BC's the Place To Be

Introduction
I would say that if you are a high school student who has traditionally performed well academically and has enjoyed a bit of cultural exposure and some of the finer things in life, then you will probably love BC. I found that most prep school brats like myself loved BC. Nevertheless, it is academically challenging for everyone regardless of your public or private school background. If you know yourself and have confidence, then you will do well and enjoy your time at BC. I know I did! BC is an undercover jock school because we are very big in the football, basketball, and hockey arenas. However, it is a school that mainly focuses on producing well-rounded, educated people and professionals. If you like the Jesuit mission of service for others and the quest for intellectual advancement, then BC is the place for you. It's not too big and it's not so small, so you'll never get lost in the crowd or become isolated (unless you want to). The student that is not outgoing, hates sports, is not a fan of Catholicism or the Jesuit way, hates extremely cold and wet weather (wind & snow), is an atheist, looking for a school of more or less than 9,000 students, and/or wants to be surrounded by a "great" amount of ethnic and racial diversity within and out of the classroom, should not attend Boston College.

Campus Life and Social Life
The social life on campus is pretty varied, but mostly centralized on each of the three campuses: Newton Campus, Upper/Main Campus, and Lower Campus. Partying usually begins Thursday and runs through Saturday. You can pretty much find a good party some of the time but you can also find peace and quiet for studying too in BC's big and cosy campus libraries (there are at least eight). BC sports is mostly Division I in the NCAA and is now in the ACC. Football is the most popular sport hands down, then basketball, followed by hockey. BC's main rivalies are with Boston University, Notre Dame, and now Duke.

BC is located aloft Chestnut Hill, MA, one of if not the wealthiest places to live in the US, so the campus is surrounded by privately owned residential mansions (some of which BC owns including the newly purchased Archdiocese of Boston property that is adjacent to the campus). BC is located five miles outside of Boston so the school has their own train stop and depot. Boston University and Lasalle are nearest to BC. The school has large coach buses that run between Newton and Upper/Main Campus and a couple of blocks down to Cleveland Circle (where the local bars, restaurants, bank, CVS, cleaners, Dunkin' Donuts, and a faster train to Boston are located). Once you take the faster train on the D-Line into Boston (a 20-30 minute ride) then you can go to clubs like The Roxy, Zanzibar, etc.

Weekends are usually chock full of different organization/campus club events that often leave you debating or wondering when and if your homework is going to get done. There are so many good cultural clubs and service organizations on campus that it is very hard to decide which one to participate in during a given semester. Oftentimes, students have to really manage their schedules in order to do all the activities that they want to do and keep their grades high (which-when done properly-is very rewarding and gives a great feeling of accomplishment). It's all a part of the "learning how to live your life process" (well, at least that's what I call it)! Academics
Academically, Boston College is known for its schools of business, nursing, and education! I was in the school of business during my freshmen year, but I'd already interned on Wall Street and learned that you didn't have to have a degree in business to be business-minded or really successful at it! Most millionaires and successful entrepreneurs don't have this degree; some don't even have a college degree! I wanted to learn something different and more fun. So because I like to write, love media (and its psychological messages and imagery), I decided to become a communications major, which is the school's most popular discipline with over 1,300 students enrolled. Most BC students think that it's popular because it's easy, but it really isn't; especially if you cannot write well or do not think critically and objectively. I was challenged in ways that were good for me. I learned how to make my writing stronger, more effective, and of course, grammatically correct. As long as you read up on the major on the website and ask the right questions to the chair of that department, then you should get a pretty good idea of what you'd like to learn. BEST ADVICE: try to major in something that really interests you and is fun and appealing. That will keep you from going crazy when you're doing homework or during mid-terms, finals and through some potential long papers! The core courses are the main curriculum of BC and are the main requirements for obtaining your degree, so sometimes they can suck a lot if you don't choose the right professor. BEST ADVICE: check the PEPs at www.ugbc.gov. The PEPs are what students have to say about teachers (likes, dislikes, strenths, and weaknesses) and it's totally a student-run online initiative so most of the PEPS are pretty accurate and they've never lied to me. Always go with the overall consensus from the student evaluations about a particular course and/or professor! Nevertheless, the majority of BC professors are pretty good, very smart, very nice, available, and approachable...but some BC professors just have teaching styles that may be different from how you prefer to learn or be taught for that matter.

Student Body
The "typical" student from Boston College is blond and blue-eyed from a middle to upper class family that reside in more of the affleunt communities of the U.S. Boston College students are from all over the US and the world! Nevertheless, I didn't realize how many New Yorkers and Bostonians are at the school until the annual Yankees vs. Red Sox baseball league showdown! Talk about a rowdy rivalry! It's all in good fun, though (go Yankees!).

In Closing...
I am an African American female that just graduated from Boston College in May, 2005. I loved learning and living there and still have a huge sense of loyalty to my alma mater. I would like to encourage any person of color who wants to attend Boston College to give a 100% effort to get in, stay in, and get their degree in any major and/or minor! Just because you may not be the "typical" candidate, you should not be deterred from doing anything that you'd like to achieve in life! Ethnic and racial diversity is beautiful and needs to be embraced more. Boston College does do a somewhat substantial job of making sure that there are some provisions and resources available for people of color through their affirmative action initiative. For example, there is the Thea Bowman AHANA Center (AHANA: African, Hispanic, Asian, Native Americans). Lovingly known as "The AHANA Center," it is a place where a student of color can get free tutorials, academic counselling, a feeling of belonging, a supportive network, a smiling face and a sense of home.