Just to be clear, most colleges that use CSS Profile count home equity as an asset in the calculation of need. However, many of the wealthy colleges ranked above BC do not count home equity or they cap it. (Ivies, Stanford, and their ilk).
BC is caught in no-mans land for middle class folks. Higher ranked schools limit/cap home equity, while most lower ranked schools offer merit money, but may not meet full need.
Yes. In essence that what I was trying to convey. However I don’t believe it is a “ranking” issue as much as free cash flow from the endowment. BC has a large and growing endowment but 3b isn’t 30b.
Also BC seems to spending a lot on professors and new buildings and programs too. I think it’s a a great mix as they continue to grow and thrive.
BC is liberal arts, NEU is more career focused. Depends on the person
“BC is liberal arts”…and a lot of students majoring in nursing, business, education; & engineering is on the way in a couple years.
^right - would never classify BC as liberal arts.
The real differentiator is the NEU co-op. Working in a job for 6-8 months is significantly different than a 10 week internship (assuming you can find one). I agree with @Violetterose it depends on what the student is looking for.
They are so totally different. The OP is getting significant financial support at NEU.
He is fit agnostic. It’s a great choice.
Internships aren’t a problem for specific majors at BC. But the co op is for all at NEU and that is a big difference.
Post grad is a different story. If you want to stay in New England. There’s no more entrenched alumni network than BC. It’s a thing in finance, banking business, law and politics.
Not even the Harvard grads are as earnest in their networks. The Harvard grads don’t need the edge quite frankly, except at the very highest part of the networking food chains. They are a bit out of the day to day fray, for the most part. And they travel well outside of Boston. NEU and BC outside of the region, I would surmise would be equally strong.
BC has a mix. Obviously, nursing and eduction are pre-professional in nature, but the Uni has a strict liberal arts Core Curriculum (which only a few Unis still maintain), and all undergrads must complete it. Thus, plenty of required readin’ and writin’ in addition to the STEM courses.
Really? Few unis still have a core? Are you making a distinction between a “core” and courses in a variety of fields?
Yes, few colleges have a required Core. Most have GE’s or distribution requirements, i…e., ~6 classes outside your field or major + Frosh English/Writing.
BC’s core totals 15 required courses, including, the Arts, Philosophy, and Theology, as well readin’, writin’, and 'rithmatic. B-school students also have to complete the Core.
https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/schools/mcas/undergraduate/core-curriculum/core-requirements.html
Columbia College and UChicago also have a Core.
I love the universities and lacs that still want students to be a bit more broadly educated human beings outside of a specific discipline. The world is very interesting. To me it makes life a little bit more meaningful connecting with at least some of the areas of study requiring critical thinking. The ability to write and research are skills that apply to all fields of endeavor. Big fan. What’s the rush. Being a grown up is overrated. Lol.
Me too. Love the Core. College should be about breadth as well as depth. The science geeks need to learn how to write and write well. On the other hand, English/comm majors need to be exposed to science & math courses so they have some idea of what they are writing about. Philosophy is a great way to improve critical thinking skills. (Without the core requirement, few would dare take PL As a result, PL is a popular double major/minor.)
Personally disappointed that BC dropped the foreign language requirement from the Core. (IMO, that’s going the wrong way in our multi-cultural world.)
I was confused for a few minutes but then found clarification from the Core FAQ:
Although some students complain about having to complete the Core , there are definite benefits for many. S attends a different school but similar in many ways to BC. The Core at his school, Wake Forest, takes two full yrs to complete (with some of the classes serving as prereqs for specific majors. )The purpose is to create well rounded, interesting and interested students. Very typical for students to discover new interests. For my son, that was politics and international affairs. Thanks to the core, he decided to minor in that which will make for an interesting combination with his Finance major. Even doing a study abroad in the fall that will include international relations.
I frequently read that major firms are quite interested in kids with a global view, critical thinking (and technical) skills. The core does a nice job of making sure they get a bunch of that.
@rickle1 On point once again!
Sure, and what that means is that the FL requirement can be fulfilled by taking a language in HS, or speaking it at home. To me, that is anything but a College Core – we’re all in this together. And, of course, CSOM is dropping the FL completely – makes absolutely no sense for business, either.
btw: Not to mention that Nursing and Education are two disciplines that should embrace additional FL as a necessary component of preprofessional studies.
Like I said, personally disappointed. Altho, truth be told, all three of my D’s roommates complained about the required course (if one didn’t take enough in HS) to complete the FL requirement. All four girls in the suite had mentioned that they had considered a FL minor going into College, but said no way after taking just one class to fulfill the requirement. (if they took ~3 years of HS language, and did not ace the placement test, students needed to take a special Language/Culture class to fulfill.)
My take is that that course had a LOT of HS-style project work – make up a French poster! – as part of the cultural element, and that was what the girls were reacting negatively to, not the language/lit part itself.
Edited to add: All the STEM majors in A&S think it’s a joke that CSOM students get to take an intro class to Excel for which they receive course credit. All the STEM majors have to learn it on thier own. (So, CSOM has room to keep a FL if they choose to do so.)
@bluebayou, I think you are exaggerating the difference between BC’s “core” & the required distribution classes at a lot of colleges. It’s not like BC offers one or 2 classes in the various core areas. You can fulfill the social science rqmt with classes in econ, poli sci, sociology, or psych. You can fulfill the physical science rqmt with classes in bio, geology, physics, chemistry, or environmental science. Even in philosophy & theology there are wide varieties of classes that fulfill the requirement. This is not significantly different from a lot of colleges’ “distribution” requirements.
@bluebayou Re: “Edited to add: All the STEM majors in A&S think it’s a joke that CSOM students get to take an intro class to Excel for which they receive course credit. All the STEM majors have to learn it on thier own.”
Are you are referring to the business core required course, Modeling for Data Analytics? If so and FYI, this is considered a second math course (beyond Calculus) that is required. Doesn’t sound like it is an ‘Intro to Excel’ class to me.
Maybe you are referring to something else but either way, the business core is not at all thought to have easy courses.
Actually, it is an Intro to Excel class as well as Intermediate Excel (run macros, pivot tables etc). But again, the kids in A&S have to learn this stuff on the fly since some labs require Excel and understanding/running macros.
The fact that CSOM counts it as a math class – hahahahaha
btw: the grading on this course can be tough, since the material is not very rigorous.
That’s a fair point but still, 15 BC courses is 2x than 6 (or 8 counting English/Writing/HIstory), which is what our public flagships require. And its the required breadth – Arts/Theatre & Philosophy. And, as I mentioned previously, BC used to have a requirement for intermediate language.
Csom may be slightly more competitive than Mcas to get in for sure. It’s much harder to “stay” on track to be a biochem or math major once enrolled. It’s not really close. It’s probably the same everywhere with top 10 ug b schools and high achieving premeds and engineers on campus.