid doesn't find out whete they'll live until mid-July if you're lucky, but possibly as late as mid-August). Makes planning difficult

Why do you say BC doesn’t work if not Catholic? It’s my Jewish nephew’s first choice. Seems better than some Pro-Hamas campuses.

Your Jewish nephew might want to really think about it.

With 70% of the student body Catholic, it will be hard to relate if he doesn't share that experience. Obviously someone is going to say their Jewish friend, etc loves it and the students don't go to Mass, etc. But the reality is that they have been to Mass, went to a Catholic high School, want to raise their kids Catholic, etc. and it is a Catholic school regardless of the fact that it is a Jesuit Catholic school.

[Anonymous]

My personal opinion is that most Catholic teens are not what their parents think. Youth is trending socially liberal, likely do not actually go to mass, etc. Not a knock on Catholicism, religion just isn't resonating with the youth across all denominations. I am fond of the service and being a good human aspects of Jesuit schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC doesn't work if you're not Catholic (we're not);
Tufts doesn't work if hour kid wants to be in the city (it's in the burbs on a hill - FWIW, my kid thought Tufts would be #1, but after visiting, didn't like the vibe);
BU doesn't have much of a campus (full city college);
NEU has the best of all - city campus (inbetween 2 T-stops), excellent Econ (my kid is an Econ major at NEU), but I'm not going to lie, this is our third kid, and their admin is a hot mess. Billing is a disaster, always late and always wrong, and housing is a joke (your kid doesn't find out whete they'll live until mid-July if you're lucky, but possibly as late as mid-August). Makes planning difficult

Why do you say BC doesn’t work if not Catholic? It’s my Jewish nephew’s first choice. Seems better than some Pro-Hamas campuses.

Your Jewish nephew might want to really think about it.

With 70% of the student body Catholic, it will be hard to relate if he doesn't share that experience. Obviously someone is going to say their Jewish friend, etc loves it and the students don't go to Mass, etc. But the reality is that they have been to Mass, went to a Catholic high School, want to raise their kids Catholic, etc. and it is a Catholic school regardless of the fact that it is a Jesuit Catholic school.

I’ll be that voice. My husband and I met at BC. He’s Jewish. He was extremely happy and we had lots of non Catholic friends. I also didn’t always go to mass or other Catholic events. If your Jewish nephew visited and loved it then they will be fine. If you visit and it’s too Catholic of a vibe then it’s not for you.

[Anonymous]

Boston College or Northeastern

[Anonymous]

Northeastern is an urban campus but not in a great urban area. Very working ethic with the co op. People come and go depending on co op schedule. Not very college-y imo. Boyfriend went there. No campus involvement. He hung out in Cambridge.
Tufts is probably better if BC is out. Davis Sq is very much improved, there is the T and buses to connect to Harvard and Boston.
My husband is an economist. He says if DC does not have graduate school ambitions, Tufts is more pleasant and perfectly fine.
He says the BU campus is unpleasant (I agree) but if DC has graduate school ambition for a PhD in econ, BU is a better choice than Tufts. BU graduate department is better

[Anonymous]

I live in back bay - bc is the only local school besides the two over in Cambridge that i'd pay for kids to attend.

i don't think bu, neu are worth it over other options in the north east

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have heard from a few people that the coop system means Northeastern doesn’t have quite the same traditional school spirit or energy as schools with a more traditional schedule.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in back bay - bc is the only local school besides the two over in Cambridge that i'd pay for kids to attend.

i don't think bu, neu are worth it over other options in the north east

Agree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in back bay - bc is the only local school besides the two over in Cambridge that i'd pay for kids to attend.

i don't think bu, neu are worth it over other options in the north east

Agree

I think BC is perfectly fine if you are ok with a catholic school (do they still have crucifixes in every classroom? That is enough to create discomfort for some kids).

It ticks a lot of boxes and it has a nice alumni network in the Boston area but I don’t think its academics are actually better than BU’s (and definitely not better than Tufts’, although I know a bunch of kids who visited Tufts and didn’t like the vibe there either)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My personal opinion is that most Catholic teens are not what their parents think. Youth is trending socially liberal, likely do not actually go to mass, etc. Not a knock on Catholicism, religion just isn't resonating with the youth across all denominations. I am fond of the service and being a good human aspects of Jesuit schools.

This. Also, we’re “Catholic” in the least way possible. But you can be sure DS checked the “Catholic” box when applying ED1 to BC. He’s drawn to the idea of helping others in need and BC has lots of that.