<p>I’m going to be applying to college next year and i was debating between colleges. I was wondering how the Boston College lifestyle is, on it’s own as well as compared to Boston University, Northeastern University, and Umass Amherst.
Please help me, i’m completely lost and debating between colleges and i would love to have undergrads, grads, etc. opinions.
Thank you.</p>
<p>It’s probably a mistake to think in terms of “the” lifestyle at any college or university. Colleges are complex places with diverse student bodies, and students on the same campus can and do have very different lifestyles, even at small colleges.</p>
<p>That said, it’s worth noting that Boston College is a smaller school (about 9,000 undergrads) than Boston U (18,000), Northeastern (13.000), or UMass Amherst (22,000), and probably a more close-knit one. BC is in a pleasant suburban location with easy access to Boston proper, and it has more of a self-contained campus than BU or Northeastern which tend to spill over into their more urban locations, with somewhat indistinct boundaries; that would tend to pull people off campus more and into city life, which some students may prefer. UMass, in contrast, is very much a self-contained campus, but a very large one in a rather small town in western Mass, albeit an area with lots of colleges and lots of college students. I think there’s something attractive about BC’s setup: the college is like its own self-contained world, yet the city is readily at hand, whereas at BU and Northeastern the school isn’t so distinct from the city, and at UMass the city is inconveniently distant. BC, BU, and Northeastern have similar student-faculty ratios (13:1, compared to 18:1 at UMass), but 13:1 is not exactly an LAC-like figure; a number of top public universities are in the same ballpark. Of the four, I’d say BC is the most school-spirit, rah-rah kind of place, due in large part to a strong tradition of intercollegiate athletics. It’s also the only religiously affiliated of the four, though my impression is the religious influence is not overwhelmingly strong. Some may regard its Jesuit heritage as a point in its favor.</p>
<p>^ I agree with most of this. </p>
<p>Additionally, students at the top schools in Boston (Harvard, MIT, BC, Northeastern, BU) are much more focused on academics and careers generally than school in other parts of the country. You don’t have the frat/sorority crowd typically associated with universities. Students at Boston schools are typically well educated and come from fairly well-off families. </p>
<p>Going out typically involves going to a bar or club rather than a house party, although house parties occasionally happen. </p>
<p>College sports are not as big in the northeast generally, as the northeast has pro teams to root for. However, when playing against certain schools (Harvard vs Yale, for example), students get excited. </p>
<p>Careerwise, these schools are all going to help you get a decent foot in the door at some of the top employers. Unlike their state school counterparts, students at these schools are more focused on Wall Street than Main Street.</p>