How good is Boston College's CSOM exactly?

<p>I was recently accepted into CSOM Honors, and none of my friends even knew what it was when I mentioned it to them. To be honest I am kind of bummed out. I was rejected from several Ivies and NYU Stern, and although CSOM is a good school, I don’t feel like it’s as great as the schools I was rejected from. I probably sound really obnoxious and entitled right now, but I feel like I could’ve gotten into someplace better. I had a 2350 SAT, 790 SAT II Lit, 800 Math II, 770 World History, 770 French, and 5s on all 4 of my APs. I understand those stats are commonplace among the thousands of brilliant students out there and don’t make me special or entitled to anything, but I still feel like I’m “settling” for CSOM. Can someone please tell me honestly how good and well-recognized CSOM is compared to the business schools of USC, NYU, Georgetown, UMich, etc?
Again I’m sorry for sounding so ungrateful and all-round annoying, but I just feel very disappointed in myself. </p>

<p>CSOM is ranked very highly. See <a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?; </p>

<p>Just kill it at CSOM - 3/8/3.9+, President of Clubs or Captain of Teams & Network hard and you can still end up with similar positions that the students from the schools you were rejected at will land. Also, you are in CSOM Honors you will probably breeze through BC anyway so just use this as an opportunity. </p>

<p>BC may be a semi-target at best - and is definitely a couple of Notches below Stern, GTown, & UMich but it is on par w/ USC. As long as you do well while you ar there you will be fine. </p>

<p>Boston College is an amazing school to which most people wish they could gain acceptance. Yesterday I was walking down the street in my midwest town, and struck up a conversation with a 40ish, attractive and charming home-builder. He said he went there (way back when) and I said in awe “Oh Boston College is really hard to get into today.” When he looked at me like, did I think he was stupid, I added, it’s just that schools like Boston College are filled with people qualified to go to any of the Ivies. He said he had a great time there, despite initial disappointment being rejected from U Penn.
I do some local prospective student interviewing for my alma mater, and I can tell you, only a handful of applicants from my state got acceptance letters to my school this spring. I was really shocked by this low number. Some very impressive and outstanding high school seniors were wait-listed. </p>

<p>Congratulations on your wonderful success with admittance to Boston College. Boston is so much fun, to boot!</p>

<p>Thanks for all your answers. However, despite the good things mentioned here about BC, I’m still questioning whether I would enjoy my experience there. I’m thinking of transferring to Tufts. </p>

<p>How can you transfer to Tufts when you haven’t even accepted BC’s admission offer? You clearly have misgivings about coming here, when you use words like “settle”. Go where you think the fit is best. If it isn’t here, then all the best to you elsewhere. Remember that no matter what, you’ll have buyer’s regret at some point. You’ll work through it just fine.</p>

<p>How good is CSOM (especially with Honors distinction)? Very good. Our alumni are EVERYWHERE on the street. Analyst classes at BBs have plenty of CSOM students. In other words, it’s our top program for a reason.</p>

<p>For banking, we basically dominate Tufts, USC, and Vandy, and are slightly better than UCLA undergrad, Emory, etc. Honors is opportunity wise mostly on par with Cornell while quality of life is WAY better, which was a deciding factor for me since I ended up getting into Cornell and Emory post waitlist and turned them down. There are babes everywhere, you are in gorgeous Chestnut Hill (a half hour from the heart of Boston), and the college is fun and cooperative rather than cutthroat. I got rejected from UVA (out of state), but more than a few of my classmates got into UVA and chose CSOM as it’s instant admission into the biz school while you have to apply after year 2 to get into UVA McIntire (same with Emory Goizueta).</p>

<p>With regards to NYU Stern, you may be surprised to hear that CSOM and especially Honors CSOM is better. Here’s why: while Stern has more domestic and probably global recognition and place more kids in the street, the cutthroat environment, horrible curves, and lack of a campus make it unpleasant and not worth it. While you may struggle to stand out at Stern as you’re abused by the curve and competition, given your stats, you would thrive at CSOM absolutely stress free… have way more fun… and you’d end up with the same job.</p>

<p>Mich = If you get into Ross, it’s definitely a bit better overall than CSOM. Not much though for BB recruiting. Getting into Ross is hard though, and once you get in, the trick is standing out. A lot easier to stand out at CSOM, and you’ll end up getting the same job. Only reason I give Ross props is because it’s actually a fun school, and ask any banker, going to a fun school is important.</p>

<p>Gtown = recruiting is stronger than at CSOM, but as a top student here, you have the same opportunities. Gtown’s recruiting mostly kicks in as you move down the bell curve as its consistently good across a wide range of GPAs, where as you have to standout at CSOM to get the best jobs.</p>

<p>USC = not even comparable. We are significantly better. they get a few regional positions at best. we get prime New York placement.</p>

<p>Tufts = Just to reiterate, we basically, excuse my french, s**t on Tufts for recruiting (and that’s just regular CSOM), our girls are way hotter, and our student body is actually normal. A bunch of kids from my HS go to Tufts ea. yr.; it’s not a good place to develop your personality unless you are quirky and want to remain quirky. And remember, when you graduate, most recruits only take a cursory look at your GPA, etc and the rest is intangibles (personality, could I work in a closed office with you 5-7 days a week, etc.) Tufts kids don’t learn the intangibles like BC kids. Don’t take my word for it; ask any recruiter.</p>

