Boston University & Boston College Panel

Webinar Transcription

2020-09-29 Boston University and Boston College College Panel

[00:00:00]  Thank you all for coming. Welcome to the Boston University and Boston College College Panel. This is the last session and our September webinar series, but we have a new series coming through October. So stay tuned until the end to learn more about the new series.

My name is test and I’ll be your moderator for tonight. Just to orient everyone with the webinar structure and different functions. To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’ll start off with a presentation. Then answer your questions in a live Q&A on the sidebar. You can download our slides and you can start submitting your questions in the Q&A tab.

We’ll have some pause offers and handouts getting started and excited to introduce you to our panelists from Boston college and Boston university. Sally graduated from Boston college in 2018 with a degree in international relations and CYA graduated from Boston [00:01:00] college in 2019 with a degree in Islamic civilization and society is next step BU and BC starting with Sally,

Sally, we can’t hear you.

Oh, there we go. Okay. Great. Amazing. Hi, thanks. Thanks everyone for joining us tonight on this webinar about BU and BC. Again, my name is Sally and thanks so much for the introduction. So just to get started about what BU was like, and to give you a little bit more context about BU we are located right in the center of Boston.

Some of you guys may have visited B’s campus. Some of you have, may not have, but VU basically stretches about a mile and a half. Stretch of [00:02:00] Commonwealth avenue, which is one of the bigger streets located in the city of Boston, the green line of the MBTA, which is the subway system actually runs straight through be used campus and actually, and at BC all the way at the end of the green lines.

You’ll definitely, probably hear a little bit about the BU BC rivalry that we have, especially with the battle of the Commonwealth, which is a hockey game that the BU and BC hockey teams have every year. But just to continue we are a private institution and I would say we are a medium sized institution.

There are about 4,000 students per incoming class at BU every year. So there are about 17,000 undergraduate students, as well as about 16,000 graduate students as well. So BU is also home to really vibrant graduate. Student population too. Like I mentioned, we are right in the heart of Boston, I think from any of the stops [00:03:00] at BU all the way to downtown Boston, such as places like the public garden or the Boston common, it’s probably about a good 20, not even 25 minutes.

There are no religious affiliations with BU though we were originally founded as a theological seminary. We’re no longer religiously affiliated. The campus size is about 169 acres located right near the Charles river. And our student to faculty ratio is about 10 to one. Obviously we do have the bigger lecture sized classes but I would say even during my experiences at BU our smaller discussion sections really didn’t go over 10 students.

And overall, I would say I got to know my faculty members pretty well.

Hi everyone. My name is Saria. I graduated from BC in 2019. Thank you all so much for coming. I’m really [00:04:00] happy to speak of the school I went to. So similarly Boston college is located in the, I would say in the greater Boston area, it’s actually located in a suburb right out of Boston called Chestnut hill.

It’s pretty close. It’s like a 20 minute drive. If you want to take the two you takes anywhere from, half an hour to get to Boston, depending where you want to go. Although it’s, further from Boston, it’s nice. Just because you have a little bit more distance from the city and there’s a, there’s more of a campus life, so you’ll have, so instead of stretching across the street, you’ll have, a gated campus where you have a bunch of lawns and it’s more, it’s much more.

No, the typical college campus feel that you would see in, for example, certain movies or TV shows. Similarly it’s a private medium instead institution a little bit smaller than BU but I would still consider it to be a medium sized school. So we do have an ref, a religious association. We are a Roman Catholic schools specifically adjust for institution.

And, maybe during [00:05:00] the Q and a section, we can go into a little bit more detail about what exactly that entails. But basically I would say that the, it’d is open to those of all religious affiliations, but Cultural and teaching style very much uses the values of the Jesuit education and, they that is really embraced and really everything that BC does in terms of the faculty ratio is also pretty similar to be you.

I would say the largest classes I’ve been in have been my core classes or, introductory classes, which have been around 200 students. And then especially later on in my academic career, so maybe junior or senior year, I was in much smaller classes. I’ve been in classes which dealt with as few as, five or six students.

So it’s really nice. You do get that large campus feel and you also get a lot of individualized attention in those smaller classes as you progress in your academic career.[00:06:00]

Oh, Sally, we can’t hear you again. Sorry. I do this fun thing where I mute the microphone on my laptop, and then I forgot about it. So thanks for reminding me. You’ll probably need to remind me again during the course of the webinar, but the undergraduate majors at BU does span under 10 10 colleges within Boston university.

So the first 10 are listed actually on this slide. So the college of arts and sciences, which is our largest school within BU which houses over 75 majors alone at BU we have the college of communication, which houses, some of our majors, such as public relations different types of journalism, as well as just mass communication.

In general, we have a college of engineering which actually had hosts, four majors, electrical engineering, computer engineering mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering. We have our college of fine arts, which is [00:07:00] focused more in the classical styles of teaching art and it’s mediums. We have.

