Trying to compare Boston Colleges for DC

[Anonymous]

Tour guide suggested everything/everyone was competitive rather than collaborative. This was a turn off to dd

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've tried getting a campus visit for Tufts next week before kiddo starts school, but the calendar was full. The nice lady at admissions said it was full, but to call back early next week. Has anyone just jumped in to a Tufts tour? Does a guided tour get you a lot?

We are especially interested in the Q&A portion to see if questions about SAT, rigor, etc are answered. We have some zoom webinars scheduled also.

Guided tour turned our dd off of Tufts (had been her first choice on paper, but after visiting, it came off of her list). So much of tour depends on the student guide, and they are hit or miss.

That is a big thing to happen. Can I ask what happened on the tour? It must have gone pretty bad to go from number 1, to getting taken off the list completely.

DP.
Tufts and Northeastern were top choices below T20 schools.
After visiting, Northeastern was the winner and now attending.
It's just the overall vibe including location.
It's personal thing so definitely visit the schools.
You can visit all four schools with one trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've tried getting a campus visit for Tufts next week before kiddo starts school, but the calendar was full. The nice lady at admissions said it was full, but to call back early next week. Has anyone just jumped in to a Tufts tour? Does a guided tour get you a lot?

We are especially interested in the Q&A portion to see if questions about SAT, rigor, etc are answered. We have some zoom webinars scheduled also.

Guided tour turned our dd off of Tufts (had been her first choice on paper, but after visiting, it came off of her list). So much of tour depends on the student guide, and they are hit or miss.

That is a big thing to happen. Can I ask what happened on the tour? It must have gone pretty bad to go from number 1, to getting taken off the list completely.

DP.
Tufts and Northeastern were top choices below T20 schools.
After visiting, Northeastern was the winner and now attending.
It's just the overall vibe including location.
It's personal thing so definitely visit the schools.
You can visit all four schools with one trip.

+1.

DP.
Different schools appeal to different kids. If you can't visit in person, at least take a virtual tour online.

However, even with the first impression, it doesn't define your entire college experience.
If you’re not satisfied, you can always consider transferring.
My daughter's top choice among four schools was BU, and she is happily attending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What you've described is BC.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tour guide suggested everything/everyone was competitive rather than collaborative. This was a turn off to dd

I wonder if the tour guide was a pre-med major? Some students have have a cut throat approach to how they interact with other pre-med students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've tried getting a campus visit for Tufts next week before kiddo starts school, but the calendar was full. The nice lady at admissions said it was full, but to call back early next week. Has anyone just jumped in to a Tufts tour? Does a guided tour get you a lot?

We are especially interested in the Q&A portion to see if questions about SAT, rigor, etc are answered. We have some zoom webinars scheduled also.

Guided tour turned our dd off of Tufts (had been her first choice on paper, but after visiting, it came off of her list). So much of tour depends on the student guide, and they are hit or miss.

That is a big thing to happen. Can I ask what happened on the tour? It must have gone pretty bad to go from number 1, to getting taken off the list completely.

DP.
Tufts and Northeastern were top choices below T20 schools.
After visiting, Northeastern was the winner and now attending.
It's just the overall vibe including location.
It's personal thing so definitely visit the schools.
You can visit all four schools with one trip.

+1.

DP.
Different schools appeal to different kids. If you can't visit in person, at least take a virtual tour online.

However, even with the first impression, it doesn't define your entire college experience.
If you’re not satisfied, you can always consider transferring.
My daughter's top choice among four schools was BU, and she is happily attending.

What was it about BU that she enjoyed? It is always good to hear why kids hated school x to narrow down choices, but sometimes it's a whole lot better to know why someone loves a school, too!

[Anonymous]

Is Boston University spring program something you ask to be considered for, or do they just reject you from Boston in the fall and admit you for the spring?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know what admissions actually says about submitting an SAT score right at or slightly below the 25%? Any tips or insight from those who did official visits, etc and heard direct??

Specifically for Boston Univ, Boston College and Northeastern?

