BU and BC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boston College is better academically and ranked slightly higher (if you care about rankings). It’s harder to get into and has a better reputation overall. BC has more of a traditional campus - beautiful architecture and grounds. BU is an urban campus. BC also has better athletics with football, basketball, hockey, and lacrosse drawing good crowds and school spirit. BU really only has hockey. Know many people who did not get into BC and ended up at BU.

Acceptance rates
2024
BU-10.7
BC-14.7
2023
BU-10.9
BC-15.5
2022
BU-14.0
BC-16.7

https://www.ivywise.com/blog/college-admission-rates/
https://admissions.blog/boston-universitys-acceptance-rate-drops-to-10-7/#:~:text=BU's%20overall%20acceptance%20rate%20during,accepted%20roughly%2014%25%20of%20them.

BU is the slightly easier admit, punts some students to spring (following in NEU's footsteps a smitch) and even after that still having test scores just a tad under BC's, and has less of a self-selecting applicant pool. That said, they are fairly close for admission, and it's possible to get into one but not the other.

Northeastern doesn't have Spring admit.

N.U.in: is a Spring admit program.

No it's not. You start in the Fall.

The NU.in students are not on campus in Boston until spring, thus their academic stats are not included:

Aoun also began using spring enrollment to his advantage. In 2007 the school introduced N.U.in, a program that invites students with lower grades and SAT scores to spend their first semester abroad and begin their on-campus experience in the spring. U.S. News does not collect data for spring entrants, so those students’ lower grades and scores are excluded from the rankings. Editor Brian Kelly explains that U.S. News doesn’t require spring data because the federal government doesn’t either, but he concedes, “It’s possible that is a gaming window.”

https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2014/08/26/how-northeastern-gamed-the-college-rankings/

Of course students are not 'on campus' when they are on study abroad.
They are on campus of the study abroad college.

Things have changed a lot for the past 20 years.
It had 30-40% acceptance rate back then but now 5-6% and student caliber is T20 level.

When it's like that for Boston start, stats for NUIn is not significantly lower any more.
It makes perfect sense for Northeastern with coop and various overseas programs.

[Anonymous]

Thank goodness someone brought up Northeastern. Because it’s not really a discussion about colleges until the Northeastern booster posts.

[Anonymous]

Small sample size from DD’s school, this past yr & previous yr. Know of 4 kids accepted ed1 & ed2 to BU, 3 test-optional, good gpa’s but not quite at tippy-top of hs class(guessing top 20-30%). One good friend rejected from BC ed2, 1550 sat & now attending a t20. My dd(uw4.0, 35/1520, now attending t20) & ex-bf(nmsf, uw4.0, 35/1550, now attending an ivy)in at BC rd. Both waitlisted at BU.

[Anonymous]

What is really interesting is that almost nobody answered OP' question about what it is like to go to these schools, particularly from an academic perspective.

Everything is about perceived difficulty of either admission or post-graduation employment.

Anybody have any insights into being a student there? You know- the time between admission and graduation?

[Anonymous]

If someone is interested in Data Science and studying in Boston, BU may be the way to go. They built a monstrous building last year. Assuming they need to fill up with good students.
https://www.bu.edu/academics/cds/
However, when he applied to BU and expressed in Data Science. Accepted with $30k merit through RD. DS is currently general track for CS OOS at UMD.

[Anonymous]

I've always thought of BU as like a little NYU. Compared with BC, it's more urban, more artsy, more Jewish, probably a little more diverse racially, less sporty, less preppy, less cohesive. Academically they're probably about the same level, but where you get very smart BU students, they're likely to be a more intellectual. BC is very pre-professional. BU, being huge, has many strata, layers, pockets of this or that. I had friends there who were liberal arts majors, but they lived VERY different lives from the kids at the hotel school. BC is more even throughout.

[Anonymous]

Also BU used to be notorious for both grade deflation AND tying scholarships to continued high performance. I had friends who were really sweating it. Not sure if this is still the case.

[Anonymous]

BC and BU have such different styles that I wonder if many students even apply to both at the same time.

My daughter only applied to BU but due to the uncertainty of financial aid, she applied RD. She was one of the top in her class and completed the IBDP. She is attending BU since she received great financial aid.

We have a very positive impression of the school so far. Unlike when we first applied, this experience has made us reconsider not only the academic excellence of schools but also how important the regional characteristics are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BC and BU have such different styles that I wonder if many students even apply to both at the same time.

My daughter only applied to BU but due to the uncertainty of financial aid, she applied RD. She was one of the top in her class and completed the IBDP. She is attending BU since she received great financial aid.

We have a very positive impression of the school so far. Unlike when we first applied, this experience has made us reconsider not only the academic excellence of schools but also how important the regional characteristics are.

What does this mean?

[Anonymous]

BU should really be compared with Northeastern.

BC and BU are not alike at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've always thought of BU as like a little NYU. Compared with BC, it's more urban, more artsy, more Jewish, probably a little more diverse racially, less sporty, less preppy, less cohesive. Academically they're probably about the same level, but where you get very smart BU students, they're likely to be a more intellectual. BC is very pre-professional. BU, being huge, has many strata, layers, pockets of this or that. I had friends there who were liberal arts majors, but they lived VERY different lives from the kids at the hotel school. BC is more even throughout.

That's true. There's a broader spectrum of students at BU with a wider variety of interests. Whereas BC seems... very khaki. Both get smart kids. But different.

[Anonymous]

BU feels like Pitt. BC feels like University of Richmond with Jesuits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also BU used to be notorious for both grade deflation AND tying scholarships to continued high performance. I had friends who were really sweating it. Not sure if this is still the case.

DD attended BU during the pandemic thought the grade deflation was rampant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also BU used to be notorious for both grade deflation AND tying scholarships to continued high performance. I had friends who were really sweating it. Not sure if this is still the case.

Don't think that's unusual. I had to maintain a 3.25 back in the olden days. DS needs to maintain a 3.0 at UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BU feels like Pitt. BC feels like University of Richmond with Jesuits.

Not really. BU is Northeastern. NYU but the students not as good. Drexel. A little GWU.

BC is Duke, Wake Forest.