<p>Our son’s experience at BC aligns 100% with what WhereYouLead and iMac15 describe.</p>
<p>Academics are taken seriously.<br>
Clubs and activities abound which allow you to follow your passion wherever it takes you.<br>
And the best part is all the new friendships that come with those activities.</p>
<p>Alexdl, I’m sorry your first semester didn’t work out for you. Be careful about assuming it will be better at another school.</p>
<p>Deal alexdl : We went back onto the archives of College Confidential and found that you were originally completely focused on attending Columbia University. In your words “Rejection is never a good thing. For the past year, I had set my sights on Columbia, I applied ED, but I was unfortunately rejected. The biggest mistakes I made, was preparing myself to attend Columbia. I had envisioned myself there, I had picked out what clubs I was going to join, I selected what dorm I wanted to be in my freshman year, etc. … When I found out I was rejected, the next four years of my life suddenly became uncertain; I had picked out what other schools I planned to apply to, but aside from adding them to my list, I had never thought to much about them.”</p>
<p>With two children at Boston College right now, both of whom were High School Valedictorians, I can understand your sentiment regarding the Ivy League chase. However, shaping your environment into what you need from your collegiate experience is critically important and that action is owned by you. At any university, involvement in diverse activities outside your classrooms is a critical success factor just as it was in High School. The previous posts from iMac15, WhereYouLead, and jpm50 are echoing the same view.</p>
<p>With the semester ending, a suggestion for you when you return to the campus in mid-January : Please contact the Office of the First Year Experience and ask for a discussion with either Father Joe Marchese or Biz Bracher. A cup of coffee with them for an hour and some open dialog from you will help direct you in many ways to reconnect with Boston College outside of the sports venues. You will find academic clubs, academic competitions in your major or minor field, or any number of other activities to engage you on in intellectual level.</p>
<p>[First</a> Year Experience - Boston College](<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/offices/fye/]First”>http://www.bc.edu/offices/fye/)</p>
<p>In closing, Boston College’s 9000 undergraduates are certainly not the bland cookie-cutter student body that you have found in your review of the campus fabric. We need to have you connect in areas more closely aligned with your interests. I am sure the that First Year Experience will help immensely. Please let us know that you will be reaching out to them.</p>
<p>Sincerely, scottj</p>
<p>I am a sophomore. My biggest gripe is that the science major’s work load is heavier here than any of my high school friends (schools like John Hopkins, Tufts, BU, Columbia, Dartmouth, UNH, UMass). Where they typically have a 4 class like work load, we have 5. So the opportunity for diversions are short but intense… its not that its hard or competitive, it just takes up so much time. I can’t really comment on other majors except that most seem to be “overworked”.</p>
<p>I can relate a bit to alexdl. Perhaps my expectations were too high given the high standards of BC admissions and all the “marketing”. I found a surprising number of students that just don’t grasp science, don’t know how to study. Few seem to have been prepared by their high schools for what to do around the lab. Perhaps the students did not have to study much in high school (I know I didn’t) but few come in prepared for college work. There are a few intellectuals, but their people skill seems to be so poor. Perhaps its not all that different than other schools, just my BC expectations were higher. Just about everyone works hard here, however, taking school seriously.</p>
<p>Otherwise the college life and atmosphere is just great. There is a lot of pride here. Others here have mentioned that the professors care about their students, they are hired for there teaching skills, not so much for their research. They don’t seem to be trying to “weed” out the less skilled, but want everyone to know the subject matter well. Students here typically want a balanced college life and enjoy the physical diversion of participation in sports or a trip down to Boston. But we are talking 18-20 year olds here too, that sometimes just want to have fun, sometimes tend to be cliquey. Just human nature I guess. Intellectual discussions outside the classroom are just not fun for most, and I think you will find that at just about any school. Just saying.</p>
<p>I was accepted EA into the Honors Program at the Lynch School of Education - does anyone have any insight? I’m really not sure where I want to go, since I was deferred by my top choice, but hope that wherever I end up I will be happy. Right now I’m just trying to prioritize my EA acceptances and also the schools I applied to RD, including my top choice where I was deferred. I have to admit -alexdl’s comments scared me, because I think (no offense) sometimes BC and similar schools have a bad rap for being “privileged” or whatever. I’m totally into school spirit and am really involved in my high school, though. Could anyone tell me more about their experience at BC, or why they chose BC over other schools? I’m also accepted at Villanova and Fordham, which I’m sure a lot of you applied to, since they are similar. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>P.S.: HAPPY TO BE ACCEPTED!!!</p>
<p>ColdCase, that’s one thing I do agree on. I was Pre-Med/Pre-Law (couldn’t decide, so I was taking the Pre-Med reqs) and my course load was insane. Many of my other friends at other schools were taking 4 classes and only had class 4 days a week. My other pre-med friends here were taking a 3 hour lab along with 5 other classes and some other discussions. </p>
<p>But I think that’s the price you pay when you choose a school with a strict core, and also when you’re pre-med you don’t have many of the discussion based classes. I believe that once we move up in our majors, when the classes get smaller, we will find many more people interested in the class topics.</p>
