major is physics, which neither of the schools are particularly known for. Knew this going in, but wasn’t accepted to any of the strong stem schools (unless Duke somehow by miracle pulls through next week)
Daughter was waitlisted at BC despite top credentials in every category, as most students posting here have. She is Caucasian and attended a well-regarded public school in New York. Very disappointing. Daughter received estimates of acceptance to various schools, last summer, on a few different, well-regarded, college coaching websites that supposedly have the best algorithms for determining “chances” of getting into schools. A student must first enter a variety of granular details of all accomplishments in every category (academic metrics, rigor, EC’s, Volunteering, awards, etc.) and then a percentage chance of acceptance is generated for each school. Her chances of getting into all of her 14 schools were very high (BC was 78%), but by the fall, the algorithms were updated with new data from colleges, and her chances dropped for all the schools (BC went down to 56%). In January, after another AI data update on number of applications, etc., the chances dropped again for all schools (BC became 38%, where it stands now).
We visited both BC and Villanova and found them to be very similar in atmosphere, campus beauty and architecture, academics. Both campuses are in wealthy suburbs of Boston (Chestnut Hill) and Philly (The famous “Philadelphia Main Line,” referring to the commuter rail line with a stop right outside the campus fence; consequently, students can take the train and be in downtown Philadelphia in 20 minutes). According to the various rankings of Catholic colleges, Villanova is ranked #4, right behind BC. I agree with a poster who said BC feels a bit more secular, at least in their website and mailing marketing, and because of more international students, mainly because BC doesn’t play up the Catholic values as much as Villanova. Villanova does really emphasize the closeness and caring of their community much more than BC—and it’s real. They emphasize volunteering and brotherhood and sisterhood—and it shows. Reading many student comments on websites like Niche, et al, and watching student-made YouTube on various websites proves this; the overwhelming majority of students rated campus harmony as stellar, including comments by URM students. Comments such as, “I’ve never been to a place where all the students are so polite, doing things such as holding the doors open for students behind them, initiating friendly conversations with other students they don’t know, offering help with academics out of the blue to a student who is struggling, etc. The campus ethos and culture is to form strong bonds of help and support.
Our daughter was accepted to Villanova and recently was invited to spend three days at Villanova because she was selected as a Presidential Scholar Finalist; she was not selected for one of the 25 full-rides, but did receive the second highest merit award of $16,000 per year, which brings the total cost per year down to $65,000. She loved the campus, the welcoming, the atmosphere, etc. As a so-called “Veritas Scholar,” accepted into their business school, Villanova rolled out the red carpet for her, accepting her into the Honors Program also.
According to the various rankings, both schools are very similar in quality, although I agree that BC’s national reputation is better than Villanova, for what that’s worth. There are different rankings, with different methodologies, and while US News’ rankings are the most widely known, they are not the best, especially for business schools and other specialty schools like engineering. It’s true that US News has received withering criticism for their business school rankings, for example, because they are based solely on the opinions of College Deans. I disagree that these are almost meaningless, because deans have their pulse on their competition and have very good insight as to the quality of their competition. That said, there are other rankings of schools that give a more precise and balanced perspective. When looking at all these rankings, one sees that the difference between BC and Villanova is negligible. To paraphrase the CEO of Poets & Quants Business School Rankings, an ex-College Professor, i believe, he said, ”In almost any year, the mathematical difference in ranking scoring between the top 22-23 schools is ONLY A FRACTION OF ONE POINT.” P&Q ranks only approximately the top 80 or so business schools. To put that in context, there are approximately 2500+ four year colleges, and the most common major is business, so maybe there are
2,000 or 2,100 schools that offer a business major? To say you’re in the top 80 is outstanding. And the difference between a school ranked #21 and one ranked #3 is only a fraction of a point? It just goes to show that spots in a ranking can be quite misleading and should be taken with a grain of salt.
I would venture to say that this minute difference in quality between schools (only a fraction of a point for schools within about 20ish ranks apart) is probably true for all rankings, but that’s just my speculation. Therefore, with BC at #36 and Villanova at #51 in the USNWR rankings, I think it’s fair to say any difference in overall quality is negligible. This is probably true for all schools, in my opinion.
