<p>Earlier I thought U of M or Notre Dame, but I've been rethinking it, and I just think U of M would be way to big. Ireally want to go to Med School, and BC has an early assurance program with Tufts (I would apply sophmore yr) but Notre DAme seems to have a litte more prestige. I LOVE BOSTON, and liked BC when I visited, but Notre Dame's campus is really beautiful, I'm just worried I would be able to get off campus if I wanted to..........I am so stressed about the decisision because I have not idea how to pick.....money is really not a factor at all b/c they roughly the same (ND a little more) but my parents are really well off and are letting me pick where I want to go....</p>
<p>and I know there is "no wrong decision" and I felt like I'd fit in at both (I'm white and a Christian, though protestant), but ANY HELP? PLEASE?</p>
<p>This post jumped out at me because I had to make the exact same decision, probably two years ago to the day (or close enough)!</p>
<p>I was accepted to both schools early and didn't decide until April. I think that shows how comparable the two really are...</p>
<p>In the end, I chose BC, and I've never regretted my decision. Boston was also a HUGE draw for me, and for some reason I felt that I fit in better at BC. I'm from the midwest, so ND gets more attention where I'm from, and my guidance counselor was pushing me towards ND. To be honest, the whole "prestige" thing is pretty relative. I would agree that where I'm from, ND has the slight edge (though BC is, of course, highly regarded) - but I've actually found that on the east coast and in the Boston area, BC gets the nod (someone told me that students from around here that aren't admitted to BC go to ND).</p>
<p>All of that aside, from my obviously biased perspective (though I DID visit both), BC will give you an amazing college experience. You have great sports (yes, our football team has taken down the Irish 5 times in a row...), stellar academics, a tight-knight and very-involved community, the Jesuits - they're awesome, the best social scene in the city, and a gorgeous campus next to one of the best cities in the world.</p>
<p>On a side note, I actually know a girl who told me yesterday that she did the Tufts program and is now admitted to med school.</p>
<p>You can't go wrong. In the end, you have to go where YOU feel most comfortable spending the next four years of your life. Good luck, and I hope I will be seeing you around campus next fall!</p>
<p>I am biased towards BC (BC '80) but have a lot of respect for ND. Don't downplay BC's 'prestige', there are a LOT of BC grads out there and a very positive vibe for BC grads. It's a well-known and respected school. You didn't say what you're interested in academically, so can't judge on that. But if you're from the midwest, it might be more fun getting out of that area and to a large (but not too large) city. BC is perfect for that - separate but close.</p>
<p>I had the same choice five years ago!! I chose BC because of the location and because the student body was much more diverse (I am not Catholic, though I am a Christian). Because of the move to the ACC and some great campus improvements, BC's reputation has skyrocketed and isn't going down anytime soon, so many many students turn down ND for BC. </p>
<p>While I appreciated the beauty of Notre Dame's campus, you will spend four years of your life in South Bend. I wouldn't really want to spend four hours there. Also, Notre Dame has only single-sex dorms and parietals that govern the hours of mixed-gender interaction. BC dorms are all fully co-ed and your relations with the opposite gender are between you and them (and your roommate). Students do not go to mass after football games, but there is a genuine spirit of community service and involvement because of our location in the Boston area.</p>
<p>rankings are stupid, but there's no denying ND's status as a top 20 school. It has the ability to lure people away from other top 20's, even other top 10's. My h.s. friend got into Duke, but is going to ND. I got into Cornell, but I'm probably going to ND. ND is more prestigious, more selective, better peer group, stronger alumni network (4th in alumni giving rate), has smaller class sizes especially compared to BC (Wisconsin has more classes under 20), more extensive alumni network and geographic distribution (a majority of students are not from any one region unlike BC where the majority of students are from the Northeast), ND attracts ibanks, hedge funds, consulting firms, etc (while BC is much more limited), ND has a much better tradition of sports, BC is not really in Boston, ND is less preppy, more diverse racially and ethnically, and ND has a sense of tradition that BC doesnt have. </p>
<p>5 days left!! AHHH!
thanks for the advice guys! for those BC grads, did you actually go into boston that much, do u think being near Boston really changed your experience? </p>
<p>And sorry for all those typos in the first post.....they're pretty bad, but my excuse is I was emotional at the time...</p>
<p>Hopefulfor2012, I went into Boston all the time when I was at BC. There is a 'T' stop (the MBTA, or T, is the mass transit system in Boston) at BC - in fact, the end of one section of the Green Line is at BC. So getting in to Boston is easy and relatively inexpensive. (Not sure what T rates are these days.....) Of course, in addition to Boston, there are MANY colleges in the area, and something like 250k students in the metro Boston area. So it's definitely a college town.</p>
<p>I'm not dissing ND at all. Just suggesting that for a midwesterner, it might be nice to get outside your comfort zone and attend a top school in one of the best cities in the country, if not the world.... ;)</p>
<p>Actually, I'd say they are similar enough that picking by rankings would be an absolute mistake. There are not huge differences here on almost any measurement you want to make. </p>
<p>Probably the single biggest difference is going to be national name recognition. ND has it as good as almost any college not named HYPSM. This has postgraduate implications for where you want to live and work as ND will provide a little more ooomph. BC's name is known and appreciated in the Northeast, but less so nationally, and primarily due to its sports strength. </p>
<p>I think that BC’s student body is very underrated on CC, but it is also a bit more regional than you might want. 25% of BC’s students come from Massachusettes. Another 40% of the students come from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. By comparison, Notre Dame has only about 37% coming from Midwestern states and has greater national breadth. </p>
<p>I would personally prefer Notre Dame, but there is little doubt that a student can have an exceptional undergraduate experience at either. Good luck!</p>
<p>hawkette, you contradict yourself by discrediting rankings but then building up the criterion that creates the rankings. hopeful, go to school that you will feel most comfortable at. Both are great, but ND is better/ will challenge you more. If at each school you felt equally comfortably, go to ND. Otherwise, pick the best "fit" in terms of comfort level. Imo, both places would be comfortable to me, but once I got the acceptance to ND, I tossed the BC stuff in the garbage. Just my perspective.</p>