Glad to hear UNC does that. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. The difference comes down to it being the MO at BC, at least from the administration’s point of view.
And, yes, they are “academic peers”. Just tired of the rampant ignorance regarding BC’s quality.
I will reiterate my belief that these schools are academic peers. Each has advantages and disadvantages but I think that overall, there is little difference in quality, if any.
You should decide, then, based on fit (social vibe, environment, etc.), cost, and specific job markets/opportunities you are interested in and how well each school does at drawing recruiters.
If you use the term “academic peers” very generally, then yes. However, from those among the know (i.e. academia), UNC is generally seen as a tier above.
UNC’s peer assessment score is 4.2, while BC is 3.5. This is a pretty significant difference. This is not to say BC is not a very good school, but UNC is one of the best in the nation.
BC makes up for its lack of research (…which impacts that academic rep score…) with smaller classes, which means more interaction with profs.
Over half the classes at BC have fewer than 20 students and just 2% of classes have 100 or more.
At UNC, 42% are under 20 and 7% are 100+. That’s pretty good, but BC has the edge.
I take little things like that into account when I call them undergraduate peers.
@prezbucky OP is a junior so will likely have small classes but that could be important for other students. I get the impression that OP is resilient and driven and could thrive regardless.
And @SwellyBelly if you happen to know younger students going into engineering, WPI was specifically looking for a student from ND two years ago (the only state not represented in their incoming Frosh class). They might get a great aid package.
Don’t forget that UNC will be debt free and BC will be about $20k in debt for the two years.
Absolutely true – both schools probably feature small(ish) upper-level classes.
I guess my main point is that the OP can make this choice based on fit and cost without having to worry about rep or academic quality.
They’re within five places of one another in the US News undergrad ranking, which implies the same thing.
Right on, prez! And, it doesn’t help UNC’s claim to be “one of the best in the nation” when poor, ol’ BC outdoes it on SAT/ACT scores. “This is not to say that [UNC] is not a very good school, but…”
I also want to note:
One of the reasons I was so enthusiastic about BC is because their transfer acceptance rate was 5% (according to my decision letter) vs UNC with 30%. Regardless of rankings, BC is much more likely to be boasting a more competitive program with that acceptance rate.
UNC has to accept a majority of applicants from in-state, which accounts for its lower SAT/ACT.
Also, I don’t think there is a strong correlation between a school’s transfer acceptance rate and quality of programs. I would not pick a school based on “transfer acceptance rate”
@SwellyBelly the transfer acceptance rate wasn’t 5%. The number 75 out of 1,400 is supposed to be their estimate of the incoming transfer class, so that means they accepted more than 75. Their transfer yield is around 40%, so that means they accepted around 200 kids, making the transfer acceptance rate 15%. Still a very low number and definitely a harder transfer round than in the past.
Someone explained it in the BC transfer thread, but apparently, Boston College over enrolled the freshmen class, thus limiting the spots for transfers. Their transfer acceptance rate has been on average 27% in the last 4 years.