<p>I applied (EA) and was accepted to both BC and Notre Dame. After reading these boards, I have found that I am not alone.</p>
<p>Which school would you choose? Why?</p>
<p>Thanks a million.</p>
<p>BC for location and atmosphere. ND probably "ranks" better but Boston is a terrific place to live and is stellar compared to South Bend. Aside from that, Notre Dame is relatively more culturally conservative in a number of respects. BC is also more diverse in its student population.</p>
<p>I would choose BC, mostly because of the location. BC is a nice school.</p>
<p>i applied to both (got accepted EA to ND and applied regular to BC) and visited both. i could definitley see myself at either, but BC does not have an engineering program and i am considering that as an option. The only advice i can give to you is visit both campuses, honestly I love boston, but the atmosphere at ND is amazing.</p>
<p>TheDad, even if Notre Dame is so conservative, is that a bad thing? So many people seem to rule out ND because it is "conservative." Seems to me like ND has the most pride of any school in the nation. What does that tell you?</p>
<p>BC! great location, a school that just keeps getting better too.</p>
<p>Esrajay, people have pride in lots of things. Some of them have merit, others don't.
I think ND is a decent school academically but I think a lot of the "pride" is wrapped up with the football team and I would never let athletics on any level be a consideration in college selection unless I were an athlete. It's a nice bonus but it's not a reason to choose a college, imo.</p>
<p>As for the conservative being a bad thing, I dislike paternalistic institutions in general. ND isn't known for being anywhere near the most progessive outlook in its attitude towards women, for instance, nor, as I remarked before, is it terribly diverse. Now, if your response is "Oh, I'm a guy and that doesn't matter to me," then ND may indeed be a good fit for you.</p>
<p>The Dad, there is no need for you to be derisive in your attitude towards ND. Calling them academically "decent" is just utterly incorrect. If Notre Dame is academically "decent," that would mean that over 95% of the schools in the country are not even average. Notre Dame is quite simply one of the hardest institutions to be admitted to, and its student body is incredible. Although it tends to be quite homogenous, that may also be one of its strengths. The family atmosphere at ND is unique.</p>
<p>I do understand your desire to bash it. Notre Dame is pretty much the antithesis to Smith, where your daughter attends. Notre Dame is a school for conservatives. Smith is a very liberal women's college. Plus unlike, Smith, most students who attend Notre Dame because its there first choice, not their school to go to if they get rejected from the Ivy League. Last year alone I knew three people (two admitted to Yale and one to Princeton) who chose to attend ND over Ivy schools. The Notre Dame appeal is just that strong.</p>
<p>Torn, I mean no disrespect when I call ND "decent." Academically I'd put it in the group of top 20-50 colleges in the country and trying to refine beyond that is meaningless quibbling.</p>
<p>"Hardest to get into" doesn't signify anything on its own and 34 percent (per 2004 entering class) is hardly the 9-12 percent of HYP in any event. </p>
<p>And your usages of "homogeneity" and "family" read to me as "reassuringly familiar and insular." I have a nephew who went to ND and a sister in-law who was a Catholic prep school president and taught theology and who had many students consider or actually go to ND. Compared to other Catholic institutions...I'd put Georgetown at the other end of the scale...ND attracts a greater proportion of those who think that Vatican II was a dubious accomplishment instead of a breath of fresh air. </p>
<p>Btw, a Smith is not mainly composed mainly of Ivy rejects...there are many paths there and some chose Smith over various Ivies and many others looking for LAC's from the beginning. Yes, my D was rejected from Y & H (and didn't apply to other Ivies becasue they weren't good fits for her) but I think it's misleading to generalize from her experience.</p>
<p>TheDad, I apologize for my previously caustic post pertaining to Smith and your daughter. I've just recently become very irritable at this board lately. I was accepted to Georgetown and Notre Dame EA. I've also been accepted to Michigan and am waiting to hear from Yale, Dartmouth and a few others. Initially I made a post awhile back asking which school would be better Notre Dame or Georgetown, and basically everyone bashed ND.<br>
Yes, ND has an insular student body composed of white upperclass catholics. The only diversity it does have is that students come from all over the country, but still generally from the same socioeconomic backgrounds.</p>
<p>Comparing Boston College to Notre Dame: I looked at both schools a lot. They are very similar, yet very different. Here's my opinion....</p>
<p>Location: BC is in a suburb of Boston and ND is in South Bend, Indiana. Unless you live in the midwest and going to school somewhat near to you is a consideration, BC wins hands down.</p>
<p>Social life: BC kids tend to go to lots of off campus parties and bars. Students at Notre Dame (most of which who live in student housing all four years) tend to have smaller "dorm parties." ND has no frat life, BC's is basically nonexistent.</p>
