What type of stats/activities do you need to get into Boston University/BC?

[Anonymous]

Unless the school requires testing from everyone, any stats are largely misleading and easy to manipulate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure but a 25% reporting rate is not exactly impressive for a school that positions itself as elite.

That is entirely something else.

You either submit or you don't. If you submit, you better have a high SAT score because roughly half of those who submit have an SAT score have a 1500. If not then you are TO.

Right, so we can reasonably impute a genuine average SAT significantly lower than 1500 at BC.

It’s certainly lower than 1500 but we don’t have enough data to say “significantly lower”.

Their admissions website has a giant graphic for average SAT - 1471

Average and 50% are two different calculations. Average is a simple average of all SATs. 50% is the median. The CDS reports median...I don't believe they always report average, but often they report different stats on their website.

PS I should add, it appears people here are using the CDS for the class of 28, which is the latest one published. The class of 28 (source CDS) and 29 (source BC webpage) both show 1500 is the 50% and. The 25% and 75% are slightly different for each year. Regardless, average is never necessarily the same as 50% and is only shown on the webpage for class of 29 in this instance.

Out of scores submitted. The actual median is lower.

You really need to get a life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure but a 25% reporting rate is not exactly impressive for a school that positions itself as elite.

That is entirely something else.

You either submit or you don't. If you submit, you better have a high SAT score because roughly half of those who submit have an SAT score have a 1500. If not then you are TO.

Right, so we can reasonably impute a genuine average SAT significantly lower than 1500 at BC.

It’s certainly lower than 1500 but we don’t have enough data to say “significantly lower”.

Their admissions website has a giant graphic for average SAT - 1471

Average and 50% are two different calculations. Average is a simple average of all SATs. 50% is the median. The CDS reports median...I don't believe they always report average, but often they report different stats on their website.

PS I should add, it appears people here are using the CDS for the class of 28, which is the latest one published. The class of 28 (source CDS) and 29 (source BC webpage) both show 1500 is the 50% and. The 25% and 75% are slightly different for each year. Regardless, average is never necessarily the same as 50% and is only shown on the webpage for class of 29 in this instance.

Out of scores submitted. The actual median is lower.

You really need to get a life.

I've only posted twice. You are confusing posters.

[Anonymous]

NP here with a rising senior and we just toured both schools. I think you really need to focus on fit. Although their names sound very similar and both schools are within 15 miles of each other, they have very different vibes.
Both schools fill a significant portion of their class in early decision. This is why making sure that your student is a good fit for either school is extremely important. BC is a Jesuit school, and they really value Service and other volunteer work. You really have to be able to speak to that and convey some of the Jesuit with principles in your essay.
BC also has a closed suburban campus.
BU is non religious and has an open urban campus with a very different feel.
Both schools are test optional, but during our BU tour, students were encouraged to submit SAT scores if they were over 1300.

[Anonymous]

BC parents in the thread feel that BC is being unfairly singled out here, and that those* who find the 1500 average/median/whatever** implausible are somehow obsessed with BC. The truth is, a lot of colleges play this game. Of it was a USC thread, we'd be dumping on USC for the same reasons. It's just BC's turn is all.

*There are at least two of us.

**The numbers are so manipulated that the precise statistical term hardly matters here.

[Anonymous]

Sure, not everyone submits a score. But if you want to submit then you really need to have a pretty high score to submit. So, if you don't have a high score then you HAVE to go test optional because everyone that submits has a high score.

[Anonymous]

BU, BC, Northeastern, Tufts are all playing a game of chicken. We need test optional to go away but the second tier colleges have become addicted to it. Nobody is fooling anyone. The average SAT at these schools is not higher than it was when tests were mandatory. Yet colleges keep putting out "Fact Books" showing average SAT which is fake because they are the average of those who submitted, but when more than half your class doesn't submit that statistic is meaningless. Colleges which are test optional should also have to disclose what the admission rate is for test optional. Why is that information kept secret? This is just a racket to increase college applications at the expense of transparency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BC parents in the thread feel that BC is being unfairly singled out here, and that those* who find the 1500 average/median/whatever** implausible are somehow obsessed with BC. The truth is, a lot of colleges play this game. Of it was a USC thread, we'd be dumping on USC for the same reasons. It's just BC's turn is all.

*There are at least two of us.

