Hi everyone,
I’m looking for a few schools to add to my list and I can’t decide between BC or BU. I definitely don’t want to apply to both, so could someone help decide on which one? If it helps, I am planning to major in biology. Which one will give me more merit aid as well? And which one will also give a little need-based (my family income is $90-100k).
Thank you!
My daughter will apply to both. She has visited each twice, and they are very different schools. Do you want a small and enclosed LAC with a religious history and limited merit awards? Choose BC. Do you want a larger lateral/urban campus with significant research opportunities and more opportunities for merit? Choose BU. I would think BU would be a better fit for your major, but that’s just a hunch. Both are great schools. I think BU is need aware, not need blind FYI
They are both great but vastly different, from setting, to size, to just about everything. Huge school spirit, sports (ACC) at BC, much less (although hockey is a big deal) at BU. Hustle bustle of the city vs. suburban beautiful traditional campus.
Boston College is not particularly well-known for sciences, although it is an area that they are investing in. Boston University has a medical school and even subject areas like law there tend to have a medical/health/science bend, so i imagine their programs are stronger.
You might want to consider Northeastern, which is kind of in between the two. Northeastern is probably the best of the three for merit aid, has no med school but does about 3 times the research as BC, and has a more cohesive campus than BU if that is important. It is also down the road from Harvard Medical and a lot of the hospitals so there are opportunities there.
You will likely get a decent amount of need based aid at either. Regarding merit aid, there is very little at BC. They simply offer a full tuition scholarship (may even be full ride) to about 20 kids per yr. That’s it. No other merit aid. They are looking to attract the kids that would otherwise go to HYP. Lots of schools have moved in this direction. Very limited merit aid, but very generous need based aid (resulting in the masses receiving more aid). Very difficult for the families making 200k-250k as they get little to no aid and aren’t making huge money to just write the check.
BU will have far more merit aid available. It’s pretty competitive but somewhere between 5% and 10% of admitted students will get merit aid.