<p>Alex:</p>
<p>I feel bad that you have not had a good Frosh experience. D-1 sports is ingrained in the fabric of BC, just as drunken partying is ingrained in certain colleges. It’s just no fun sit at home alone while everyone is out drinking (or watching football), if that’s not your thing. A school with big time sports is not for everyone. (In my home state, some kids prefer UC San Diego over Cal and UCLA just bcos SD does not have D1 sports.)</p>
<p>It appears that you chose BC bcos it was “ranked higher” than BU… As a prelaw, you can go anywhere and still be admitted to Harvard Law – it’s all about gpa + lsat. And you have the best chance to maximize your gpa if you attend a college where you will be happy outside of the classroom, as well as in.</p>
<p>I see (on other threads) that you plan on giving Columbia another try. But if it doesn’t workout, also consider other D3 urban schools, such as Tufts, NYU, Chicago, George Washington or Emory (if you like the suburban feel, but near a city), or even some LACs. (And yes, your SAT scores will still count, but not as much as Frosh apps.) </p>
<p>Definitely visit with the FY office. I’m sure that they can recommend some other colleges which might fit you better. Again, even a school ranked 100 sends kids to Harvard Law – it just takes a high gpa + lsat.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Not everyone can be satisfied, maybe you’re not attempting to seek out the various opportunities available here. Sometimes you just have to look harder into the goldmines.</p>
<p>I was raised Catholic, but when I was a student at BC, I went away from the church. BC’s Catholicism had zero to do with me applying and had no impact AT ALL on me when I was there. I never once went to mass the entire time I was there. Even though I had several priests as professors, and even though I lived right next to a Jesuit in my sophomore-year dorm, NOT ONCE did anybody (student, faculty, or staff) ever try to get me to go to mass or become religious.</p>
<p>just finished my first year here</p>
<p>absolutely miserable.</p>
<p>not sure what went wrong but somehow all these rumors were made about me. my profs are hardly any help. it seems every person i meet here is exactly the same. and do not get me started on the administration here…</p>
<p>still haven’t found my niche at all here…considering dropping out…</p>
<p>AnthonyLove:
I’m not sure how to interpret your reply.</p>
<p>In your previous threads you made it clear that you always had your eyes on Cornell and that they offered you some sort of Guaranteed Transfer.</p>
<p>Yet this past summer, after you completed one semester at BC, your comments about BC were:
<p>If you were that happy after your first semester at BC, what changed to make you describe your self as “absolutely miserable” after your second BC semester?</p>
<p>the whole last posts thing is kinda creepy but … understandable</p>
<p>just happened that i have had one of the worst semesters of my life…that’s what happened</p>
<p>all that stuff i said in the thread was hardly true…i was always planning on transferring, the “i’m content” value was not very high after my first semester. i am not even sure why i said that. because i was not very content after my first semester. now it’s just worse</p>
<p>Ok I’ll weigh in on my first semester…</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Love the school spirit here…football games are so much fun regardless of your interest in the sport. </p></li>
<li><p>The 15 core requirements are overkill…I wish I didn’t have to take a full year of subjects like philosophy, theology, history, natural science, social science, etc…</p></li>
<li><p>Food is REALLY good. McElroy Commons is really gross but the food on Lower Campus (about a 10 minute walk from Upper campus) is so much better.</p></li>
<li><p>Course registration has been awful and I’ve been stuck with the worst professors BC has to offer, but as my academic advisor said, “Freshmen are low on the depth chart and sometimes you just have to settle.”</p></li>
<li><p>Advising has been sucky for me, I’ve sought out help from my advisor but she never really has anything helpful to say other than things like “that’s just how it works here”</p></li>
<li><p>Playing a sport is a huge commitment that prevents me from taking classes I want even more </p></li>
<li><p>The party scene is a lot of fun, although you absolutely need connections…otherwise no luck as a freshman (boy). As one of my professors said, “BC is a drinking school with a Jesuit problem.”</p></li>
<li><p>People here don’t really seem to take advantage of Boston all that often…my entire social life has basically been on or around campus so far. It’s the “BC Bubble” effect.</p></li>
<li><p>The department I wanted to major in is really non-popular here at BC so that was a little disappointing. And the classes required for the major all sound bloody boring. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Yeah I don’t know what else to say…feel free to ask me to elaborate on anything. </p>
<p>I think I might look to transfer just so I can have the option at the end of this year. The social life is ideal for me but everything else is a little iffy at this point. I’d say my first semester was “fun” but not really challenging.</p>
<p>I loved my first semester. I can understand what students previously posted, but I think a lot of it is what you make it. BC is a big enough school that you will find a place where you belong soon enough. There are a few things I don’t like (lots of core requirements, some really big classes/bad TA’s, etc.), but overall, I’m happy here. It has so much to offer.</p>
<p>About the core; remember BC as a Jesuit school prides itself on educating the whole body. That’s the reason why I chose BC because of the intensity of its core. People seem to forget that.</p>
<p>I do agree however about the “bubble;” I wish I went into Boston a bit more, but next semester I plan to do that and just push myself.</p>
<p>Dear All : While everyone is now home for the holidays, take a look at the web cam image from the Dust Bowl and look carefully at the message in the snow!</p>
<p>[@BC</a> Boston College Webcams](<a href=“http://at.bc.edu/webcams/dustbowl/]@BC”>http://at.bc.edu/webcams/dustbowl/)</p>