**The numbers are so manipulated that the precise statistical term hardly matters here.

Yup. I was only commenting on the math. Not the school.

We know the actual median is below 1500 because only ~21% of enrolled kids had a 1500 or higher. (513/2,394).

but we can’t say how much lower without more data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is great for kids who want a Catholic school but didn’t get into ND or Georgetown. The boosters will claim that it’s all kinds of things that it’s not, but it, along with Villanova, occupies a clear position in the hierarchy.

Notre Dame is much easier to get into than BC. You making ridiculous claims on this board doesn't change that.

Your claim is the ridiculous one. ND is not easier at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20 years ago BU had an acceptance rate of 50+ %. It was a very average school with a steep price tag. The only thing that has changed over that time is the school’s international outreach. This has flooded their admissions driving the acceptance rate way down. For a full pay ED US citizen it is relatively easy to get in.

Come on, man. I’m no fan of BU, but it’s been well above average for at least 50 years.

[Anonymous]

BC and BU were very local schools 40 years ago. They have benefited by a segment of kids that want to spend 4 years in Boston and have no chance of getting into a top 25 school. Neither has the alumni prestige of many NESCAC schools. To suggest BC is on the same level of Notre Dame or Georgetown is fiction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BC and BU were very local schools 40 years ago. They have benefited by a segment of kids that want to spend 4 years in Boston and have no chance of getting into a top 25 school. Neither has the alumni prestige of many NESCAC schools. To suggest BC is on the same level of Notre Dame or Georgetown is fiction.

Sure. You're stuck on 40 years ago. At that time, the internet wasn't even widely available.

Also, from the perspective of a non-Catholic family in 2026, BC, Notre Dame and Georgetown don't make any difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC and BU were very local schools 40 years ago. They have benefited by a segment of kids that want to spend 4 years in Boston and have no chance of getting into a top 25 school. Neither has the alumni prestige of many NESCAC schools. To suggest BC is on the same level of Notre Dame or Georgetown is fiction.

Sure. You're stuck on 40 years ago. At that time, the internet wasn't even widely available.

Also, from the perspective of a non-Catholic family in 2026, BC, Notre Dame and Georgetown don't make any difference.

As Catholics, both of my kids crossed Georgetown off their list. It really isn't Catholic. I recently attended a mass officiated by one of their Jesuit priests, and it was very dry and sterile. He seemed very rushed and barely bowed after the transubstantiation. Hey we aren't expecting Latin mass or anything, but at the very least, show a bit more respect for the body and blood of Christ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BC and BU were very local schools 40 years ago. They have benefited by a segment of kids that want to spend 4 years in Boston and have no chance of getting into a top 25 school. Neither has the alumni prestige of many NESCAC schools. To suggest BC is on the same level of Notre Dame or Georgetown is fiction.

By the late 80s, BU wasn't "very local".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC and BU were very local schools 40 years ago. They have benefited by a segment of kids that want to spend 4 years in Boston and have no chance of getting into a top 25 school. Neither has the alumni prestige of many NESCAC schools. To suggest BC is on the same level of Notre Dame or Georgetown is fiction.

Sure. You're stuck on 40 years ago. At that time, the internet wasn't even widely available.

Also, from the perspective of a non-Catholic family in 2026, BC, Notre Dame and Georgetown don't make any difference.

As Catholics, both of my kids crossed Georgetown off their list. It really isn't Catholic. I recently attended a mass officiated by one of their Jesuit priests, and it was very dry and sterile. He seemed very rushed and barely bowed after the transubstantiation. Hey we aren't expecting Latin mass or anything, but at the very least, show a bit more respect for the body and blood of Christ.

Georgetown is Jesuit, not garden-variety Catholic. It welcomes diversity and has been open to all faiths since day 1.

https://president.georgetown.edu/messages/values-mar-2025/
"The Jesuit precept of being “people for and with others” dictates that we recruit a diverse student body and then accompany our students to help them discern how they can serve others."

https://president.georgetown.edu/messages/values-mar-2025/
"In accordance with Carroll’s determination that his academy “open to Students of every religious Profession,” nearly a fifth of the students during the first ten years were Protestants. By the 1830s Jews were attending the College. Throughout the nineteenth century religious pluralism characterized Georgetown’s student population. From the beginning, Georgetown was a national, indeed international school."

If you want basic Catholic, it's not the place for you.