<p>Can someone rank BC’s 9 different schools/colleges in order of which are the hardest to get into?</p>
<p>I don’t know how you could make any sort of meaningful comparisons about the selectivity of both undergraduate and graduate programs, not to mention specialty schools like STM – or why you would want to make such comparisons anyway. They are all so different from one another.</p>
<p>As to the four UG schools, the general consensus from CC postings seems to be that CSOM is the most selective, followed by A&S and CSON, and then LSOE, in that order. But this is based only on anecdotal evidence and not on any hard data.</p>
<p>I am continually amazed that CSOM has usurped A&S as the top undergraduate college at BC. When I was there in the 1970’s A&S was top dog – period! The other three were distant seconds.</p>
<p>As I have stated in previous posts, I think it is antithetical for a university that purports to champion the liberal arts as the most important form of higher education to allow, what amounts to, vocational training to topple A&S from its perch.</p>
<p>Perhaps, BC’s motto should not be “Ever to Excel” but rather “Ever to Profit”!</p>
<p>And, in case it matters, I was in CSOM (SOM at the time).</p>
<p>the problem with such a comparison is that the numbers are nearly meaningless since it’s all about fit, i.e., interests, ECs and essays. A 4.0/2400/36 would not necessarily be a shoo-in for Education or Nursing without the appropriate background, EC’s, etc. </p>
<p>And, of course, gender could matter. Nationally B-schools tend to favor girls, since they receive many more apps from guys, and prefer some semblance of gender balance. (Dunno about BC specifically, bcos they don’t publish their CDS.) OTOH, guys are more likely receive tips in Educ and Nursing programs, which draw lotsa female apps.</p>
<p>Leanid, I have seen no evidence that “CSOM has usurped A&S as the top undergraduate college at BC,” nor was I implying any such thing in my previous post. I was just reporting that CSOM is generally considered to be the most selective UG college right now. To me, that has nothing to do with its value or importance, it is strictly an issue of the numbers. CSOM has proportionately more applicants for each freshman slot than the other schools do.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone believes that CSOM has “usurped” A&S (except perhaps the most partisan CSOM students and alumni!). :D) A&S will always be the heart and soul of BC. And if CSOM students (and their parents who are footing the bill) didn’t believe that a liberal arts education is an important foundation for life, they probably would have chosen to attend another college that focuses strictly on business/management like Babson or Bentley.</p>
<p>worried_mom,</p>
<p>Perhaps you are correct. Maybe what is happening at BC is symptomatic of our society as a whole, in that with more and more people attending college as a practical matter – to qualify for jobs! – emphasis on business training is inevitable.</p>
<p>As you say, at least BC is not ALL business, so that even those in CSOM are required to take a dose of liberal arts courses.</p>
<p>Now, if BC would just stop allowing Dunkin Donuts to share equal billing on its backdrop cloths for athletic press conferences, and such…grrr – but that’s another issue.</p>
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<p>I wish it were true, but not sure that I concur. Based on IPEDs data, the “liberal arts” comprises 60% of bachelors degrees awarded last year and 40% of master’s. Thus, nearly half of the undergrads are not liberal arts types.</p>
<p>IMO, it does not matter that CSOM and Nursing have to take some “liberal arts” courses if those courses are specific to those majors only. For example, ‘math for teachers’ is limited to the School of Educ. Ditto Stat for biz types. A true liberal arts school would teach Stat in the math department and mix and match kids from all the colleges. Just an example.</p>
<p>^^ps for any fact checkers: Even tho Communications is in A&S, I lumped it into the non-liberal arts category, along with CSOM, Nursing and Educ. (Like undergrad biz, a Com major is a negative in law school apps which tend to prefer a true liberal arts education, at least according to the Law school thread on cc.)</p>
<p>bluebayou, you are certainly entitled to your opinion and can categorize majors anyway you want to. But it seems rather arbitrary to me to place the Communication major in the “non-liberal arts category” just because of a few postings on CC’s law school forum.</p>
<p>BC puts the Communication Dept. in A&S and communication majors have to fulfill all of the normal requirements of the A&S core curriculum (a total of 15 classes) – and these are not the allegedly “watered down” versions that you specifically cited in a previous posting. I would also point out that other universities also put this major (or its equivalent, since they may call it by other names) in their A&S college. Some of the courses required for this major – rhetoric, public speaking, visual design, radio/TV – are often found in English and/or theater departments.</p>
<p>But when you get down to it, the enrollment numbers (which just reflect the relative popularity of certain majors) are not what is important. A&S will always be the heart and soul of BC, because a broad-based liberal arts education is the very essence of the Jesuit philosophy of education – cura personalis, “the care of the whole person.”</p>
<p>w-mom:</p>
<p>I agree it’s my opinion (and it shouldn’t matter to anyone), but the simple fact is that a LARGE proportion of kids residing on Chestnut Hill are clearly NOT liberal arts majors. It just doesn’t make sense to me to say that the heart and soul of an undergraduate college is anything but what it is – and that is reflective by its students. </p>
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<p>Sorry, I should have clarified: these were written comments by Deans of top Law schools that are quoted on cc.</p>
<p>“watered down…” was a term I never used nor have the expertise on which to opine.</p>
<p>CSOM is hardest to get into, but A&S is what ties the school together because everybody has to complete the core which consists of A&S courses. The core consists of more classes than a major, so even if somebody is in CSOM, they still spend a great deal of their time at BC in A&S courses. This is why people consider it the “heart and soul” of BC. </p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that CSOM is smaller than A&S, so even if it got fewer applications it could still be more selective.</p>