Ask an Eagle

Colleges & Universities A-Z Boston College
21

<p>1.) Do you recommend choosing a roommate through facebook or their housing forms?
For the love of god, please pick a roommate. I wish I had done that because my roommate and I barely have anything in common. And props if the roommate you pick is a legacy at BC because then you’re guaranteed Upper!</p>

<p>2.) I know this has been asked before… but hopefully someone else can answer: Newton or Upper?
Newton has its advantages, but I think the advantages of Upper outweigh those of Newton. Newton’s food is better than Upper’s food, but Upper students always have the option of walking down to Lower campus for a good meal. Students on Newton also seem pretty close…more like a family. I don’t think the sense of community is as strong on Upper. But then again…if you live on Newton, you have to factor in the bus everyday. It can be a real pain in the neck and people always complain about it. I would go with Upper 100%.</p>

<p>3.) Do you find the course load to be overwhelming?
At times it can be very overwhelming. The end of the semester is a pretty tough time, but that holds true for just about every college. Overall, I think it’s a fair workload. If you balance your schedule, you’ll have a healthy level of stress.</p>

<p>4.) Overall, do you like it there? Is it worth $50,000 a year??
I feel like I get more out of the social scene than I do the academic atmosphere. I’m not sure if it’s worth it yet.</p>

22

<p>1.) Do you recommend choosing a roommate through facebook or their housing forms?</p>

<p>I would recommend just going with a random roommate. All of the people I know who have problems with their roommate now are people who requested each other. It is hard to really know someone based on what they say online, and people go in with too many expectations. Just go with random. You don’t have to be best friends with your roommate.</p>

<p>2.) I know this has been asked before… but hopefully someone else can answer: Newton or Upper?</p>

<p>Yeah, you will hear a lot about it. I live on Newton now and I love it. I initially requested upper, but I am really glad I’m on Newton. The bus really isn’t bad at all and you will get used to factoring it in to your schedule. It just becomes part of the freshmen experience. It really was a good way to meet people in the beginning, and it is still a good way to catch up with people before and after class. Newton is a little community, and people will start to become familiar after a while and people seem friendlier Also, there aren’t forced triples and the rooms are bigger. And Stuart (dining hall) is much better than Mcelroy (where upper eats). Don’t be upset of you get Newton- you will learn to love it, trust me!</p>

<p>3.) Do you find the course load to be overwhelming?</p>

<p>No, I have found it manageable as long as you keep up with the work. It gets hard if you get behind, but you should be fine as long as you do the work. It varies a lot depending on courses/majors/school but I have fond that it is challenging, but manageable.</p>

<p>4.) Overall, do you like it there? Is it worth $50,000 a year??
Yes, I love it. I got a lot of financial aid, it was the only way that I could come, but I think it is worth it. There are so many great opportunities.</p>

23

<p>Um…lemme just go out and ask it:
Are there a lot of racists/ultra-conservative/close-minded people at BC? Sure, sure, I know that you’ll find them anywhere but OMG that’s the FIRST thing people tell me about BC…no bueno.</p>

24

<p>To whom it may concern:</p>

<p>1) I’m currently a high school senior looking foward to transferring into Boston College after my freshmen year at another College. My overall average that I will be graduating with might be an 86%, which hits around a 3.1 GPA. I did not take Honors or APs in my last three years of High School because I learned from my past mistakes and this year I’m taking AP Pyschology, Spanish 7 Honors, and Precalculus… which are three of my challenging courses. I’m getting As in Precal and Foreign Language and a C in AP Psych.
I will be attending either a state school or a city college after this year with a 1700 or 1800 or higher SAT score (hopefully). In May, before high school graduation, I plan on taking about 1 or 2 SAT Subjects Tests (hopefully scores are high 500s and low 600s for me). If I get a 3.8 GPA or higher in a State College or City college for a year, do I stand a shot at transferring into the College of liberal arts and Sci as a Sophomore at BC for Bachelors Degree? Please, what advice do you eagles have? I don’t want to be a Junior transfer!</p>

<p>2) How much snow does Chestnut get usually, in the Winter?</p>

<p>3) If I come to Boston College and there are materials that I don’t understand in my classes, am I able to request a private-peer tutoring? Does tutoring happen often on campus or in the BC Library? I want to make sure I can do well, not to make the same mistake again that I did in High School.</p>

<p>(Gosh BC is very hard to get into, I might not even become the “hopefuleagle” as I wish to be.)</p>

25

<p>“Are there a lot of racists/ultra-conservative/close-minded people at BC? Sure, sure, I know that you’ll find them anywhere but OMG that’s the FIRST thing people tell me about BC…no bueno.”</p>

