<p>Hi I need help picking! I am venezuelan student but american citizen. I have not decided on the two universities because I have to wait for the financial aid offers. I have visited Notre Dame and loved the univerrsity, the campus, dorm, people and everything. I seem to fit in it. The problem is that ND is in South Bend, Indiana, and altough this may sound like a spoiled kid I prefer much more being to a city. And for me Boston is the perfect college city. Also in BC there are a lot of venezuelan people, and venezuelan people who visit, which is a factor I take into consideration. Also Boston is nearer to cities like NY and is in the New England area. I have not visited BC but love Boston, and people have told me BC is a great university. What is holding me back from going to BC is that Notre Dame has a better reputation. Is BC's reputation, or finding a job with a BC's diploma really close to Notre Dame's or really far? Also how is BC's economic program? I would really appreciate your answers.
Thanks.</p>
<p>Really close. You can pick whichever one you like with complete confidence.</p>
<p>Hi gadad. In which sense are they really close’</p>
<p>Are you Catholic? Do you want a Catholic environment or a loosely-Catholic environment?</p>
<p>They aren’t close at all. ND is on a level above BC in the realm of elite Catholic institutions in the U.S.</p>
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<p>You were asking whether a diploma from BC would hinder your employment opportunities compared to one from ND. Both schools are in the top 2% of American colleges and universities in terms of academic reputation. These are two elite universities - there would be no loss of employability with a degree from BC.</p>
<p>“They aren’t close at all.”</p>
<p>This is just plain wishful thinking. The object in the ND rearview mirror is a lot closer than you think it is.</p>
<p>From my vantage point, the top three Catholic universities are Georgetown, Notre Dame and Boston College, in that order. But the difference between them is not great and non-academic factors such as location can certainly change the choice between them.</p>
<p>[post deleted because I misunderstood the earlier post to which I replied]</p>
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<p>Let’s restrict this discussion to colleges that are actually Catholic. Bob Jones U. could say it’s Catholic; that doesn’t mean that it is.</p>
<p>ND has a great national alumni network.</p>
<p>Interesting comparison of the 3 major ‘Catholic’ (I use the term loosely around Georgetown) universities in America:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/873879-notre-dame-vs-bc-vs-gtown.html?highlight=notre+dame[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/873879-notre-dame-vs-bc-vs-gtown.html?highlight=notre+dame</a></p>
<p>I think your commentary on preferring a city and thinking that “Boston is the perfect college city” are telling. ND is a notch or two above BC academically, something borne out by any number of statistical measures. However, they are very close, and you wouldn’t be giving up too much by choosing BC over ND. As such, I think your preference for location comes into the fore since both are going to have pretty similar student bodies and roughly the same institutional feel. If your love for Boston far exceeds your interest in ND and South Bend, then that’s what you should base your decision on.</p>
<p>‘‘ND is a notch or two above BC academically, something borne out by any number of statistical measures.’’</p>
<p>Half a notch, I can see, but one or two notches??? Please provide evidence for this.</p>
<p>Ha, I guess it depends how you define “notches”. But higher admissions [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/801489-college-comparison-xxiv-act-scores.html]profiles[/url”>College Comparison XXIV: ACT Scores - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums]profiles[/url</a>] (28-32 vs. 31-34) and I know when I worked at Goldman we definitely pulled more people from Mendoza than Carroll. Again, as I said, they’re both pretty close, but if you had to make a distinction, ND > BC.</p>
<p>Notre Dame, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Boston College are all top schools. ND and Holy Cross have much higher alumni giving rates.</p>
<p>Veritas, the ACTs are more common in the Midwest than the SATs, and vice versa in the East. This usually skews the stats. </p>
<p>I don’t get why so many Golden Domers react so violently to BC’s gradual rise over the past few decades. Are people at Columbia freaking out over Penn’s rise? Are UCLA folks punching walls because USC has improved? Get a grip…</p>
<p>It depends on what program you want to do and what you want</p>
<p>If you want to study theology go to Notre Dame or BC. Do not go to Georgetown unless you want to learn a bunch of heresies that aren’t even remotely Catholic.</p>
<p>If you want to do business go to Notre Dame. Mendoza is more elite than Carroll at BC or McDonough at Gtown.</p>
<p>If you want to do international relations, Georgetown hands down. Notre Dame doesn’t even have an IR program, and at BC’s it’s pretty much just another major and doesn’t have an entire school devoted to it, unlike Georgetown which has Walsh SFS.</p>
<p>If you want to do political science, Notre Dame or Georgetown. Both programs are highly regarded but if I could choose I’d go to Gtown just because it’s in DC.</p>
<p>If you want to be in an ideal college-town type atmosphere but still near a city, go to BC.</p>
<p>And if you’re looking at something else I didn’t mention, you really can’t go wrong at either of these 3 universities. As it was stated earlier your employment opportunities will not suffer because you chose one school over the other.</p>
<p>I’m currently trying to transfer into Georgetown SFS for Fall 2010. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll definitely be knocking on Notre Dame and BC’s door for Spring 2011 (Gtown doesn’t take spring transfers).</p>
<p>Notre Dame not only has a higher reputation, it also has a stronger undergraduate community, a nicer campus, better dorm life, better sports programs, better school spirit, better alumni loyalty, a more laid-back atmosphere, and stronger students.</p>
<p>Unless you really want to be in/near a city, I don’t see any reason to pick BC. And to that point, I think it’s stupid to pick a school because of proximity to a city. You will have (hopefully) upwards of 40 years after graduation to live in a city, but never again will you have the opportunity to experience as beautiful a setting as Notre Dame’s 1,000-acre suburban campus.</p>
<p>@Schmaltz</p>
<p>According to the schools’ websites ([BC[/url</a>], [url=<a href=“http://admissions.nd.edu/admission-and-application/prospective-first-year-students/application-faq/]ND[/url]”>http://admissions.nd.edu/admission-and-application/prospective-first-year-students/application-faq/]ND](<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/process.html]BC[/url”>http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/process.html)</a>) there’s also a pronounced difference in median SAT ranges.</p>
<p>BC: 1250-1430
ND: 1390-1490</p>
<p>As I said, they’re both great schools in the complete sense of the word, but if you’re going make a distinction, ND simply has better stats, for whatever that’s worth. Or as Justice Scalia quipped, you can’t make a sow’s ear out of a silk purse.</p>
<p>Veritas, you are comparing ND’s ADMITTED stats to BC’s ENROLLED STATS. </p>
<p>[Selecting</a> the Class - Boston College](<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/process/selecting.html]Selecting”>http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/process/selecting.html)
Quote from my BC link: “The test scores for the middle half of the admitted to the class of 2013 ranged from 1960 to 2230 on the SAT I, and 30 to 33 on the ACT.”</p>
<p>Quote from your ND link: “These students also scored well on Standardized Tests. For the class of 2013, the middle 50% of ADMITTED students scored between 1390 and 1490 on the SAT and between 32 and 34 on the ACT.”</p>
<p>Quote from your BC link:. “The mean SAT score for the Class of 2013 was 2030, and the range of SAT performances for the “middle 50%” of enrolled students earned scores between 1920-2130 (Critical Reading 610-700, Math 640-730, Writing 630-720). The average ACT score for the Class of 2013 was 30 and the “middle 50%” range for ENROLLED students was 28-32.” </p>
<p>BC Admitted ACT: 30-33
ND Admitted ACT: 32-34</p>