Health and rehabilitation sciences, which is also known as Sargent college. We had the Frederick S Pardee school of global studies and our question of school of business and our school of hospitality administration. Now we do also have some graduate schools which are listed on the slide as well, which are our school of law.

The school of medicine, as well as our hem Henry M Goldman school of dental medicine. I was actually in three schools at BU I was majoring in international relations at the Frederick S Pardee school of global studies. And I actually double minored in public relations in the college of communication and Korean and the college of arts and sciences.

So academic flexibility is something that’s really valued and actually really encouraged at BU there are really easy ways that students can major and minor in different schools. Like I have a few of my [00:08:00] friends have double majored in the same school, and a lot of my friends have actually done something called the dual degree program, which is obtaining two undergraduate degrees from two different colleges.

And B you makes it so that you can do all of this and still graduate in four years. I majored in head to minors and was still able to graduate in four years. It is something that is definitely prioritized and really emphasize and encourage the students.

So for VC, we also have a bunch of different options for schools. You could enroll in. Many of these undergraduates are eligible to enroll in an amend. Some of these is just for graduate students. So our first and biggest one is the Morrissey college of arts and sciences. As major in Islamic civilization and societies, this was the school that I belonged to.

You’ll have, all your basic yeah. Econ, social sciences, hard sciences humanities, all of that would be in the college of arts and sciences. I also [00:09:00] actually double minor in theology and international studies. So both of those were also in the college of arts and sciences. We also have our law school.

If social work those are both only graduate schools. They don’t offer any undergraduate programs, but it is possible for undergrads to take classes in those schools, especially during your later years. And it’s really, it’s possible to collaborate with the professors in those schools.

So I’ve known not me personally, but I’ve known students who were undergraduate research fellows and research assistants. Professors in new schools you then have the Carroll school of management, which is the business school, the school of nursing and the school of education. All of those are also open to undergraduates.

Those are, those tend to be smaller schools. They obviously enroll less students, but if you’re looking for a Mo for a little bit of a more focused education they, these are perfect options for you. It’s also possible to double major between the schools, especially between CSUMB or the school of management school of nursing, the school of education with the college of arts and sciences, that is a [00:10:00] really popular option.

And it’s also possible for people in the college of arts and sciences to minor in other schools. And then finally we have the school of theology and ministry, which similarly to the law school, social work school and school of management is only open to graduates. But again, it is possible to say classes in those schools.

For example, as a theology minor, I did take some classes in that school. And I I, I worked with professors in that school as well. So it’s really great to have a variety of educational choices at BC. And to be able to explore what the different schools have to offer.

Yeah. Some popular majors at BU include the one major that is offered through the question of school of business, which is business administration or management. Under this one major students can choose from a wide variety of different concentrations. You may have students that choose attracts such as accounting or finance, or you can take another look at entrepreneurship or even oh my gosh, what [00:11:00] is it called?

Organizational behavior. So lots of different variety, even just within that one major, you can focus on. Variety of different concentrations communications and anything related to the communications is really popular. We do have one of the best colleges for communications in the nation and have some pretty famous alum including Pete Salza, who was the white house photographer.

Under the Obama administration. So a really cool fun fact there computer science, economics and psychology are all also really popular. Our engineering majors are also decently popular as well. And I would say my major international relations has its own school for international relations and regional studies.

And I would say the international relations major is quite popular as well. In terms of athletics I think I touched on it a little bit at the beginning of the presentation, but BU and BC do have a pretty big sports rivalry. [00:12:00] Sorry, I don’t know if you were super into sports while you were at BC, but I am a huge.

A sports fan. Especially when it comes to my personal favorite sport hockey. So be you was like one of my dream schools just for the sports that were available. So we are a, an NCAA division one school with the exception. Of men’s and women’s ice hockey, which plan the hockey east sleep. BU as a part of the Patriot league we have over 600 student athletes that participate in a wide range of sports ranging from rowing to hockey, to lacrosse.

And we currently do have 24 varsity teams. Though we do have a bunch of club teams as well as intermural sports teams as well. If you’re looking for lower level commitment and intensity, I was a part of several intermurals intramural sports during my time at BU my favorite being [00:13:00] broomball, which is basically ice hockey, but you don’t play on skates.

You play on your tennis shoes and you use a broom and not a hockey stick to try to maneuver the puck around a score. Maximum danger, but also maximum reward. I had a blast and I played for about two seasons and luckily didn’t get any serious injuries. So I think I, I ended my career on a high,

so at Boston college, there are a lot of very popular majors. Bio, is one of the biggest ones. Especially going into BC, everyone, I might want it to go do pre-med bio. And obviously that fades a little bit as time goes on, but it still remains one of the most popular majors. Econ is also very popular as is finance.

Finance would be in the school of the business school. Political science and government is also very popular. So me as an Islamic civilization and societies major, which was an [00:14:00] interdisciplinary major, I took a bunch of classes in the political science department. And finally communication is also a very popular major that also being in the college of arts and sciences.

