<p>@student197 and @Eniam666 Hey guys you seem to know a lot about BC. I am thinking about EA as well! I just don’t know much about the school though, since I live way over in the Northwest. Can you guys tell me why you think the school is a good fit for you? Are you hoping to get merit aid?</p>
<p>@Belizeme Hello! Join the club 
I actually don’t know that much about BC either! I’m also from the Northwest! I think one of the things that appealed to me was BC’s location and overall campus vibe (or what I think is its campus vibe). I preferred smaller schools so I was mainly looking at LACs, but I think BC gives me both the size I want and the academic quality I’m looking for (since most LACs aren’t too strong in the CS department). I like that BC seems to have a more defined campus as opposed to BU which is very open and in the city. And the campus is beautiful. BC is also a good research university from what I’ve heard. I won’t know until I actually visit the campus, but I think overall I like the campus vibe and the Jesuit education (focus on more than just knowledge).</p>
<p>As for merit aid, I am pretty certain that BC only offers need based aid besides the Presidential Scholars Program which is highly selective. </p>
<p>@student197 Nice to know you are from around the NW! I will be visiting the school next Friday so I hope things go well. As of right now, I am so unsure of whether I want a LAC or a larger research university! I want to major in the biological sciences. I also like the aspects of Jesuit education. Although I didn’t really like Loyola Marymount when I visited, but I did like Santa Clara.</p>
<p>@Belizeme Absolutely! I am from North Carolina, but I grew up in Maine and my dad attended BC way back when. My primary reason for choosing BC is the stellar business school. I am applying to many of the top business schools (not Ivy league caliber, but the next tier down), all of which are close to a fairly large city. I think BC’s campus is the best of both worlds - it has a classic college campus with beautiful architecture while being only a 20ish minute train ride from the center of Boston. Boston is a fantastic city - if you haven’t visited Boston, you NEED to! Boston also will have many internships as it is the location of many major corporations (for business internships in my case).<br>
I also grew up going to Boston College vs. UMaine football games when I was little. We would arrive at games and the atmosphere would be absolutely electric. Nearly all of the schools I am applying to are big on sports because I love the atmosphere around tailgating and game day excitement.
As far as merit aid goes, I think @student197 is correct. The Presidential Scholarship, which is the only merit-based aid I know of, only accepts 15 students per year, so it is extremely competitive. </p>
<p>@Belizeme if you like the Jesuit way of learning, check out Villanova and Georgetown (I will be applying to both!) </p>
<p>@Eniam666 Thanks for the info! I can’t wait to visit! I am also looking at Georgetown but I am not sure whether they have a good biology program or not. If you had to choose between Georgetown and BC, could you?</p>
<p>@Belizeme That’s a TOUGH question… If I got accepted to both I would probably go Georgetown, but if I got into the Carroll Honors I would go to BC. I honestly don’t know right now, it would be a toss up either way - both great schools. </p>
<p>Hm, I got this reply from someone on another thread:
“As an aside, if you are interested in STEM, specifically CS, you might want to consider schools other than BC. They have a really small department with few professors, no grad students, and no engineering programs whatsoever. In addition if you are looking for financial aid, BC offers almost none.”
I thought BC was a 100% need met school, but do they actually not offer much FA at all? Though I probably shouldn’t be asking prospective applicants this question… hahaha</p>
<p>As an incoming freshman I can say with certainty that BC is very generous with financial aid on a need based basis. In my case without the generous package I would be unable to attend. Also two of my roommates are looking to go into CS and have only said good things about the department. I am looking to major in Biochem and everything I have seen points towards a fulfilling undergrad experience.</p>
<p>@Eagle1095 wrote:</p>
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<p>You’ll be amazed at how true this statement is.</p>
<p>@student197 @eniam666 wow, your stats are awesome. You should be insanely proud However, you guys are now making me more worried about mine!</p>
<p>@aveagle04 No, no, no! Don’t worry! This website is annoying like that… When I look at any school I feel the same way. I’m sure your stats are fantastic also and with killer essays and letters of rec, you will be fine! Are you applying early action?</p>
<p>@eniam666 haha I hope so! And yes, I am. BC is my number 1, how about you?</p>
<p>@aveagle04 I feel your pain. All the stats posted on this forum have me stressed. I thought I was good to go before I found this forum, but now I feel like I’m way under the bar.</p>
<p>This college app process is killing me, and I haven’t even technically started my apps yet… Hahaha. I’d be REALLY happy if I got into BC early. But do you guys know if they give out your FA package around the same time too?</p>
<p>@aveagle04 @JellyFishh Have you guys figured out which supplement to write on?</p>
<p>@ Student197
They do not give out the estimated FA package at the same time as your acceptance package. If accepted you send in the previous years tax forms for a conditional award that usually comes out in early Feb. Once your family has completed this years tax returns you mail those in for a finalized award which can go up a lot so if your conditional award is low do not give up hope. </p>
<p>@student197 I have not decided yet. I think I am going to start writing drafts for a few and see where it goes from there. What about you?</p>
<p>I know! Some days I feel pretty confident that I have a good chance of getting accepted, but then I see other people’s stats and it starts to worry me. @jellyfishh</p>
<p>@Eagle1095 Ah, okay that makes sense. So I guess I actually can’t sit back and relax even if I get an early acceptance to BC. </p>
<p>@aveagle04 I really haven’t thought too much about the essays either. But I think I’ll likely write on either topic #3 or topic #4. I don’t think I could do the first two (actually maybe #2). I will also try drafting a bit and see where it takes me!</p>
<p>@student197 1 seems like the easiest 2 seems impossible 3 seems very doable and 4 is so open ended. I’ll probably end up doing 3.</p>