<p>BC lists a 70% Catholic student body. I wonder what percentage of those that applied are Catholic? What about people rejected /accepted here?</p>
<p>I haven't found out yet (I hope that means something good), but I listed no religion on my application.</p>
<p>I didn't list my religion (no decision yet), but I probably should've cause I'm jewish</p>
<p>It would be interesting to know the stats! It might have helped you to list your religion if you are not Catholic but who knows!</p>
<p>First of all, the 70% figure strikes me as grossly inflated. My estimate would be closer to 50-60%. Regardless, BC likes having a diverse range of religious/philosophical opinions for sure, but they are legally prohibited from engineering diversity in this regard.</p>
<p>So this discussion is moot since Boston College DOES NOT consider religion for admission. The whole reason BC was founded was because of religious descrimination at Harvard in the 19th century, so to consider religion would now be totally hypocritical. </p>
<p>From the BC's founding Charter, granted by the Commonwealth of Massacusetts in 1863:</p>
<p>"Section 5: No student shall be refused admission to or denied any privileges, honors or degrees on account of the religious opinions he may entertain."</p>
<p>Period.</p>
<p>Very important admission factors:</p>
<pre><code>* Rigor of secondary school record
* Standardized Test Scores
</code></pre>
<p>Important admission factors:</p>
<pre><code>* Alumni Relation
* Character/Personal Qualities
* Class Rank
* Application Essay
* Extracurricular Activities
* Recommendations
* Religious Affiliation or Commitment
* Talent/Ability
* Volunteer Work
</code></pre>
<p>Considered:</p>
<pre><code>* Racial/Ethnic Status
* Work Experience
</code></pre>
<p>This list is BS.</p>
<p>Wherever you got this information, it is NOT from Boston College. BC legally cannot (and wouldn't want to anyhow) discriminate based on religion.</p>
<p>Because it's a Jesuit school, sometimes people assume that religion plays some role in admission. As a result there is some misinformation out there, including guidebooks/counsellors. I'm guessing that's where this list is from.</p>
<p>BC also puts a lot of emphasis on the essays and volunteerism/social justice, so I'd move those into the upper bracket.</p>
<p>This list is taken from <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com%5B/url%5D">www.collegeboard.com</a>, not a source of misinformation. The info on this website is given BY the colleges TO collegeboard visa-vi a 'common data sheet'. Google it to see what it looks like. Since BC is a relgious instituion it, by law, is allowed to set its own admissions standards. And nowhere did ANYBODY say that BC 'descriminates' against anyone, each school sets its own admissions criteria.</p>
<p>I put my religion (Roman Catholic) on the application and was accepted early action....it is probably just a coincidence though</p>
<p>Yes xsuubieux, BC is free to set its own criteria for admissions, but religion isn't a litmus test BC choses as an admission criterion. </p>
<p>I think BC looks favorably on applicants who are committed to Jesuit ideals, sure. But you don't have to be Catholic to value volunteerism, be commited to social justice issues, temper faith with reason, seek the divine in the everyday, etc.</p>
<p>Nobody here said that BC is descriminating or limiting non-Roman catholic applicants. I did not state any religion on my app, but my essay delt slightly with religion, I was accepted. But like I said, noting the first post of this thread we were discussing whether relgion plays any role in the process, and taking into account the info from their common data sheet we see that YES, religion DOES play a role in the admissions process. This role is not necessarily a big one, but it is still considered.</p>
<p>I'm not finding the "Common Data Sheet" you're talking about.</p>
<p>BC07. You are misreading this thread. No one is claiming that BC discriminates. Anyone that knows anything about BC knows that. The tour guide we had did tell us the BC was 70% Catholic but welcomes other religions. I would suspect that because it is a Catholic University many Catholics apply.</p>
<p>I just realized its common data 'set'. </p>
<p>Exert from the BC website:
Common Data Set (CDS) A collaborative effort among data providers in the higher education community and publishers such as the College Board, Peterson's, and U.S. News & World Report. The CDS is a set of standards and definitions of data items rather than a survey instrument or set of data represented in a database. Common Data Set items undergo broad review by the CDS Advisory Board as well as by data providers representing secondary schools and two- and four-year colleges.</p>
<p>this is found here: <a href="http://www.bc.edu/offices/iroffice/glossary/%5B/url%5D">http://www.bc.edu/offices/iroffice/glossary/</a></p>
<p>This is where Collegeboard and USNEWS get their info for rankings, guides, etc. Google 'Common Data Set' to see an example of it. I dont want to search for a BC one, but all of BC's dataset info is on the Collegeboard website. Enjoy</p>
<p>Check this out: <a href="http://www.bc.edu/publications/factbook/%5B/url%5D">http://www.bc.edu/publications/factbook/</a></p>
<p>Again, the 70% figure stikes me as high. Though I have seen it cited before, it seems suspect just based on my own observations and the fact that no one is ever required to state their religious affiliation.</p>
<p>As for misreading, maybe you're right. I read the title of the thread as "Is being Catholic a factor?" I interpret this as an identity that one checks off a list (alla AHANA which IS taken into consideration), and my answer to that is that NO, it is not treated in the same way as AHANA, simply because that would contracidct the University's own charter.</p>
<p>Sure many Catholics apply. But being Catholic or not will not help or hinder an application. On the other hand, how one's religious faith has influenced one's life and how one chooses to express that in the application is definitely going to be considered. But that a far cry from just stating "I'm Catholic/Baptist/Jewish/Muslim/Seventh-day-adventist/etc."</p>
<p>xsuubiex, Again I find no mention of religion as an admissions criterion in any of your links. The closest I found was this statement on the first page of the fact book:</p>
<p>"the University regards the contribution of different religious traditions and value systems as essential to the fullness of its intellectual life and to the continuous development of its distinctive intellectual heritage."</p>
<p>i heard it helps ... or maybe people just think it helps since the college is religiously affiliated.</p>
<p>I think I made myself clear, in BC's common Data set, which is not published on the internet, BUT the core contents of the common data set can be seen on websites such as <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com%5B/url%5D">www.collegeboard.com</a> , where it EXPLICITLY states that an 'important admissions factor' is indeed
* Religious Affiliation or Commitment <em>. Nobody said it is a main factor, or a discriminating factor, but it is indeed a factor. On the princeton Review website is also specifically states that </em> Religious affiliation/commitment* is Considered.</p>
<p>Allow me to clarify what I just said before you misintepret it, Nobody is saying that it is a main admissions criteria and nobody is saying that it is a cause of descrimination. END OF STORY</p>