And so in terms of athletics, I personally, wasn’t the biggest athletic person on Sally. But. But obviously there are there are options for both people who are really into it and who aren’t, even though I wasn’t, I still had a wonderful time at BC, but if you are in spec kind of stuff, we have a bunch of different varsity teams also.

And also a bunch of clubs, sports and intermural sports BC the, I guess the most popular ones to watch would be football, which is really big. I know some years were really good and some years were not good at all. I don’t follow that much, but that’s all I know. And then I know hockey were always really good.

That’s exciting. And yeah, and then we have a bunch of Yeah. I guess just also a bunch of variety. We also got a brand new recreational sensor last year. It was open the month after I graduated, which I’m really upset about. But it’s a fantastic new sports center if you’re just, really [00:15:00] into working out or if you want to hang out with your friends there.

So yeah, I guess athletics is a big part of the BC culture, but if that’s not your main interest, there’s also a bunch of other options for you to get involved.

Yes, switching gears and talking a little bit more about student life at BU we have over 450 student organizations on campus and it really runs the gamut. I think during my time at BU I saw everything from the free hugs club, which I guess now given the current state of the pandemic would have to operate with different functions and different distancing policies.

But the free hugs club was I think gathered at the center of campus in marsh Plaza every Friday afternoons. Gave people hugs and that’s what they did. We also do have different intramural sports and clubs, sports that count under the 450 clubs and student organizations that we have. We have social [00:16:00] and professional Greek life available for students at BU.

And I was a part of both during my time at BU which was really awesome. We have over 70 plus art groups ranging from different theater groups to different improv comedy groups. And like I mentioned, we have over 30 clubs. And the great thing about the U is that we do guarantee housing for all four years during our during student’s time at BU I personally actually lived on campus for all four years during my time at BU and I loved every second of it.

I met some of my best friends in college on my freshman year floor in Warren towers, which is one of the larger student dorms that you could reside in. And then I ended my last two years at BU in probably the nicest place I’ll ever live in my life, which is an incredible high rise apartment style housing option that BU has for upperclassmen.

And I [00:17:00] lived there for two years in student village two, or . And I would say it was about 80% of students lived on campus for all four years during my time there. But now I guess the numbers changed a little bit to 75%, but still an overwhelming majority of students decided to live all four years on campus.

School events, traditions, and attractions. We certainly have a bunch of them tagging the BU rock is a famous one, especially with different students student groups and organizations. We have a rock in the center of campus that students spray, paint and guard even overnight, which is pretty fun.

Like I mentioned, the Beanpot tournament is a hockey tournament that happens every year between four schools, Boston university, Boston college, Northeastern university and Harvard university. Northeastern has won the past two years, which BU and BC fans both actually disliked very much. We would much rather [00:18:00] have the championship, but either between the two of us, but that’ll that, that just does just fine.

And lobster night every year we basically all of the dining halls get fresh shipments of Maine lobster in and have a loft or themed dining night and all the dining halls, I think this past year with the current guidelines in place due to COVID-19 they actually did. To go containers of lobster rules and sides and stuff.

So students still got their field lobster, even if it wasn’t like the original, full lobster that students get. We also participate in marathon Monday, which I think the route pretty much runs right by our campus. And I think it actually runs through BC’s campus as well. And you definitely avoid the seal or else you don’t graduate in four years and splashes a big student activity fair event that happens on our turf, our big turf field every year.

[00:19:00] And all of the student organizations gather in that one area and basically encourage new students and even old students who decide to return to get some free stuff to follow their interests and passions and join it. A lot of different student clubs and organization. The BU pumpkin drop happens every year as well with our physics department.

They basically throw giant pumpkin over the wall of our physics and science building and calculate different speeds of gravity. Based on how quickly the pumpkin balls and ruts challenge is a food challenge that is available at our ruts cafe and the George Sherman union dining hall area.

And it’s a ridiculous amount of burgers and fries as well as several milkshakes. I never participated in the reds challenge, but I know a few of my friends who did, who were very much unsuccessful, but they still continue to try. If you win the rest challenge and you finish all the food, and [00:20:00] I think it’s like under 30 minutes You get free ruts food for a whole year.

So there’s a steep incentive to play, but it is an absolute insane amount of food.

So at BC, similarly, there are a bunch of different clubs and there, and it’s just so great to see that, that diversity in clubs offer. They’re a bunch of dance clubs, the acapella groups, culture clubs, political groups. I was personally throughout my four years very involved in the Arab students association.

I was at first the freshmen rep and then I became the treasurer and then I became a co-president for my last two. And that was just a really fantastic way of me getting to know people outside the dorms and outside of my classes, I’ve met some of my best friends in these clubs. It’s also great to just, go to different clubs, events, and support them and see what kinds of things that they’re doing.

It was really great for me to not only support your friends and their endeavors, but also [00:21:00] to get out of your comfort zone and see. Your fellow students at your school are interested in what they’re involved in, what they’re doing. So I think, the active student life at BC was really eye opening to me and really pushed me to get out of my comfort zone.

