Wake Forest vs Boston College vs Villanova

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These are all great choices. BC CSOM grad here....so I vote BC.

Happy, outgoing, student body with lots of school spirit and cooperative culture, fun D1 sports culture with football/basketball/hockey as big draws (but strong showings in baseball/lacrosse/soccer etc if you prefer to watch those), Boston is great college town (yes - students absolutely access Boston - if they don't - it's because they didn't want to), travel to/from DC is an easy flight and access to Logon is easy too, alumni network is VERY strong both professionally and socially and 100% makes a difference. It helped in my employment out of college, and out of graduate school too, and BC people have found me at every job I've ever had. We're a social bunch - so almost any interview cycle included a BC alum - and the BC alum always came to lunch. It makes it very natural for them to start conversations and easy for employers to get to know you as a colleague in addition to whatever you have to offer in professional skills and work background.

I think BC is the stronger program and the hardest admit here too. But honestly, these are all solid options. So if your DC is itching for warmer weather, choose Wake.....or if they want to be closer to home, go with Villanova.

Good luck!!

Wake definitely wins out in D1 athletics programs, despite poor showing by football team this fall. One of the across the board strongest D1 schools, with baseball and soccer teams ranked number one in past year and basketball team looking strong this year. Tennis, field hockey and golf teams always top ranked.

PP here "wins on D1" depends which sports you like. I can't speak to school spirit at Wake (or at Nova) and how it compares to BC or how sports attendance and atmosphere compares either. I just said it's all fun at BC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BC is a suburban campus and students don't go into Boston proper as much as you'd think. It's a long trolley ride in.

My child is there now and goes into Boston every single day. Maybe things have changed. They go out to clubs and bars in Boston at least 2-3 times per week. BC is only 10-15 minutes top to Boston. Just drove it 10 times visiting back and forth from where we were staying in Boston.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These are all great choices. BC CSOM grad here....so I vote BC.

Happy, outgoing, student body with lots of school spirit and cooperative culture, fun D1 sports culture with football/basketball/hockey as big draws (but strong showings in baseball/lacrosse/soccer etc if you prefer to watch those), Boston is great college town (yes - students absolutely access Boston - if they don't - it's because they didn't want to), travel to/from DC is an easy flight and access to Logon is easy too, alumni network is VERY strong both professionally and socially and 100% makes a difference. It helped in my employment out of college, and out of graduate school too, and BC people have found me at every job I've ever had. We're a social bunch - so almost any interview cycle included a BC alum - and the BC alum always came to lunch. It makes it very natural for them to start conversations and easy for employers to get to know you as a colleague in addition to whatever you have to offer in professional skills and work background.

I think BC is the stronger program and the hardest admit here too. But honestly, these are all solid options. So if your DC is itching for warmer weather, choose Wake.....or if they want to be closer to home, go with Villanova.

Good luck!!

Wake definitely wins out in D1 athletics programs, despite poor showing by football team this fall. One of the across the board strongest D1 schools, with baseball and soccer teams ranked number one in past year and basketball team looking strong this year. Tennis, field hockey and golf teams always top ranked.

PP here "wins on D1" depends which sports you like. I can't speak to school spirit at Wake (or at Nova) and how it compares to BC or how sports attendance and atmosphere compares either. I just said it's all fun at BC.

Great basketball game between Wake and BC last night with 9 lead changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a suburban campus and students don't go into Boston proper as much as you'd think. It's a long trolley ride in.

My child is there now and goes into Boston every single day. Maybe things have changed. They go out to clubs and bars in Boston at least 2-3 times per week. BC is only 10-15 minutes top to Boston. Just drove it 10 times visiting back and forth from where we were staying in Boston.

Every day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a suburban campus and students don't go into Boston proper as much as you'd think. It's a long trolley ride in.

My child is there now and goes into Boston every single day. Maybe things have changed. They go out to clubs and bars in Boston at least 2-3 times per week. BC is only 10-15 minutes top to Boston. Just drove it 10 times visiting back and forth from where we were staying in Boston.

Every day?

Look at a map. It is literally 10 minutes a straight shoot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is a senior and is down to deciding between these three. What are the major differences? Is it true that BC students go into Boston frequently instead of stay on campus? How do the business schools compare? Thank you.

BC is most difficult to get into but depends on what they are looking for in campus etc...

[Anonymous]

it's really easy to drive or take the train to Villanova for a 2 hr tour. That should be enough to keep it on or cross if off your list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No question - Wake is the best of those 3. Its easy to see with a tiny bit of research.

Agree with this. Based on admits at our high school - Wake, BC, and then a tier lower Villanova, which is akin to Bucknell, lehigh etc. . .

Wake and Lehigh are ranked the same at #47. Villanova is not far behind.

Only because Wake doesn’t do well on the new first gen and Pell grant criteria and US News stopped caring about small class size and degrees held by the people teaching those classes. If the diversity criteria is important to you, by all means, use the new rankings. Under the old rankings, Wake ahead of both BC and Villanova for literally decades.

In any case, I was referring to the students who were accepted to each school from our private. Academic profile of Wake and BC kids much higher than Villanova. Maybe different at Catholic schools.

BC is harder to get in and Lehigh has better outcome.

