<p>Besides Brandeis being heavily Jewish and BC Jesuit-affiliated, what are the differences between the quality of education, social life, campus, prestige, financial aid?</p>
<p>In terms of finaid, you might want to consider that Brandeis was hit hard in the Madoff scandal; the school is closing its museum and selling off its art collection.</p>
<p>I personally liked BC’s campus more because I found Brandeis’ campus…kinda…ugly. lol. but you should visit for yourself. It’s very eclectic with different styles including modern and old while BC’s is more together and collegiate gothic, i think.</p>
<p>Brandeis is a non-sectarian school that embraces students from all types of backgrounds based on merit. This is highlighted by its illustrious alumni–e.g. nobel and pulitzer prize winners, international leaders and those accomplished in business, academia and the arts --so many of whom are not of Jewish backgrounds. The school has no religious affiliation, although it was founded and is well-funded signigicantly by the Jewish community. Its undergraduate student body of late is less than half Jewish. Its “International Business School” is decidely international in its academic focus and student body (> 50% international). There are numerous posts on this website that discuss its diversity. In contrast, BC, a fine school in its own right, is a sectarian, Catholic-Church sponsored institution–although I trust it does not screen its applicants for their religious backgrounds either. BC’s student body is predominantly Catholic and the school is known more for athletics than academics. </p>
<p>As for the Rose Museum issue (which has gotten national and international coverage because of Brandeis’s and the museum’s prestige), all college endowments have been impacted by the severe recession. Brandeis has just been more open (arguably too open) in trying to deal creatively with these issues without impacting the quality of its excellent education and, especially financial aid, i.e. putting people before things. Here’s a link to this past week’s Wall Street Journal article which explains that the museum is not closing and that a limited number of paintings might be sold if necessary to avoid any serious budget cuts. [Brandeis</a> Appears to Scale Back Plan to Sell Art - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123578082183297943.html]Brandeis”>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123578082183297943.html)</p>
<p>From the vibe I got when I visited and from what Ive read in various books, Brandeis students tends to be more intellectual and focused on academics, while BC’s tends to be a little more sports focused (though its students perform well academically, also). Academically they are pretty similar. Youll get a great education at both. Prestige-wise, theyre both top schools, but BC probably gets the edge based on it being a more household name. BCs campus is nicer. Personally, though, I liked Brandeis better overall. I just got a warmer feel from the student body.
Good luck in your search.</p>
<p>BC’s Catholic roots are evident from the student handbook (parietals, etc.); I don’t believe there are similar remnants of religion at Brandeis. But Brandeis looks favorably on applications from Jewish high schools, just as many Catholic colleges look favorably on applications from Catholic high schools. Also, I suspect that Brandeis has a larger percentage of Jewish students (50%?) than BC does Catholic students.</p>
<p>Both schools are solid academically, but Brandeis is a bit more liberal and BC is a bit more jock-y (DI sports, I believe).</p>
<p>FYI, NYC’s suspicion about the size of the Catholic population of BC is not correct. A recent Globe article on the Church’s installation of Catholic symbols on the BC campus notes that the student population is 70% Catholic. Here’s the article:[Catholic</a> symbols stir diverse feelings at BC - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/02/12/catholic_symbols_stir_diverse_feelings_at_bc/]Catholic”>http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/02/12/catholic_symbols_stir_diverse_feelings_at_bc/)</p>
<p>BC is more catholic than Brandeis is Jewish.</p>
<p>I’d say they’re about equal in terms of actual education quality, but Brandeis does tend to attract a slightly more academically-oriented student body. Also, it’s much less religion-oriented.</p>
<p>Brandeis is a good name, but so is BC so they’re about equal for prestige.</p>
<p>With respect to academics, I believe you’re comparing apples and oranges. BC has nearly three times as many undergraduates as does Brandeis-nearly nine thousand versus just over three thousand. Brandeis functions as a small liberal arts college in the midst of a world-class research institution. I belive it is the smallest student body of the top tier universities (perhaps other than CalTech). Its theater arts, music and fine arts programs are also renowned. In terms of its intellectuality, it is much more comparable to its UAA bretheren, the University of Chicago or Wash U, or other small research universities like Johns Hopkins, than it is to BC. With respect to prestige as it affects success rates in admissions to the best graduate schools, including med school and law school, it would be hard to beat Brandeis. However, if you’re looking for a prestigious Div I athletics program, it’s BC hands down over all other schools in the Boston area. I would compare BC more closely with its more prestigious Catholic bretheren, Notre Dame and Georgetown.</p>
<p>Except for USNWR rankings (where Brandeis has a slight edge), Brandeis and BC are pretty dissimilar. In the Boston area, Brandeis is much more comparable to Tufts. They are of similar size, comparable locations and campuses, both have excellent, well known faculties and facilities and they attract a pretty similar student body. Tufts and Brandeis are ranked similarly and, overall, have similar reputations.</p>
<p>In contrast, BC is a very different place culturally than Brandeis.</p>
<p>Brandeis~50% Jewish
BC~70% Catholic
However it should be noted that many of the Jews and Catholics at these two schools are non-religious or not very religious so I doubt either would feel religiously that different from most colleges.</p>
<p>Considering that Jews are overrepresented in top colleges–Harvard is 31% Jewish and many top colleges are at least 20%–Brandeis might not feel as different from most top colleges as BC since Catholics are more uncommon in many universities. That being said, I think the poster who compared Brandeis to Tufts is right; in terms of size and feel those two have more in common.</p>
<p>Brandeis and BC are certainly academic peers, so it’s unlikely the quality of the education would vary much between them, but they do have individual strengths. BC is known for producing very successful businessmen/women while Brandeis is more known for its strength in the sciences–chemistry and biology I think–and religion and law.</p>
<p>Since I’m from the Boston area I can attest to some of the things said earlier in this thread. Brandeis is indeed considered the more intellectual place, while BC is better known for its sports teams and parties. That is not to say BC students are any less smart. Also, in terms of campus, BC’s is better–being about 4 miles from downtown Boston vs. Brandeis’ 10 miles or so and being prettier.</p>
<p>Also, BC is definitely more conservative and less diverse. It’s clearly a very good school, but around Boston it does have somewhat of a reputation for educating the members of the “old boys’ club”–well-connected whites, who go on to make money in investment banking, etc.</p>
<p>Although Brandeis has many illustrious grads in the sciences (e.g. Nobel Prize winner for chemistry Rod Mackinnon and Fields Metal winning physicist Edward Witten), it’s alumni in journalism, the arts, and business are equally distinguished (e.g. 3-time Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman of the NY Times, The Earth is Flat etc; the Creators/Producers of Friends; actress Debra Messing;Robert FX Sillerman (billionaire businessman–currently owner of American Idol and Graceland) and Christy Hefner, former CEO of Playboy).</p>
<p>FACT (for nyc): Financial aid will be protected. period. a reason why the school will be selling some of the art is to PROTECT THE THINGS MOST IMPORTANT to Brandeis like THE PROFESSORS AND FINANCIAL AID!! I’m sorry for using caps but it would be shame to not attend Brandeis b/c of a lie.</p>
<p>A major difference between the two schools is that BC is Jesuit in that you have to take a theology course to graduate and BC added more religious symbols. [Some</a> opposed to religious symbols at BC](<a href=“http://www3.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO104397/]Some”>http://www3.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO104397/) </p>
<p>Brandeis is Jewish-sponsored but non-Sectarian. That means there’s absolutely no theological requirement and your religion/ethnicity plays no role in the admissions practice.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>