Our nephew loved the architecture at BC. Frankly, we took him to BC, Tufts and Harvard in the same day. It was only looking thru his 18 year old eyes that I saw that the campus makes a difference. Harvard was pretty grim in terms of natural beauty in the classroom ( they haven’t replaced the desks in years). But it’s still an awesome school. Tufts was pretty but BC really did look great in the Fall. Wonder how many kids are choosing schools based on non-academic factors? I’d guess quite a few. Going to remember this when my kids are touring schools.
I remember a friend telling me her daughter only went to schools in session as she wanted to see what people were wearing to see if she’d fit in. Hmm.
But kids change to the schools too. My daughter picked a school and happily went off with dozens of sundresses because she loved sundresses and wore them all the time in high school in Florida.
Not so practical in Wyoming.
@homerdog And that’s the thing. She might love it. I didn’t see my son there but he did like it and would have applied if he wasn’t accepted ED. And that was fine with me and sounds like it would be fine with you as well. In the end, we just want them to to go somewhere that makes them happy.
Full disclosure here: I like BC. It was a strong contender for a number of my kids and we would have paid full price for any of our kids to have gone there. We are also Catholics in varying degrees of practicing, to the point that every single one of my kids would have checked that Catholic box without a thought. They do identify as such though none of them have Catholic SOs at this time.
65-70% of BC applicants and students check that Catholic box. Some will check it if there is any remote connection to Catholicism this because there is a very strong sentiment that it increases your chances of acceptance at BC if you are Catholic. Except in certain cases, that is not true. In fact, the opposite is true. BC is a school attempting to crack the top 20-25-30 universities list, may have made some such lists at times, in fact. They want a solid place on there. One of the things keeping them off is that the fact that it is the Catholic identity. So, it is a slight, distinct advantage to be a non Catholic, especially if you are not in an area that gets a lot of BC applicants.
BC does have strong loyal Catholic feeder schools, and kids from those schools who are strong applicants do enjoy a slight advantage for acceptance there. They are BC’s bread and butter so they are not ignored. They also apply to BC in droves. I know because some of my kids went to such schools.
BC has about 2500 ug students who do not identify as Catholic on their apps. Less than 10% of those kids identify themselves as Jewish. Most of them are of some Protestant religion of sorts, agnostic, perhaps. Ambivalent or “don’t care or think about it” is probably the best way to describe a lot of those students which is really the category where many, maybe most of the kids who check the Catholic box really stand. It’s not like mass at BC is standing room only. The atmosphere at BC is not that of a religious school. It is no more Catholic, than a lot of schools that are majority Protestant in student identification, in terms of vibe.
For families that want kids to have a larger number of kids who strongly ID themselves in their religion, such as Jewish, Muslim, more fundamental or evangelical Christian, I can see why BC would not be on their list. I absolutely do not see the school as an issue for agnostic students. Or students ambivalent or who aren’t thinking about religious affiliation. Those strongly of a religious group will be supported at this school, maybe more so than at other schools because BC is making a concerted attempt to be more diverse in many regards and putting the money, efforts and specific programs to do so.
I would say the same for Fordham and Georgetown; both even less of a Catholic vibe and ID. I would not, for Notre Dame or Holy Cross. Villanova is more along the lines of BC.
All of this my opinion also supported by statistics, a little bit of inside info and a lot of personal knowledge of these schools.
The ‘joke’ on campus is that most Catholic students attend mass twice: the orientation mass with parents and the graduation mass with parents. 
The 48 Hours trips are well publicized, but extremely small – seminar style discussions – so only an extremely small % of the College can actually attend. They are great for kids who want to pursue those discussion topics, but it’s not like kids are missing out if they don’t attend. Nor are those weekend trips a critical component of the four year liberal arts education.
fwiw: my D’s Comparative Religion teacher was Jewish (and tenured).
@bluebayou I had no idea there were masses at orientation and graduation.
optional for those who are interested.
BC takes a hit in its ratings because of its religious affiliation. I live in an area that has a lot of Jewish families. I’ve never seen BC on any Jewish applicants list. The BC demographic info bears me out as it only gets about 200 Students who identify themselves as Jewish.
The school is more actively Catholic than those colleges with Episcopal, Lutheran and other Protestant backgrounds that have now evolved into non denominational, independent schools. Those non Catholics I know who work and go to BC and Fordham do not feel that they are in a religious enclave and have no issues interacting with others on campus. But then that’s why they are there.
When the issue came up once from a Jewish neighbor of ours, one of the kids going on the college trip nearly fell over. He’s black and the idea that someone white, well to do, whose kids mingle fully in the neighborhood with various religions, is concerned that the school has a majority of Catholics was beyond ridiculous to him. Given the issues raised, few schools , only HBCUs would be on his list if he had such criteria on a race basis.
Of course, we don’t see a rush to HBCUs from those who are not black. Formerly all female schools did have males who paused or declined to consider applying to them. It can be difficult to get diversity for reasons why BC doesn’t get as many non Catholics applying.
@collegemom9 We both talked about the orientation mass after we went. My husband and I went in separately and he had to stand, it was packed! The stories were funny. It was on the parent orientation schedule but all events were optional. Both enjoyed 48 Hours and one son might look into becoming a team leader (junior year I think). I never asked them if there was a religious theme to the retreat.
This is the type of thing that may bother some and cannot be changed. If you can’t deal with there being an activity, a major activity, that you don’t want to miss like Mass for orientation or graduation, don’t go to a Catholic school. To most, they are little things like the calendar being set around Easter no matter if Easter is in March or late April, or not being able to get birth control on the student insurance plan. There are work arounds, but it will annoy some to have to work around the rules. Remember Ms. Fluke at Georgetown? She was just unhappy when she couldn’t get the rules changed.
