<p>I am planning to do pre-med and wonder which school is considered stronger for getting into medical school.</p>
<p>I really like the small size of Holy Cross (2700) versus BC (9000). They both seem quite similar which I guess is not too surprising give that they are both run by the New England Jesuits. I know BC has the big time football program but this is actually not a factor for me for where I want to go to school.</p>
<p>both schools have strong medical programs; certainly, if you like the small size environment, you should stick with holy cross, although bc is not that much bigger. i have a friend who goes to hc and he really likes it- he took it instead of bc. i would recommend visiting both if you haven't already.</p>
<p>I agree both HC and BC have outstanding premed programs. I know people who have loved both schools. HC is about 1/3 the size of BC. Partly why HC stopped playing football versus BC in the 80s after nearly 100 years of a great rivalry. Just too hard to compete given the size difference.</p>
<p>Holy Cross has a temendous record for pre-med with something like 85% acceptance rate, double the national average. HC MD's include people such as Dr Anthony Fauci head of Nat'l Institute for Allergies & Infectious Diseases at NIH. You often hear him referred to America's leading authority on AIDS. Another is Dr George Paletta, St Louis Cardinals team physician who rebuilt Chris Carpenter's arm after a career-threatening injury. Carpenter gives him some credit for helping him win the Cy Young Award. Invariably, HC MD's talk about how their liberal arts education at HC helps them be better physicians.</p>
<p>HC is currently in the middle of a $60,000,000 expension/refurbishment of its science complex.</p>
<p>HC is supposed to be a TON of work, and a stressful environment. i know someone who loves it, and another who hates it. visit and see how the vibe feels for you.</p>
<p>Holy Cross is known for intense academics. The Princeton Review gives Holy Cross a 98 rating:
<a href="http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/profiles/academics.asp?listing=1023599<id=1&intbucketid=%5B/url%5D">http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/profiles/academics.asp?listing=1023599<id=1&intbucketid=</a>
Boston College's Academic Rating is jusy 90:
<a href="http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/profiles/academics.asp?listing=1023898<id=1&intbucketid=%5B/url%5D">http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/profiles/academics.asp?listing=1023898<id=1&intbucketid=</a></p>
<p>Hopefully graduate schools take this into account when applying...</p>
<p>BC ranks over Holy Cross in almost every meaningful category. Holy Cross is a nice school, but it is not at the same nationally recognized university stature as Boston College. I'm too busy with homework right now to post all kinds of data, but if you look into it, you'll find what you are looking for. I'd only chose HC if you want be in a smaller environment & school. I also visited there and was accpeted, but it was a safety school. I can tell you BC has a much better med school acceptance rate and look into the BC-Tufts med school program which I am planning to do. They just are two totally different college experiences - Jesuit influence notwithstanding.</p>
<p>What is the med school acceptance rate at BC? What I am hearing is that HC is more rigorous academically than BC but that BC has the better location (Boston) and more big time sports and is more similar to the other ACC schools like Florida State, Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, . Looks like the class sizes are notably smaller at HC (10-19) than BC (20-29) according to the above Princeton Review links.</p>
<p>I was accepted to Notre Dame, Boston College, Tufts, and Holy Cross and selected Holy Cross because I loved the small community feeling and the picturesque campus. I'm sure I would have been happy at all 4 schools. They are all excellent choices I am sure. I think you should visit all the schools you are interested in and ask lots of questions and you will know which one is right for you.</p>
<p>mnwinwin11-- I think you are way off base in your comparisons of Holy Cross and BC. I'm biased, as a HC grad, of course, but to suggest that BC outranks HC in every meaningful category is preposterous. Independent 3rd parties such as the Princeton Review paint a very different picture that the one you have offered. BC is a terrific school, it is very fashionable now; but it does not have superiority over Holy Cross as you suggest.</p>
<p>Holy Cross.</p>
<p>Make a check list of what you want. Assign point scale according to how important the factor is; for example, 4 is very high, 3 is high, 2 is so-so, and 1 is blah. Visit both schools and see which one fits what criteria. Neither program is going to give you a huge edge in med schools; they are not John Hopkins. No med school is going to shred your file when they see the name BC or HC on it so relaxed. I have friends who attend both HC and BC, and studying Premed and all of them whine about how torturous their classes are. There is one thing you should consider, however, is whether Med is school is the greatest goal you have for college. At BC, an incoming class has about 800 declared premed, but only a 100-200 remains after Freshman year. It's just brutal no matter where you go. With BC, however, you have the option to explore a greater variety of courses than HC (which, by all accounts, is a first class LAC). BC just give you that safety net of field diversity that HC doesn't.</p>
<p>By coincidence, today's edition (11/12/07) of "The Heights" contains an article about the competitiveness of BC students for getting into med school:</p>
<p>Medical</a> school applications become increasingly competitive - News</p>
<p>Someone told me that all freshman live off campus at BC and live at some dorm several miles away. Is this in fact true? Holy Cross apparently has housing on campus and is essentially guaranteed all 4 years.</p>
<p>"Someone told me that all freshman live off campus at BC"</p>
<p>There are truly some ignorant people out there. No, freshman does not live off-campus. 60% lives on the main campus known as upper. 40% lives on Newton campus (home of the law school) which is about 1 mile away from main campus. A BC bus systems runs every 15 minutes from Newton to main campus. Newton is self-sufficient (dining, church, green space, blah blah).</p>
<p>BC does not promise four-year housing for all its students. 50% gets four, the rest gets 3 years. HC's campus is beautiful, but I doubt many would want to live off campus at Worcester. BC off campus is pretty decent price ranges between 600-800 a month, of course, adding utility and grocery bills and you get 900-1100 a month. That's roughly the amount you would be spending if you are living on campus.</p>
<p>This helps explain what this separate Newton campus is all about. Newton Campus is located approximately 1.25 miles from the Chestnut Hill Campus. It was once an entirely different college:</p>
<p>Prior to Boston College acquiring the land in the 1970's, Newton Campus was home to the Newton College of the Sacred Heart. Since it once served the needs of an entire college, undergraduate students find that Newton Campus offers a nearly complete undergraduate experience: six residence halls, a dining hall, library, chapel, workout facility, post office, and even the varsity soccer fields. The only thing missing? Undergraduate classes. The academic facilities on Newton Campus are utilized by the Boston College Law School, yet no Law students live there. It a residential campus for freshman only. Undergraduate students utilize the services of Boston College's shuttle bus, which runs from 7:00 am to 2:00 am each day of the academic year, to travel to the Chestnut Hill Campus for academic classes.
Newton</a> vs. Upper - Boston College</p>
<p>Why would they have all of the dorms at Newton campus be reserved for freshman but they all have to commute to main campus for classes and conversely, no law students live on Newton Campus but all law classes are on the Newton Campus. Seems like they should make the Newton Campus the law campus.</p>
<p>BC simply doesn't have enough room to house all of its students, so they designate Newton Campus as a residential campus for freshman. I think that the law school is only for graduate students, that's why there aren't any law students living on Newton, unless they are RA's.</p>
<p>I see so only 40% of the freshman live off campus 1 1/4 miles away and take a bus to school every day.</p>
<p>Holy Cross does not offer this great bus service since they only have the one campus.</p>