<p>I’m currently a BC freshman, and I’ll be honest- not loving it. Can any other BC students comment on their experience - did you love it from the beginning? when did it click for you? what have been the highlights of your BC experience? are your friends the same as they were freshman fall?
I’m thinking of transferring out, and I hoped hearing others’ experiences here would help me figure it out. Thanks!</p>
<p>Dear collegelookin : Last year, we had a similar post to yours here on College Confidential from a young person who was in a similar situation : charged up to join the BC community, missing the connection to the university’s vibe, not making as many friends (or as easily) as at home, and finally, considering a transfer.</p>
<p>End result : the student stayed with Boston College.</p>
<p>When you return to campus, contact the Office of the First Year Experience and speak with them - these are the same folks who brought your orientation sessions to you. They will help you better connect, introduce you to more campus engagement and social options, and will follow-up with you during the semester at a pace with which you are comforable.</p>
<p>For contact details, start with this link : </p>
<p>[First</a> Year Experience - Boston College](<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/offices/fye/]First”>http://www.bc.edu/offices/fye/)</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>[Meet</a> the Staff - Boston College - First Year Experience](<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/offices/fye/about/staff.html]Meet”>http://www.bc.edu/offices/fye/about/staff.html)</p>
<p>Hopefully, you will find reaching out to the FYE program rewarding and yes, they will certainly be able to help. Please let us know that your personal experience improves and you go from not loving it to a really enjoyable finish to your freshman year.</p>
<p>Sincerely, scottj</p>
<p>OP</p>
<p>If you want advice, you will have to be upfront and honest about your situation and goals. On other posts: you claim to have dropped out of first semester for “family” reasons; you claim (in July that) you wanted to do a post-grad year bcos BC was your only choice, but not where you wanted to attend; you claim to have chosen BC on a “whim” over other more “prestigious” colleges. (The latter post is indeed questionable since you also claim to need finaid. Almost by definition, nearly every more ‘prestigious’, i.e., higher ranked college, has better finaid.)</p>
<p>It’s time to let the Princeton deam go. They do not accept transfer applications. Heck few highly selective colleges accept many transfers, particularly LACs bcos they don’t have bed space; some years Pomona and Williams accept zero transfers, but typically just a handful. Cornell is the most transfer friendly of top Unis, but not “warm and fuzzy.”. Vandy is probably next. But since you are from the NE, Dartmouth would make your family proud; however, personally I would not rank D is not really ‘warm and fuzzy’. With Sophomore Summer, transfers integrate a little easier, however.</p>
<p>Check the Common Data Sets of the LACs you are considering, to see how many transfers that they admit.</p>
<p>You don’t have to be honest on an online forum, but at least be honest to yourself and your counselor. (How did you really end up at BC? What are you now looking for that BC does not offer?) Otherwise, any suggestions that you receive will be worthless. GIGO.</p>
<p>Good luck in your deliberation.</p>
<p>Dear bluebayou : Thanks for the extra research which you had done on this poster’s background and prior disclosures. In short, some of this material was a complete eye-opener.</p>
<p>Dear collegelookin : From one of your recent posts looking for a non-BC school, you posted the following as key criteria in your search.</p>
<p>[1] More Prestige
[2] Increased Unity/Friendiness
[3] Smaller Student Body
[4] Confined Campus
[5] Open Social Scene
[6] Intellectual Feel
[7] Warmer Climate (optional)</p>
<p>So, by seeking more prestige and intellectual feel, you would likely want one of the US News and World Report Schools that ranked ~31 or higher (BC’s current placement). By seeking something smaller, you are talking about a maximum of 11,000 students as compared to BC’s full undergraduate and graduate campus of 14,000. As a result, you wind up with a pretty short list.</p>
<p>[a] Princeton
** Cal Tech
[c] Dartmouth
[d] Brown
[e] Rice
[f] Wake Forest
[g] Tufts
[h] William and Mary</p>
<p>Additionally, you would have the small LACs like the top four of Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, and Pomona.</p>
<p>Now, you can probably forget about Ivy League transfers as a reasonable approach to your situation. If you want warmer weather (as opposed to Northeast Winters), you are down to a very select few : Cal Tech, Rice, Wake Forest, William and Mary, and Pomona. Assuming you have an east coast bias, you are then down to only three options that seem to meet your requirements.</p>
<p>In truth, bluebayou is right in “calling it” with you. You are a 3.9 GPA student who is sporting a 2360 three-way SAT score. You are coming across as someone who had their heart set of specific Ivy-style schools and, once rejected, was not able to rebound and appraise the situation.</p>
<p>You absolutely should NOT transfer right now - if you have not already dropped out as suggested in another thread to become a new Princeton-freshman.</p>
