<p>I can maybe see that happening in Boston just because of the dense amount of applications from one area... but I didnt know that</p>
<p>justbumming... you are correct. I think its safe to say that NDs applicant pool is a bit more self selecting .... and a bit smaller than BCs 30 thousand</p>
<p>BC is a good school, no doubt...but from where I am from.... it is seen on par with the Wake Forests of the country</p>
<p>all I have to say is that its about 600 million times better than UCLA... right VC?!?!?! hehe gotta love the rivalry!</p>
<p>no, but honestly... BC is a great school.... but you will have quite a bit of competition on the Boston job market with the Harvards... Tufts... MITs... BU kids</p>
<p>I'm not referencing the rivalry Tim. I'm just saying that BC has a very good reputation in CA, probably at least that of USC. Most people would consider it an academic equivilent of USC, minus the "party-harty" image. I told you the same thing before you made your decision, and when I was planning on attending another school. If he were asking about Stanford, MIT, CalTech, etc., I'd tell him that they have stronger reps than UCLA in most fields. I'm trying to give him as much info as possible so he can make an educated decision. </p>
<p>Wake Forest isn't as well-known in CA (at least in SoCal), but it's nice to see that it's getting the recognition it deserves in Arizona.</p>
<p>Most people in Boston would consider it slighlty better than BU, imo...you'd have lots of competition, but it's no different than USC grads having to compete with Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford and Pomona. The most qualified person will win, be it an SC/BC grad, or a Stanford/Harvard one; there's more to a job than just the degree.</p>
<p>This discussion seems to be focused too broadly. It really comes down to what you want to do at a particular school. For example, if you want to be an engineer do not go to BC, it does not have an engineering school. If you want to be a nurse do not go to ND, it does not have a nursing school.</p>
<p>Additionally, if you want to become a Fulbright Scholar go to the German department at BC. If you want to go to Med school, ND has a slightly better med school acceptance rate.</p>
<p>To put a finer point on things, I know students at both schools. I know students accepted into ND honors program who were not accepted into BC honors. I know students that got into BC and not ND and vice versa. In some respects it comes down to the admissions office knowing the pool for their schools.</p>
<p>Boston College is a very good school, but, based on the statistics, Notre Dame is better. Many people at Notre Dame did apply to Boston College as a backup. However, most of us respect it as an educational institution, even those of us who own "Backup College" T-shirts...</p>
<p>personally i didn't even bother applying to BC because while it may be similar to ND in regards to Catholic tradition, it's just not on the same level academically.</p>
<p>BC is becoming a hard school to get into, and their acceptance rate I believe may be around or even lower to that of ND. The things is, however, that thousands more students apply to BC than to Notre Dame. This is because as a school on the East Coast, it is very well known and a lot of people apply there (hate to say it) as a backup school. Notre Dame, on the other hand, has fewer applicants but most of them apply there as a first or second choice school. </p>
<p>My older sibling, for instance, applied to BC early action a few years ago and Early Decision to an Ivy league school. She never even looked at ND. She got into both and had to commit to the Ivy, but it comes to show that since ND was never an option for her, she didn't apply. People who apply to ND generally do because they are serious about wanting to go there. Not that that isn't the case with BC, but let's be honest, it is lesser so. Yield numbers will prove that as well.</p>
<p>Wow, I think it is so interesting that BC is considered by some to be a backup college. I have a son who is a senior and his top two choices are ND and BC. While I will admit that ND is his first choice, that is because both his dad and grandfather attended and we have been going back to South Bend every year since he was two so ND just feels like home to him. His dad and I have stressed to him that there are many great and wonderful educational choices for him out there and that he needs to broaden his choices. Now BC was an obvious alternative for him, we live in CT, his other grandfather is a BC grad, the two schools have very similiar student bodies and they are both Catholic and my son has spent the past 12 years in Catholic education. Boston is the best college town hands down and I lived in South Bend for four years when I was a student at Saint Mary's. Weather wise while Boston is cold, SB is colder. As for programs, my husband works for a fortune 100 in NYC and he is a fan of grads of both schools and would gladly hire those coming out of both accounting programs. As for building, all you have to do is see both schools: ND has loads of space, BC well, it's Boston, and you can't manufacture land. As a parent, I would be so pleased if my son got into either one of these two wonderful schools. I think that he would be happy either place. His guidance counselor told him that BC gets so many more applications from CT than ND and the competition to go there will be tough no matter how good your stats are. He is applying to both but truly does not feel that one is a surer bet than the other. If any of you are considering either school, I think you really can't go wrong.</p>
<p>one thing that ND has that BC doesn't is a prominent sports scene. football at ND is unique and you'd be hard-pressed to find anything analogous to ND football anywhere in the nation (except Duke basketball).</p>
<p>Have you been to Boston? Red Sox Nation is alive and well and trust me, nobody, nobody loves their sports teams (pro and college) any more than Boston. To say that they are insane about the Sox, Celtics, Bruins is an understatement. I agree that the mystique that is ND football is like no other college team.</p>
<p>i meant BC sports teams not boston sports teams but i guess you've got a point. it's still not the same school spirit type deal doing on though.</p>
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one thing that ND has that BC doesn't is a prominent sports scene. football at ND is unique and you'd be hard-pressed to find anything analogous to ND football anywhere in the nation (except Duke basketball).