<p>I personally have not met anyone who is racist or ultra conservative. It is a Catholic school, so there are definitely conservative people, but I don’t think anyone is outright racist or demeaning. There are a lot of wealthy people who have definitely been sheltered, but I think in general people are well educated about issues. I don’t think BC is necessarily worse than other expensive private schools. I know BC is on the list for “least race/class interaction” and I have noticed that BC is very separated compared to other schools, and I don’t really know why its like that. I guess it depends who you are around.</p>

<p>“2)How much snow does Chestnut get usually, in the Winter?”</p>

<p>Well, where are you from? It usually starts to snow in December, it can snow anywhere from 2 inches to a foot. We did get a little snow in October. The snow will continue until February or March.</p>

<p>3) If I come to Boston College and there are materials that I don’t understand in my classes, am I able to request a private-peer tutoring? Does tutoring happen often on campus or in the BC Library? I want to make sure I can do well, not to make the same mistake again that I did in High School.</p>

<p>Yeah, the main library has a tutoring center where you can sign up for appointments. The tutors are grad students or qualified undergrads. I know people that go there, they have said its very helpful.</p>

26

<p>1.) Do you recommend choosing a roommate through facebook or their housing forms?</p>

<p>100% recommend going random. It worked out really well for me and I think in the end, it’s much better to have a random roommate you don’t get along with than someone who you picked.</p>

<p>2.) I know this has been asked before… but hopefully someone else can answer: Newton or Upper?</p>

<p>I live on Upper campus and find it to be really convenient for classes, meals, etc. However, if I could go back and do it all again, I think I would live on Newton. Everyone I know there seems to be more open and friendly. I have a lot of friends that live there and they love it a lot. It really forms its own little community and in the dining hall you see some of the same people and it gets to be really comforting. Plus, the rooms are just the perfect little amount bigger so that everything can actually FIT into your room. I hate the way my double on upper is, the dressers don’t fit anywhere except the middle of the room! Also, I know it really sucks to take the bus, and people on Newton don’t have as easy an access to the libraries, but I imagine everyone is in the same situation so there is a lot of bonding over waiting for the bus in the cold. I think in the end it really doesn’t matter where you end up because you will be happy no matter what.
3.) Do you find the course load to be overwhelming?</p>

<p>4.) Overall, do you like it there? Is it worth $50,000 a year??</p>

<p>I like it a lot. I think I’ve had some excellent professors that have really made it worth the money. In a lot of other aspects though I think it’s kind of a rip-off. Nothing is free at BC even though you pay a ridiculous amount of money. The food in the dining halls are all overpriced and sports tickets are ridiculously expensive. In the end though, I’m meeting some amazing people, finding GREAT opportunities I don’t think I would find elsewhere, and having some excellent teachers. So yes, it’s worth the money.</p>

<p>Are there a lot of racists/ultra-conservative/close-minded people at BC? </p>

<p>I really haven’t found any at all. There a few guys that I’ve been around that are ultra conservative and somethings they say make me a little uncomfortable but I’ve never heard anyone actually being racist. I think I’ve basically only heard a few homophobic remarks.</p>

<p>Hopefuleagle - Honestly, I’m not sure how BC deals with transfers. Your scores are really low for a BC student plus you didn’t really take a lot of challenging courses in high school so it kind of makes me question if you would be able to handle the academic load of Boston College. I took 5 APs and all honors and I’m still even having trouble staying on top of things and maintaining As and Bs. However, I could be completely wrong and I definitely think you should try to transfer if you really see yourself coming here.</p>

<p>As for the snow, I’ve lived in New England my whole life. Most winters there are a few storms from December to March and probably a light snow flurry once a week. Sometimes we’ll get a lot of snow in the winter, sometimes hardly any. Also it could snow anytime from October to April so you can never be sure of what the winter season will be like.</p>

<p>Tutoring is available in the main library and is pretty popular I think. Professors are also really helpful with setting up tutoring too so it is pretty easy to find one.</p>

27

<p>I personally would do the random, like I did. Imagine not getting along with your roommate and it’s random. Now think about not getting along with your roommated after you went and picked them.</p>

<p>There is less pressure to become best friends with your roommate if you did random. </p>

<p>p.s. everyone says this but it’s true, you don’t have to be good friends with your roommate. As long as you guys tolerate each other, don’t steal etc. you should be fine.</p>

28

<p>What has BC done to improve its student body and campus since you’ve been there?</p>

29

<p>ready2go4: What is the main thing that keeps Eagles away from getting their As and Bs? Because I heard that academics is little-less cut-throat compared to other schools in the country.</p>