Another big thing at BC is volunteering groups. I think BC, especially with it’s just with values is very, very much promotes volunteering in your free time. So there are a bunch of different ways to get involved in your community, whether it’s in Boston or it’s in, within the Chestnut hill community, or even within the Boston college community in itself, there are a bunch of different ways to to volunteer and get engaged in the community, which is really wondering.

In terms of housing three years of housing are guaranteed. So the way that it works is that the large majority of students if they do not have three years of housing guaranteed, they will go off campus their junior year and then come back. Their senior year, I personally had four years of housing, guaranteed.

I think it’s around half of students have four [00:22:00] years of housing. So I stayed on campus, which was wonderful. Also the dorm senior year. I really nice. But so the students who do not have four years of housing, they will go off campus their junior year and, live in the Chestnut hill area or in the Brighton area, which is the neighboring area to Boston college and adjustment hill.

They’ll live there for one year and then they’ll come back their senior year just because senior year BC students like to be altogether on campus for their last hurrah. A lot of BC students, their senior year will live in the mods, which is modulars. It was actually. Originally as temporary housing, I think in the seventies user in the eighties.

And they’re basically just small houses with like lawns and barbecues and BC students fought every year to keep them as permanent housing because it’s a great way to to host gatherings and it’s just a really nice vibe in, the modular areas and it has a really great I guess it’s a really great bonding experience for the people who live there.

So that’s actually the most popular form of housing senior year. And it’s just funny because it was built [00:23:00] as temporary housing and it’s still here, like after what, four years. So it’s funny. And so again, there are a lot of clubs sports, and, we talked about this but there, there are a bunch of different ways to get involved in sports.

If you don’t want to, if you’re not a varsity athlete, Clubs sports and intramural sports are really great resource at Boston college, as well as the McMullan museum. I was actually an employee at the McMillan museum, my sophomore year, which was a really great experience. It’s a museum that’s part of Boston college.

It’s a beautiful building. That’s right next to the university that has exhibits running every semester. So I know this semester, there’s an exhibit on modern Arab art, which I’m super excited about. Just, due to my personal and academic interest. I’ll be back at BC this semester to see that exhibit and it’s free entry and it’s really just a really great resource that the university offers.

And in terms of school events, traditions, and attractions, we have a bunch of those as well. As Sally mentioned, the marathon route, which is a really big Boston tradition itself, it runs right in front of [00:24:00] BC on Commonwealth avenue. So every marathon, Monday we’ll, which is I think the third Monday of April.

So it’s nice as the water starts to get nicer on the end of spring semester. And everyone’s in a very festive mode, we’ll all go out and cheer on the runners. Many DC students and alum actually run the marathon and they’ll always wear their, the Beastie shirts. So it’ll cheer the model, which has been really, which is really great.

And then we have tailgating before every football game. So it’s always, usually on a Saturday morning, people will have barbecues outside on the lawn of the mods and just on the general grass, designated grassy areas at BC. And that’s really fun cause a bunch of alumns come back and it’s a really festive environment.

Showdown is personally one of my favorite traditions. Basically a dance competition with all the different dance groups at BC, and they are some of the most talented people I’ve ever seen. And it’s just really fascinating to see what your peers can do and to see how talented they are. And I really love [00:25:00] cheering.

I really loved cheering them on every year, a super fan shirts or just the type of shirts that, it’s I don’t know how to say it like a specific type of BC shirt that people wear during these big events, especially during marathon Monday and during football games the red bandana run is a run that happens fall semester of every year to honor a BC alum that passed away during nine 11.

And that saved a lot of people in the process. So we always honor hindering. Like a 5k run the bean pod we talked about it’s a tradition that we share would be you Gaston grams or just Instagram. So you take in front of gas, which is our most famous building. It’s like a really beautiful Gothic style building.

And so a lot of people would say, quote, unquote, guests and grams this strip mod it’s inappropriate. The strip mine is basically, so there are these two mods designated every year. But are the quote unquote strip mods. I forgot what number they are, but if you ended up living in that mod, you’ll have to perform a strip show [00:26:00] for all for every to see basically.

So that’s a really fun tradition and the housing lottery, isn’t really a tradition, but it’s basically the lottery that, puts you in specific housing. And so every year it’s really exciting, especially to see which seniors got them odds and which seniors got the really bad housing. So that’s always a lot of fun.

So next steps valley and Saya tell us why they chose BU and BC. But before that, here’s a question for you. Are you planning on applying to either Boston university or Boston college or both?

I’ll give you some time to answer that. Paul,

it looks like some people are applying to both be you and BC. So people are still deciding.

Yeah, it [00:27:00] looks like the most popular option is applying to both B and PC. So we’re happy that you’re here and we hope that you have some helpful information. I am closing this pot and that to use that. Yes. I got asked a lot during my time at BU talking to high school students actually.