We toured BU and Northeastern at the beginning of June. I don't remember what BU said, largely because I was still absorbing the early decision stats for BU. But I distinctly remember the NE admissions rep saying not to submit scores if they were below the median. Which I found a statistically-suspect recommendation, given that exactly half of the submitted scores would fall below the median, so this suggestion would only fuel the ever-higher climb of Northeastern's median SAT score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've tried getting a campus visit for Tufts next week before kiddo starts school, but the calendar was full. The nice lady at admissions said it was full, but to call back early next week. Has anyone just jumped in to a Tufts tour? Does a guided tour get you a lot?

We are especially interested in the Q&A portion to see if questions about SAT, rigor, etc are answered. We have some zoom webinars scheduled also.

Guided tour turned our dd off of Tufts (had been her first choice on paper, but after visiting, it came off of her list). So much of tour depends on the student guide, and they are hit or miss.

That is a big thing to happen. Can I ask what happened on the tour? It must have gone pretty bad to go from number 1, to getting taken off the list completely.

DP.
Tufts and Northeastern were top choices below T20 schools.
After visiting, Northeastern was the winner and now attending.
It's just the overall vibe including location.
It's personal thing so definitely visit the schools.
You can visit all four schools with one trip.

+1.

DP.
Different schools appeal to different kids. If you can't visit in person, at least take a virtual tour online.

However, even with the first impression, it doesn't define your entire college experience.
If you’re not satisfied, you can always consider transferring.
My daughter's top choice among four schools was BU, and she is happily attending.

What was it about BU that she enjoyed? It is always good to hear why kids hated school x to narrow down choices, but sometimes it's a whole lot better to know why someone loves a school, too!

Everyone has different experiences even in the same situation, and they perceive things in different ways.
Wherever you go, someone may complain. However, overall, we have a positive experience at BU.

For example, she feels that she gets the best of both worlds at BU, combining the advantages of both private and public schools. The school offers her diversity and a wealth of club opportunities, as well as numerous academic resources to help advance her career.
She is also surrounded by a hardworking group of kind friends and a great faculty that provides valuable advice.
Also, she can enjoy her non-academic time with a wide variety of restaurants, museums, parks, and shopping options right around the corner, without needing to drive.
She tries to make the most of it and she enjoys it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know what admissions actually says about submitting an SAT score right at or slightly below the 25%? Any tips or insight from those who did official visits, etc and heard direct??

Specifically for Boston Univ, Boston College and Northeastern?

We toured BU and Northeastern at the beginning of June. I don't remember what BU said, largely because I was still absorbing the early decision stats for BU. But I distinctly remember the NE admissions rep saying not to submit scores if they were below the median. Which I found a statistically-suspect recommendation, given that exactly half of the submitted scores would fall below the median, so this suggestion would only fuel the ever-higher climb of Northeastern's median SAT score.

Every school we toured/visited said this including BU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know what admissions actually says about submitting an SAT score right at or slightly below the 25%? Any tips or insight from those who did official visits, etc and heard direct??

Specifically for Boston Univ, Boston College and Northeastern?

We toured BU and Northeastern at the beginning of June. I don't remember what BU said, largely because I was still absorbing the early decision stats for BU. But I distinctly remember the NE admissions rep saying not to submit scores if they were below the median. Which I found a statistically-suspect recommendation, given that exactly half of the submitted scores would fall below the median, so this suggestion would only fuel the ever-higher climb of Northeastern's median SAT score.

Every school we toured/visited said this including BU.

Northeastern and BU are notorious for loving high SAT scorers, especially math. Pre-covid, in 2019-2020, for math Northeastern's math SAT scores were

Northeastern
2019-2020
25%-50%-75%
710-750-790

For 2023-2024
25%-50%-75%
750-770-790

BU
2019-2020
25%-50%-75%
690-740-790

2023-2024
25%-50%-75%
710-750-780


If I had a math score below 730, I would not submit under TO, whereas in 2019, you would have been fine with that score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're considering BC, they are still test optional for next year, but if you have above a 1350, they really want you to submit it, especially if that score is high for your community/high school.

To be fair, only 28% of freshmen submitted an SAT score. With other colleges going test mandatory again, look for BC to change in the near future. A metric that isn't published, but should be, is the admission rate for those NOT submitting an SAT score. For BC, I bet it is lower than those who did submit.

For BC Freshman fall 2023, 44% submitted scores, 28% (SAT) + 16% (ACT). DS will start next week but we’ve been given the impression that many more submitted scores this year.

