Boston College RD 2023

Hey I got accepted into barnard, Bates, and Boston College. Pros and cons of each school? Im studying history and political science thanks!

@fashion1200

Wow congratulations on the great choices and the hard work paying off!.

They are all really different schools.

What do you want to study? What type of culture and environment do you think you want ? Costs or financial constraints ?

Artsy? sporty? academic intensity?. Social life? location ? Size? Etc.

Thanks for responding! Fortunately, money isn’t much of a problem. I’m from a city and I am big on activism. I do a bunch of community work and I want to study political science. I really want to go into law. I live in New York, but I have never been to Boston or Maine. I want to have a healthy balance between school and life. I’m a well rounded individual. Also if you can throw Lehigh into the mix, because that is a school I am also considering. Thanks!

@fashion1200

Academically you have wonderful choices. Each could provide you with a great pathway for your goals . Ultimately you create the succcess not the school.

Bates and Barnard are small elite level liberal arts schools. BC you know is a mid size research uni. Different experiences in a lot of ways.

The campus environment and social aspects like sports etc. = big differences.

Activism and service are also different things.

Barnard would have more of the activist culture.

BC commitment to service and community is central to their mission

Bates of course has both elements. But is so much more remote the the others.

Lehigh is much more engineering focused culturally. And Greek life is part of the social structure.

Political science would be great at all of these schools.

BC has litany of world leaders and “statesmen/women” as noted graduates. Speaker of the house. Mayor of Boston. Secretary of State and Energy. Senators and congressman. It’s a thing.

I would probably bring the choices down to two.

Barnard or BC. Then it’s really only what you prefer. Mid size uni vs small. Activism vs service. Sports or no sports. Artsy or preppier. NYC or Boston.

I’m interested in hearing what you decide and what you think in each sub category of differences.

It might help some others. Good luck snd congrats again.

@runningryan I am honestly shocked that your son was not accepted. I was accepted to CSOM, and I not even close to as qualified as your son. Haha!

@runningryan What does OSU stand for? What’s your intended major? Congratulations on the acceptances!

@privatebanker This is a little random but you seem very knowledgeable, I received the UCSD Regents Scholar today and I was wondering how hard it was to get, thanks in advance!

@BcUcIDK

Once again congrats you have a remarkable story. I wish you great success. And don’t forget to give back once you’ve become the big success I know you will achieve.

I know the regents scholarships are important for many students. But @Gumbymom or @ucbalumnus are the noted for their understanding of the UC system. They can also help with questions on your great UC options and I would be glad to give you any insights, albeit limited, I have as a BC parent. DM if you have any questions.

2023 admission stats: 27% overall acceptance rate
35,500 total apps (15,862 early + 19600 RD)
9,500 total accepted (4,488 early/27%, + 5,000 RD)
overall admitted student averages ACT 33, SAT 1461 (EA admitted averages 34, 1477)

https://bcheights.com/2019/03/23/acceptance-rate-2023-27-percent/ (overall)
https://bcheights.com/2019/01/21/changed-admissions-policy-increase-applications/ (EA)

Presumably, they are expecting a slightly lower yield from this year’s unrestricted EA. It’ll be interesting to see how the enrolled stats shake out this fall.

If we add in the deferred apps (40% from EA pool), about 6345, then about 25,945 apps were reviewed during RD, with RD acceptance rate around 19%.

@evergreen5 Thanks for posting.

^thanks, edited!

@J123D123 Cornell

I am so psyched about my acceptance to Boston College. I am excited about the Carroll School’s level of prestige and preeminence within the world of business, particularly finance, which is my intended major. I am also excited about the lack of a language requirement for Carroll students. What do you guys think is most impressive about BC? What are you looking forward to most?

@privatebanker Are you aware of whether Boston College has any partnerships with Boston-area schools? Is it possible to take classes at Harvard or MIT?

That’s an increase of 831 acceptances. If the yield stays the same at 26.8%, that means 223 more forced-triple dorm rooms. :>(
Admission did say after the EA round that they were targeting a class size of 2300 (2022=2327) so I assume that they are expecting a lower yield.

'Grats. Regents is impressive. Highly selective. First dibs on registration, first dibs on research opportunitites. A sweet deal.

That being said, a big UC has a much different culture/character than a mid-sized private Uni.

btw: everyone gets in invite to apply to UCLA Alumni scholarships.

Not pb, but no.

@T20hopeful2023 true but the yield might be lower because they removed the restriction from EA. Will be interesting to see how it shakes out.

Looking at the statements from Admissions, they expect a yield of 920 from EA (20.6% yield) and 1380 from RD (27.5% yield). So yes. it looks like they are expecting a lower than normal yield from the unrestricted EA. I couldn’t find any stats on the 2022 yield breakdown by EA & RD. 2022 total was 26.8% and the 2023 target looks to be 24.2%.

@runningryan I’m stunned. How did he not get in. My D was deferred ED from her dream school and we were really shocked. I agree there is no rhyme or reason sometimes. She is excited about where she is going, but it took a long time to move on from her first choice. Your son’s profile sounds like he would be a sure bet.

@runningryan You are asking the question we all ask and the answers are opaque at best. Your son has a really impressive resume. You must be very proud of him.

And a WL is saying he is fully qualified and would be welcome if s spot comes available. So take heart.

My guess is just that, a guess. But this is my observation of how it works as an outsider.

We know there are minimum standards that develop based on a given applicant pool at school x. And it’s not always relevant how big that pool (applicants) but how deep (quality).

He clearly is in that pool for ecs and sat. But the avg sat this year was his exact score. And it is reasonable to assume that the lower scores were used for other types of admits. Some recruited athletes, donors and perhaps lower ses or urns candidates with other strengths but lower scores.

Only to say that if you don’t hit any of those the pool gets even more competitive and shallower. Pell grant applicants are really important this year.

So the sat avg for the pool for kids like him is a bit higher.

And your sons UW gpa may be a bit lower than some In this group.

But both his scores and gpa are competitive as the WL suggests.

And every school has a mosaic they are trying to build. So many Eagle Scouts and hs athletes. So many from NJ. And only so many thumbs on the scale for catholic high school students and alter boys.

So I would say his pool was very small and incredibly competitive. They all are very similar superstars. So he’s not competing with girls or kids from Alaska or someone who is really financially needy. He’s competing against a pool that looks like him. And if they have 20 seats with that exact type profile as an example - They accept 25 and wl 25. And reject 400 outright.

That’s the best I can tell. And if they take 25 and you are #26 like your son most likely was - razor thin diffence or some random reason we can never know -you feel exactly like you do.

I narrowed my choices to bates and Boston. (I know completely different) but I’m going to go visit this month. Bates is offering more money so that’s a plus and Lewiston is in serious need of community work. Boston- well what’s not to love. It’s a short distance from the city, but it’s a bigger school. If we are being blunt here I am not a huge book a person. I’m well rounded. I do not want to be in the library for hours… also I was waitlisted for Wesleyan today. Should I even try to get in? Does it match with Bates or Boston? In terms of prestige? Alumni connections ? Opportunities?