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<p>LOL.....My best friend from h.s. chose to go to BC over ND mainly because of his passion for the sports. He was a New England Patriots fan to begin with, but not Red Sox or Celtics fan. It turned out that my friend would have access to championship-caliber sports teams in basketball, baseball, and football at his fingertips. Right now, Boston is the sports capital of the world.(Celtics won last year, Patriots almost did it last year, Red Sox won it all last year) Plus, ND football team is grossly overrated imo and hyped up to the level that it does not deserve on the media. It hasn't won any major bowls or even ranked within top 10 nationally within last decade or so.</p>
<p>Doesn't keep 100,000+ fans from flooding our campus every single home football Saturday. Notre Dame's sports atmosphere and mystique trumps any other university in the country.</p>
<p>I have a hard time believing that any true fan would move to Boston just to see a team, not his team, win championships on local TV. But good for the guy who likes the Patriots, I guess he lucked out, sort of. </p>
<p>Part of the fun of having roommates from seven different states is that you get to talk smack all the time about your teams. Believe me I was feeling it when the Rockies beat the Padres in that one game playoff last year on Matt Holliday's faceplant that didn't even tag home plate.</p>
<p>And, I was talking to an elderly lady today and she was telling me that she is always surprised when ND loses because she's still not used to it since it didn't happen very often when she was younger. She is a Florida alum. Oh how far we have fallen. Just have to curtail those interceptions.</p>
<p>Although I agree that ND is much more prestigious than BC, and that's coming from a kid that can walk to BC from his house, it is ridiculous to say that BC doesn't have a prominent sports scene. In the NCAA Div. I Finals last year, although I hate to say it, it was BC that beat ND. Last year it was BC that destroyed ND in football, and it was BC that was in the top 10 national football rankings all season. BC has also consistently been in the nation's top Basketball teams as well. </p>
<p>Even though I whole-heartedly agree that ND has better sports, academics, and everything else, BC DOES have the sports scene. And that is not to mention professional sports in Boston. Boston owns the sports world.</p>
<p>"destroyed"? Right. In Notre Dame's worst season ever and BC's best season ever, BC failed to cover the spread against Notre Dame. Not exactly destroyed. </p>
<p>In the hockey game, that was a veritable wrecking. Fortunately for the college world Nathan Gerbe would rather be rich than spend another year atop Chestnut Hill.</p>
<p>Im a Junior at Boston College. Here's my personal opinion. I got accepted into both Notre Dame and Boston College. Undoubtedly, both are excellent schools but I have to admit the fighting Irish has a better education program than BC. But BC has close ties with the IVY League graduate schools. Alot of Boston College students go on to study their graduate degree at the top graduate schools in the country. For example, my cousin had a 3.8 G.P.A. at Boston College and last year she got accepted for pre-med at Yale despite her below the par MCAT scores. While a friend of my cousin who went to Notre Dame had the same G.P.A. but higher MCAT scores, he got rejected by Yale Medical School. According to USNews, more students from BC went on to IVY league graduate schools than Notre Dame students. So its up to you, do you wanna go to the school with the better education, or the one that can get you into a top graduate school. For me, it was easy. I chose BC because my college consultant advise me that Boston College may be better off for me in the future, since I am playing to attend graduate school</p>
<p>^oh ok, if it worked for one person then it obviously can be applied to the entire school. while it does make sense that BC would have a stronger connection to the ivies considering it is on the east coast, that doesn't mean plenty of notre dame grads don't go on to attend ivy league graduate schools. also nd's premed program is stronger than bc's (medical school acceptance rate wise).</p>
<p>"So its up to you, do you wanna go to the school with the better education, or the one that can get you into a top graduate school."</p>
<p>Lot of bogus. I echo the post above me: you can't extrapolate what happened in one example to include all examples. Admissions (both grad and undergrad) is very relative, and while BC may have more "connections" with grad schools doesn't always mean they will always prioritize them above students from other schools.</p>
<p>Also, you should NOT always base your undergrad decision SOLELY on post-grad opportunities. Yes, it is important to factor in things like Med School acceptance rates, programs, etc, but keep in mind that often people will change their majors or concentration of study that will definitely have an impact on whether they should continue schooling or working after graduation. I.E. a freshman who intends to be a business major switches to law or psychology; now for them, it's best to continue school afterwards instead of heading to the workforce for practical experience.</p>
<p>In general, I would say ND offers excellent opportunities for graduates in any discipline. With a strong alumni connection as well, you can't go wrong here. I may be biased but this is true.</p>