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Waitlist
4.74 Weighted GPA
All Honors and AP Classes
Captain of Tennis team
Varsity Tennis, Track and Soccer
MA Resident
Applied to Carroll School
Deferred in ED2
Test Optional
Here’s what I’m 2nd guessing:
- Maybe shouldn’t have applied to Carroll School since it’s very competitive
- Maybe should have included SAT scores. They were 1310. Good, not great. But I have to think that not including scores puts you at a disadvantage when compared to similar transcript with test scores
Frustrating thing is my son has worked really hard to get straight As for 4 years. And now he will likely end up at UMass-Amherst (very good school) but many of his classmates who are going there didn’t work too hard in school but got in as state residents.
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My daughter was waitlisted with 1530 SATs, 4.78 weighted, also all honors and AP classes, varsity and club athlete, published research. Kids in her school were accepted with lower stats and test optional. You just never know what BC was looking for. She has moved on and has some really great options on the table!
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Sorry that’s a tough one when a student who worked hard doesn’t get into their top choice. BC Carroll is an excellent b school. But If your son was admitted directly to Isenberg b school, that’s a fantastic acceptance! I know BC overall is generally rated a bit higher than UMass Amherst, but their b schools are comparable. I’d be surprised if the classmates that didn’t work as hard were admitted to Isenberg or any of the highly competitive majors. UMass Amherst even has a beautiful campus in Newton for Boston area internships. If he does end up there, he’ll be with mostly other straight A students at UMass. Lots of top MA kids the enroll there end up very happy with their choice, like my Daughter for example.
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Thanks for the heads up about the UMass - Newton campus. My son is very interested in internships and I was worried there wouldn’t be as many opportunities in Western MA. Now I remember that UMass bought the old Mount Ida college campus so he could do a semester there an intern in Boston.
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Child accepted!
Stats:
1360 SAT
3.68 unweighted GPA
Finance Major in the Carroll Business School
Guitarist in our Church (Church of Jesus Christ) Liturgy Group for 5 years
Varsity Badminton and Volleyball
Nonbinary/Queer
Regular Decision Utah Resident
So happy for my child! We had applied to BYU, and a couple other schools nearby.
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@Rico_1962 - The biggest “flaw” is just being from MA. BC gets applications from half the catholic school kids in the Northeast!! Im seeing a similar reaction from my S23 on some of these schools. His impression is influenced by who else in his school got accepted.
Son WL with 1470 and 4.0 gpa - 8 ap classes ,job and volunteers inner city school with various clubs.
Sad to say, but the very competitive schools have devalued Merit. What a disturbing commentary on America.
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It’s not clear what you mean by “the very competitive schools have devalued Merit,” or how you are suggesting that is a commentary on America. Please explain.
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It is very true. In America, merit gets you nowhere. The only guarantee to get into an elite college is money. BC is advertised as “need-blind”. They are not, and anyone who believe that is a fool. BC application asks for parents’ occupations, employers, educational history, etc. Admissions offices know what it up. Also athletics. And guess who are most often signed by college athletic programs? The children of the rich. I used to attend BC, so that is how I have the scoop. Sad. Again, don’t expect merit to get you anywhere in this world. Money talks.
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Whats the difference in 3 v 4 years of housing offer….?
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S23 accepted to one of the 50 spots in the HCE program and guaranteed 4 years of housing. Still weighing this option with other more traditional engineering schools. He could really use some feedback from the current freshmen (50) and sophmores(25) in the HCE program. Also worried about the number and quality of faculty in a brand new engineering major. Thanks!
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The head of engineering is very approachable and woud put you in touch with current students. My son reached out to him when we went to visit the school a few days before the ED2 results came out. He was considering pulling his application as he knew very little about the school. However, he met with my son and connected him to Nava, a sophomore, who spent a hour showing him around and answerng questions. She even took him to class. I realized then, it was a special program.
Hello RhodyDad91. Just read your post and I am very confused about it. Replying so other readers are not as confused. You say UMass Amherst has a beautiful campus in Newton. Do you mean BC? UMass Amherst is in western Mass not in Newton. Boston College is in Chestnut Hill/Newton (6 miles from Boston) with part of Freshman housing at BC Newton campus and the Law School.
Edit: Learned something new that UMass Amherst has now a campus in Newton.
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I believe he is referring to Mt Ida College campus in Newton which became part of UMass Amherst recently.
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I see. Thanks. Learned something new.
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UMass Amherst….of Newton. Not confusing at all 
. The school really needed a campus near Boston for internships, good move for them.