And I think that was like my, the most popular question I got was why I decided to go to BU I really chose BU B for a wide variety of reasons, which are right on this slide. The first being its location, I really loved that it was a little bit more of an urban environment. I am from the San Francisco bay area, I’m from the suburbs.

And so I just, I really knew that I was looking for a little bit more excitement and more things to do during the day, but also, on the weekends to hang out with my friends and to do some fun things. So I really enjoyed be used location. The academic and professional [00:28:00] opportunities that I received during my time at BU was also just so enriching and rewarding.

And I really don’t think that I could have gotten these opportunities anywhere else. Thanks to an IRR faculty member that I had a class with professor Vesco Garcia, Vic, who is a former ambassador. I actually got an incredible opportunity to intern as a political communications intern for the British embassy in Boston.

So I was able to really partake in a lot of different opportunities, both academically in the classroom, but also outside. A classroom as well to just build on my professional skillset student organizations I, some of my best friends are not only from my freshman year floor in Warren towers, but also from these amazing student organizations that I was a part of ranging from my professional sorority my professional fraternity and social sorority to all of the folks that I [00:29:00] met during my time at the community service center which helped a lot of our volunteer programming or BU and most importantly, the people there are just truly incredible and unique in their own way.

I’m sure, sorry. Or you can speak for the folks that she’s met at BC as well, but I just really admired and. Felt lucky to be a part of the beast you population being surrounded by incredibly ambitious driven motivated people that constantly pushed me and challenged me and encouraged me to break out of my box and to just continually expand my perspectives and horizons.

So I was really attracted to Boston college because I was really looking for a school with a strong sense of campus culture. At the same time I did want to be near a city. So that’s why location was important to me as well. Which is why a suburban [00:30:00] school like. To me was probably one of my top choices for college.

I was looking at a large variety of schools and cities and outside of cities. And I just really loved Boston college’s combination of being near a big cosmopolitan city with a lot of fun activities and culture while having a really strong sense of community, a beautiful campus that I really felt like I could call home after four years.

And just a really collaborative and supportive environment among its students. I was also obviously very attracted to this cultural and academic opportunities. I absolutely loved my major. It was a very small major were only three people. But the classes were absolutely amazing. I feel like I really brought in my my cultural and academic.

Horizons. It was just really great to get out of my academic comfort zone and to take all these different classes that I never thought I would take. I didn’t go to BC thinking I’d be majoring in Islamic, civilization and societies, and I’m so happy that I did, and I’m still happy that BC offered that option to me.

[00:31:00] Again, and I really do love the collaborative environment. A lot of schools are known for being a little bit more quote unquote cutthroat and all the academics at BC are very challenging. And while the experience is really rewarding my big take from not only visiting BC, but also actually going to BC is that, students will really go out of their way to help each other.

And it is just all in all a very collaborative innovation. Another thing that I would say is that I really appreciated BC’s focus as a Jesuit institution on cultivating the person as a whole and really creating a person that will serve as a positive agent in society. Even though I’m not religious at all I really was drawn to the missions that are basically inspired by the Jesuit ideals.

I would say those are why I really wanted to go to BC.

Okay, great. Here is one more question for you. How prepared do you feel about the college application process?[00:32:00]

okay. It looks like two people are prepared, but has some questions. One person says extremely fast if you people are not prepared, but ready for anything. And if you are not sure where it just starts, it looks like most people are feeling pretty prepared, but has a few questions. So I think that’s a great place to be.

Okay. Back to you, Sally. Yeah. I can talk a little bit more about the actual application process. So Boston university is an early decision school. What that means is if you are super excited about BU that BU is where you want to be for the next four years of your life you can go ahead and apply through one of two early decision [00:33:00] deadlines.

There are. Literally no differences to the early decision one and the early decision to like options apart from the deadline that is actually listed on the slide that you’re seeing right now. So the early decision one deadline is November 1st, 2020, the early decision two deadline is January 1st, 2021.

And the regular decision deadline is January 1st, 2021 as well. So now the, with early decision one, I do believe that you hear about the status of your application and whether or not you’ve been admitted by sometime around the holidays sometime in December and with early decision you actually find out sometime in February after you submit your application in January, I will say another really important deadline for you that you guys should know about.

That is actually not on the slide is there is a priority scholarship [00:34:00] deadlines. BU does have two merit scholarships available for students. One is the presidential scholarship, which is a scholarship that I actually received which provides a scholarship aid of $20,000 per year for the four years that you’re a BU students.

All you need to do for that to meet the application requirements per se, for the presidential scholarship is you just need us to meet your application. December 1st, 2020. If you’re interested in the trustee scholarship, which is a full tuition and fees scholarship, which is covered for four years you do have to complete, I think, an extra couple of essay questions, but that deadline is also December 1st.

So if you’re interested in any additional merit aid from BU December 1st is also really important that line feed now there is another settlement essay that is required for BU there’s just one, it’s about 250 words. And the question is [00:35:00] what are you, what excites you the most about Boston university?

