<p>Dear B77 and GLMERS : While I do not know if the reference provided by GLMERS was intended for yours truly, the reference certainly fits. My oldest child was accepted into Williams, Amherst, Georgetown, Boston College, Cornell and others while waitlisted/rejected from the usual Ivy League suspects. In the end game, the oldest chose Boston College.</p>
<p>My youngest child (second child) has just completed the process. This child was accepted to Lehigh, Holy Cross, Swarthmore, Boston College, and others while waitlisted/rejected from the usual Ivy League suspects. Again, in the end game, the youngest chose Boston College.</p>
<p>So you can say that my family has played the game twice - from Ivy League chases, to all of the top east coast LACs, to the emergent "New Ivies". We have spent a substantial amount of time at HYP, Penn, Cornell, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Lehigh Valley, and a host of others. As a former university professor and sports coach, I am probably reasonably qualified to discuss all of these schools from many angles.</p>
<p>To B77's point regarding Boston College's name being known on the back of the sports programs, this would be one view you might get through the prism of the "ACC Game of the Week", national ABC/ESPN coverage, or local newspapers covering the Boston sports scene. Boston College's academic reputation is extremely strong on Wall Street, in laboratories, in the classroom, in hospitals, and amongst graduate schools regarding the level of students attracted and produced through the various schools.</p>
<p>Now, for the discussion of Boston College versus Brandeis : One of our soccer players was recruited to play for Brandeis so I gained a famliarity with the campus and its programs. As with BC, under graduate credentials are recognized from Brandeis at the graduate and post-graduate levels.</p>
<p>In essence, you are trying to provide arguments why one school is just clearly better than the other - in fact, the difference comes down to the individual student, how well he or she applies him/herself in their academic pursuits, and their desired post graduate direction. Discussions on US N&WR rankings are just pointless since the ranking system could change overnight and nothing would be actually different about the schools themselves.</p>