Is Boston College a rich kid school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Boston. Went to visit last summer, my laid back jewish kid hated it. Campus is beautiful but catholic landmarks everywhere which was a turnoff for him. The local kids i know who go there are very much into sports and frats. I know people who go/went there love it but not for my son. He loved BU and Brandeis, even umass amherst more than bc

He doesn't sound very "laid back" to me. Why wouldn't a Catholic college have Catholic landmarks???

GDS family: He is laid back but the whole world should be built to suit his taste and needs. Even a catholic school for catholics. PP he must be very special!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Boston. Went to visit last summer, my laid back jewish kid hated it. Campus is beautiful but catholic landmarks everywhere which was a turnoff for him. The local kids i know who go there are very much into sports and frats. I know people who go/went there love it but not for my son. He loved BU and Brandeis, even umass amherst more than bc

He doesn't sound very "laid back" to me. Why wouldn't a Catholic college have Catholic landmarks???

This. The Jews go to BU, not BC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Boston. Went to visit last summer, my laid back jewish kid hated it. Campus is beautiful but catholic landmarks everywhere which was a turnoff for him. The local kids i know who go there are very much into sports and frats. I know people who go/went there love it but not for my son. He loved BU and Brandeis, even umass amherst more than bc

Well, yes. It seems logical that a ...Catholic school would have physical indicators that it is Catholic.

Thank you PP. That “turnoff” line made me LOL too. It cracks me up when people are shocked that they’re not able to ignore something they don’t want. It’s a Catholic school whether you want it to be or not. I would get why a Jewish kid would feel infinitely more at home at BU or Brandeis. UMass Amherst is THE party school in the MA state system so I’m not surprised when ANY college kid feels at home there!

But back to the point, sadly BC has gotten too big for it’s britches and priced out the very demographic it was founded to serve. Blue collar Catholic kids can no longer afford it (or get in!) so some of the smaller Catholic colleges fill that gap. BC does its best to hold a Catholic identity even with increasingly secular students and sometimes controversial Jesuit influences.

This is kind of a silly statement-- would be like saying College Park is "THE party school in the MD state system." Once upon a time UMass had a party school rep but those days are long gone, along with the days it accepted everyone who applied. I suppose it might be the most party-like school in the UMass system but mostly because there isn't unfortunately much of a MA state system (too much historic reliance on the private colleges, although there are campuses in Lowell and Boston plus a few state colleges).

Nah, it definitely still has a party school rep. It doesn’t get the nickname of Zoo Mass for nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in Boston. Went to visit last summer, my laid back jewish kid hated it. Campus is beautiful but catholic landmarks everywhere which was a turnoff for him. The local kids i know who go there are very much into sports and frats. I know people who go/went there love it but not for my son. He loved BU and Brandeis, even umass amherst more than bc

A kid who is “turned off” by the fact that a Catholic college has ...gasp ... Catholic landmarks sounds not very laid back to me.

And BC does not have frats or sororities, so check your facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Boston. Went to visit last summer, my laid back jewish kid hated it. Campus is beautiful but catholic landmarks everywhere which was a turnoff for him. The local kids i know who go there are very much into sports and frats. I know people who go/went there love it but not for my son. He loved BU and Brandeis, even umass amherst more than bc

A kid who is “turned off” by the fact that a Catholic college has ...gasp ... Catholic landmarks sounds not very laid back to me.

And BC does not have frats or sororities, so check your facts.

And BU and Brandeis have objectively awful campuses so I can’t imagine what he found appealing about them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone go to bc over gtown?

Georgetown seemed super intense and not very warm to both DD and me. We got friendlier, more collaborative vibes from BC.

Georgetown is a bit more difficult to get into than BC so I think it's a bit simplistic to act like everyone has the choice.

And a lot of kids want to go to school in a new place, so many DC-area kids rule out Georgetown for that reason.