The one big tip that I have for you about that essay is you want to make that essay as specific as possible. I think in my personal supplement essay, I wrote about professors that I wanted to take classes with and do research with classes that I was really excited classes that are, I was really excited about student organizations that I really wanted to join traditions.

I wanted to be a part of there are, I think at least sixties rules and universities in the Boston area. And so what you don’t want to do with an essay like that is Make it vague so that you can then copy and paste this very similar sounding essay to another institution in Boston. So you want to make this a, B Y B USA as specific as possible.

The acceptance rate at BU is significantly lower than the acceptance rate that I had when I [00:36:00] was a senior in high school. But the current acceptance rate at BU is 18.5%. We get a total of, oh this past year over a little bit over 61,000 applications. And that does come from all 50 states and us territories as well as I think most countries on all six continents, because unfortunately we do not get any applications from Antarctica.

So there are a ton of students from not only just the U S applying, but also from all over the world, which makes be you an incredibly global institution and home to a significant international student population of about 35.

Yeah, some more stats about admitted students that just even looking at these, just crazy because I know that even four years ago it was looking a lot [00:37:00] different, but the average unweighted GPA of admitted students at BU is 3.9 average essay act score is 33 and the average sat score is a 14 step.

I would say the one thing you should know about these is that these numbers are averages. So B U does accept students who have higher scores than these, but BW also does accept students that have a lower GPA. Sat and act scores. So if you’re seeing this in your feelings, people are discouraged.

I wouldn’t totally count yourself out. BU is a really great at utilizing a holistic review process for their applications. And the scores, aren’t going to be the only thing that a BU admissions office there see when they see your application. Apart from the merit ACE point merit based financial aid that I talked about a little bit earlier, we do also offer need-based financial aid and it is need-blind.

So you, but you do need to [00:38:00] complete an application for federal student aid with the FAFSA. You also need to complete the IDocs from college core. You also need to complete the I doc and the CSS profile from college board as well in order to be considered for need based financial aid appeal.

So as for BC instead of being. So actually the act really recently changed their application model from early action to early decision. So very similarly to be you they have two early decision deadlines. The first being November 1st and the second being January your first that’s obviously if you’re really committed to Boston college and you’re really passionate about going there, if you’re still considering your options regular decision is a really great option for you.

And also similarly to Boston university, there is a merit based scholarship for which you need to apply early November 1st. However, if you do apply for that, your application is non-binding. So if you have any [00:39:00] specific questions, let me know about that. But. So yeah so there is a specific deadline for if you want to be considered for that merit based scholarship, it’s November 1st, but if you want to be considered for that, it’s not binding in terms of the supplemental essays you have, there is one longer essay required, which is around 400 words and they give you four different options for what types of essays to write.

So you could pick which essay inspires you the most. None of them are YBC. It’s more I don’t want to say more general essays, but you could really, like your common up essay, you could really choose whatever prompts you want and shape it to whatever inspires you the most.

So I actually had a lot of, I think that the essays were the same one. I applied around five or six years ago, which is so long ago. But so you can really shape your essay to whatever you want it to be in terms of the acceptance rate. It’s also lower than when I apply it. It’s a 26.4%. And obviously we have a bunch of applicants, a bunch of people accepted and then, some decides to enroll some decide to go to [00:40:00] other schools in the Boston area or other similar schools along the east coast.

So yeah, it’s really interesting to see how these numbers change over time. And then similarly, if we go to the next slide with the act and sat scores, this is also very similar to Boston university. These are both, very competitive schools. So the average GPA is also 3.9. It’s very important to note that, these schools are they post these scores online, but they are very much averages.

I know, personally my act, I took the act that my average was a lower than the average put online. If your average is a little bit lower, there is no need to worry. These schools accept a large variety of scores, even though they don’t necessarily want to. And then similarly BC is also has need based financial aid.

And all of that, is also very similar to be useful. Not going to go into that again.

Okay, great. So that is the end of the school presentation, part of the panel moving onto the live Q and I all the way through the [00:41:00] questions that you submitted in the Q and a tab. I’ll paste them. It’s the public chat for everyone to see. And then Sally and Saya, we’ll give you some answers. I’ll try to alternate between questions about BU and these feeds.

We have a few breaks planned and we’ll have a speed round at the end as a heads-up. If your Q and a tab, isn’t letting you submit questions, double check to make sure that you joined the webinar through the custom link in your email, not from the panels limits page. Okay. The first question is left for both of you guys to answer this.

What is your favorite thing and your least favorite thing about your respective college?

Sorry. Do you want to go first? Let’s see again. I think my favorite thing is I addressed why I wanted to go to BC. I mean there are multiple things. AI really loved my my major and I really did love the collaborative environment at Boston college. I also really appreciated the Jesuit values that guided Boston [00:42:00] college’s educational system.

I think there, for me personally, there were some downsides also to going to a religiously affiliated university. Not because I, as a non-religious person, I felt like I didn’t belong, but just because some of the values that were supported at this school are not necessarily values that I aligned with.

