<p>I know that a million people have been begging for others to make their college decisions for them but I am forced to be one million and one. I’m torn. I want to go into neuroscience. I don’t really want to stay at either school for more than a year or two but its still a big deal for me. Any imput?Anyone?</p>
<p>Dear refugee : Boston College vs Univerity of Rochester debates were just a couple of pages back.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/boston-college/689061-boston-college-university-rochester.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/boston-college/689061-boston-college-university-rochester.html</a></p>
<p>For the life of me, I do not understand the “don’t really want to stay at either school for more than a year or two” comment. Why are you bothering to go to either school with the attitude of a two year horizon? Do you believe that your transfer prospects out of these two schools are better than your chances of completing a four year program?</p>
<p>“don’t really want to stay at either school for more than a year or two”</p>
<p>Let me guess, you didn’t get into any of the Ivies on your list?</p>
<p>Out of morbid curiosity, which school on your list is going to provide such an obviously superior education to the ones you’d receive from either UR or BC? </p>
<p>I’ll make it easy for you, when my oldest S and I toured UR 5 years ago nearly every student we met, (including the tour guide), was quick to tell us how UR was a second choice for them and how they all wanted to be someplace else. Given your attitude, go to UR, you’ll fit right in.</p>
<p>Dude, if you don’t want to go any school for more than two years, you should have applied to community colleges in California, which are among the best in the nation, and save ton of money while still getting a great education. You can then transfer after two years. Going to BC and URoch just to transfer later on is incredibly expensive.</p>
<p>ok well thanks you guys for the wise ass answers i really appreciate that. I’m hoping to transfer out of bc or uroch into harvard. I didnt get in this year. I’m hoping to build my resume and reapply until i get in. I’m sort of a legacy. It has always been my dream. I’m pretty sure I can do well at any schools but i’m thinking more towards grad school competition right now. I’m hoping that if I show I went to great schols it will make me look better than other candidates. Sorry if all that sounded really pretentious but thats the plan. I guess I just wanted to see if I heard anything from anyone on here that would open my eyes to the right choice.</p>
<p>Lets look at both from a 4 year perspective, last I heard Harvard had no transfer admissions whatsoever. I would say most people are more enthusiastic about being at BC than at URoch, and BC wins hands down in terms of location, sports, school spirit, etc. They are similarly ranked but I have always felt much more strongly about the rep of BC vs URoch, but then again I am not sure about neuroscience so much and those things tend to be very school specific sometimes. If you are looking at pre-med, BC has a high med school acceptance rate, but I would investigate that at both schools. If you can make a visit, obviously it’s better than relying on college confidential. Rochester is also in a really lousy area that’s not too safe from what I’ve heard, whereas BC is in a really nice suburb. BC has a large core, that can either be a plus or minus, as is the Jesuit affiliation of BC, though most non-religious or non-Catholic students don’t have any sort of a problem with it. If you have any questions about BC feel free to ask me.</p>
<p>Thanks thats really all I wanted. I haven’t visited either yet but I honestly appreciate the imput.</p>
<p>My son looked very carefully at both UR and BC last year. Academically, the two schools are very close (in terms of student profile, rigor of classes, etc.) However, the Rochester Curriculum provides much more flexibility in terms of electives and being able to complete double – and even triple – majors, whereas BC’s core curriculum requires a much broader base of different subjects that I think gives you a more balanced liberal arts education.</p>
<p>Because UR is much smaller, it has a tight-knit student population that surprisingly has as much school spirit as BC, even though it does not have the big-time sports scene. There seemed to be more opportunities for undergraduate research at UR than BC, but that may be a function of the individual departments. You can do research and get to know your professors at BC too, but it takes a bit more effort on the student’s part just because BC is bigger.</p>
<p>If you are interested in neuroscience, UR’s Medical School and teaching hospital are literally next to the campus and there are tons of opportunities for internships and volunteer service.</p>
<p>The biggest drawback to UR is, without a doubt, its location. Although the UR campus is beautiful (right on the river) and in a safe area, there is absolutely nothing going on outside the school. As a destination, Rochester just cannot compare to Boston. UR tries to make up for that by having lots of events on campus, but one could easily get tired of seeing the same people and doing the same things for four years.</p>
<p>In the end, my son chose BC over UR, even though UR had offered him a sizable merit scholarship (vs. $0 from BC). It was not an easy decision, however.</p>