BC or BU? (and chance me)

Colleges & Universities A-Z Boston University
1

<p>i’m really confused between these two.
i guess, bc’s reputation is slightly higher?
since i came to US in my 9th grade and didn’t take foreign language (my counselor recommended me not to) i’m kind of worried… although i got 800 for sat ii korean.
before i knew this fact, i was going to apply to BC but…
is it going to be better to apply to BU?</p>

<p>here are some of my stats</p>

<p>SAT:2060, CR -660 M-790 WR-610 - will going to take one more time
SATII: korean 800, biology 740 - will take MATH IIC & LIT</p>

<p>AP: BIOLOGY 5, AP STUDIO ART 5
GPA: UW : 4.0 W:4.1111 or somethin
did volunteer work for serving homeless in the church organization - (100ish)
muse & environmental clubs - 1 year each
won 7-8 art awards/exhibition, got California Music Certificate level 5&9</p>

<p>I didn’t play any sports, which I heard is what BC is looking for…
also, i don’t have a whole lot of extracurricular so… should i apply to BC or BU?
anyways, I wasn’t sure about applying to BC so it’s okay to recommend me to go to BU. </p>

<p>oh and if you know BU and BC very well or if you are a student of either schools, then can you tell me what is the major difference b/w these two schools.</p>

2

<p>BU is a city school like GW or NYU or Pitt, in that it does not have much of a campus. It is a big school and has a lot of the attributes of schools of its size, as it should. BC is not in a city, but in a suburb. It has an enclosed campus, is much stronger, and its catholic identity is quite obvious. More personal than BU, and more selective. Being from CA will help you in either school.</p>

3

<p>What’s wrong with applying to both? Despite sharing the first name and having comparable quality of students, there are a lot of differences between the two–campus, sport scene, life style, etc. If you don’t know exactly what you look for, apply to both to give yourself some variety and make the decision in May. And looking from stats, you have a decent shot at both schools.</p>

4

<p>Thanks :slight_smile: I decided to apply to BC.</p>

5

<p>From someone who visited both last fall, and knows someone at BC (his family’s a legacy there…), BC seems like a party school compared with BU. I don’t think it’s considered a party school, but it’s just the vibe I got from it. I am not a fan of the city style campus, I hated GWU, and love campus style schools, but for somereason, I was the opposite in Boston. Enjoyed BU, but hated BC… BC seems more of a frat-like school IMO, whereas BU seems more formal, for lack of a better term.</p>

6

<p>bc is also very catholic, holding mass on wednesdays and sundays (?). i have a friend who goes there and says that he (along with everyone like him) is ostracized for not being the catholic student cut-out like everyone else.</p>

7

<p>BC and BU are very different. Both are good schools, both underrated in quality of academics. Not long ago, BU was considered the more serious school but BC’s visibility has risen a lot because, ironically, of its sports teams. Whatever fits you as a person is fine.</p>

<p>In terms of experience, BC is Catholic and is sports-heavy but the party scene on campus is somewhat restrained by the Jesuit administration. BC has a prettier, more traditional campus. It is farther out, over the Boston line into the suburb of Newton and has another campus, where some freshmen are assigned, that’s much further out in Newton and which is connected by shuttle buses. While one can say that BC is next to Boston, BU is in the heart of Boston. The total number of stores around BC’s campus, for example, is about 6 or 7 small shops at the end of the B line - a coffee place, an ice cream place, a few others - and the nearest actual commercial area of Cleveland Circle is about a 3/4 mile walk (given the reservoir is 1.5 miles around). </p>

<p>In terms of overall academics, BU is a major research school and BC is not. BU gets many times the research funding as BC. How that matters to you depends and the differences are likely most felt in the sciences / engineering.</p>

<p>The diversity at BC has increased but BU is much more diverse. Both are very good schools that suffer in reputation because Boston has so many of the very prestigious schools.</p>

8

<p>“i have a friend who goes there and says that he <a href=“along%20with%20everyone%20like%20him”>b</a>** is ostracized for not being the catholic student cut-out like everyone else.”</p>

<p>I must ask AliAngel to give more information about this “friend” of yours; and clarify the “everyone like him” part as well. I’m not Catholics. I’m a self-proclaim agnostic. I guess I must be living under a rock during the past three years while the ostracism is happening around me. Really, people, must you resort to such a line of attack when you’re trying to attract students to your school? But I guess being waitlisted to a school does that to people, it makes them bitter.</p>

<p>P.S.
'holding mass on wednesdays and sundays"
Actually BC holds mass everyday. It also runs free shuttle buses on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday throughout Boston for those who want to attend their own church, temple, synagogue, or any religious service that is not offered at BC. If you are going to smear a school, at least get the basic facts down first, it might make your lies seem more convincing.</p>

9

<p>I don’t think the intent was to attract students to BU. Both schools get plenty of applicants. I would imagine the idea was to relate a friend’s experience. It’s the internet. You have to take everything with more than one grain of salt.</p>

<p>BC is 70% Catholic. I’m sure some kids feel weird about that. One could say the same thing about Brandeis, which is around 50% Jewish. Some people might find it odd and even offputting.</p>

10

<p>i was just repeating what i was told, so im sorry if it really rubbed you the wrong way. my friend is in a band, has a tattoo, and just an overall different appearance than what the other bc students have, leading to him to be an almost outcast at his school. i have no bad feelings about bc, but this forum is meant for people to get a student’s perspective of what they know about different schools. i can tell this person that BU has a chapel, 2 jewish organizations, and 9 university chaplains, including a catholic, an episcopalian, a couple rabbis, and a muslim chaplain. so there ya go, take it or leave it, but stop taking it so personally, its a little ridiculous, especially since people come to this forum because of their interest in BU and boston and im just giving them some perspective. you can then post a reply saying “i dont see ostracism at BC” and that can be your perspective. ok?</p>

<p>anyway, for example, i was strongly considering vanderbilt university, and decided against applying because of information published by a vanderbilt student in a college search textbook saying that 70% of the guys are in frats and 50% are in sororities and, not being a southern belle, she is an outcast. that was enough information for me to know that i wouldnt fit in at a school like that, so that student helped me out and i found my niche at BU.</p>

<p>anyway, i hope that reddune feels a little bit better now. </p>

<p>but also, i can tell you, as a BU student, that BU also has a law school, medical school, and very highly reputable grad schools, unlike a lot of other boston schools. in fact, there are only 3 medical schools in massachusetts (besides umass worcester which only accepts mass residents): BU, tufts, and harvard.</p>

<p>in response to zfanatic, BU is what the students make of it. if you like to party, there’s plenty of it in allston, at BU frats, and MIT frats (on BU’s campus). but if you don’t enjoy the party scene it is very easy to keep yourself away from it and partake in other aspects of student life at BU.</p>