So that is definitely something to take into account when applying to BC. So obviously, I really did appreciate the. The Jesuit values that guided BC. And it’s one of the reasons why I applied and one of the reasons why I love it. But there are also certain aspects that I didn’t necessarily appreciate especially the school’s stance on contraception and things like that.

So that’s, I would say my my both my favorite and least favorite thing, I would say one of my favorite things about BU was just I just really appreciate it. Like I said, a little bit earlier, a lot of the academic and professional opportunities that I received both thanks to the connections that I [00:43:00] made with different people at the university, but also just with my peers and my fellow faculty members.

I actually now have started my career in higher education. So it’s been really amazing to connect back with some of my old teachers, as well as some of the administrators that I was really close to at BU to talk about the industry that we all are participating in and are active members of it’s actually been really cool to make this full circle moment happen again.

But one of my, I think, least favorite things about BU. Apart from the fact that we are a Pepsi school and not a Coke school, I would have to say I do wish that the administration was a little bit more the broader general administration of the office, of the president, as well as other senior leader members of leadership at BU where I think a little bit more in touch with the needs of the student not only the student body, but [00:44:00] also the faculty and staff that call BU home.

I just, I think that there are so many bigger picture things that you have to think of when you’re in that level of leadership at any institution, let alone, a college or a university, but especially within the past few months with everything happening in the world, not only with pandemic, but also the Global unrest that’s happening across various issues.

I believe that B leadership could have taken a stronger stance and, really, I think better actively supported its students than what has ended up transpiring. But I think it’s, I think that the, I wish that there was just a better connection between, the senior leadership and the students and faculty and staff.

I think that it would just make a, be you an even greater place to be for everybody. And I truly do hope that over the next few months B really does take the steps to bridge that gap. [00:45:00] Okay, great. The next question, it doesn’t specify at school. So I’d love for both of you to answer this one too, but can you apply undecided?

So I think that’s this back. Exactly what regular decision is a great for. If you apply January, by the January 1st deadline and not with the non-binding decision, it’s a great option. If you’re undecided. I personally applied to many schools, not knowing if I would want to go there, but just schools that I thought were interested in or that I thought would be a good fit for.

And if you apply for the non-binding option by January 1st, you’ll hear back sometime I think in March or April. And there’s absolutely no penalty. If you don’t go usually you’ll have your options laid in front of you and you just decide the school you want to go to and put down a deposit for that school.

So you could definitely apply. If you’re undecided, if you don’t even know it’s a good fit and then, continue doing your research and maybe. Once you’re admitted, I know they all don’t know how it’s gonna happen now with the pandemic, but they do have admitted. I know obviously they have admitted equals day.

So for all of those, [00:46:00] we’re sending an offer at BC. You are invited to campus to see campus and to get a deeper look. And so what it’s like to be a BC student so you can, yeah. So it usually, so if you’re not absolutely a hundred percent sure you want to go to VC or B U or any other school for that matter.

Applying regular is a perfect option. Yeah, I would say that applying to unders applying undecided to be you is also totally acceptable. Actually, I would say BU is a really great mix of people who apply undecided and then find out what they want to do. I’ve had friends who have switched majors like 5, 6, 7 times during our four years at BU and they’re also people like me who kinda knew what maybe they wanted to get into during.

And there’s a time of BU and stuck with that for all four years. But you can definitely apply undecided and it wouldn’t hurt your chances at all. Students have until the end of their sophomore year to really figure out [00:47:00] what it is that they’re really interested in majoring in and are passionate about.

So yeah, applying undecided at BU is not a detriment either. Okay, great. So we are partway through the Q and a as a quick break. I wanted to let you know what you can do after the panel to get help on your college applications and get in touch with our BU and BC advisors, as well as I, so people like Sally and Saya, we’ll assign it to advising plan, the starter plan and the scholar plan.

They’re both monthly subscriptions where you get matched with an advisor of their choice and you get one or two hours of one-on-one advising. Our advisors will work with you on crafting the perfect supplemental assets would be you or BC and your other applications and sending everyone an offer right now, a link to get started.

This author links to our page to sign up our students as well as I have had a ton of success working with an advisor this past admission season, [00:48:00] we had both by clans getting to be UCC and every top 25 school in the country, our client’s fade is 9.8 out of 10. And that’s because advisors put a ton of care into working with you.

One-on-one through every step of the application process. Okay. I think we’re going to go back to a Q and a now, but we are going to move ahead and go into our speed round. It’ll just be the anther a bit shorter and under a minute to get through as many questions as possible. The next question I have for you guys.

In what way can I further my religious beliefs as a Catholic at each respective college?

So at BU while BU is not a religiously affiliated school we do have quite a few different religious student organizations that you can get involved in during your time at BU I do know that there are I am also not personally religious, but I do know a few of my friends who are Catholic were a part of the Catholic center at [00:49:00] BU as well as a few other different Bible studies student organizations as well.

