Amherst College, Boston College or Washington University in St. Louis?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone! I am in a bit of a strange and unexpected situation regarding my college selection process, and I was hoping that you could potentially provide some insight or advice:

So, for the past few months, I have been verbally committed to Amherst College for baseball. As a recruited athlete, I was told that I had the coach’s support for my regular decision application and that I had a relatively higher chance of acceptance. Unfortunately, however, upon receiving my decision, I was actually waitlisted by the school. Looking at past forums and discussions on this site, it appears that I will not be hearing anything from Amherst until at least the first week of May, and thus I am unsure as to where I now stand with their admissions office. The coach has said he will update me as he learns more information, but so far he has not reached out.

This brings me to my next point, as I was also accepted to Boston College’s Carroll School of Management and Wash U’s Olin Business School. I was not recruited by either one, and was simply admitted as a normal applicant. Yet, because I had been preparing to enroll at Amherst, I’m undecided on which of these two I should attend in the case that my baseball commitment falls through.

In terms of rankings, prestige and job availability after graduation, it seems that Amherst > Wash U > Boston College. I am completely open to other interpretations, but after looking at many different sources and talking with many individuals, my personal knowledge leads me to place the three in that way. I will likely major in finance or economics, though, so I would prefer to work in the northeast, and my only concern about Wash U is its job placement outside of the midwest. I would think that Boston College, on the other hand, offers better overall opportunities for that scenario. So, whereas Wash U likely has the stronger prestige and academics, and Boston College has the more advantageous location, Amherst seems to have the best of both worlds.

As a result, do you feel that I should trust in the coach’s support of me and wait for Amherst? Have any of you been through a similar recruiting situation before? If I were to move on, do you believe that Boston College or Wash U would be the better choice? Am I wrong for assuming that Boston College places better in the northeast than Wash U solely because of its location?

I apologize for the length of this post and the flurry of questions, but any help you could offer would truly be appreciated! Thank you in advance!!

2

You need to move on and make a deposit by May 1st. Then if the Amherst wl comes through you can forfeit your deposit and accept the spot at Amherst.

3

I would place a deposit at Wash U. It’s a really good school, stronger in most areas than BC. I’m not sure the regional recruiting advantage thing matters that much, unless you are sure you want to stay in Boston itself (and unfortunately, if you want to stay in Boston itself, you have to deal with the shadow of all those Harvard, MIT and Tufts students fighting for the same internships and jobs)

If Amherst fits you in, you win. If not, you still win with Wash U…

4

^Exactly what I was going to say!

5

BC’s Carroll School of Management is ranked above Wash U’s biz school and the BC alumni network is very strong, especially in the northeast and California.

6

In USNWR Olin is ranked 14th and Carroll is ranked 22nd.

7

Bloomberg Businessweek is a better ranking source for undergrad business. They have Olin at 8 and BC at 9. I would give the edge to BC because Boston is much better for internships.

8

http://www.businessweek.com/undergraduate_mba_profiles/bschools/rankings/

9

Would you have the opportunity to try and walk on the baseball teams at BC or Wash?

10

As someone in the Northeast- upstate NY, in school in Boston- very few people know WUSTL, and those that do don’t think it’s very prestigious (not that they’ve heard otherwise, it’s just not recognized as highly as it should be because few people know attendees). If you plan on living and working in the Northeast, I’d go BC, yeah. Otherwise, WUSTL is the better school. I don’t think choosing one over the other would generally hurt you as in general, both are widely recognized as excellent, so choose whichever you prefer.

11

Plenty of people from my graduating class (WashU) went to Boston afterwards. They seem to have done pretty well for themselves. I don’t think students have any internship or job issues if they don’t want to work in the midwest (I’d suspect most actually end up working outside of the midwest!). The Career Center is pretty helpful, and there’s a fairly sizable group of students (and thus alums) from Boston.

BC is a great school too. Does the Jesuit identity matter to you at all? It could be a pro or con depending on your preferences.

12

Thank you all so much for your insight!! It seems now, putting all things into consideration, that the two are relatively equal and that it really comes down to fit. I will look more into it, however, to see if there are any elements that tip the scale one way or the other.

To Dolemite, I would have a chance of walking on at Wash U, as I was already recruited by another D3 school with a strong program in Amherst. On the other hand, the D1 aspects of Boston College’s team somewhat turn me off from it, and making the team might be a little more difficult.

To kROCK91, BC’s Jesuit identity wouldn’t really affect or influence me. From what I’ve read online and what students from there have said, it sounds like it is what you make of it.

Once again, though, I really appreciate your comments!

13

I would love to hear what you decided to do! I have a daughter at BC in CSOM and she loves it and she is being very prepared for jobs/internships. Wash U is also a phenomenal choice…I think Wash U is “better” for all subject areas EXCEPT business…CSOM at BC has a much lower acceptance rate than the rest of the school (like 17%? My daughter learned in her stats class that they may start publishing it separately because it’s significantly harder than the rest of the school which is more like 29 or 30%).

I think the biggest difference honestly is the culture. BC has the football rah rah which may be what you are looking for, but maybe not. I think BC if a bit more of a party school and while the Catholic/Jesuit-ness is in no way in your face, many students are that preppy Catholic school type.

I also went to BC so some of this is from my personal experience also, but it is much harder to get in now, and their business school is really a top choice by recruiters. Someone posted incorrectly above…Bloomberg Businessweek 2016 had BC at 3rd, not 9th. Not sure if you figured that out. Up one from last year (they were 4th).

I think BC might have the edge in the Northeast, but I’m really not sure. BC alum are extremely loyal…

I have a senior in HS who will be applying to both schools…not sure which is better for her. We have to visit Wash U. I do hear such nice things about that place.

Can’t go wrong with either. Or Amherst if that’s where you ended up!!!