how will being jewish affect my experience?

def454 · 10-30-2009, 10:32 PM

Hi, I am jewish and interested in BC. I have a couple of quick questions-

do you think being a jew- and one who has been involved in the jewish community- will give me an edge over other applicants?

Also, would i be like an alien there, or is the campus generally accomodating?

how prevalent is the jesuit aspect of it?

answer any or all of these please. thanks in adavance!

rodney · 10-30-2009, 10:39 PM

News: Crucifixes in the Classroom - Inside Higher Ed

Depends...does something like this bother you? if not, you should be fine.....

def454 · 10-31-2009, 12:39 AM

no, thats okay, its more the attitude of the students i care about. Also, will it help me gain admission?

bluebayou · 10-31-2009, 12:15 PM

The campus is very accommodating and the religions have much in common, such as faith in god, service to community and family-orientation. BC even has a Hillel. However, one year of Theology is a required, but it can be completed by several academic courses. Look up the "Core".

Boston College Hillel

scottj · 10-31-2009, 02:23 PM

Dear def454 : One of the important points in your opening sentence is "involved in the ... community". That is the key point : involved. Community involvement and in the Jesuit tradition, "men and women for others".

The religious affiliation tied to that involvement is something that your personally have to weigh in your application process and when you consider four years of campus housing. Although Jesuit and Catholic traditions tend to be tied together, the pure Jesuit tradition is one focused on education.

The theology core can be satisfied via many course outside what one would classify as Catholic and Christian teachings. One suggestion would be to review the theology page on BC's web site :

Department of Theology - Boston College

Also, with some browsing, you will be able to explore the full theology curriculum, available here :

All Courses - Boston College

Hopefully, this will help show that the theology component is just one very small piece of the Boston College core and that component can be filled through a number of options that will help you explore your own religion, provide other perspectives, or take you in a completely different direction than you might anticipate.

def454 · 10-31-2009, 02:41 PM

oh absolutely! i don't mind theology, in fact I find learning about other religions to be fascinating. So it kind of seems like what everyone is saying here is that if i am supportive, open-minded, and understanding then the campus will be the same to me?

BC2012guy · 11-01-2009, 05:11 PM

"what everyone is saying here is that if i am supportive, open-minded, and understanding then the campus will be the same to me?"

Absolutely. The Jesuit aspect will affect you as the philosophy of education that the school takes- producing will rounded students who can use their education to help others. There is no anti-semitism or anything like that at BC. My roommate is Jewish and loves it here.

TheDukeofEarl · 11-03-2009, 04:46 PM

def454: Search on this forum for "jewish". You'll see plenty of folks here saying the same thing: That BC's student population is very open-minded, and the Jesuit tradition encourages open service to each other. I don't even know what religions most of the kids on my floor practice, if they do at all. Don't know what brand of toothpaste they prefer either. Don't care either way about either issue. I do know that most of them(us) don't get to Mass every week, so I'm not thinking it's a hotbed of religious fervor to begin with.