<p>Academically: The student body at ND is much stronger in terms of standardized test scores, and academically ND is considered to be stronger than BC.</p>
<p>Student body: Although BC and ND both have national student bodies, there are still regional tendencies. BC has a lot of New England kids and ND has a lot of midwestern kids. Now, not to be bragging or anything, I come from a very wealthy family, and personally, the students at BC were too much. There was very east coast pretentious feel to it. While many people from the midwest would say ND is pretentious, I'd say there is a real difference in "midwest pretentious and east coast pretentious." </p>
<p>That's just my opinion...</p>
<p>We all choose schools for different reasons, I don't think it strenghthens anyones argument to bring another poster's child into the argument. </p>
<p>Some people would pick Boston because it is the home to so many colleges and cultural activities. There is a lot to do and a wonderful collection of smart people in and out of the college.</p>
<p>Torn, a fair take. I would never consider social life as a criterion unless it were awful. In terms of scores, yes ND is stronger but not so much so that I'd overlook BC...D chose Smith over Wellesley with a similar gap for reasons that I bought into. (Btw, thank you for the apology.) I can't speak authoritiatively to the East Coast pretentiousness thing because I don't have enough experience except that the West Coast grads of BC don't seem to have it...duh, they're on the West Coast. Location, as Mr. B observes, is a slam dunk and, unlike social life, I do consider where one will spend four years of his/her life a not inconsequential matter. Lastly, insularity goes against the grain of what I think college should be about: it's bad enough to get somewhat insular at <em>my</em> age. I don't know that either one of us would have used that vocabulary but, again, I think something of that outlook informed my D's choice of S over W.</p>
<p>TheDad, my next door neighbor attends Wesleyan as a freshman, she's transferring. She thinks that the students are "very uptight," and desires an academically intense, but more relaxed atmosphere.
Pertaining the whole issue of "east coast pretentiousness:" its there at BC. I talked to a bunch of students there, and although this may be just dismissed as anecdotal evidence, I think there was some validity in the fact that every one of them mentioned that what you wear and where you live was an important factor.
In terms of "insularity," BC and ND are fairly similar. Neither school is for someone who wants to be exposed to a different viewpoints. Both student body's are considered to be comprised of upper class white catholics. However, I would venture to say that there is a <em>slightly</em> more "open" atmosphere at BC. In all honesty though, if you're not a social conservative, neither school is really for you.</p>
<p>Torn, from everything I've heard on the conservative scale, I'd slot BC between ND and G'town. My anecdotal evidence about the pretentiousness scale isn't any better than yours. Wait a sec...hmm, PR says students say that "as looking as if they have all just stepped out of an Abercrombie or J.Crew catalogue."</p>
<p>Tom, it looks like you have done a lot of research on ND and BC. I tend to agree wih a number of your findings. It really comes down to what kind of atmosphere you like. Boston is truly a strong factor in favor of BC whereas if you love the school spirit , very enclosed campus, ND is a better choice. As a rule, you get more diversity at BC in terms of type of people and there is a regional situation as well. I can tell you that when I lived in the midwest, BC was barely mentioned, but here on the east coast the ND name still holds a lot of clout.</p>
<p>Jamimom I agree completely...</p>
<p>TheDad: ND is not <em>that</em> different. I think PR said something along the lines that the typical ND student is "abercrombie and fitched out with a north face fleece." Although, the ND students did dress a lot more casually than the BC studnets when I made my visits.</p>
<p>Also, the alumni connections you get from Notre Dame are second to none.</p>
<p>Havard, Wellesley, Texas A&M, USC (bleah!) and West Point will all debate that.
I believe the ND connections are most manifest in the Midwest...I don't think they make a ripple here on the West Coast.</p>
<p>The majority of college students are liberal. Now, since ND students come from all over the country, lets just assume that 50% are liberal. Obviously there is not problem with the "conservative" issue if it consistently ranks higher than any other college in school pride.</p>
<p>As for being diverse, it is more diverse than many colleges. I can think off so many colleges in the top 50 that are not as diverse: Lehigh, Tulane, Wake Forest, etc.</p>
<p>TheDad, are you creating information to prove a uninformed opinion? I would like to know how you come up with your assumptions.</p>
<p>Our nephew is a sophomore at Notre Dame. At the family Xmas dinner, he and D drew cards to determine who would travel to visit each other...he lost and will make a trip to Haverford before the yr is over. Nephew is also from L.A. and says he is definitely more to the left than most of his fellow classmates. He couldn't get over D's coed dorms...much less the coed bathrooms!!! It will be an interesting visit for him! :)</p>