<p>@BostonCollege17, looking at CMU Tepper, NYU Stern and BC CSOM, could you offer any input regarding atmosphere, grading (deflation and curving especially), internship opportunities, and peer quality? Thanks!</p>

<p>CMU Tepper is good for Sales & Trading and anything Quant. It’s CMU, so quality of life is mediocre and although some people like Pitt, Chestnut Hill and proximity to Boston is better. If you’re a geek, you may enjoy CMU. Heavy emphasis on math, analysis, quant. Our recruiting is better and more consistent for banking/consulting, but if you want to go down the technical career route CMU dominates there.
For NYU Stern, see my previous post. Quality of life is better here (much). A top kid will have the same opportunities at both schools. If you love New York City, don’t mind living in a high rise without a campus, can afford to pay exorbitant NYC prices, and enjoy harsh curves and a cutthroat culture (hey, some do), then by all means to go NYU.
I didn’t apply to either CMU or Stern because I knew I wouldn’t be happy there (and I’m a legacy at Stern), but of the three I’d choose CSOM if you don’t want to be a quant and don’t enjoy a cutthroat finance environment.</p>

<p>@articmonkeys Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be accepted at a top 30 university especially when you consider the year many people had with admissions. I have at least 4 friends who are exactly on par with your stats and got in no where. They have no choice but to attend our flagship state university. You need to fully understand what you have ahead of you in CSOM Honors at BC. Many people will probably tell you that college is what you make of it and not always where you end up. So stop sounding like an entitled and obnoxious high school senior, grow up and fully comprehend the amazing opportunities you have coming up in the next 4 years. Otherwise turn down BC’s offer because no one will want to be friends with someone who thinks they are better than where they are.</p>

<p>Thanks for your input! Yeah, I did hear that CMU is a nerdy-type of school but I have never been there. I’m asking actually for my sister, and she doesn’t know that much about computer science. I also hear that the social scene is kind of dead there. As for Stern, we’ve been to NYC a lot and the lack of campus is a negative somewhat. I’m concerned about the grading/curving and competitive atmosphere, if it’s really so bad or manageable.</p>

<p>My sister didn’t get into CSOM Honors even though she has a 2340 SAT and 2 SAT SUBJ with 800 and 1 with 790. Is it a big handicap not to be in Honors? </p>

<p>@ClaudineK - No. I’m not in Honors and plenty of kids in regular CSOM do just as well or better than Honors kids.
More than anything, being in Honors indicates that you’re likely do to well and be a strong candidate for a job. If you simply get a strong GPA, you can already accomplish that. Not all Honors kids end up getting amazing GPAs cause they’re not all gods, so plenty of CSOM kids do better academically. And CSOM is a strong enough program that there are plenty of jobs to go around, anyway. I think we have one of the highest job placement rates anywhere, something like 96-98%. You’re going to get a good job coming out of here, and if you have a 3.5+ and good internships, that job is going to be an IVY comparable job.</p>

<p>One more note… Doesn’t matter that she’s not in Honors, she can just tout her SAT score on her resume (Her Math+CR is 1540+ which is very strong) and that will give her a competitive edge.</p>

<p>Also if she ends up caring about Honors that much, she can pull a 3.8 her first semester and be considered (not everyone who pulls a 3.8 gets in, and I know plenty of kids who got in and decided not to do it because of extra work and a thesis). At the end of the day, GPA and work experience matter most (with a higher CR+Math helping a lot for the more competitive jobs). The Honors distinction offers a few special opportunities, but nothing that can’t be compensated for with effort and personal networking.</p>

<p>For the record I will be going to UCLA. Nevertheless, BC is an amazing school and I didn’t mean to disparage it. I was just miffed that I didn’t get into my top choices and let out my frustrations in an immature manner. Good luck to anyone who will be attending BC! </p>

<p>@Eagle1095‌ How did your friends get rejected everywhere? I’m truly surprised. </p>

<p>@arcticmonkeys This year has just been a very difficult year for college admissions to every single top 30 school in the country. Those 4 people I was referring to all have above 2300’s on their SAT’s, perfect 4.0 GPA’s and outstanding EC’s including state and national awards. To be honest however they did play the Ivy League or bust game and they went bust, they made the drastic mistake of counting Duke as their match/safety. Never the less, each one of them were heartbroken yet they are making the most of where they are going. I do apologize if I came across a little aggressively, I just hate seeing seniors who have excellent opportunities complaining that they got rejected from schools that have less than 10% acceptance rates. It could be a lot worse, you could be going to a state school or community college.</p>

<p><a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?;

<p>@BostonCollege17, we are making decision between kelley and CSOM. S is accepted to both colleges. They both have great finance program. S is accepted to huttons at kelley and regular acceptance at CSOM. Any advice?</p>

<p>both great schools, ucmom.</p>

<p>Which is cheapest?</p>

<p>Kelley is 20K cheaper than CSOM.</p>

<p>if that is $20k/yr, that is a chunk of change.</p>

<p>I’m a big fan of the BC education, and if your family can afford it easily, I highly recommend Chestnut Hill. But if it means not funding a 401k account, then Kelley is an excellent option.</p>