Jillian

Even among the other college populations we get a bad rep for preppy, snobby, dunk, rich, white bros and hoes or j-crew with a hangover. There is even a blog called Bro-ston College. This is not true-yes maybe 5% of the population is made up of bros and hoes but the rest is a friendly, normal atmosphere. People still wear sweats around campus, most people get some form of financial aid, not everyone drinks on campus though I would stress that this is not even close to a dry campus but people who do not party still manage. We do have more diversity than people would think around here too and the cultural clubs are huge on campus the main one being AHANA. People here are definitely not racist in the slightest.

People here overall and in general are friendly, not always what you would call religious, not alcoholic, care enough about their schoolwork but not to the point of having no life.

for me the size is just right, about 10000 undergrad is small enough that youll see a few familiar faces walking to classes, and its not too overwhelming but at the same time, you wont get bored of seeing the same people or bump into someone you dont want to see. BC's reputation is pretty great which may not seem like it means anything other than the "wow, you got into/go to BC? thats great!" you get from relatives, friends, but it sure means a lot to recruiters when college is over and you need a job its great to be so near to boston which is the greatest college city since there are so many colleges around, if you need to get off campus, you can go into boston, or go to another campus theres tons of school pride here which is amazing i love it!! the divison 1 sports add to this a lot, but if youre not that into sports it doesnt matter! while i love football and enjoy the football games for the game and the social aspects, most of my friends go purely for the social aspect-they dont even pay attention to the game. the school unity is great at footbal games because everyone wears onoxious gold superfan shirts and superfan sunglasses and yell, cheer, laugh, sing, dance the whole entire game its great. did i mention we stand on the bleachers every second of every game? yea its the best!! almost everyone has season tickets so if youre an incoming freshmen, buy the football tickets its so worth it and youll be left out if you dont.

most the the professors here actually care, theyll set up office hours and give extra credit. all but one of my classes freshmen year were under 40 people, the one that wasnt was lecture style and that was only 150 people. even though BC is known for academics, most people arent nerds who study 24/7, im pretty sure the rigor and study hours are the same at most other colleges. the thing that sets it apart is the extensive core. theres a moderately large list of core courses everyone has to take. if you do well on APs/IBs youll get exempt from a lot though-i came in with 24 credits and got rid of most of my core! as a jesuit college you do need to take theology as part of the core but especially if you pair it with philosophy, its really the philosophy behind religion-its NOT shoving religion down anyones throat

people are pretty diverse by all means, though it isnt usually advertised as so. you get international students, students of all races, nationalities, sexual orientations, religions. theres people who are paying tuition in full and people who can only afford to go here becuase of ful scholarship rides-most people get some form of financial aid. theres the divison 1 athletes and people who cant play sports for their lives. people from most every states and every political standing.

i should say while the official number is that 70% of students identify themselves as christian, that simply means they checked off a box on their application. there are many people like me, i identify roman catholic, however i barely practice or observe. i have met one right winged super-catholic southern son of the confederacy here, but trust me when i say that is a rarity. to me, people interact pretty well here and if everyone gives everyone the chance everyones pretty chill; almost no one is rascist or super religious/conservative

We are a Jesuit Catholic school and the Jesuits are considered to be the most liberal of the Catholic sects, and its true. For every club deemed conservative like the pro life club there is always, by nature not force, an opposing liberal club like the pro choice club

See my post on sterotypes for more of this...

tons of clubs. tons of athletics. tons of things to be an audience member of as well as an active member. tons of service. TONS upon TONS of stuff to do in boston and at surrounding colleges. dont let cultural or religious stuff scare you away, for example, sign up for a retreat called kairos-best experience at BC i have had hands down. its run through campus ministry, which scared me a little at first but if you believe in any kind of faith, structured or not---if you believe in anything---DONT ASK QUESTIONS GO ON THIS RETREAT. its so popular theres a lottery to get in so the earier you sign up the better.

The cost of BC. It is what it is.

The housing PROCESS because like most schools we use a lottery system to determine the order of preference for housing. The biggest problem with this is that every year it seems there is somewhere everyone wants to live and somewhere you don't wanna get stuck in. Freshmen year=Newton campus vs. upper campus

Sophomore year=Co Ro [near upper campus] vs. lower campus [8mans]

Junior year=lower campus vs. off campus [8mans]

Senior year=Mods vs. the Gate vs. lower campus

Finding a solid group to get all your friends in the same suite or building can be difficult, but a slight majority is successful. I personally avoid the lottery all together for opting for special interest housing, which for me is honors housing which tends to put you in almost the best building for your year.

Our varsity teams not winning as much as previous years. To me, this is BS because the teams are more likely to win if people show up to the games, but because we aren't winning people decide not to show up.

j-crew with a hangover, preppy rich white kids, no diversity

Non existent. Because BC is a Catholic Jesuit university, we have no sororities or fraternities on campus which has advantages and disadvantages. The "exceptions" would be honor societies that are titled by their Greek letters, I am not sure of which honor societies [separate from honors programs] are employed though.

It really depends on the person, and for me it even depends on my mood. Some prefer the libraries because it's easier to work with other people working around you as well as the quiet. The libraries offer areas for group work and individual work with various levels of personal space and noise level. We even have a "silent library" in Bapst that is preferable when you really need silence. Study lounges are in almost every dorm and are the space I use the most. They are smaller and less crowded than the library, easier to get to and from my room, and generally stay as quiet as some parts of the libraries [depending on the dorm]. I also opt for my dorm room as well, depending on the personalities of you and your roommate[s] it is possible to study in your room. I find it easiest because I don't need to lug my work, books, and laptop anywhere and I don't have to worry about dressing for the outside weather. Places that people often neglect [until finals] are empty classrooms and dining halls when operating and when not operating. These tend to be emptiest even during finals and the places I go when I need to be completely alone so I can efficiently study.

So for those who don't know, Marathon Monday is the Monday of Patriot's Day when we have off from classes and the Boston Marathon occurs. The east side of main campus runs right along Commonwealth Avenue which all the runners follow right after Heartbreak Hill. Not only was it amazing to see the world class runners, but also the runners who wear funny costumes or have signs or the ones who go to Boston College [we have a marathon club that prepares year round]. EVERYONE at the college is lined up along Comm Ave and just yells screams and cheers for hours upon hours; it seriously was like a football game, just along the street. Last year, my first year, it was THE perfect day for a marathon and it was gorgeous outside, a nice way to spend a spring day in the sun. It should be emphasized that the reason at least half the student body loves Marathon Monday is because it is an extension of the weekend meaning monday is 24 hours of drinking. People actually get up early early like 6 or 7 am just to start drinking as much as possible. It's not my scene, but I do thoroughly enjoy watching drunk people do hilarious things i.e. when their running friend stops by and making him chug a beer before he keeps running or chanting "You Are Running the Boston Marathon" and "Continue to Run the Marathon" It was priceless and now look forward to it this spring!