<p>You should get your head on straight and start trying to integrate with the Boston College environment rather than finding reasons why you do not “fit in”. This starts with having an honest monologue with yourself and an honest dialogue with the FYE staff mentioned earlier. In essence, the more I read about your topic, the more I am convinced that you have not given your freshman experience the “good ol’ college try”.</p>
<p>Think about it.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice scottj, and sorry for the confusing post background…a bunch of us share this account, haha so some of those posts were me but a lot weren’t (I’m clearly not at BC AND an ex-college student trying to get into princeton haha)</p>
<p>OP asked:
"Can any other BC students comment on their experience - did you love it from the beginning?when did it click for you? what have been the highlights of your BC experience? are your friends the same as they were freshman fall? "</p>
<p>I would like to hear answers to the original question , Any students out there willing to answer the original question posted?</p>
<p>Collegelookin: I was definitely in the same boat as you are right now. At about this time between semesters I was thinking that BC was one of the worst decisions I had ever made. I felt like I didn’t fit in great, didn’t like the people, didn’t like the atmosphere, etc. I was absolutely determined to transfer out of there so I started looking into other schools over break. When I got back, I finished up my applications and met with a Dean which is the last thing you must do before they send out your applications. The Dean asked me why I was thinking aobut transferring and I explained my reasons and to my surprise she was extremely understanding and even agreed with some of the issues I had raised about the school. This meeting really threw me off, because I was expecting someone who would try to stop me from transferring. The Dean was essentially telling me to transfer if I didn’t feel like it was a great fit, and that no matter if I wanted to stay or leave, they would back me up 100%. I feel like this meeting was actually the turning point leading me to decide to stay at BC (and I did). However, I was still not convinced it was the place for me and hoped for acceptances to the schools to which I had applied. As second semester progressed, I found that I was growing closer to friends. My attitude was slowly changing as I realized that there were people like me there, there were people who disliked some of the same things I disliked about the school, and I started getting a bit more involved (i.e. going to more culture shows or lectures and events, etc.) When I discuss first semester with my friends now, I realize that almost nobody really liked it because you don’t feel comfortable yet and you get the sense that people are fake and desperate to make any friend they can. Anyway, as second semester was coming to an end, I was literally praying that I wouldn’t get accepted to the two schools I really wanted to go to so that I wouldn’t have to make the decision to stay or leave because I wanted to stay. I was very sad to finish up exams and go home (and still hadn’t heard from those two schools). Well, when I got home two letters from those two schools were waiting for me, and they were acceptance letters. They said I had to give a decision within a week, and the decision ate away at me. For three days I went back and forth, considering pros and cons. These are two schools that I most likely would have chosen over BC as an incoming freshman. I finally realized that it made no sense to leave something I ended up really liking for something that could end up being miserable for me. It was one of the hardest things I had to do, but I declined the acceptances and moved on. I was very much looking forward to sophomore year and things looked like they would work out for me (and they definitely did!). I’ll be honest, there are still things that I really do not like about BC (that others really love). However, there are also things that I really do like about BC. </p>
<p>Anyway, the point is: When I was in your shoes at this time, I never would have imagined that I’d stay at BC. I told myself that I would do whatever it took to leave BC. It’s funny how life works out sometimes. If I could give you any advice, it would to just keep an open mind about things. Maybe your experience second semester will be completely different from mine, but that’s ok. It doesn’t hurt to apply to other schools, but don’t make the decision to transfer until you get that acceptance letter, because if you have it set in your mind that BC is not right for you, then you may not see that maybe you could fit in there. What I do know is this: it does take time for any school to grow on you. I know friends who attended their dream ivy schools and aren’t miserable but they’re not as happy as they thought they’d be. I think it’s hard for any one college to be absolutely perfect for any person (and there is certainly a lot of hype about choosing “dream colleges”). A good school for you is one that will allow you to feel like you fit in to a degree, be happy, and be successful. Good luck!</p>
<p>Just realized that was way too long. Sorry! heh</p>
<p>And just to answer your last question, my friends now are some from freshman fall but most are not. The nice thing about BC is it is big (but not too big) so there are always new and interesting people to meet.</p>
