Amherst College or Boston College?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone! I’m a bit conflicted in terms of which school I should choose, and I was hoping that you would be able to provide some advice.

So I was recently admitted to Boston College through Early Action, but I also have an offer from Amherst College to play baseball. If I decide to commit there, I would be given an extra push through admissions and essentially have my acceptance guaranteed. There are others that I’m yet to hear from (Georgetown, Michigan, etc), but these were my top two schools and so I’d really like to have my situation between them figured out before going into other scenarios.

I’m currently very on the fence about it, as they’re both strong schools and have factors that I see as strong benefits. With that said, these are the positive aspects that I feel each school brings:

Pros for Amherst:
-More intimacy with professors and other students
-From what I understand, the professors are also of a higher quality overall than those at BC
-Open curriculum to create my own schedule
-Social life is generally dominated by the sports teams, meaning I would be included in more events (on the other hand, I have heard that freshman at BC sometimes struggle to get into parties and what not)
-I would have an immediate group of friends in being a part of the baseball team
-Stronger alumni network than BC, which helps for future employment
-The school as a whole is normally ranked higher than Boston College, which arguably brings more value to a degree from there and helps in entering a better graduate school

Pros for Boston College:
-More appealing campus than Amherst
-Bigger school with more people to meet
-As someone looking to go into business and likely finance, BC has more classes and majors suiting those goals
-I would not be required to play baseball (although not necessarily a plus, this means I would have more time for internships, going abroad and other extracurriculars than I would at Amherst)
-Access to Boston, which offers much more to do than Amherst’s relatively smaller town
-ACC athletic teams and more school spirit
-I have gathered that the food is much better here than at Amherst

So, with all of these points taken into account, which do you feel I should go with? Baseball at Amherst is a very large commitment on its own, which is something I’ll also need to consider. But, any insight or help that you could provide would be really appreciated!!

Thanks so much in advance!

2

These schools are so different, and then you add the extra variable of baseball or no baseball. Really, it will be hard for anyone on CC to sort this out for you. You do not mention financial considerations; that might force your hand one way or the other.

3

Amherst for sure, due to the intimacy and focus on your education. Being on a varsity team also has huge perks for your social life, and you’ll have a group of people to hang out with immediately on campus. Amherst does not offer courses in finance, but that does not really matter since you can pretty much major in anything and go into finance as long as you are smart.

4

From a pure academic perspective–its decidely Amherst.

5

I wouldn’t assume that the baseball team gives you people to hang out with immediately on campus. What if you don’t like them or don’t fit in with them? Besides, a reasonably friendly/gregarious/outgoing freshman can meet people in other built-in environments - their residence halls, classes, extracurriculars, etc.

Both BC and Amherst are excellent schools; I wouldn’t say academically it’s decidedly Amherst. On some rankings Amherst is ranked higher; however, those rankings are just for the sake of ranking schools. In the grand scheme of things is there really such a large difference (reputationally) between attending Amherst or Boston College? Probably not.

To me this falls to a couple of questions:

  1. Do you want to attend a small liberal arts college or a medium-sized research university? They're very different environments. BC has almost 5 times the number of undergraduate students as Amherst. And while Amherst is in the Five College Consortium, BC is also located close to Boston, which is a hub of educational institutions.
  2. Do you want to be located in a small town in a rural area or nearby a very large city? The environment is going to be different, as are the kinds of things your classmates will do for fun. (Boston is not necessarily better - by all accounts the Pioneer Valley is a great place to be a college student, and there are some advantages to going to college in a small college town.)
  3. Do you want to play baseball in college? You seem undecided about this.
6

Those schools are not close academically.

BC is barely a top 30 school.

Amherst’s peer schools are the ivies, Williams, etc. Not BC. Bc’s peer schools are William and Mary, NYU, Brandeis level schools.

Amherst’s selectivity and student body is in a different tier than BC.

That may or may not be important to you.

7

Not that BC isn’t a very good school, though.

8

OP, go to the school you like the most. If you can’t further your career from a school that enrolls kids in at least the 95th percentile, BC, then you won’t be able to anywhere.

Another 2 percentile points isn’t going to help.

9

It is not that clear cut from an academic perspective.

It all depends on the relative weighting you assign to research t vs. class size, and which environment you think you are more likely to thrive. If you do well at either school, you will have plenty of opportunities in finance.

Amherst will have smaller class sizes, but BC is ranked 12th in the US for finance research, and 20th for Economics.

Amherst claims to do “high quality research” on their web page, but they are not ranked among the top 25% of Economics institutions in Massachusetts, and they rank 9th among the 11 NESCAC schools for economics research.