Lehigh alumna here who is looking at BC for son. Lehigh’s outcomes, particularly its new grad earnings, are tightly linked with its engineering and business schools and its proximity to NYC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a suburban campus and students don't go into Boston proper as much as you'd think. It's a long trolley ride in.

My child is there now and goes into Boston every single day. Maybe things have changed. They go out to clubs and bars in Boston at least 2-3 times per week. BC is only 10-15 minutes top to Boston. Just drove it 10 times visiting back and forth from where we were staying in Boston.

Every day?

Look at a map. It is literally 10 minutes a straight shoot

It’s not far, but why would they go there every day? The campus is self contained, and I would assume the child has classes there pretty much every day. Why would they be going to Boston?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a suburban campus and students don't go into Boston proper as much as you'd think. It's a long trolley ride in.

My child is there now and goes into Boston every single day. Maybe things have changed. They go out to clubs and bars in Boston at least 2-3 times per week. BC is only 10-15 minutes top to Boston. Just drove it 10 times visiting back and forth from where we were staying in Boston.

Every day?

Look at a map. It is literally 10 minutes a straight shoot

It’s not far, but why would they go there every day? The campus is self contained, and I would assume the child has classes there pretty much every day. Why would they be going to Boston?

NP. Why would they go into Boston, really? Why wouldn't they go into what is probably the most reknowned city in the country for college students?
- job or internship
- just for fun, when they have free time

Downtown is accessible by three T lines, one of which stops at the campus adjacent to upperclassmen dorms, but is a slower ride for those headed downtown. The other two T lines, which are faster, stop at Cleveland Circle, accessible by the shuttle bus that runs every x-minutes to that neighborhood.

To clarify, if it hasn't already been mentioned, all Lower Campus buildings, including upperclassmen dorms, are inside the Boston city limits, as are the vast majority of off-campus apartments, where half the juniors live, along Comm Ave up to maybe halfway to BU, and in Cleveland Circle. For details on those areas, check the shuttle bus map.

You mention self-contained campus. It is, in many ways, though even students who prefer to stay in the campus bubble the majority of the time do go off campus for the occasional meal out, fun activities downtown like museums or for activities at one of the 30 other colleges in the area, to go to the pharmacy, grocery, Target, etc. The location being on the edge of the city allows for maximum flexibility in how a student wants to spend their time between city and campus bubble.

[Anonymous]

Boston College for sure

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a suburban campus and students don't go into Boston proper as much as you'd think. It's a long trolley ride in.

My child is there now and goes into Boston every single day. Maybe things have changed. They go out to clubs and bars in Boston at least 2-3 times per week. BC is only 10-15 minutes top to Boston. Just drove it 10 times visiting back and forth from where we were staying in Boston.

Every day?

Look at a map. It is literally 10 minutes a straight shoot

It’s not far, but why would they go there every day? The campus is self contained, and I would assume the child has classes there pretty much every day. Why would they be going to Boston?

Back in the day, I had a part time job for two years at a store by BU. Senior year I had an internship at a financial firm downtown.

Having been back in recent years, I miss the live voice in a thick Boston accent announcing the next stop on the T. "Pahk Street!" Now it's a computer voice with no accent. Something has been lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a suburban campus and students don't go into Boston proper as much as you'd think. It's a long trolley ride in.

My child is there now and goes into Boston every single day. Maybe things have changed. They go out to clubs and bars in Boston at least 2-3 times per week. BC is only 10-15 minutes top to Boston. Just drove it 10 times visiting back and forth from where we were staying in Boston.

Every day?

Look at a map. It is literally 10 minutes a straight shoot

It’s not far, but why would they go there every day? The campus is self contained, and I would assume the child has classes there pretty much every day. Why would they be going to Boston?

NP. Why would they go into Boston, really? Why wouldn't they go into what is probably the most reknowned city in the country for college students?
- job or internship
- just for fun, when they have free time

Downtown is accessible by three T lines, one of which stops at the campus adjacent to upperclassmen dorms, but is a slower ride for those headed downtown. The other two T lines, which are faster, stop at Cleveland Circle, accessible by the shuttle bus that runs every x-minutes to that neighborhood.

To clarify, if it hasn't already been mentioned, all Lower Campus buildings, including upperclassmen dorms, are inside the Boston city limits, as are the vast majority of off-campus apartments, where half the juniors live, along Comm Ave up to maybe halfway to BU, and in Cleveland Circle. For details on those areas, check the shuttle bus map.

You mention self-contained campus. It is, in many ways, though even students who prefer to stay in the campus bubble the majority of the time do go off campus for the occasional meal out, fun activities downtown like museums or for activities at one of the 30 other colleges in the area, to go to the pharmacy, grocery, Target, etc. The location being on the edge of the city allows for maximum flexibility in how a student wants to spend their time between city and campus bubble.

Thanks for this. DS is heading to BC and I’ve wondered about these things.

[Anonymous]

I have a child at BC now. As another poster said, part of the campus is actually in Boston. We generally stay in back bay and drive to BC to visit child. Not far at all, about 15 minutes by car

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes that is a real issue. Also there is nowhere to walk and go to a bar. I don’t like that you have to go to Boston to go out. I feel like college kids are better served at a college bar where you know your classmates.. and I realize this is more of a junior or senior year issue but still. BC only has that little Mexican place for food in walking distance. No college town area.

None of these 3 schools has a bar/restaurant district adjacent. You have to travel a few minutes.