<p>Well, I never thought I'd ever be posting on a Notre Dame thread. My question for all of you is if you really think that BC is that academically inferior to ND. I'm trying to decide between BC and Wellesley. I grew up in a BC family, so I've always been pretty committed to BC. I just got back from the Admitted Eagle Day on Sunday and they said that the new admit rate was 26% and the accepted student ACT average was a 31. I got a 1450 on the SAT, but without this focusing too much on me, is it just a rivalry that keeps the hate alive, or does ND genuinely regard BC as a "backup college?" BC is getting harder and harder to get into, so, if the acceptance rate is about 2-3 percentage points away from each other, why is it regarded as a safety? I'm not trying to start WWIII here, I'm just curious. </p>
<p>Only dbags wear Backup College shirts. That being said there is generally strong anecdotal evidence that Notre Dame and BC have many cross applicants who prefer Notre Dame if accepted at both and at the same time that many BC students were rejected by Notre Dame. As college admissions in general get more competitive admittance really has just become a crap shoot and those old archetypes probably won't hold up as well. ND students will be BC rejects and BC students will choose it over ND. And even as the student bodies continue to become more and more competitive or "smart" or whatever, Notre Dame is stronger on the faculty side of the academic sphere. Boston College is addressing this by spending $700 million on infrastructure. But Notre Dame is already well ahead with Jordan Science completed and Stinson-Remick on the way. Plus, as bad as housing can be at Notre Dame, it is ahead of Boston College in alleviating over crowding.</p>
<p>I just thought I'd address your comment: "Boston College is addressing this by spending $700 million on infrastructure. But Notre Dame is already well ahead with Jordan Science completed and Stinson-Remick on the way. Plus, as bad as housing can be at Notre Dame, it is ahead of Boston College in alleviating over crowding."</p>
<p>Yes, they are spending money on buildings, but a lot of the plan is to hire more faculty members. I think they're looking to hire at least 100 full time professors. I know the biology department is currently looking for around 20 more professors. Anyway, part of the infrastructure involves housing and the goal is to house around 90% of the student body, the most in the Boston area. I know a lot of people think the master plan is just about building "stuff," but there are actual academic and community buildings planned.</p>
<p>You can't just look at acceptance rates, you also have to look at the applicant pool. Middle 50 for last year's enrolled students:</p>
<p>Notre Dame:</p>
<p>SAT Critical Reading 640-750
SAT Math 660-760
SAT Writing 630-720
ACT 31-34</p>
<p>Boston College:</p>
<p>SAT Critical Reading 610-700
SAT Math 630-720
SAT Writing 620-710
ACT 28-32</p>
<p>They are both fine schools, but Notre Dame is clearly more selective than Boston College. I don't think Notre Dame could ever be considered a back-up school, but for some very qualified students, Boston College could rightly be considered a back-up school to more selective schools such as Notre Dame.</p>
<p>I think they are both very high caliber schools. my college counselor actually told me that BC would be an easier admit than ND...but I got waitlisted at BC and accepted at ND. That was fine by me since ND was my first choice, but it just goes to show that so much of whether or not you are accepted to a school has to do with your "fit" to the school than grades/scores alone. BC is a great school, and beautiful too! By no means a back-up college.</p>
<p>BC is a good school, but ND is better hands down. I wouldn't call BC a backup college either. I personally think BC is a little overrated. It's generally just as expensive as ND, but ND is just on another level, so much more worth the money. BC aspires to be ND, and they aren't, but getting closer...</p>
<p>BC is an awesome school (not as great as ND though, in my opinion), but at my (high) school, it's often times a backup to ND. My school is mostly wealthy Catholic families so basically ND and BC are huge and pushed on us by parents. MANY people from my school are hardcore ND people and sort of grudgingly go to BC if they don't get in.</p>
<p>balances it out? i think it may even do more than that</p>
<p>im not saying BC isnt a great school, it does a much better job than many... but i just do not feel it attracts the same type of person that ND does and thus does not have as much of that special something at the school</p>
<p>I know 4 people from a neighboring hs who had this happen this year alone.</p>
<p>And that's just one hs. so I'm going to throw out a wild guess and say that it's not as insanely uncommon as you seem to think.</p>
<p>Also, ND admits what, ~24%, and BC admits ~26%...so, at least in CA, it is definitely not considered a "whole tier" below....as competitive? nah, but rigorous standards nonetheless.</p>
<p>OP: In SoCal, BC is pretty much considered at LEAST on par with USC, if that gives you an indicator (hard to tell where your location is lol). I believe their biggest cross-over school in CA, according to their admissions office, is UCLA....very, very high academic reputation here, perhaps because it's a thriving economic area with lots of college grads.....</p>
<p>as for the job recruitment, I agree that the alumni network is very, very strong. But BC is one of the most highly regarded schools in Boston (probably only behind Harvard and perhaps Tufts), which allows for great success immediately upon graduation in the BC job market. ND is, of course, highly regarded no matter where you go.</p>
<p>Well when you consider the acceptance rates, you also have to consider that I believe (speculation here) that ND's pool is more self-selecting. Hard to say since I'm the only ND applicant from my school, but some real slackers and low testers/GPAers applied to BC. Not saying they got in, but I can't see as many of these types applying to ND. </p>
<p>This is pure speculation, but would anyone agree?</p>