I really want to go to Boston College, but I live in California and it has really expensive tuition so I am also considering Boston University. I am a sophomore, so I haven’t taken the PSAT (I am taking it in March) or the SATs yet, but I have pretty strong stats (I think ?). I would be applying as a pre-med, so it would be more competitive.
STATS:
GPA: W=4.2 UW=4.0
I am currently taking one AP class (AP World History) because that’s all my school offers for 10th graders.
Next year I would be taking Sports Medicine, honors French, English, AP US History, honors Physiology, and honors pre-calc.
My school has a cap of 6 AP classes, so I plan on taking 3 or 4 senior year.
I play softball and plan on continuing throughout high school.
I have a job at our local county hospital.
I am on the debate team and we have been to Stanford for multiple tournaments.
And what are the pros and cons of each college? I am having a tough time deciding.
You don’t have to decide…at least not for a couple of years. In the meantime, think about what you’re looking for in a day-to-day college experience. BU has an urban campus with classroom buildings and dorms spread throughout a commercial district of Boston. BC has a bona-fide campus with more of a bucolic, gothic look. Investigate pre-med or science majors at each school. BU is much bigger, with a substantial graduate program, BC is probably under 10K, with a somewhat smaller graduate student population. BC is located at the terminus of two transit lines. The neighborhood is lower-scale and much more residential but the rest of the city is a short trolley ride away. Classes at BC are likely to be smaller. Are you looking for a school with a strong spectator sports program–looking forward to tailgating at football games? BC is more rah-rah than BU. Or do Jocks make you break out in a rash? The student body at BC tends to be less diverse. Finally, why not apply to both if you think you’d like to try Boston. If you get into both you may be able to leverage one FA package against the other.
FWIW, I was accepted at both (a zillion years ago). I attended BC and would likely not be accepted these days–it’s much tougher to get into. I’m still very close with many of the friends I made there–even married one of them :)) (your results may vary). None of us were what you would consider a typical BC student–then or now. Still many of my friends’ kids have decided to attend BC as well and all of them have loved it and done extremely well. My own kids are not so interested in it (my D19 is looking at BU). But you still have lots of time to make a real decision, better to spend you efforts keeping up your great stats (I think you’d have no problem getting into either one), and consider what you think you’d like for a daily college experience. As long as you’re here on CC take a look at the parent forums for each school to see how generous each is with merit and/or financial aid.
An eagle giving you advice sounds fair ?.. BU has a campus and no, dorms are not even close to the commercial district! Only an eagle would make it sound bad… as a Terrier (and must agree with the chestnut community college grad) I doubt I’d be accepted now. Your saying BC is expensive so is cost an issue? Both are expensive. Second, what do you see yourself studying? That’s a good beginning. Remember both are very competitive to get into.
Why do you really want to go to BC? Have you visited? If so, you can see the differences in the campuses. Also, the student bodies could not be more different. I went to both and have strong feelings, but will refrain. I will say as a general rule, someone who fits well into BC will not fit well at BU and vice-versa.