I think you will find $$ in many of the Northeast private schools and I believe that some schools are wealthier than others, have students that are preppier than others, and have a feel of “intellectual superiority” about them that is more about their $$ than their brains. BC has a fantastic reputation in Boston but IMHO it is one of those schools. My D applied to just a handful of schools that I feel could be categorized much the same way and its a discussion we had often…how will she feel when everyone is going out to the upscale sushi place on Friday night and all she can afford is pizza? How will she feel when everyone is headed to the Caribbean during spring break and she’s just coming home to hang because she can’t afford to join? When everyone is shopping at Vineyard Vines and Banana Republic and she’s headed to Target? It is something to consider for sure and I guess it depends what your other choices are. In the end, she/we decided she would attend if it worked out, that being proud of herself and holding her head high was good character, and that she could break down the $$ barriers by being herself and owning up to her low income status if necessary. I’d like to think she would make friends with all socioeconomic backgrounds and those that she makes friends with have the same great attributes she does regardless of how much $$ Daddy makes. Good luck with your choice 
My kids wear jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and do not like Vineyard Vines. They also (as far as I know) do not discuss our financial situation with friends. I have met many of their friends, and I have yet to know “who comes from money” and who does not. Nor would I like to know. Volunteering during the spring break or hanging out with their friends at home is a big hit in our group, so you all have lots of company! BTW, BC has lots of volunteering options for the breaks. It’s a great way to get involved. Dashing off to the Caribbean? Ah, no thanks.
I should start by saying that BC is an outstanding university. Many of my family members attended for undergrad, grad and law school. However, the fact that BC does not give much merit money (only financial aid) has driven away many exceptional middle class kids. Middle class kids (that don’t get much financial aid) simply have great choices at a much better price. There really seems to be a perception that BC is becoming a rich kids school. My daughter choose not to apply to BC in part because of this issue, even though she was lucky enough that college costs were covered for her. As you can see from my login name, she chose Michigan. Don’t shoot the messenger. BC is a great school, but $60k for a middle class kid is a ton of money.
Such a shame to cross a school off the list based on the anecdote of 2 students who had a poor experience when there are thousands who had wonderful experiences. College is what you make it. You have to go out and find people, put yourself out there and join in. If you wait for your type of people to find you, you may be very lonely. That is the case at every school, not just BC.
And I don’t see a lot of jetting off to the Caribbean. I’m sure there are kids who do that but my kid hasn’t met them. And while she does have some Vineyard Vines things, I can assure you they were purchased on sale at the outlet store. Let’s face it, with the cost of BC and the lack of merit aid, the majority of families don’t have anything left for these sort of things.
My kids (3) all went to private, Catholic universities where there is a lot of wealth and a huge percentage of the student body went to top-tier private and/or Catholic high schools. We were concerned about elitist attitudes and our kids’ ability to keep up with the academic rigor (having been top students at their otherwise impoverished, low performing high school). They all did or are doing great academically and socially. Making lifetime friendships didn’t always happen quickly, The key factor to “fitting in” was getting involved in clubs/activities that take time and commitment - this helps make a friend group based on similar interests.
Specific to BC. My (significantly aided) daughter has no idea who among her (large) friend group is receiving financial aid and who isn’t. (I’ve asked her.) They frequently get Chinese take out food for dinner, or pizza, or other low-budget options. They never go anywhere posh. She’s been able to travel with her main campus group (band) and finances have never been a barrier.
Many Catholics from the Northeast go to schools like Boston College because the academics are strong, and because the substantial majority of students share their values, habits, traditions and cultural touchstones. There is nothing wrong with this, but it can be a limiting factor for some. As for Jewish or non-Catholic Asians, it can be uncomfortable to see crucifixes on the walls of every classroom and crosses on every campus building. Even if the messaging is inclusive and there is no overt discrimination, some non-Catholics can feel alienated at a Catholic school.
If you are instate for UM, its a no-brainer. But, most of the folks on cc would have to pay OOS rates to see Saturday football in the Big House. And last I checked, Michigan was $57k for OOS, or $60k for upper division. And that does not count extra fees for Engineering or Business. In essence, a “ton of money” for a wonderful public school, in one of the quintessential college towns.
But, to be fair, “Middle class kids (that don’t get much financial aid)…” from UM either. But more importantly, unlike BC which meets full financial need for every student, UM only meets full need for instate students. The OOS’ers need more wealth to attend.
“My daughter choose not to apply to [UM primarily]… because of this issue…”
But @MichiganDad22 has a point… With no merit, there is an high middle class socioeconomic group missing… The full pay kids at BC can afford to pay 68k per year to go there and the kids who qualify for FA may be struggling to make ends meet. There is not a lot in between…
BC is no different than a lot of other northeast schools in that there is no to little merit aid (NESCACs, much of the Patriot league) - but they are need blind in admission and 67% of students do get aid, so it is not fair to characterize the school as being made up of predominantly, elitist rich kids.
@collegepm Jewish, raised in a very intellectual environment (parents are college professors) went to BC and had a very hard time
- it is understandable why a Jewish kid may feel out of sorts at a Catholic school - that doesn’t make it unwelcoming. And while BC is full of smart kids, it is not known for having an ‘intellectual’ vibe in the way that a Swarthmore would, so I would say if you are a Jewish kid looking for an intellectual community, BC may not be the right choice.
All of the Catholic schools struggle a bit with diversity as many non-Catholics write them off without even visiting, which is a shame b/c they do offer a great education with the added benefits of instilling a sense of compassion and community
Perhaps, but one could argue that what the other privates are missing are poor folk, or at least the low portion of middle class.
