I did not enjoy my experience at BC

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston College
1

<p>I’m one of those guys who didn’t get accepted to the schools of his choice; one of those guys who didn’t fit the profile of the average, stereotypical BC student; one of those guys who would have rather attended an academically serious school, not a party school. I was miserable at BC. Not a day went by when I didn’t fantasize about how great my life would have been if I had been accepted to my first or second choice school. Though I met intelligent people at BC, knowing that most of my peers were not overly brilliant did not help my self-esteem. And some of my professors seemed better suited for the public school system; I can honestly and seriously tell you that some of the classes I took in high school were more academically challenging than some of the classes I took at BC. A few years ago I met some of my former roommates, and I was surprised to learn that they were surprised to learn that I graduated with honors - turns out they were convinced that I was flunking my classes, since they always saw me as a slacker.</p>

<p>I could go on and on telling you stories about my experience at BC, but I don’t want to give the false impression that I am bitter at BC. I am bitter at myself for settling for BC.</p>

2

<p>And this matters to who?</p>

<p>Honestly man, keep your egotistical statements to yourself.</p>

<p>Why do you feel the need to tell people you graduated with honors?</p>

3

<p>I am not bragging. One out of every three BC students graduates with honors.</p>

4

<p>well espn, its nice to hear a dissenting opinion... not just "bc is amazing" all the time, b/c no school is perfect.
xzews was your high school public/private/prep school and did you take hard classes in HS</p>

5

<p>It was a public high school and I took a few AP courses.</p>

6

<p>As much as I enjoy a dissenting opinion, I think I agree with espn here. I'm curious if you're more of a loner or a people-person. I'd guess the former since even your former roommates didn't know you too well. As a boarding school girl, I've got to say that I'm not even friends with my roommate, but I know every single detail of her life, and her mine.</p>

<p>What did you major in? Surely there must've been at least a few people with interests similar to yours?</p>

<p>I'm currently choosing between Reed and BC right now, and BC's academic rigor is pretty much my main concern, with diversity a close second since I'm a a crazed latte-drinking liberal.</p>

7

<p>Could you please tell me if you were taking the Honors tract (I'm not sure if that's the same as graduating with honors at BC)? What were your expectations of college? Did you join any extracurriculars or try to get an internship elsewhere? And lastly, did you attempt to transfer out of BC, and is it usually difficult to transfer to a school of higher ranking?</p>

8

<p>Could you please tell me if you were taking the Honors tract (I'm not sure if that's the same as graduating with honors at BC)?
It's not the same.</p>

9

<p>Man I feel bad for you Xzews. Sorry you had such a crappy time at BC. Why didn't you transfer after freshman or sophomore year if you were so miserable? And what was your major?</p>

<p>"Though I met intelligent people at BC, knowing that most of my peers were not overly brilliant did not help my self-esteem."</p>

<p>...You need brilliant people around you to help your self-esteem?!? Isn't it usually the reversal?</p>

<p>"I am bitter at myself for settling for BC."</p>

<p>...I guess you'll be bitter at yourself for your entire life since you can't change your alma mater now. Well, enjoy your bitter life. Hey, there's always grad school.</p>

<p>Can I ask what honors did you get? Summa, Magna or Cum? I'm assuming Summa because you like being intellectual challenged.</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
Could you please tell me if you were taking the Honors tract (I'm not sure if that's the same as graduating with honors at BC)?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>By "graduating with honors," I mean having the words "cum laude," "magna cum laude" or "summa cum laude" printed on your diploma; it's based on class rank, which is based on grade point average.</p>

<p>
[quote]
What were your expectations of college?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I wanted to attend an academically serious school. I made the mistake of assuming that BC's reputation and ranking meant it had a strong undergraduate academic program - at least in the subject I studied. It didn't take me long to learn that I was wrong. To be fair, I took some very cool classes at BC, but half of them were either not challenging enough or very slow moving (nothing like spending the first thirty minutes of a lecture going over the answers of the prior week's homework). There were also some classes I wanted to take but was never able to due to scheduling conflicts or limited seats or availability.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Did you join any extracurriculars or try to get an internship elsewhere?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I did, but as liaku correctly identified, I was more of a loner than a people-person. I always felt that my personality type was unlike that of most BC students.</p>

<p>
[quote]
And lastly, did you attempt to transfer out of BC, and is it usually difficult to transfer to a school of higher ranking?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I don't know the answer to the second part of your question, but I did make an unsuccessful attempt to transfer out of BC. I might have shot too high.</p>

11

<p>Clearly if you were that unhappy at BC you would have been able to transfer out...even if it was just to your state school. </p>

<p>My feeling is that to "fit in" at BC you have to be open to change and it doesn't look like you were- no extracurriculars, no internships.</p>

<p>Again, there are very intelligent students at any school, including BC, but if you don't try to meet people of course you're going to be unhappy.</p>

12

<p>this thread scares me</p>

<p>i applied to tweleve schools, was rejected by two (haverford and pomona- my number one), accepted by four (two safeties, macalester, and BC) and waitlisted at six</p>

<p>i currently attend a very preppy stereotypical connecticut school. i don't like my school very much, but i do have plenty of friends. i'm also a liberal person and i want a very intellectually stimulating environment for my college experience. </p>

<p>i know BC is a great school with a great reputation, but i'm very scared that i'm gonna end up miserable. i've been told by many people that it is exactly like my high school, and i would completely hate that. </p>

<p>my problem is that all my schools i felt were a perfect fit (carleton, wesleyan, grinnell, CMC, haverford, and pomona) either rejected or waitlisted me. now i'm stuck choosing between two schools that i know i will get a great education at, but seem a little off.</p>