Yes, we were told that many more submitted scores last year at an info session this summer. Also implied that might be going to test required for high school class of 2026.

We were told something similar at both BU and NEU tours. These crazy high SATs, where a 1490 doesn't get submitted makes zero sense. We just look at pre-covid scores and base submit or not on that.
One thing we were told over and over at BU and NEU that if its your top choice, do ED. Most of the q & A revolved around that.

i don't know if it is true or not, but BC has more student athletes because of football, so more ED slots are taken by recruited athletes than at Tufts, BU or NEU.

Yes, BC has D1 athletes, but they don't gobble up the ED spots.
For BC, absolutely go ED1 (or ED2) if it's your top choice. (We're full pay, so I can't say how this actually works but BC says you can get out of the ED agreement if you can't get the FA you expected.)

You can totally get out of ED contracts if the reasonably expected FA isn't there.

It's still annoying that the BU/BC kind of schools are pushing for ED.

I get it for Chicago and Northwestern and Duke and so on. But Tulane and Northeastern?

Goodbye.

I don't love anything I don't know. BC/BU being very presumptuous.

There are ton of smart high stat kids who don't have fancy ECs, exotic sports, rich dads, ALDC status.
A lot of these kids are like F the BS and ED to schools like Emory, NYU, CMU, Tufts, BU, BC, Northeastern these days.

CMU, Emory, and NYU Stern ED are still very difficult compared to the others listed especially NE. High stats only will not cut it, we have this same convo about these schools and people act shocked in December when DC doesn't get in.

[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

bizarre post. you are wrong about BC. which part do you think is catholic?

[Anonymous]

Tufts seems like a nightmare. Every person DC knows who’s gone there talks about how unsupportive it is and how competitive it feels. We did a tour and the guide told us that she felt students were obsessed with putting others down academically. It was not DC’s choice, and he instead went to Harvard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're considering BC, they are still test optional for next year, but if you have above a 1350, they really want you to submit it, especially if that score is high for your community/high school.

To be fair, only 28% of freshmen submitted an SAT score. With other colleges going test mandatory again, look for BC to change in the near future. A metric that isn't published, but should be, is the admission rate for those NOT submitting an SAT score. For BC, I bet it is lower than those who did submit.

For BC Freshman fall 2023, 44% submitted scores, 28% (SAT) + 16% (ACT). DS will start next week but we’ve been given the impression that many more submitted scores this year.

Yes, we were told that many more submitted scores last year at an info session this summer. Also implied that might be going to test required for high school class of 2026.

We were told something similar at both BU and NEU tours. These crazy high SATs, where a 1490 doesn't get submitted makes zero sense. We just look at pre-covid scores and base submit or not on that.
One thing we were told over and over at BU and NEU that if its your top choice, do ED. Most of the q & A revolved around that.

i don't know if it is true or not, but BC has more student athletes because of football, so more ED slots are taken by recruited athletes than at Tufts, BU or NEU.

Yes, BC has D1 athletes, but they don't gobble up the ED spots.
For BC, absolutely go ED1 (or ED2) if it's your top choice. (We're full pay, so I can't say how this actually works but BC says you can get out of the ED agreement if you can't get the FA you expected.)

You can totally get out of ED contracts if the reasonably expected FA isn't there.

It's still annoying that the BU/BC kind of schools are pushing for ED.

I get it for Chicago and Northwestern and Duke and so on. But Tulane and Northeastern?

Goodbye.

I don't love anything I don't know. BC/BU being very presumptuous.

There are ton of smart high stat kids who don't have fancy ECs, exotic sports, rich dads, ALDC status.
A lot of these kids are like F the BS and ED to schools like Emory, NYU, CMU, Tufts, BU, BC, Northeastern these days.

CMU, Emory, and NYU Stern ED are still very difficult compared to the others listed especially NE. High stats only will not cut it, we have this same convo about these schools and people act shocked in December when DC doesn't get in.

Emory ED1 acceptance rate is over 30%.
NYU CAS actually has similar acceptance rate as STERN at around 7% although STERN is obviously a premium.
CMU other than CS/Engineering and NYU other than STERN are not much more than other schools mentioned.
They are not automatic pick at all unlike those T20 schools.