<p>Hey everyone,
So i am torn between Boston College and the College of Charleston. I live on long island so BC is like the holy grail for people here. It was never one of my top choices, prob #5, but the way my other acceptances/rejections worked out, I am now choosing between BC and College of Charleston (honors college, huge scholarship). I initially leaned towards C of C due to everything it will offer me, my love of the city of charleston, financial freedom, and the opportunity to work in small classes and get to know professors. In the interim I visited BC and didn't truly enjoy accepted students day. All the tour guides didn't seem happy and truthfully, everyone I know who goes there has "settled" because they didn't get into their top choices (notre dame, penn, georgetown). I leaned towards C of C until i realized that I would regret missing out on the true college experience of football games and quads and leafy campuses. Should these things play a factor in my decision, or should I go to C of C where I can excel academically and not have to worry about money? BtW no fin aid to BC so full cost</p>
<p>Go to C of C. It would be one thing if you really like Boston College, but it sounds like they haven’t sold you, and why should you pay full price to a school you don’t even like?</p>
<p>hey im a junior on long island too</p>
<p>i just visited c of c and it was very nice, i just dont know if i wanna be that far away from here. </p>
<p>Correct me if I am wrong, but isnt BC much much better then C of C. </p>
<p>-Rob</p>
<p>Two really different colleges. </p>
<p>CoC is ~65% female. 30% of its students were in the top decile of their HS class. (At BC the number is ~90%.) It has a transfer OUT rate of 27%. (Obviously, most everyone there has “settled” too.) It has a four-year grad rate of 44%! Do you really think that as a public school, CoC is gonna have that many “small” classes taught by professors?</p>
<p>The question you have to ask yourself is whether you can “excel academically” in such an environment?</p>
<p>BC offers all you would want in a college, and academically is on a par with ND (according to the NRC). Whether its worth full pay is something that only your family can answer.</p>
<p>College of Charleston. Beautiful historical city near the beach. My son’s girlfriend goes there and is always studying at the beach. At BC you will be freezing at the bus stop waiting to go to Main campus from the Newton campus 2 miles away where they stick all the freshmen and many sophomores.</p>
<p>College of Charleston definitely.</p>
<p>I see this as a “big fish in a little pond” vs. “little fish in a big pond” question. At CofC - you will be the big fish. You will be at the top of the class academically. Honors college and large scholarship - make this very attractive. At BC - you will be more of a little fish. It is clearly the higher ranked school of the two - but is that the deciding factor? </p>
<p>CofC has better weather and their basketball program is pretty exciting if you are concerned about the college spectator sport experience.</p>
<p>Since neither was a top choice for you - I’d say go to CofC - and see how it goes. If you like it - you are set. If you are less than thrilled - have a great and free freshman year and then transfer.</p>
<p>required_details, 40% of BC’s freshmen class (and, to my knowledge, 0% of the sophomore class) is housed at Newton. This means that “most” freshmen are on the main campus.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/process/tips/s-newtonupper.html[/url]”>http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/process/tips/s-newtonupper.html</a></p>
<p>Do you care about getting a good job after college?</p>
<p>BC is much more respected by recruiters.</p>
<p>The better you do in college, the higher chance you have of landing a job. It doesn’t matter where you go, as long as you know you can excel there.</p>
<p>according to college board
BC-79% student body in top 10th of graduating class
CofC-31% student body in top 10th of graduating class</p>
<p>You will be going to school with smarter kids at BC , but…
A friends daughter is at CofC and loves it.</p>
<p>I would try to steer my kid to BC in this situation, with the option of transferring to CofC if you hated it , but it sounds like you want CofC.
Go where you will be happy.</p>
<p>BC. College of Charleston is a decent school, but definitely not on par with a school like BC.</p>
<p>^ That’s not true at all(collegeperson123). Please do not spread misinformation like this. Fit is the most overemphasized aspect of college choice. It is unfair to try to tell someone that they will have similar job opportunities at a school that is substantially worse. It totally matters where you go. </p>
<p>BC is a much better school, so it can attract companies to recruit on campus that CoC never could. If a firm can only recruit at 30 schools, the chances that it will go to BC are pretty good. On the other hand, a school like CoC gets ignored by many of the top companies. Do you think a company like Goldman bothers to look at even the top students from CoC?</p>
<p>Nope. Here is an example of the types of companies that look at CoC grads: [Spring</a> Career Fair 2011 - College of Charleston](<a href=“Page not found - College of Charleston”>Page not found - College of Charleston)</p>
<p>6281597 - I don’t think you meant to use ^, as I didn’t say that. However, I agree with that BC is much more respected by recruiters and companies. It is one of the better non-ivy schools. College of Charleston…not so much.</p>
<p>Sorry - I did mean to use ^, but your reply hit(and 2 others) hit before I was done. I was referring to collegeperson123.</p>
<p>I had the thing up on my computer, walked away for 20 mins, then came back without refreshing… Probably should have checked if anything new was said first.</p>
<p>Recommend CoC mainly because of its nearness to everything. Personally, I want to be close to a campus so that I do not accidentally miss any events that may be occurring and even if I do forget about something, I can easily run out and be a little late. Secondary reasons for choosing CoC include: not wanting to take the bus every goddamn time I want to go to things happening on the main Campus (which is a lot of things), waiting for the bus in the winter time, and waiting for additional buses (esp. in the winter) because one may have filled up.</p>
<p>Should those really be priorities when making a major life decision?</p>
<p>Yup. If you can’t stand the cold, or you hate taking the bus, you definitely should take that into consideration.</p>
<p>OP, There is a lot to be said for graduating from college debt free. Sit down and look at the numbers carefully. If BC would land you with more debt than the maximum Stafford loans, then it is too expensive. There are a bunch of nifty calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org). Run your financial aid offers through them and think about what the results mean for your life.</p>
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<p>Does that pass for high quality communication at the college you attend/attended? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>IMO, the two facts that jump out are:</p>
<p>CoC has a transfer OUT rate of 27%. (Obviously, a lot of matriculants are unhappy and vote with their feet to go elsewhere.)</p>
<p>It has a four-year grad rate of 44%. (What good is a discount if you can’t/won’t graduate in four years. Alternatively, what are all the students doing, taking a bare minimum load each term?)</p>
<p>I would be willing to take on much more debt than the Stafford max to attend BC over CoC. I would rather have a great job while paying off loans than to be stuck with ****ty career prospects.</p>