Hi everyone – we live in Virginia (see name). We have twins in 10th grade so you can expect to see a lot of me on here. My son has mentioned BC and UF as schools he’s interested in. What are people’s thoughts on their relative academics? He is a good student at an excellent, large public HS in Loudoun County. Thanks!
Living in FL and knowing a bit baout the VA public Us, I’d be hard pressed to go to UF over UVA, William & Mary or VT. Those schools have been great for a LONG time. They have great access to DC based recruiting. UF is climbing the ranks, but still is in a resource pinch. Regardless of ranking numbers, if you spent much time at UF and UVA, it would be hard to seriously compare the two. UF is fine, especially if you want to stay in FL (yes there grads go everywhere but mostly in FL) whereas UVA is a national / global brand.
BC is completely different than UF / UVA. Mid size Jesuit college. Actually feels a lot more like William & Mary than the big state schools. Has more of an intimate LAC type feel, very strong academics, hard working students, etc. Tons of school spirit.
Thanks – with twins, we really hope at least one will decide that an in-state public is the best fit. I think he would be perfectly happy at VaTech (as would my finances). UVA will probably be out of reach academically. So I think the comparison would be to VT. The competition for slots at these places is just ferocious now. A lot of the parents we know went to one of these schools when they were much easier to get into (VT in particular).
Meanwhile, his twin sister is in love with NYC in general and NYU in particular (dear lord, the $$), but being quite pragmatic has been researching other schools in NYC and has already discovered Hunter College, which I know is not as good a school but it shows how she thinks in terms of Plan A, Plan B, etc.
Neither kid unfortunately has expressed any interest in W&M, which I think is an awesome value if you live in VA, but the girl wants a city school and the boy I think is looking more for a bigger school or at least a bigger city.
This is going to be a fun ride!
Don’t know much about OOS FL admissions other than they’re trying to raise them which will help name recognition on a national basis. Pretty mucha regional or east coast school at this point. I can;t imagine it’s anywhere near as challenging as OOS VA or W&M admissions, which in RD feel more like Duke or Vandy.
Twins…Yikes!
This standardized scoring analysis (note that it originated a few years ago and was based on a previous version of the SAT) places the student profiles (by this measure) of BC and UF in the context of other colleges nationally (including Virginia publics):
https://amp.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9
Regarding your daughter’s interest in NYC, she may want to look into The New School.
@merc81 good info. A little outdated at least from BC stats.
OP last year at BC. Calls of 2023
“The average ACT score for admitted students is 33, while the average SAT score is 1465, up 17 points from last year”. Enrolled is a bit lower but that’s average to get admitted. Fairly representative when you back out athletes etc. Roughly 80 percent are in the top ten percent of their class as well.
It’s two different experiences completely. BC is either 3 or 4 years living on a really beautiful campus and has a few very elite schools for ug like Carroll school of management and lynch education. (Less about teaching and more around education policy and governance) Also much much smaller overall. The women’s sports teams seem to be best on the campus versus other schools.
But UF is a really top school and top 8, elite public university and all that affords you as well.
[quote="Regarding your daughter’s interest in NYC, she may want to look into The New School.
[/quote]
Thanks – we walked by the New School on a recent visit. I will suggest she check it out. Definitely the right part of town!
UF is regarded fairly highly here in FL, in large part because it’s a tough admit for a state flagship. In fact, FL has become a hot (pardon the pun) target, as even UCF and USF have become much more selective than many would believe.
That said, BC is a much different environment, though both schools have big time sports. UF is large (duh), and Gator Nation drives school spirit. Gainesville is very much a college town. Others will disagree, but I don’t see that much difference between one state flagship and another. UF has parties galore, but it’s not as if BC students don’t know how to let loose.
Get your son a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges, which profiles 300 U.S. schools. Your son is fifteen and needs to take the time to learn about the full range of schools that are out there and also learn what it means to choose a college and why. If UVA is out of reach, I’m not sure if UF will be easier (I’m unsure right now if being OOS is a plus for UF admissions). I mean, why not FSU or Alabama or U of South Carolina? OOS public flagships are often as pricey as private colleges. It feels like more options are needed than an OOS flagship and BC.
If your son makes NMF, the choice might become a lot easier as it would be free to attend UF.
You mentioned happier finances in passing. Have you run the Net Price Calculators at the websites of each of the places your kids have expressed interest in? If you aren’t divorced, don’t own a business, and don’t own property other than your home, the NPCs should be reasonably accurate. Each website also lists Estimated Cost of Attendance that includes other factors such as books/materials, local transportation, etc. If you have any financial limitations or restrictions, the sooner your kids know that, the better.
Thanks – these will definitely not be the only schools under consideration; they are just a couple he’s mentioned that to my eye would be good fits for him both academically and in a broader sense. In-state Va Tech also looks like it could be a good fit for him. As for why UF, I have a degree from UF and he has camp friends in Florida who might end up as Gators too – the other southern schools you mentioned don’t have any particular allure to us. We also have strong ties to the Boston area. As for cost, from what I’ve seen UF would be somewhere between a private like BC and an in-state like Va Tech. But I will check out those NPCs to get a better sense.