This exactly. Also, DS didn't like that Georgetown was on such a small footprint. He is looking for a more spread out campus with lots of green space. Also applying to Notre Dame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Boston. Went to visit last summer, my laid back jewish kid hated it. Campus is beautiful but catholic landmarks everywhere which was a turnoff for him. The local kids i know who go there are very much into sports and frats. I know people who go/went there love it but not for my son. He loved BU and Brandeis, even umass amherst more than bc

A kid who is “turned off” by the fact that a Catholic college has ...gasp ... Catholic landmarks sounds not very laid back to me.

And BC does not have frats or sororities, so check your facts.

And BU and Brandeis have objectively awful campuses so I can’t imagine what he found appealing about them.

BU’s campus is BOSTON. Not sure what you’re complaining about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Boston. Went to visit last summer, my laid back jewish kid hated it. Campus is beautiful but catholic landmarks everywhere which was a turnoff for him. The local kids i know who go there are very much into sports and frats. I know people who go/went there love it but not for my son. He loved BU and Brandeis, even umass amherst more than bc

A kid who is “turned off” by the fact that a Catholic college has ...gasp ... Catholic landmarks sounds not very laid back to me.

And BC does not have frats or sororities, so check your facts.

And BU and Brandeis have objectively awful campuses so I can’t imagine what he found appealing about them.

What is wrong with the Brandeis campus? Isn’t it also a suburban Boston area college campus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Boston. Went to visit last summer, my laid back jewish kid hated it. Campus is beautiful but catholic landmarks everywhere which was a turnoff for him. The local kids i know who go there are very much into sports and frats. I know people who go/went there love it but not for my son. He loved BU and Brandeis, even umass amherst more than bc

A kid who is “turned off” by the fact that a Catholic college has ...gasp ... Catholic landmarks sounds not very laid back to me.

And BC does not have frats or sororities, so check your facts.

And BU and Brandeis have objectively awful campuses so I can’t imagine what he found appealing about them.

BU’s campus is BOSTON. Not sure what you’re complaining about.

Not the PP, but BU being an urban campus does not appeal to my DS and many others who don't want a purely urban environment. What makes BC so appealing is the traditional college campus feel with easy access to an urban environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Boston. Went to visit last summer, my laid back jewish kid hated it. Campus is beautiful but catholic landmarks everywhere which was a turnoff for him. The local kids i know who go there are very much into sports and frats. I know people who go/went there love it but not for my son. He loved BU and Brandeis, even umass amherst more than bc

Well, yes. It seems logical that a ...Catholic school would have physical indicators that it is Catholic.

Thank you PP. That “turnoff” line made me LOL too. It cracks me up when people are shocked that they’re not able to ignore something they don’t want. It’s a Catholic school whether you want it to be or not. I would get why a Jewish kid would feel infinitely more at home at BU or Brandeis. UMass Amherst is THE party school in the MA state system so I’m not surprised when ANY college kid feels at home there!

But back to the point, sadly BC has gotten too big for it’s britches and priced out the very demographic it was founded to serve. Blue collar Catholic kids can no longer afford it (or get in!) so some of the smaller Catholic colleges fill that gap. BC does its best to hold a Catholic identity even with increasingly secular students and sometimes controversial Jesuit influences.

This is kind of a silly statement-- would be like saying College Park is "THE party school in the MD state system." Once upon a time UMass had a party school rep but those days are long gone, along with the days it accepted everyone who applied. I suppose it might be the most party-like school in the UMass system but mostly because there isn't unfortunately much of a MA state system (too much historic reliance on the private colleges, although there are campuses in Lowell and Boston plus a few state colleges).

Nah, it definitely still has a party school rep. It doesn’t get the nickname of Zoo Mass for nothing.