Sure, those colleges ranked right below BC that offer merit aid can attract those upper middle class students – who doesn’t want a discount? But many(/most?) of those schools do NOT meet full financial need. Thus, the lower-middle and lower incomes need not apply. A $20k discount off of sticker is nice, but of no value to someone who needs a large financial aid package.
For example, looked up another NE school that has a lot of cross applicants to BC – Villanova, a school that offers merit aid to those “upper middle class group” that some are concerned about.
According to 'Nova’s common data set, ~15% of students have financial need. In other words ~85% qualify as full pay, i.e., top 5%'ers. Now, of course, with merit money, not that many are not paying sticker, but the point is that are few low income folks on campus. And nearly all of those are low-low income (Pell eligible).
So, looked at another way, schools like BC which meet full need have a broader spectrum of incomes on campus. But yes, they fulfill their mission with fewer upper-middle class students. And I think they are good with that.
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oops, my bad. the numbers above are incorrect. I was reading the wrong reports. ~50% of Nova’s students qualify for need-based aid.
Apologize for the confusion.
BC and most other full need schools calc need on their formula, which means many lower income kids and lower middle class kids cannot afford it. This is clear on the BC forum when reading the FA thread.
@suzyQ7 summarized my point exactly in her post yesterday at 10:08pm. No merit money is a big deal to the middle class and upper middle class. I have six friends/colleagues that had kids accepted to BC in recent years. The three families, where money is no object, sent their kids to BC. The three families that are not rich, but make too much $ to quality for much FA, sent their kids elsewhere (UConn honor program, Northeastern with big Merit, Nova with Merit). It does appear that middle/upper middle class has excellent educational options at a better price.
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meeting full need is a subjective term done by the school. It may very well mean that they offer substantial need-based aid, but they set the parameters on what constitutes as need. Also worth noting that BC is only need-blind and meets full need of domestic students (not international students)
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BC has often appeared on Princeton Review’s Top 20 for Little Race/Class Interaction list. They currently appear at #11. I can see they also made this list in 2010, 2011, and 2013. Below is the link for the most recent ranking and some BC Heights articles talking about it.
http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=little-race-class-interaction
http://newspapers.bc.edu/cgi-bin/bostonsh?a=d&d=bcheights20100909-01.2.2
http://newspapers.bc.edu/cgi-bin/bostonsh?a=d&d=bcheights20110908-01.2.5
- It is completely possible (although unlikely) that appearance in the Princeton Review ranking is due to issues about race rather than class (although the two are sometimes hard to divorce) based on these articles:
http://thinkprogress.org/education/2016/01/27/3742803/boston-college-discipline-race-protest/
http://bcheights.com/news/2015/a-visual-investigation-of-racial-disparity-at-bc/
https://twitter.com/bcracism
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/07/us/racist-e-mail-is-sent-to-13-at-boston-college.html
http://whitepeopleinheaddresses.■■■■■■■■■■/post/34739172667/boston-college-brawl-over-racist-halloween
All this is say I think that BC has had more honest conversations, at least about race over the past few years. Are things great? I dont think so, but they are getting better it seems based on friends who are students/graduates and news media.
@MichiganDad22 No merit money is a big deal to the middle class and upper middle class.
@suzyQ7But @MichiganDad22 has a point… With no merit, there is an high middle class socioeconomic group missing.
That may be true, but there is a difference between can’t pay and don’t want to pay or prefer not to pay or haven’t saved enough. Each family needs to make that choice and decide what is best for their family
@wisteria100 I’m guessing that for most dual earning ‘regular people’ living in NJ, San Fran, NY, etc… with $10K a year in property taxes on their smallish house, making combined incomes of $150K-$200K, there is a combination of can’t pay, don’t want to pay, and haven’t saved enough. Who ever thought 20 years ago that the average college costs $60K+ per year? Not everyone has options at the big public university. The kids going to BC are either very wealthy or very low income… there must be a bunch of middle class kids there too, that are struggling to make ends meet because their parents let them attend their ‘dream college’ and had to take a ton of loans in order to do it. I bet a lot transfer out after the first year leaving more room for full pays.
Every family has its own priorities. We started saving for colleges for the children when they were just babies. We always planned on paying the costs ourselves without having to borrow or take on debt. When it came time for colleges, we had them apply to the colleges we could afford. If they were fortunate to receive merit aid, what a blessing. If not, too bad, but we knew before applying what we could afford and what the costs of each college was. The colleges list the prices on their websites. Some families will not pay for their children’s schooling, some families will pay until a certain limit, some choose to borrow to pay and so on. There are many, many colleges in this country for every income level. All families must decide what they can and are willing to pay. If one receives merit aid, great! But please, college is not an entitlement. One cannot go to a Mercedes Benz showroom and demand a car and expect to get it for a fraction of the price, and then leave the showroom angry that they were being treated unfairly.
@suzyQ7
But BC is no different than many selective schools that don’t offer merit. They are no different in that regard. And many of the schools with good merit aren’t need blind or don’t meet full need. You have to pIck your poison.
As noted by collegecarla, the key to this process is to apply to colleges the family can afford (with merit aid or need based assistance). Too many families in the $150-250,000 family income range apply to schools like BC, hoping for merit or need based aid. They are setting themselves (and especially the applicant) up for bitterness and disappointment when the son/daughter is admitted but can’t afford to attend. The net price calculator should be your first stop in the college search.