Rejected from BC Business

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston College
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<p>How good is the business school at BC? 'Cuz I just got flat-out rejected from Boston College and I applied to Carroll. BUT, I got into Cornell and got waitlisted by WashU…I mean, maybe the business school is really good, but I’m not going to lie, BC was a target for me, and I thought it was well within my reach, so I’m definitely surprised. Can anyone shed some light on BC for me?</p>

<p>Here are some of my stats-
female, asian
GPA: 3.978
SAT: 2100+, SAT2 lit: 750, SAT2 american history: 730
courseload: 10 APs over 3 years, 4 APs this year…I mean, I’ve never taken an AP science, all my APs are history/language, with the exception of AB Calc.
lots of extra curriculars - key club vice president, involved in like 5 music ensembles, darfur club vp, literary magazine alyout editor, yearbook senior editor…
applied for financial aid</p>

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<p>It sounds like you just applied to BC just to apply, to be honest.</p>

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<p>Yeah, that doesn’t make sense…cause I got waitlisted fro BC Business and my stats are:
89.14 Avg…(3.5-3.6 GPA)
2140 SAT, 800 CHM, 730 MII</p>

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<p>I was wondering the same thing about CSOM. I was accepted this week and I think there is a strong chance I’ll attend, although I’m still hopefully waiting on Brown this week. Any insight as to how good CSOM is?</p>

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<p>I myself take all rankings with a grain of salt, but Business Week ranks CSOM as #14 for undergraduate business programs.</p>

<p>[Undergrad</a> - BSchools](<a href=“http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/undergrad_bschool/]Undergrad”>http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/undergrad_bschool/)</p>

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<p>Dear ddg : Very sorry to hear about your disappointing result but certainly the Cornell option is wonderful and a great achievement. While your brief synopsis “does not an application make”, some thoughts on what you have written. Missing all AP sciences, if they were offered by your high school (this information would be in the high school’s profile) would be a red flag on your application as you are competing for CSOM spots against students who have gone the distance in the hard sciences in addition to other areas you mentioned. You might have some outside interests and volunteer/community efforts that do not appear on your resume. Also, there are lots of extra curriculars (including music), but nothing on the sports side. Your numbers (grades/board scores) were certainly “good enough”, but your profile reads like many of the other better applicants from the pool of 30,000.</p>

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<p>I agree with randomgrandeur…I may be completely wrong but I get the impression from you that you just assumed you would get into BC because of your stats and it isn’t always that simple.</p>

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<p>^^^ yea and maybe that her schedule and/or clubs show no interest in business</p>

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<p>That’s strange. Your stats are very similar to mine—better even in some facets. Although I had very good recs and a pretty good essay, if I do say so myself. I will have taken 10 AP’s by the time I finish senior year, 5 this year, 5 so far with sciences. I applied for management and leadership (none of my EC’s had to do with business, but I have a lot of leadership positions…? So…?) and got into the honors program. Really, your situation boggles me.</p>

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<p>Your situation boggles me as well. I have a 3.8 weighted GPA, an SAT of 1890, a few APs, scarcely any extracurriculars, yet I mysteriously got in. Though I daresay that my teacher recommendations were damned good, while my essay discussed a career in business that I wished to have in the future.</p>

<p>You got into Cornell though - that is one reason to celebrate.</p>

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<p>…I think people put too much (read: ALL) weight on the #s and little emphasis on their essay and recommendations. Admissions can gather a rough concept of what kind of person you are. Maybe, the OP wasn’t what BC was really looking for.</p>

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<p>randomgrandeur - I didn’t apply just to apply…I mean, yeah, I knew that BC would be easier to get in than the other schools I applied to but I would have genuinely considered it if I had gotten in. And sorry, what’s the OP? </p>

<p>scottj - I guess the lack of AP sciences might have hurt me but does that really matter in business? I don’t see how being a varsity athlete would matter in consideration for business either. I understand that it’s not that simple though - I know people in the first decile of my school who have gotten rejected from schools that I thought they would have gotten in. I was just a bit puzzled, that’s all, because I read the stats of people who got in in the Admitted thread, and my stats were as definitely good as most peoples, and honestly, better than a lot of them. And I know stats aren’t everything but I really thought that my essays were good and my recs were great. </p>

<p>Anyway, my guidance counselor said it’s because I applied for financial aid. And probably the lack of a supplement essay hurt me cuz I wasn’t able to really show my interest…I don’t know, whatever. Rejection in general just hurts, so of course, I questioned why I didn’t get in. </p>

<p>Thanks to all who responded and good luck to everyone!</p>

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<p>I doubt it’s because you applied for financial aid. I applied for financial aid myself and still got in.</p>

<p>This college admissions business is really wonky - who knows, maybe the admissions officers simply flip a coin to decide those who get in, and those who would get waitlisted. There is only so much space for everyone.</p>

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<p>True - I mean I would have preferred to be waitlisted, if anything, but it’s okay, haha. It is wonky, though, the valedictorian at my school, with a gpa of 4.6, and who’s won so many academic awards and whatnot, got rejected from stanford. Not that I’m comparing myself to her, but yeah, it’s can be really wonky.</p>