For comparison purposes, BC has a Business School and a Phd program in economics and among NESCAC schools, Williams and Tufts have masters programs in Economics while the other schools only have bachelors programs.

US Finance
https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.finecon.html

US Economics
https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html

Massachusetts Economics
https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usa-ma.html

LAC Economics
https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

10

If you attend Amherst, you’ll very likely emerge a better educated person. BC is a terrific school, but it’s very hard to “slip through” at Amherst and not really be changed (and I’d say significantly improved) at a school that is as intimate and academic as the 'Herst. I’m a Williams alum, so this pains me to say, but you should go to Amherst.

As for this:

That ranking almost certainly includes (and, thus, is primarily reflects) post-grad programs.

11

@marvin100-

It is probably a good thing that that you are willing to forgive Amherst’s founders for stealing Williams’ students, faculty and library books, but I am having trouble following your logic.

In general, one would think that it is easier to “slip through” unchanged at a school with an open curriculum than a school that does not have an open curriculum because you can pick course subjects with which you are already familiar, comfortable, or find easier.

I was not sure what “intimacy” had to do with getting a better education, so I googled “Amherst intimacy” and the result did not suggest a positive correlation between the two.

Googling “Boston College intimacy” returned an arguably more academic result, particularly if you are interested in studying theology.

Maybe the high degree of “intimacy” explains why Amherst’s four year graduation rate is lower than BC’s?

In general, the notion of intimacy is best left to the marketing folks, and an objective comparison between the schools should focus on the potential benefits and drawbacks of smaller class sizes and fewer faculty.

12

IDK anything about BC except where it is and that it’s Catholic.

Financial firms recruit extensively at Amherst.

Amherst classes are small from the get-go so it’s difficult to slip through the cracks with any professor. Or adviser. Or first-year dean.

Baseball seems to me to be a pretty big factor…

13

I don’t think Amherst has more prestige than BC, especially in the Northeast. I would say they are about equals. If you’re looking to go into finance, Id actually give the edge to BC

14

No, not exactly.

It is a pure research ranking.

The calculation of rank has no dependence on post grad programs. In fact, many of the ranked institutions are banks and think tanks, not educational institutions. It also includes educational institutions that do not have Phd programs or do not have masters or Phd programs.

Amherst does not rank highly even when compared to other LACs that do not have graduate programs. Among NESCAC schools, Amherst’s closest research “peer” is Trinity,

15

Amherst. And it will likely give you better aid.

16

I have no affiliation with either school, both of which are excellent schools that are very different in size and location. And Boston is great. Apples and oranges. We also are not Jesuit or Catholic. I know smart, high-achieving, successful people that have gone to both. Having said all that, I would much rather have my kid look at going to Amherst (or other small LAC) than BC – especially if the cost is similar. I also think being an athlete in the NESCAC would be a great opportunity. Not sure why the “I would not be required to play baseball” is a plus for BC. If you are not liking baseball after Freshman year at Amherst, you can always quit. Many athletes do. But being on a varsity team would seem to be a great way socially to start your college career.

17

Amherst because of its education, but BC if you want a school with a lot of spirit.

18

Amherst is one of the very top schools in the country . You will also probably find a very intellectual group of students there who enjoy learning for learning’s sake. You will most likely find more racial and socioeconomic and religious diversity at Amherst. You will also probably find less prepsters at Amherst. If you chose Amherst, you not only have the town of Amherst to go to, but also nearby Northampton which is bigger and what I think is a fun town. I could be wrong, but I bet you could major in basket weaving at Amherst and Wall St would still recruit you. That said, Boston College has a good rep and you can be successful coming from there. Think about your personality, what suits it and where you will be happiest. One final thought, at BC they have dorms on two campuses. From what my friend’s kid says, if you want to be on the main campus freshman year, be prepared to be in a forced triple.

19

This is another demonstration of the CC principle that all prestige is local and in the case of Massachusetts colleges, it’s almost a matter of what neighborhood in what suburb in what part of the Commonwealth you’re from that will determine whether Amherst is more prestigious than BC or the other way around. There are definitely people in this world who have never heard of Emily Dickinson or Noah Webster upon whom the charms of western New England would be completely lost. If you believe BC is on the same prestige level as say, Tufts, then you truly have a decision on your hands because a lot of people think Tufts and Amherst are equally prestigious. I don’t think there’s a bad decision either way, here.

20

Amherst has a much stronger academic reputation and stronger alumni network. Amherst and Williams are the best national LACs in the country. By contrast BC is ranked 30th in the US News University section.