<p>Dear NRG21B : Rarely do we find things on college confidential that can really make a substantial difference in a young person’s life. Your post this evening, heartfelt and sincere, was exceptional. Not only should you take pride in helping another Boston College undergraduate, you should rest easy that your own educational track is clearly shaping a very strong and sensitive individual. Well done!</p>
<p>Sincerely, scottj</p>
<p>NRG21B, I’m also a freshman at BC, and I just want to let you know that your post was incredibly helpful (and the lengthiness appreciated). So far I love the school aspect of BC, but the social not so much. Transferring is out of the question (I’m happy there, I love my classes/professors, and I know it’s a good fit for me academically), but I’m still worried about the friends I’ve made. Mostly, they’re people I’ve been forced into friendships with because we live near each other. Although I enjoy their company and think they’re all great people, very few of them feel like friends I’d choose for myself. Coming home for winter break and seeing how content and at-ease my friends are at THEIR colleges has only served to unnerve me even more. </p>
<p>Of course I’ve heard that first semester is awkward, that things will improve, to give it time, etc., but that doesn’t make me any less apprehensive. I’m absolutely willing to wait it out and keep an open mind, but I can’t stop myself from anxiously doubting if I’ll ever be truly happy. Perhaps worst for me is when I hear that “the people you hang out with for the first weeks in college are not the people you end up being friends with.” That was all well and good when I was in the first few weeks of college and feeling hesitant about my new “friends”; a semester later, when I am STILL hanging out with those people and have yet to find my niche, it’s a little less so. Your comment, therefore, about branching out socially even a semester later, is incredibly helpful.</p>
<p>In short, this is a very lengthy post to just say thank you. Seeing as you took so much time to personalize your response and give meaningful insight, I felt it only fitting to let you know how much of an impact it had on me. With less than a week before classes start again, I’m now going into this new semester with a much more positive outlook. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind words scottj and racine22. I’ve shared my story with very few people, but it makes me glad to know that my experience can perhaps give a new and different perspective to others. </p>
<p>racine22: I think you will come to find that pretty much everyone was forced into those friendships “at first sight”. As you already know, all freshmen are concerned with making friends right away and many end up having very superficial friendships that are not going to last. From my experience, many people are hesitant to admit that they don’t really have much in common or will never connect on a deeper level with their “besties” from first semester. If you think about it, while it is certainly possible, it is not very likely that you are going to be living with or next door to someone who is a perfect match for you. I never went on 48 Hours, but I was told by a number of people that the majority of freshmen were saying how much they hated first semester and didn’t feel like they had really made great friends. You probably know all of this, but if anything, it should give you comfort to know that you are not alone (even if it seems like you are!) </p>
<p>That being said, I completely understand why you still feel apprehensive. It’s hard to see how things are going to work out in the future, i.e. how you’ll meet your great friends. I guess my advice would be to take things one day at a time and try not to worry so much about how everything will come into place. Second semester is better in the sense that peoples’ attitudes change and they actually want to build stronger friendships, not just superficial ones. I can tell you that as a sophomore, I am still constantly meeting new people through classes and other activities and making new friends, so in no way are the friends you have freshman year locked in as your friends for the next three years. </p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to read my huge post, and I’m glad it helped. Also, I know everyone says this a lot, but try some new things second semester, whether it be going to lectures, shows, clubs, activites, etc. Perhaps a retreat (there are so many, you probably see them in e-mails) would be good too. Even if you are not religious, it’s a great way to connect with people on a deeper level. Sometimes it’s the things that require you to step outside your comfort zone that will benefit you the most.</p>
<p>I am also a freshman at BC and i loved it from the beginning. To be honest though the first couple of weeks I was really nervous about meeting new people. A couple of guys from high school went to bc so I hung out with them the first couple if weeks until I started making friends on my own. I think my experience was so good pretty much right from the beginning because everyone on my floor was so friendly. Everyone left their doors open and we played on intramural teams together and even painted ourselves for the bc vs nd football game.