<p>macalester is great for what i want to study (international relations), but it is almost too liberal- i hate people who are extreme anything- extremely conservative, extremely liberal, extremely religious, extremely atheistic, etc. i like it when people are open to new ideas and perspectives, and i'm scared mac will be the opposite of that. not to mention, after sophomore year no one really wants to live on campus and it seems to lose a lot of its community.</p>

<p>BC clearly has a tight community, but i feel it may not be right for me. i'm usually someone who ends up adapting to whatever situation i'm in, but i'm scared of being miserable in college. i wasn't looking for a big sports school, and i only applied because my dad went there. it seems to be too much of a party school, and i also hate their core requirements.</p>

<p>i'm sorry i sort of hijacked this thread, but it's making me nervous.</p>

<p>any opinions?</p>

13

<p>ilk07...not trying to be sketchy or anything- I ask this b/c im from CT as well</p>

<p>Do you go to a boarding school (i.e. Hotchkiss, Salisbury, etc.)
or a private day school (i.e. Fairfield Prep, Brunswick etc.)</p>

<p>I ask because I am deciding now as well and I can throw my opinion in for you if I know whether your school is a boarding or day school- because there is a big difference.</p>

14

<p>ilk07, think about it. If there are 9k students, you've got to be able to find a group of 10 or so out of 9,000 that are similarly intelligent and down-to-earth. If we both go there, then you can at least call me. :P</p>

<p>In the end, your education is what you make of it. If you think your workload is too easy, then just take more classes. Breadth is not the same as depth, but a decent enough alternative. Personally, I'm fully expecting the first year of intro classes to royally suck. Hoping it'll go uphill from there, but if it doesn't, it's transfer time. ...That's provided I don't opt out and go to Reed instead.</p>

15

<p>This makes me nervous too...as does all the bad grammar all over the BC threads---two blatant offenses on this page alone...and a couple other things when I visited that implied the same. But the thread-starter should take heart in the fact that my older sibs go to Ivies are were astounded to find the workload and academic quality was a third less than our (over the top) public high school, so you aren't alone and it may not be just BC. (Although they are also astounded at the brilliance of their peers). I'm just happy that I will have an easier time geting a high GPA and into a good grad school from BC than I would at an Ivy where I would be in the bottom half of my classes becasue my IQ is "only" 135 (pur school system tests that!) and my SAT's were "only" 2160.</p>

16

<p>
[quote]
But the thread-starter should take heart in the fact that my older sibs go to Ivies are were astounded to find the workload and academic quality was a third less than our (over the top) public high school, so you aren't alone and it may not be just BC.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I had a friend at BC who spent his junior year studying at an Ivy League school; his anecdotes were disheartening.</p>

17

<p>Please come to BC. We are in need of intelligent students.</p>

<p>If you really want to be academically challenged, don't expect BC to push you. You're going to have to challenge yourself at this place. Also, BC definitely has a high school mentality. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am actually enrolled at a university. I have met brilliant, amazing people but they are few and far between.</p>

18

<p>wow this actually affects my decision of going to BC or not....</p>

19

<p>I don't know. I can't agree with some of the views in this thread. I have met many intelligent people at BC. I agree that many students are not your classical intellectuals (i.e. book lovers, poetry composers, classical musical aficionados). Their intelligence is geared toward more practical or pragmatic outlook on life. BC students are doers. The ECs that students participate in are numerous and far reaching. First, just look at the makeup of BC's colleges. We have THREE professionally oriented schools out of four: CSOM (business and management), LSOE (teaching), and CSON (nursing). Those three schools compose of nearly half the student body at BC. All three schools' purpose is to prepare students for the professional world with a lot of internships and hand on work experience. Because of students' obligation from these schools to put in non-academic hours off-campus, they do not obtain the most in-depth liberal arts education. That gives you the impression that BC doesn't have an intellectual atmosphere (which is blatantly false). </p>

<p>BC has many academic programs that will challenge your brain to its extreme. Among them include Perspective (try Braman and Perspective IV and you'll know what I'm talking about), the Honors Program, and International Studies. Every month the Honors Program has several nights of discussion and watching movies that make you thing (this is open to all students). Just last year, BC funded a trip for a 100 students to see Mozart's Opera: Don Giovanni. I want to ask the critics of BC's intellectual atmosphere, "How many time did you attend on these activities? Have you actually explored in-depth the intellectual offerings outside of the classroom? Or are you basing this off your daily interaction with your dorm mates, who may or may not care about how religious Beethoven Fifth is?" BC has the second highest number of students winning the Fulbright Fellowship (Pomona is #1) so there are certainly smart and ambitious students who want to engage the world academically.</p>

<p>BC, like any other university, has a diverse environment of intelligentsias and the I-Banking nuts (who don't give a hoot about your poems or your sublime feeling). There will be people you will meet that you won't agree with, won't like, and won't want to be around. But that as real in life as anywhere else. BC is not Reed, it is not Williams, and it's not St.John's College; it is BC and it has its flaws as well as its unique charms. If you like to meditate in a convent for four years, BC definitely is not for you; if you want a well-rounded education and with a well-rounded crew of friends, and an excellent experience of collegiate partying, consider BC a good place to be.</p>

<p>P.S.
Xzews expresses a different opinion that some us disagree with, and that's fine. Let's not go crazy with our pride of BC and mercilessly bash him/her.</p>

20

<p>ngkelvinsk, my intentions are not to encourage or discourage anyone from attending BC; I simply want young people currently contemplating the possibility of attending BC to know that unless they fit the profile of the average BC student there exists the possibility that they will have an experience similar to mine, so they don't end up making the mistake I made the moment I decided to attend BC. I realize that I am on the minority here, so take my opinions for what they are worth.</p>