<p>I’m having trouble deciding which of these schools to apply to. I intend on majoring in chemistry or physics. What I like about BC is that it’s not as far from home as Rochester is, it has a nicer surrounding area, its a perfect match school for me SAT/GPA-wise, and it has a great reputation. The thing that I’m concerned about is whether or not the religious presence would have an influence on the sciences. I am an atheist, but I’ve lived around catholics my whole life so I don’t mind being around them, but I don’t want to be preached about catholicism during a chem/physics class. What I like about Rochester is that it’s well known for its sciences and that its a secular university, but I’ve read that there’s little to no social life there and that it is extremely cold during the winter. Any suggestions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>You won’t have to worry about that at BC. If you can, visit and sit in on a class. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC</p>
<p>Why not apply to both? I visited BC and it’s very preppy (read: JCrew errywhere) and tends to be conservative. From what I’ve heard from a friend transferring out of URochester, it’s very, very liberal.</p>
<p>Won’t be an issue at BC. And BC, while no Brown, definitely does not tend to be conservative.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You won’t such influence at any top xx Catholic college. BC has good sciences and a great social life neigborhing an awesome City. UR probably has better sciences, but it is much smaller and the town/social life…</p>
<p>My good friend, Engineering/Science major at Rochester said that the school and grading is disgustingly a lot more harded than the respect/prestige that they deserve or get. He did not say this in a positive way trying to make his school seem better than it actually was, but in a more remorseful regetful tone. He wants to transfer but the GPA and recognition of the school won’t be high enough to land him in another good school though. It is a good school, and I am not bringing it down in any way.</p>
<p>Engineering is HARD at every school. It is a gpa-killer everywhere, by definition.</p>
<p>My oldest sister attended BC several years back and noted that the science department in no way demonstrated any Catholic/religious influences what so ever.</p>
<p>Rochester is another great school, with (I would imagine) marginally stronger hard sciences than BC. But honestly, Chestnut Hill (20 mins outside Boston) or Rochester?</p>
<p>Apply to both.</p>
<p>prepurm1216, I have heard that argument about Rochester before which is ironic since both BC and UR are ranked about 3 spots from each other on the US college ranking. </p>
<p>My son is going to UR and his friend is going to BC (who is catholic BTW).</p>
<p>Apply to both, you may not have a decision to make.</p>
<p>Lakemom’s son must be my son’s friend. Mine is attending BC and his buddy UR: both are very pleased with their choices. Mine returned from Orientation absolutely devastated that the fall term at BC was a month off. I agree: apply to both. You’ll be lucky to get in either.</p>
<p>Rochester has MUCH better reputation in science than BC. If you intend to pursue a career somewhere in science, IMHO Rochester is a better option.</p>
<p>Define “much better”. Neither BC or Rochester has particularly impressive Biology, Physics, or Chemistry graduate reputations (which paints a general picture of undergraduate quality). If we’re talking about engineering, by all means go to UR, but I don’t think that was addressed.</p>
<p>Actually BC has a very strong Chemistry graduate reputation - for example, it’s Organic Chem program tied with Yale’s in USNWR</p>
<p>engineering and pre-med U rochester is very good and highly underrated…however for everything else i think i would choose BC.</p>
<p>agreed that you should apply to both, disagree with some of what has been said here. I admittedly don’t know very much about BC other than it is a big sports catholic school ranked near UR. But I do know that Rochester isn’t really just a premed/engineering school, even if alot of the students do major in one of the two. The Econ and Polisci depts (I know the OP didnt mention these depts but it might help lurkers) are both among the top 20 in the country. And as far as physics goes our ranking doesn’t give the dept as much justice as it probably deserves because the profs tend to have specialized research interests that only attract a certain grad student. We are among the top in biological physics and optics/laser physics. We actually have one of the most powerful lasers in the world that students often use for research. I don’t know much about the chem dept other than anecdotal experience from friends that are biochem/chemE majors that love their profs. </p>
<p>And as far as UR’s so called lacking social opportunities…not really the case …I admittedly havent visited BC and recognize that Boston is a great college city but there is always something going on at UR and I’ve had a pretty awesome social experience.l</p>
<p>^^Umm, not quite. UR has only two top 20 programs: Musicology and Brain & Cog science (part of psych?).</p>
<p>While UR’s Poli Sci program is ranked highly (average = 22), it’s Econ program is in the mid-40’s. And Physics is in the upper 30’s.</p>
<p>In fact, most of UR’s programs are in the 30’s and 40’s, which is excellent. In contrast, UR’s lowest ranked dept is Chem, at ~90. </p>
<p>Source: NRC grad rankings.</p>
<p>US News ranks UR’s econ dept at 22: [Best</a> Economics Programs | Top Economics Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/economics-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/economics-rankings)</p>
<p>and its macro and micro both at 14
[Best</a> Macroeconomics Programs | Top Economic Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/macroeconomics-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/macroeconomics-rankings)
[Best</a> Microeconomics Programs | Top Economic Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/microeconomics-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/microeconomics-rankings)</p>
<p>and political science is ranked 15th
[Best</a> Political Science Programs | Top Political Science Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings)</p>
<p>3rd in political methodology
<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-methodology-rankings[/url]”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-methodology-rankings</a></p>
<p>15th in American politics
<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/american-politics-rankings[/url]”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/american-politics-rankings</a></p>
<p>17th in international politics
<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/international-politics-rankings[/url]”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/international-politics-rankings</a></p>
<p>and 49th in chemistry
<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/chemistry-rankings[/url]”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/chemistry-rankings</a></p>
<p>my reference to the physics dept not being representative of its ranking was in reference to the US news ranking of 52
<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/physics-rankings[/url]”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/physics-rankings</a></p>
<p>due to its high ranking in Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics (6)
<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/atomic-science-rankings[/url]”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/atomic-science-rankings</a></p>
<p>And in earlier reference to UR being incredibly liberal, that has not been my experience. There is a small minority of students (albeit a vocal one) in SDS that lean very very very far left (some are actually communists…) but most students are left leaning moderates. I wasn’t in the majority as a fiscal conservative but I definitely didn’t feel stifled in any way shape or form and think UR is probably more politically tolerant than most schools (though BC may have more conservative students with its religious affiliation).</p>
<p>^Those are all graduate school rankings?</p>
<p>Yes, but I don’t know of any legitimate undergraduate department ranking that exists. And there is definitely a correlation to grad dept strength and undergrad dept strength, especially at a school like U of R, where the both the grad and undergrad population is smaller than most research universities, meaning that undergrads have access to the same professors, same resources, and same or similar research opportunities.</p>