Should I even apply?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston College
1

<p>Hey everybody, sorry if my question is entirely redundant, but what do you guys think? I love BC, but I realize it has to be my dream school. I’m not a legacy or anything, so…</p>

<p>I go to a Catholic college prep school in Columbus Ohio, ranked among the top 5% in the US. </p>

<p>I have a 3.6 Accum weighted (Don’t know what it is unweighted)
My classes are - </p>

<p>English - AP English Lit./Comp., AP English Lang., Fr and So. English
Math - Algebra I/II, Hs. Geom., PreCalc AB
Hist. - American Hist, Economics, Government, World Hist.
Science - Intro. to phys./chem., Biology, HS Chem., HS Physics, AP Bio
Lang. - Latin I/II, Spanish I/II, French I/II
Religion - Fr., So., Jr (Morality), Sr. (Comparative Religion) </p>

<p>I consistently get B/B+ grades, but my grades are significantly deflated because of my curriculum. We lose roughly 50% of our class after Fr. yr., most of whom earn 4.0+ at other parochial/public schools. Our Regular level classes are similar to HS classes elsewhere, our HS classes AP, and our AP college courses. My English Lit. is the same Soph. class they teach at kenyon, and my Bio the same So. class at Miami of Ohio. We send at least half of our class to OSU, (which is pretty good, I think) We’ve sent several kids to BC in the past, one last year</p>

<p>Acivities -
Tennis - 2nd singles, MVP, Captain, 1st team all league
St. Vincent de Paul volunteer this summer
Appalachia service trip (Environmental camp)
Altar Serving
National Honor Society
School language tutor
I teach myself foreign languages - I speak Spanish, English, Japanese, Italian, and French fluently
Etc.</p>

<p>Scores -
AP English Lang. - 5
SATI - - - - 680 580 710 = 1970, but I just took them again, and I think I got around a 710 630 740 (2080)
No ACT</p>

<p>ETC -
I am applying Reg. as I hearsd EA was even more competitive
I have visited BC
Unique essays
I am 1/4 Japanese (Does that qualify as a minority?)</p>

<p>What do you guys think my chances are? Should I even bother applying?
Thank you all for your patience and help, I really really appreciate it </p>

<p>TJM</p>

2

<p>I think you have a good shot with pretty good SAT scores, good EC's in athletics, volunteer work etc. and being able to speak 5 languages is really cool and I'd bet admissions will like that. Your GPA in the B range is a little low as you know, but if your school is a well-known & nationally ranked, the BC reps will be familiar with it and that should help your chances. I don't know if being 1/4 Japanese is a minority, but I would guess not.</p>

3

<p>You would be a good applicant for BC. Your chances may largely depend upon competition from your classmates who are also applying to BC.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the info guys. I think I'll apply just to see how things go. I heard that Early Action is more competitive, so I'll probably go reg.
We have a couple other guys applying, but they went EA so things might be a little different for them. Hopefully everything works out, but I guess anything can happen :)
Dp you guys know if BC is really big on the essay? I think mine's really unique, it will likely stand out. I know that's probably a good thing anywhere, but I was curious if BC was especially concerned with the essay, seeing as they recieved something like 28000 applications last year</p>

5

<p>It is my understanding that the essay is a very important part of the application and that the BC Admissions section of the BC website says that they really try to get a good sense of who you are an what you are all about. I imagine it is more important than ever with the Admissions dept having to read nearly 30,000 applications. I also had a unique essay that I had reviewed by several teachers and others before finalizing it. I do think that most kids don't spend enough quality time writing and editing their essays. It must have been pretty good since I got accepted EA at BC (my 1st choice) and several other very good colleges.</p>

6

<p>Thanks mnwin, I hope BC likes my essay. I chose the "your own topic" topic. I wrote about a difficult family experience, but I wanted to focus on my perception and ability to make it positive as opposed to simply recalling the story. The occurence itself could never be reproduced either :) </p>

<p>Do you like BC? (stupid question, I know, but I'm kind of looking for some student input, assuming you're a BC student) It's a bit out of my price range, but I'd certainly love to go there. My other choice is WF, which I have covered with an Independent 529 plan (I think it's called). Something about BC seems special, though. </p>

<p>Thanks again for the comments</p>

7

<p>There is a great thread on the CC main page about College essays. Here is a link to UV's essay reccomendations. I think most kids try to do too much in the eassy, just like they say. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>And how to I like BC? I love it and I'm so glad I chose this school. The classes are challenging (but not overly so I can't have a life), professors so far have exceeded my expectations, the kids are cool, there are always things to do from IM sports, parties, etc., kids play hard/work hard and Boston is a great city. And football games are crazy fun. I'm sure basketballl and hockey will be too. Go Eagles!</p>