My advice would be to put yourself out there. Sign up for an intramural team, go on 48 hours (im going in february), or even just knock on the doors of your floormates and ask them to go to dinner.
I live on newton and I couldn’t be happier with their placement of me. The community feel has given me a second home. Are you on newton?
I want to know why your experience has been bad OP. Have you not made friends? Do you not feel like you fit in with the student body? Is it the academics?
I’ll gladly answer any specific questions about my experience if you have any.</p>
<p>OP, r u on upper or newton?
j3, would you say that being on newton has been the main reason for your success? i’m not sure if they let incoming students request one or the other anymore…</p>
<p>I’m also a current freshman looking forward to my second semester. I love it here. I only applied to three schools and BC was the only one that didn’t waitlist me… so that’s why I ended up here. I still wish i went to my number one choice (McGill) because I would love to be around french speakers all day, and the desire to be there pops in my head every once in a while, but it’s easy to wave off. I love literally EVERYTHING here. Seriously, it’s very difficult for me to find things to complain about… (besides some dorm entrances for being staff only now. stupid.)</p>
<p>Academics: I find it’s the perfect fit. I took 9 AP classes in high school and got all 4’s except for two 3’s… I was never really the “smartest”, but I was always up there. I never really tried in high school and my GPA ended up being something like a 3.67… but my SAT was a 2240. I know that GPA isn’t terrible, but I was barely top 10% at a school that only has about five kids who even applied to Ivy League schools (3 from a class of 1200 go to one now) So I wasn’t surrounded by the smartest kids. So when I got here I was at first put off by how everybody looked (yeah, bad, whatever)… Everybody looked really stupid. I would see kids that look like they went to my high school, I could fit them perfectly into who they would be friends with, how smart they were, etc whatever. I could literally see about 60% of the student body going to a cheap state school or community college. So I felt rather uneasy because I THOUGHT I would be like, the smartest kid there. I mean there were kids who you could tell were smart, but the majority seemed like party-community-college kids from high school.
When classes started, my opinion completely changed. EVERYBODY here is smart. It turns out the hardest partiers graduated at the top of their class too, yaknow? I was given the award for best french student in high school and confident that i’d be the best french student, just give me my major now. Turns out I was definitely not the best (I mean I wasn’t the worst either) which was a slap in the face. But yeah, I mean, reading racine’s post, I couldn’t even give you a definition for the word “apprehensive”… There’s definitely a lot of smart kids here. I’d say I’m in the top 25 percentile, which is pretty generous.
It wasn’t hard to transition from high school AP work to college… I barely did any homework in high school and that continued into college… Everybody wonders how I am never doing homework and how i’m still here. I got great grades (better than in high school) and I’m looking forward to an easy schedule for next semester.</p>
<p>Social life: I love my roommate and all my friends and my hall. Everybody had their door open the first couple weeks, and people still do, so whenever you’re done with class you can just stop by and say what’s up to them. I love how friendly everybody is. Most of my friends are from my hall, which is upsetting that I didn’t make more friends in my classes, but I didn’t really take freshman courses last semester anyways. I love it though. I’ve made such good friends in the past few months just from my hall.
I love how fun people are here. I’m not saying these are the only ways to have fun, but it’s so easy to get alcohol and weed here, it’s almost impossible (for me) not to have a good time. There’s always something to do every night. Even my party friends are up to go to Bapsts with me and study. I’ve had boring weekends definitely, but the good ones definitely overshadow that.
Sporting events are so fun to go to… football was great, even though we were terrible for half the season, and I LOVE hockey now. And the atmosphere at Kelley rink is so great. I always crack up when they pan from the little kids decked in BC gear and then to the opponent’s fans… haha
I also forgot to mention that I came from 1600 miles away, not knowing anybody here or in Boston really. I wanted to move this bit up but I’m not really sure where it’d fit and i’m too tired to find a spot for it anyhow. Anyways It was intimidating but everybody was so shy at the beginning too, it was really easy to talk to people. Like there was an event in the dustbowl where me and a friend just walked around and talked to about 50 people in the span of a couple hours… and I still say hi to some of them when I see them.