Just proving my point-- it got the nickname zoo mass 30 years ago and now it's just repeated by people who don't know what they are talking about. It's no more a party school than any other land grant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Boston. Went to visit last summer, my laid back jewish kid hated it. Campus is beautiful but catholic landmarks everywhere which was a turnoff for him. The local kids i know who go there are very much into sports and frats. I know people who go/went there love it but not for my son. He loved BU and Brandeis, even umass amherst more than bc

He doesn't sound very "laid back" to me. Why wouldn't a Catholic college have Catholic landmarks???

This. The Jews go to BU, not BC.

They go to Brandeis

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Boston. Went to visit last summer, my laid back jewish kid hated it. Campus is beautiful but catholic landmarks everywhere which was a turnoff for him. The local kids i know who go there are very much into sports and frats. I know people who go/went there love it but not for my son. He loved BU and Brandeis, even umass amherst more than bc

A kid who is “turned off” by the fact that a Catholic college has ...gasp ... Catholic landmarks sounds not very laid back to me.

And BC does not have frats or sororities, so check your facts.

And BU and Brandeis have objectively awful campuses so I can’t imagine what he found appealing about them.

BU’s campus is BOSTON. Not sure what you’re complaining about.

Not the PP, but BU being an urban campus does not appeal to my DS and many others who don't want a purely urban environment. What makes BC so appealing is the traditional college campus feel with easy access to an urban environment.

Do you think your DS would like Tufts?

[Anonymous]

I grew up in the NY suburbs, where there are many affluent Catholic communities that have been established since the early-mid 20th Century (see Real Lace by Stephen Birmingham. The kids skew preppy in style (early JCrew adopters, for example) , whether they go to public schools, Catholic schools, or independent day or boarding schools. When I went to HS in the 80s, the smartest and nicest kids in my parish who really wanted a Catholic college went to Notre Dame. Georgetown was less selective (I say this as the daughter and sister of alums) and BC even more so. Georgetown became more selective in the late 80s and 90s, partly because President Clinton was an alum, partly because of the Hoyas' basketball dominance, and partly because of St. Elmo's Fire (I'm only sort of joking about the latter).

A lot has changed since then. BC has become more selective, though it's still more provincial than Georgetown, which draws many more non-Catholics and international students. My own kids attend/ed a secular independent school in DC and every year a few kids go to Georgetown and BC -- though I can't recall a single one going to Notre Dame. That's certainly due in large part to Notre Dame's location, but also to its culture, which has always seemed more Catholic (chapels in every dorm) and, in particular, more focused on social justice Catholicism. I'm a lawyer and I'm always impressed by how many lawyers who went to Notre Dame are very active in pro bono work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the NY suburbs, where there are many affluent Catholic communities that have been established since the early-mid 20th Century (see Real Lace by Stephen Birmingham. The kids skew preppy in style (early JCrew adopters, for example) , whether they go to public schools, Catholic schools, or independent day or boarding schools. When I went to HS in the 80s, the smartest and nicest kids in my parish who really wanted a Catholic college went to Notre Dame. Georgetown was less selective (I say this as the daughter and sister of alums) and BC even more so. Georgetown became more selective in the late 80s and 90s, partly because President Clinton was an alum, partly because of the Hoyas' basketball dominance, and partly because of St. Elmo's Fire (I'm only sort of joking about the latter).

A lot has changed since then. BC has become more selective, though it's still more provincial than Georgetown, which draws many more non-Catholics and international students. My own kids attend/ed a secular independent school in DC and every year a few kids go to Georgetown and BC -- though I can't recall a single one going to Notre Dame. That's certainly due in large part to Notre Dame's location, but also to its culture, which has always seemed more Catholic (chapels in every dorm) and, in particular, more focused on social justice Catholicism. I'm a lawyer and I'm always impressed by how many lawyers who went to Notre Dame are very active in pro bono work.

As one business professor said in a video I watched, "If my students accumulate the money and use it for mainly material things, then I have failed." At 4:25 on video.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone go to bc over gtown?

Georgetown isn't very Catholic anymore. ND and BC are.