Hi - Thanks for answering this if you can! My son was admitted to both BC and Northeastern. We didn’t get any kind
of financial offer from BC, while NE offered him a very generous scholarship (merit, we don’t qualify for much need-based aid even though we are far from rich! But that’s another story). My son, naturally, is leaning towards BC, as he feels drawn to the traditional college experience and the core curriculum. I"m looking for any advice about approaching BC to see if they can match NE’s offer or at least give us something. Any insight or advice?
Thank you so much!
The only merit that BC offers is the presidential scholarship, offered to the top 20 EA applicants. So it seems to me that you’d be approaching this from a financial need perspective. http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/tuition-and-aid/types.html
unfortunately, BC doesn’t match other school’s financial aid offers, appeals are only worth it for “special circumstances”
http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/financial/finaid/undergrad/faq/finaidfaqprospstudents.html#thirteen
http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/financial/finaid/undergrad/how_aid_works/special_circumstances.html
hope that helps!
Thanks. I kind of knew this but I guess I was hoping for some insider’s info that wasn’t common knowledge! LOL Oh well!
As a BC grad and parent of a senior, I must comment.
My son was admitted to BC and of course, he received no aid. He had great stats, leadership, etc, but BC is tighter than the bark on a tree when it comes to merit aid.
He immediately turned down his BC offer of admission and is going to a great private university that is giving him $40k per year in merit aid. That school is very generous with merit aid, despite having an endowment that is $1 billion LESS than BC.
It would have been nice to have had our son follow in his parent’s footsteps, but $160k washes away a lot of nostalgia.
Speaking recently with a few fellow BC grads, I am AMAZED at the anger to sheer hatred that is out there for our alma mater from BC alumni with high school or college aged children. In Boston, there has always been a lot of dislike of BC from grads from BU, Northeastern, UMass, etc., but I am now seeing it from BC grads too. It’s sad and disheartening.
@MylesCK
Is this hatred because of lack of financial-aid/merit?
I also see quiet a lot of hatred towards Northeastern because a lot of their alumni know that their children have zero chance to get in now. Also a lot of people are upset about NUin.
Good question. The hatred is not from my end, because we expected no aid based upon BC’s reputation. Most everyone I know views BC as having abandoned their roots in trying to become a national university. It used to be a school for working class Catholic kids from Boston (or New England). The prevailing opinion seems to be that the price point is now out of reach for the middle class, so BC loves trust fund babies. By denying merit aid to all but 20 students, it allows BC to pursue this course.
I wouldn’t call it hatred towards Northeastern. I think some alumni parents are upset that they attended Northeastern when it was relatively easy to get into (my parents got in) and now it is becoming a better institution (I’m an undergrad). I do agree that the Nu.in program sucks and I regret doing it in the spring, but the only kids I see capable of participating in the nu. in fall are those from rich families as the only financial aid you are allowed to use is what the school gives you, you are not allowed to use, for example, government loans for that fall semester, which sucks unless you’re filthy rich.
BC, BU and Northeastern are not the schools they were 20 or 30 years ago. If they were they would be facing bankruptcy. BU and BC actually did face bankruptcy in the early 1970’s. That is why they upscaled before Northeastern, which always had a balanced budget. But by 1990 Northeastern realized that they had to follow the same path.
This is an interesting post as we just had a conversation with our daughter tonight about the financial implications of her school choice. Her top choice is BC - we received zero aid while other schools of similar ranking offered her both merit scholarships AND work study. I went and spoke with the financial aid office this weekend simply to see why she wasn’t even offered work study (as it is easier to get jobs on campus). It wasn’t helpful and actually I left disappointed in how cold they were, I felt a distinct indifference to whether she attended. Bottom line is unless someone can show me how BC is worth the $280,000 price tag this is not even a consideration in my books when she could attend other schools for far far less.
Your description of their callous attitude is exactly what breeds resentment towards BC. Good luck to your daughter. There are plenty of more affordable options out there with a comparable education. That was our conclusion.
Interesting article in US News: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2017-12-11/colleges-offer-programs-to-assist-low-income-students
Financial aid has many forms
@collegecarla That article lends support to the generally held belief that private colleges like BC are for subsidized low income students and affluent full pay students. Middle class families are left out. Some private colleges like Northeastern and BU offer merit aid to the top 25% of admitted students to lessen the burden.
I’d hazard a guess that one can find kids from middle class families also at Boston College 
@collegecarla But not the OP’s kid.
That’s right. @ndmmomof3, best of luck to your son! Northeastern is a great school.
Yes, that may be true that you can find middle class kids at BC, but upon graduation, either the kid is deeply in debt, or the parents are in debt, or have stripped the equity in their home that they spent years building. We discussed this with our son as the likely outcome of a BC acceptance and he said “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
Wouldn’t a much larger sample size be needed for the negative characterizations of BC to be meaningful?
These “I can’t afford the school I was accepted to” threads surface every year on CC. And they happen at numerous schools. They are disappointing to read. Though I always am left wondering if student aid numbers were crunched beforehand, like back in September.
Long time lurker and parent of BC freshman. The college admission process is brutally competitive. We are full pay parents of a high achieving child. BC was not our first choice. Our child wanted to attend the most competitive school she could get into that was a good fit. That fit is subjective. For her it was a medium size school with great athletics and not too rural. She gained acceptance to many schools that offer merit based aid. BC like most competitive colleges does not offer merit aid. Most top 2-5 percent of academic students and families we have met, prefer an IVY as a first choice (HYPS). Sadly there are not enough slots for all these top achievers.BC like many other colleges is trying to fill that niche.Annually BC gives120 million dollars in financial aid. Average need based financial aid per student is $39,000.
Our family has chosen to make the sacrifice and pay the tuition. We are college educated parents that believe the most important lifetime cost is education. Our daughter is a very strong student that is likely to complete her education on time and take advantage of the resources BC has presented. We value what BC offers us and have chosen to make the sacrifices necessary for her to attend. As of today we believe that investment is worthwhile as many other families do at BC and other very academically competitive private and public universities that offer limited or no merit aid.
I understand many parents that don’t qualify for financial aid cannot afford to attend. Would they have made that sacrifice for Harvard, Yale , Princeton , etc ? We would have and also did for BC. Its a worthwhile investment.
“More than a quarter of the nation’s 60 wealthiest universities leave their low-income students owing an average of more than $20,000 in federal loans.” here is the article: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/poor-students-saddled-with-college-debt/405313/
Who can say which student should get aid, and which shouldn’t? Not the applicants. Going to the college of one’s choice is not an entitlement.Thank goodness that there are many colleges in this country, including community colleges which are excellent, that offer an excellent education at all kinds of price ranges. What I am trying to say, is that high costs and student debts happen at many schools.
Applicants have a lot of choices.