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<p>I just got rejected from Carroll too, with stats similar to yours. I didn’t apply for financial aid, though. :frowning: It is pretty wacky, in the acceptance thread I see people with 1600s and 1800s SAT getting in… but I guess I didn’t show strong enough interest or something. Bleh.</p>

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<p>ddg, your guidance counselor is just plain WRONG. BC has truly “need blind” admissions and checking off the “will apply for financial aid” box has absolutely no impact whatsoever on the admissions decision.</p>

<p>I’m sorry that you weren’t accepted by BC, and I hope you have other wonderful schools to choose from. But this year was a really tough year for admissions, I think. Just looking at some of the decisions posted here on CC, I’m been surprised and led to wonder what they were looking for.</p>

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<p>Dear ddg : Again, I am very sorry that you were not accepted as your numbers alone looked solid. Let me come back to your posting to those who answered you :</p>

<p>scottj - I guess the lack of AP sciences might have hurt me but does that really matter in business? I don’t see how being a varsity athlete would matter in consideration for business either. I understand that it’s not that simple though - I know people in the first decile of my school who have gotten rejected from schools that I thought they would have gotten in. I was just a bit puzzled, that’s all, because I read the stats of people who got in in the Admitted thread, and my stats were as definitely good as most peoples, and honestly, better than a lot of them. And I know stats aren’t everything but I really thought that my essays were good and my recs were great.</p>

<p>Your view about AP Sciences versus CSOM business is fine, but what does an admission’s counselor say to the candidate who really nailed their science AP exams? Further, if the candidate has business background, economics (micro/macro) and such, how does that stack up with your application? Again, we do not know the answer here on CC, those are points for you to ponder.</p>

<p>As for varsity athletics, if you have not heard the lecture about balance across a variety of high school discplines, you have missed the picture here. Once a fresh class of 2250 students reach campus in September 2009, what are they going to do 7x24 for 15 weeks aside from go to class? The point is that sports participation adds to the campus fabric.</p>

<p>Anyway, my guidance counselor said it’s because I applied for financial aid. And probably the lack of a supplement essay hurt me cuz I wasn’t able to really show my interest…I don’t know, whatever. Rejection in general just hurts, so of course, I questioned why I didn’t get in.</p>

<p>Your guidance counselor is completely uninformed. BC is so need blind that it is one of the reasons why financial aid data is not available until the week after acceptances are released. All of the data is maintained separately - trust this fact as I know it for absolutely sure if you get my point.</p>

<p>Your interest should have come through in the standard essay - the lack of a supplement might have allowed more expository samples, but the main essay is the whole ball of wax in terms of expressing yourself.</p>

<p>Again, sorry for your disappointment and I truly hope that wherever you wind up, the next four years are fabulous. Good luck and god’s speed.</p>

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<p>Dear worried_mom : To your points - </p>

<p>Just looking at some of the decisions posted here on CC, I’m been surprised and led to wonder what they were looking for.</p>

<p>Some of the information I have gained from people on the inside at BC - first, the number of accepted applications was increased slightly this year as BC anticipates a number of financial aid situations with the current economy. I have been told that about 1% more acceptances were generated this year which would be about 300-400 additional acceptances across the campus.</p>

<p>Second, the expectation is that yield will be potentially lower this year on the pure money factor.</p>

<p>Third, the explosion in state school applications might have hurt the overall applicant pool at many private universities this year. This data will emerge in the coming months.</p>

<p>The expanded acceptance pool combined with a change in the applicant quality due to financial considerations, might have reshaped this year’s acceptance pool more than usual. If you read some other boards, you will find some similar observations.</p>

<p>Two years back, BC was very focused on board scores and raised the midpoint substantially. Last year, the push seemed to be on class rank - top 10% type students and beyond. This year, it does not appear that a clear theme has emerged as yet based on the CC inputs.</p>

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<p>scottj - Are you…one of those people from inside BC? Haha, just kidding, but wow, you do seem to know a lot about BC admissions. Of course I know that sports add something to the fabric but some of us just aren’t as athletically gifted as others, and I think through my application, it’s obvious that I’m still a really involved person. But, whatever, I’m going to stop harping about the fact I didn’t get into BC and just wait for my other schools. But thanks for responding so meticulously, you have good points, obviously. </p>

<p>robertogonzalez - Sucks, doesn’t it? Hopefully, we’ll get into other schools. Good luck and good luck to everyone else!</p>

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<p>“lots of extra curriculars - key club vice president, involved in like 5 music ensembles, darfur club vp, literary magazine alyout editor, yearbook senior editor…”</p>

<p>that is a LOT of extracurriculars…which can be seen in 1 of 2 ways:</p>

<ol>
<li>youre REALLY REALLY REALLY involved</li>
<li>at your school, those activities do not take up much time, making it managable to have so many leadership positions.</li>
</ol>

<p>now, im not suggesting that you fit in the latter description; obviously cornell saw the great accomplishments you’ve made :). but maybe BC thought otherwise. at least in my school, any one leadership position means a MASSIVE time commitment. </p>

<p>good luck with the rest of your schools :)</p>