We do have marsh chapel. That is a part of BU which hosts non-denominational services, but also does host Catholic services as well. And our university chaplain is quite amazing and has also helped a lot of students who are maybe want to get further connected with their faith. And he helps them.

He helps connect them with other individuals that he knows within the university that can assist really supportive overall. So yeah, while BU is not religiously affiliated there are plenty of opportunities for religious students to get involved through different student organizations and through more chapel.

So yeah, BC has a Catholic university, obviously offers a bunch of ways in which you could further your religious beliefs, a I would say academically and this isn’t only for people who want to further their personal religious beliefs, but also just for [00:50:00] people who want to learn more about religion and Catholicism in general.

So I minored in theology of BC, even though I’m not religious. And it, and I have many friends who are religious, who just took a bunch of different classes in the theology department and the school of theology and ministry. Just because they were interested in learning more about the subjects. I think BC has actually one of the, along with Harvard and Georgetown, probably like the best theology studies program in the world.

That’s really great. And then similarly, there are a bunch of different religious clubs that, obviously Catholicism in itself is very diverse. So you know, a bunch of advocacy groups, a lot of just spiritual groups not only in terms of Catholicism, but also a bunch of different religious groups have their own organizations and own support groups.

There is, a certain, a specific sensor that promotes spiritual development. There are a bunch of different retreats that BC offers all of which are somehow rooted in spirituality or Catholicism. So yeah, it’s a really great place if that’s what you’re interested in. [00:51:00] Okay.

Next question. How real is the grade deflation at Boston university? So yeah so I can really only speak to my personal experience at BU which was I did not experience great deflation at all in any of my classes as an international relations major. I don’t really know overall I feel like even some of my, even my friends in engineering and even in the harder sciences, didn’t really ex experience grade deflations, there are definitely curves that are set for different courses, especially with exams in particular, in some of the harder science classes.

But I’ve never really heard of a scenario with any of my, either personally or with anyone that I knew of BU where they felt like the grade that they received was deflated, or I guess, unfair in any way. Yeah, I would say I personally don’t really [00:52:00] think it’s real, but that was, that’s just really been my own personal experience.

Okay, great. Next question. What aspects compare and contrast both BU and BC. I think, although we love to say we have a rivalry deep down, we are schools that are both very academically rigorous and that are both have a really, I think they’re both wonderful option schools that they’re both schools that have a really great campus culture and have very strong academics.

I think the biggest thing that would contrast both schools. I guess the nature of the campus life, just because BU is a more urban school, NBC is a much more suburban and campus based school. Personally, I’d be very jealous of BU kids on the weekends because I was in Chestnut hill on the weekends where nothing was happening.

And I would actually always take the B-line, which Sally was talking about to Austin and the BC and the BU area on the weekends. So I definitely felt a kinship with these students because I was always on their turf. But I think that’d be the [00:53:00] dif the biggest difference, just the nature of the campus life, although both are wonderful and very valid.

It just depends on your personality, what you prefer. I personally really appreciate it. Although I was jealous on the weekends, I really appreciated having a strong campus. Yeah, I would really say location is a pretty big difference. Sorry, you mentioned a BU is located situated in more urban area of Boston and BC is located just a little bit outside of Boston in the suburbs of Chestnut hill.

BU definitely doesn’t have a whole lot of green space compared to Saria sorry, as BC campus. And that is a really big difference there. And the other big difference that we touched upon is the religious affiliations of our respective schools. But you did start off as a seminary, like I mentioned, but since then we’ve lost all religious affiliation.

While BC has obviously maintained stronger Jesuit values as its educational core. And I think. Regardless and putting [00:54:00] aside how individuals may feel about having a religious affiliation with their universities. I do think that there are pretty big differences in the, the type of education that you might be receiving and how these values are reflected in how you approach academics and different aspects of your life professionally as well.

I’m sure that, sorry. Saria has, I think touched upon things that are more like collaborative in nature that while B you does have I don’t think is it’s as well. Instilled. And those might be just some of the differences that you’re looking for, but I completely agree with Saria when she says that they’re both incredibly academically rigorous schools that offer a really robust student life as well as athletic life as well, if you’re interested in that.

Okay, great. So that is the end of our speed round. We’re about to wrap things up before you go. [00:55:00] I want to remind everyone about what you can do after this panel to work with a BU or BC advisor on your application, in case you missed it earlier, I’m going to read, so we sent the link where you can sign up for a blizzard.

But I think when we work with Sally, sorry, any of our other advisors,

so this is the end of IOP use slash PC panel. And that’s webinar will be in two days and it’s On Thursday from eight to 9:00 PM Eastern standard time. This will actually kick off our new October series, which we’ll start with the Melvin webinars on supplemental essays for our most popular schools.

And then it’ll delve into a new psych series that goes over applications, bikes. I hope to see you all at that session and the later ones. Thank you so much for coming to our panel. I hope everyone takes care.[00:56:00]