I think one has to decide if all the possitives are worth the things they consider negatives (the religious aspects). BC is great, is the perfect size for some, has top D1 athletics.
@3sonsmom I did find pictures of the graduation mass and it looked equally packed. I wasn’t aware that they had these.
@cptofthehouse I absolutely agree with your post except for the part about Holy Cross. Holy Cross would have the same Catholic vibe as BC or Fordham. It sounds more religious because of the name, which can turn some people off, but it’s not. BC and Fordham actually have a bigger theology requirement than Holy Cross. All 3 schools plus G’town have the Jesuit influence which is more about service than religion running through, though G’town may feel less religious because it is more diverse.
Other posters have written about crucifixes. I see lots of crosses as these schools, but not crucifixes. They are not the same.
I believe this conversation has crossed the line. I am a parent who just joined just to make comment. I wonder how it would be received by others if the conversation on another college page drifted about being comfortable or uncomfortable with other faiths or cultures on a given campus?
Holy Cross has nearly 75% of its students identifying selves as Catholic. I agree it’s name plays a role in that. Over 80% of students at Notre Dame identity themselves as Catholic
Just to be clear, typically the graduation mass (“Baccalaureate Mass”) is just another event in a very packed graduation weekend. It is not graduation itself. (Mass is on Sunday, commencement on Monday.) E.g. https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/sites/commencement/schedule.html (I would fully assume that significant numbers of people will be milling around campus or getting lunch someplace instead of attending that particular event.)
Same for orientation https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/bc1/offices/Mission-Ministry/FYE/PDF/Parent%20Booklet.pdf
I would argue that Georgetown doesn’t feel a certain way because it’s more diverse than BC. And religious diversity is only one measure. Influence of cultures and ethnicities drive a campus culture to mix and engage as well.
67 percent identify as Christian or Catholic at Georgetown.
42 percent of students check Catholic. 25 percent check off Protestant Christian.
6 percent Jewish
The student population at Georgetown University is 51.9% White, 7.98% Asian, 7.18% Black or African American, 6.95% Hispanic or Latino, 2.78% Two or More Races, 0.124% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.119% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders.
BC has a larger international cohort, a larger Asian population at 10 percent and larger 10 percent Hispanic student body. Less so in with only 4 percent AA.
More international students, Asian and Hispanic students by reasonable percentages than the student body than Georgetown. Less AA by 3 percent.
BC has 40 percent as of last year who are AHANA. 60 percent white or white hispanic. 1400 international students out of 9300.
I don’t see that perhaps 9 percent less Caucasian’s as being an observable different at Georgetown. More Asians and Hispanics. And close of religious identifications. Which is different than adherence.
This is BC overall diversity score which is only been improve for the class of 2023.
Diversity rankings:
“This School has Superb Diversity Overall
We combine elements of racial, geographic, age and gender diversity to come up with a total diversity ranking for every school.
Ranked #83 in the nation, Boston College is considered extremely diverse.
Boston College Overall Diversity Score 2019”
I personally did not feel a Catholic vibe at BC, nor did my kids Not at Fordham, not at Georgetown , nor at Fairfield either. I did at Holy Cross and at Notre Dame. But these things can vary on a personal basis, and I take a Catholic environment for granted, as do many of us who have residual Catholic affiliations. How those who are sensitive to these things would feel, I’m in no place to say.
@privatebanker Your argument is based on some selectively chosen statistics.
1). According to data provided by Georgetown and Boston College, Georgetown’s international undergraduate program is 13% of the student body and Boston College’s is 7%. That is almost double. Source: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/most-international
- The information you provided with AHANA are about (domestic, international students tend to be taken out of demographic numbers) that applied. That number can look very different for students who are actually choosing to enroll at BC. BC's most recent factbook has this at 32%. Source: https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/publications/factbook/pdf/at_a_glance/18-19_at_a_glance.pdf
- It is worth noting that BC has had some issues around race issues over the last decade that have been described in other threads. There have been multiple instances of racist epithets written by fellow students and forums with administrators after that did not go positively. Source: You can simply google this or use BC Height's archives. Here is one letter from the editor: http://bcheights.com/2019/06/05/opinions-goldman-words-arent-enough-bc/ Also found this link after the fact, more recent stuff at end: http://bcheights.com/magazine/index.php/2019/my-presence-here-does-not-mean-anything/
- Boston College is a great school. It offers so much in the way of a beautiful campus, but just like every school it also has issues it is working through. 10 years ago they were routinely ranked by Princeton Review as having serious Race/Class Divides. I havent seen them on that list in a while. Similar for not being supportive of LGBT students. They seem to have changed significantly in this regard (with the rest of the country).
- When a poster generously shares something about themselves like they are worried about X because they identify as Y, there are more welcoming ways to embrace and support them than stating "you are being too sensitive" or "if things are gonna get better than you need to be more accommodating". Arguing about why it is even worth asking the question reduces them as a person and continues the reputation that BC might not be the most accepting to non-Catholic whites. Their concerns are valid. There is a way to respect that first and then respond. @collegemom9 @homerdog
@swimchris Thank you for this. Much appreciated 
Responses here have at times made me sad for how little empathy others are able to show to others who may have a different perspective.
@swimchris , regarding your point #3, the specific instances you reference are very few and far between and are more easily attributed to literally a handful of over inebriated students and one in particular who had a severe mental illness and had to be institutionalized. 25,000+ students have passed through BC over the last 10 years, that works out to .00016 of the total student population who have created mischief. Hardly a history of “issues.”