There’s times where I feel slightly lonely (not even the right word, but I can’t think of it) where I feel like I have nobody really to talk to / who I want to talk to here. Like if I start missing my family or my friends back at home, I don’t feel comfortable telling anybody about it except for my best friends back at home. But it’s whatever, I know that friends like that WILL come.</p>
<p>OH I just thought of one negative, IT DIDN’T SNOW LAST SEMESTER. Well it snowed one night but it didn’t even stick. Doesn’t count…</p>
<p>Highlights of my experience so far: BC Notre Dame weekend, Orientation, welcome week, the first couple days of class were SO FUN haha, going to other colleges’ parties, HOCKEY GAMES, chilling with my roommate, doing some stuff I cannot talk about on here (RIP dustbowl), chats late at night, some embarrassing stuff here and there (first times), Halloween, coming back from thanksgiving and seeing everybody…</p>
<p>I do regret (probably stupid, but honest) not hooking up with more girls. I can count the number of hookups on one hand.</p>
<p>Btw I loved reading everybody’s posts.</p>
<p>Great thread with lots of great input.</p>
<p>It is not uncommon for freshman to experience these kinds of adjustment concerns - especially during the first semester. Many learn it takes time for new college “acquaintances” to grow into “close” friends. It’s quite normal to have spells of feeling “lonely” as you go through this transition.</p>
<p>grif- I definitely believe newton has been the main reason for my success, along with my roommate and floormates. And yes your correct they don’t let you choose anymore.</p>
<p>fraire- It snowed monday the 20th! And the campus looked beautiful the 21st (the day of my last final, thanks econ).</p>
<p>As the parent of a D at BC, I also would (highly) recommend attending 48 hours. Good luck!</p>
<p>@j3 - I was already at home haha 
i saw pictures on facebook and i was so mad hahah
and i’m mad i missed this past blizzard too!</p>
<p>I also HIGHLY recommend going on 48 Hours. I am a current sophomore and I went in February last year. It was a really great experience and you will meet so many people that are feeling the same way you do. I was shocked at how many people said that they were considering transferring. And there were also a ton of people who said that 48 Hours made them want to stay at BC. There are so many amazing people at BC, and the longer you are at the school, the more people you will meet. Another great thing about the retreat was hearing the stories of he seniors. Most of the seniors that talked had a really hard time freshmen year, but they now love it. It was also a great way to meet people that I would have never met otherwise.</p>
<p>I was lucky that I loved the school from the beginning, but there are plenty of people that had a hard time at first. (Honestly, living on Newton was a big reason I loved freshmen year, and I miss it). Freshmen year can be hard because people tend to latch on to other people because they really want friends, but many times these aren’t really genuine friends. Do everything you can to reach out and meet new people. The more you do this, the more you will realize that there are some really interesting, unique people at BC. Another great thing about BC is that everyone is very well-rounded and normal. The school is big enough that you can really start over if you want to. I didn’t meet my current roommate until later in he second semester of freshmen year. Even though it seems like everyone already has a set group of friends, people are always open to meeting new people.</p>
<p>I know everyone says it, but getting involved in activities, is really the most important thing. A lot of freshmen get caught up in the partying and newness of college and don’t realize that there are some really amazing opportunities. This is one of the things I learned at 48hours. After the newness of being in college wears off, you should try to take advantage of the many volunteer opportunities BC has to offer. Also, the more you get involved, the more people you will meet. Also, it is a good way to meet upperclassmen. I did 4Boston freshmen year, and it was a really great way to meet upperclassmen, and here were really important to give advice and gave me more perspective on being a student at BC. Getting involved in activities will make your experience at BC a lot more worthwhile.</p>
<p>I was nervous coming into sophomore year that it wouldn’t be as good as freshmen year, but I was definitely wrong. Once I got here in the fall, I started to love my classes, and I continued to meet amazing people and now I love the school even more. There are so many amazing opportunities, and it is a really great place to be. Also, Boston is a really great city, and most BC students don’t take advantage of it.</p>
<p>This was really long, and I already sent a lot of this to collegelookin, but if anyone has any more specific questions, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>I find these posts interesting and it gives me a bit of concern because my younger son is interested in BC. What is it that made the social adjustment difficult at BC? The housing situation? The type of kids who attend? Thanks.</p>