Bear with me. I know much of what I am going to write is based on stereotype. Stereotypes usually have a grain of truth to them, and I am trying to figure out how much.
My 15 yo son is just starting to think about college. Right now he is interested in both foreign languages and biological science. He wants to be in a place that is not geographically isolated and is not in a hot weather climate. Doing a superficial search on his criteria, BC keeps coming up. (Many Ivy League schools come to the top of the list, but he is unlikely to get accepted to them.) I admit that I initially dismissed BC. I grew up nearby and lived in the Allston neighborhood of Boston - the neighborhood adjacent to the one BC is in - for many years. However, I moved out of state over 20 years ago, and I know things may be different now.
Our impression growing up of BC is that it was full of smart people, but often preppy and sporty types. My son is the opposite of that. He hates sports, and does not want to be at a place where there is a lot of emphasis on sports. He is a geeky gamer sort of kid - the sort that you might expect to see at a tech school except that he has no interest in things like engineering. He has a fairly big friend group made up of kids across all racial, socioeconomic and academic lines, but he is not a “joiner” and doesn’t party at all - although I do know the latter can change in college, ha, ha. Do you think he could easily find his niche at BC?
Hi! I don’t want to speak for everyone here at BC, but I’m currently a rising sophomore, double majoring in French and English, and I love it here! I’m definitely not the “sporty” type; I’m kinda nerdy and geeky, and I honestly had next to no trouble finding my friend group here at BC.
I understand that BC gives off the very preppy and sporty vibe, but at the same time, everyone here is so nice, and we’re certainly not all like the stereotype that we give off. My friends are all very far from the norm here at BC, and even then, we don’t have any issue with socializing or working in class with the kids who are the popular athletic type
Hope this helped, if you have any more questions, please let me know!
There are thousands of colleges in the country. Very few of them are more sporty & preppy than BC. Do your son a favor & find a dozen schools to apply to that would be a better fit for him socially. You could probably start with BU, UMass, & U of Vermont.
Thanks all! Since writing this, I have talked to several students, and it seems the school is more diverse than it was back in the day, as @hedgehogaethers indicates. I still have concerns, but may have him visit.
@immomtoone - BC is definitely in Brighton/Newton! Allston is the next neighborhood over. Don’t live on the Allston/Brighton line, or neither police precinct will claim you as part of their service area, as I learned when I lived on the line. Personality-wise, son fits in well with schools like WPI and RPI. However, he has no interest in engineering or robotics, which I know WPI is excellent in. This is the difficulty. He likes to play games, but otherwise is not really interested in computer-heavy majors or jobs. He has taken game design classes and finds them too tedious.
@moooop - Will definitely look at UMASS. BU might be a good match too, the problem being that his grandfather worked there for many years, which means that we know more than we really should about the place. Unfortunately, his sister turned him off to University of Vermont. Not fair at all, but kids’ snap judgements really affect the college search!
BC is getting rid of it’s Honors program, I think it’s because the kids that are attending now are all pretty smart and high stats, but it does serve as a little oasis of geekdom. My D17 straddles the athlete/geek line quite well as she is both, and I love BC’s Jesuit mission and the way they take care of their kids, however my daughter would have been happier at a school with more of her “people.”
Have you considered U of Rochester, Virginia Tech, Emory, Johns Hopkins, Cal Poly, Georgia Tech?