30

<p>I’ve never been in classes at any other top schools in the country but I would like to think it’s not as cut-throat. I don’t think there is a lot of competition for grades per say, I just think you really have to work very hard to get an A in some classes. A lot of the intro classes are easy but I think that science proves to be very difficult (at least for me, it was). There is a lot of reading that you have to stay on top of in order to do well. I’ve compared my experience to my friends who went to other, less competitive schools and their experience seems to be a little less stressful and easier. BC is a great school, but it’s a great school for a reason and that’s because people work extremely hard.</p>

31

<p>How do you guys balance the BC studies along with the graduate exams (which also req. preparation)?</p>

32

<p>^^Do you mean like LSAT and MCAT? I’m a freshmen, so I haven’t really had to deal with that yet… There are a lot of pre-med students that seem to handle it ok, but these students seem to be the most stressed</p>

33

<p>how diverse is the student body? (IE not all catholic white kids)</p>

<p>are football games free for BC students? </p>

<p>Where would you say is the best housing?</p>

<p>How are the classes in CSOM? Big or small size? Good profs? ect.</p>

<p>Is the school more liberal or conservative in terms of political ideology?</p>

34

<p>how diverse is the student body? (IE not all catholic white kids)
-At first it doesn’t seem that diverse, but there areally are all different types of people here. In terms of race, I think 25% of students identify as minority. Bc may be less diverse than some schools, but more diverse than some I have seen.</p>

<p>are football games free for BC students?
-No, season tickets were $150 for 7 home games</p>

<p>Where would you say is the best housing?
-Overall, the best is on lower in the 8-man suites. But freshmen will either be on Upper or Newton. Most people prefer Upper, but read back in this thread to read more about that.</p>

<p>How are the classes in CSOM? Big or small size? Good profs? ect.
-I’m in A&S, so I’m not sure. But I do know that all first semester freshmen take a class called Portico that is a small discussion based class.</p>

<p>Is the school more liberal or conservative in terms of political ideology?
-I think it’s pretty even, maybe even more on the liberal side.</p>

35

<p>@Cacciato:</p>

<ol>
<li>Reasonably diverse for such a school, but yes, it is still a bastion of white Irish Catholics.</li>
<li>No.</li>
<li>N/A.</li>
<li>I have had only one “CSOM” class so far, called “Portico”. Out of all the classes I took last semester, it was certainly one of the smallest in terms of class size. </li>
<li>No comment on this one.</li>
</ol>

36

<p>@ an Eagle:</p>

<p>For transfer-in as sophomore with underperformed high school record, do you suggest me to call up the admissions office after this year and ask them what are the options that I could do? Will they direct me to the right path?</p>

<p>I’m still trying to decide whether or not to attend BC, because the tickets, food, and lifestyle are 20k-30k extra, which become really expensive along with the 50k a year for education; especially for a rich kid.</p>

37

<p>I am going to answer two of the questions. The first one has to do with whether or not I think it is worth the 50K. I think that it is pretty tough to value an education but I have to say that I am very impressed with the professors that are here. Also, alumni are very active which is a huge benefit when you are looking for jobs. Also, I don’t exactly know how to explain it, but I think BC has certainly helped shape who I am as a person and I believe that helped me with my job search. It really depends on what you value but I have had a great experience in my 3 and a half years here and would not trade it for anything. I don’ know about all majors, but BC is very good at placing accounting and finance students.</p>

<p>The second question touches on the CSOM classes. The level of difficulty and the quality of professors really depends on who you take. All of the professors I have taken have been very helpful and exceptional. Some people in the forum have mentioned the problem of having poor registration times. I am definitely one of those people and have never had trouble finding a great teacher. Some classes I have found relatively useless (organizational behavior) but all of the courses I have taken in my major (finance and accounting) have been pretty great.</p>

<p>If you need any clarification on my answers let me know.</p>

38

<p>@ an Eagle:</p>

<ul>
<li>Do you think that not having Greek Life on campus hinders social opportunity at BC?</li>
<li>Are there many community service opportunities offered?</li>
</ul>

39

<p>Can someone also answer my first question above witty24’s? which may be my last one.</p>

40

<p>tinselkawa-</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Do you think that not having Greek Life on campus hinders social opportunity at BC?
I am very glad that BC doesn’t have greek life. When I hear my friends at other schools talk about joining frats or sororities, it makes me glad that we don’t have to deal with. Greek life can be very exclusive. It does not hinder at all, I think most people are happy with it.</p></li>
<li><p>Are there many community service opportunities offered?
Yes! There are so many I couldn’t even list them all. This really sets BC apart from other schools. There is a huge emphasis on service. Pretty much everyone does some sort of service. It also helps being close to Boston, there are so may opportunities in the city.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>HopefulEagle86- I don’t know anything about transfer admissions, but I am sure if you called admissions they could help you.</p>