Hi -
Would welcome thoughts on the differences/similarities and pros/cons of Boston College vs Holy Cross.
Thank you.
Just off top of head — size, location, offerings (example BC has a school of management whereas HC has certificates but not majors in the area. Also - one has a major sports scene - ACC.
I’m sure others will have direct anecdotes. Good luck
Ps one is arguably an easier admit
Integrated into Boston vs. on a hilltop in Worcester
Boston College is actually a university. Holy Cross is an LAC, as its own list of comparison schools reinforces.
These are both great college choices.
In my opinion, the Jesuits have higher education down!
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~9,500 undergrads at Boston College, ~3000 at Holy Cross.
Boston College has four undergraduate colleges: business/management, arts & sciences, nursing, and education/human development.
Living on a hilltop may be a bit of a pain to deal with. Not sure about the impact of being across from a highway/the town of Worcester. I think our son was looking for something a bit more “rural”, or something like BC which feels rural yet is very much within striking distance of a major city.
Holy Cross is located in a nice residential area in the periphery of the city. The campus is gorgeous, well laid out and a registered arboretum to add the bucolic, New England campus aesthetic. Hard to imagine when one is on the lush campus, that a busy city with lots of restaurants, shops, entertainment venues and points of interest is only a 5 minute Uber or college van ride away. It is indeed hilly, but not exactly an issue to “deal with” unless one has mobility issues.
Both schools are well respected and quite popular even with the numerous colleges in MA to choose from. Both hover around the same acceptance rate and are both are academically excellent. Holy Cross is a medium/large sized LAC and BC is a university. Best thing is to tour each school to see the vibe. My kids immediately noticed a difference and were drawn to the friendly, smaller, relatable close knit community of Holy Cross. Can’t go wrong with either.
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Thank you.
HC does indeed have a nice campus. My prior knock on it being on a hill was a bad attempt at a joke. And the few kids we met seemed impressive/nice/mature enough. Admit do not know much about Worcester and/or the social life. With no Greek system assume non-campus socializing must make up a big part of the social scene. Any insight on Worcester/social life would be welcomed.
We toured HC but just walked around BC. Will look to do a formal tour of BC soon. Campus seemed great and the students we briefly chatted up were all very nice and thoughtful in their comments. May just be too big of a school/campus for our son.
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I have kid that attends BC and my other one seriously considered Holy Cross. They were both looking for very different experiences - one wanting a small LAC, and didn’t care about sports or proximity to a city, and the other wanting a medium-sized university with rah-rah sports and in/near a city. Most, but not all students find themselves feeling pretty strongly about wanting an LAC versus a larger school, so that may be a reason to consider one, but not the other.
I would disagree that BC feels rural. If anything, the surrounding neighborhood feels suburban. But, it’s right a T stop and quick ride into the city. My kid is in Boston most weekends.
One important consideration - or at least it was to my kids - is dorm life. BC dorms are coed by floor, and Holy Cross are single sex. If you have a child who cares about this one way or the other, that could be a factor. Both of my kids weren’t crazy about single sex dorms, but others may be neutral or prefer single sex.
Both are great Jesuit schools with gorgeous campuses, in Massachusetts, and actually both are on a hill. But, I think the similarity ends there, as the experience of attending each school would be quite different.
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All Holy Cross dorms are coed by floor as well.
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Sorry, must have been working off of older information from back when my older child was looking. At that point, I’m pretty sure the dorms were not co-ed by floor.
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Worcester is definitely a college town with a lot of what you’d expect in an “up and coming” city. Worcester is actually the second largest city in New England, yet still has a hometown feel. There are (at least) 5 colleges within the city, a new minor league ballpark, and lots of restaurants and bars. You can find everything from upscale to “gritty”. Nice art museum, large and small music venues, the DCU center, not too far from skiing and less than an hour from both Providence and Boston.
Worcester isn’t Boston, but lots of kids don’t want Boston. Worcester definitely has its own culture and charm.
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Good description of Worcester. I’m from the area. We toured both Boston College and Holy Cross with my daughter. Both are great choices. What she liked about Holy Cross smaller size, beautiful new student athletic center, new fine arts building, nice campus. What she liked about Boston College beautiful campus, nice area, T to Boston. For her the possibility of being on the Newton campus instead of Chestnut was just too big of a leap. Though I read on here that students like the Newton dorms/cafeteria. She doesn’t attend either school but spends a lot of time at BC at sporting events since she has a friend in the Marching Band/Pep bands. She loves the big sports though the football can be a little bit overwhelming for the non drinker. Holy Cross loves their sports too but not quite as big as BC.
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Thank you. That is great perspective. Our son has spent his entire life in NYC so he is eager to get away from an urban setting and instead experience a more suburban life style, or at least a college with a campus that does not feel like you are going to school in the middle of a city (NYU, U Chicago, UCLA, Emory…). He seemed to lean towards HC over BC because of the smaller more quaint campus, more remote location, 100% focus on undergrads,…Early days for us in the college journey so nothing decided yet. Just trying to gain some knowledge and insight and have some constructive dialogue. Thanks again.
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BC is not rural at all. Just wondering if you’ve visited. It’s even described in USNWR as “just outside downtown Boston.” It’s part of the city.
I’d say the chief difference is size. Holy Cross is probably also a bit more laid back than BC.
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Coming from NYC, BC does feel “rural”. BU for example would seem to me to feel more “urban”. Of course, Tufts would likely feel more “rural” than BC. Regardless, the BC campus was very impressive and there is def a lot of goods things to say about its location.
I our case, I think our son might want something a bit further removed from a large city given he has spent his entire life in one. That is why one of the other schools we visited in and around Boston was Holy Cross.
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“rural” - I think that maybe is strange word choice that is getting a lot of people on this thread. BC is definitely not of the “country people” or "relating to agrictulture". Chestnut Hill (which is really in parts of 3 towns/cities including Boston) is a lovely suburban/urban area with a quite high (by national standards) population density.
I think most people say BC is a traditional campus-setting (with trees and green space and fewer real streets) versus an urban traffic/street filled campus…Nobody would dispute than it feels very different than BU even if quite close geographically…
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definitely high-end suburban (many are seven figure homes in Chestnut Hill), but technically approx 1/4 of the main campus actually lies within the City of Boston.
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One of my kids graduated from Tufts and the other is currently a student at BC. Neither school is rural. They are in the suburbs, but the neighborhood around BC is much more upscale. Don’t know much about Holy Cross, but a couple of things to keep in mind about BC, 40% of the Freshman class is housed at the Newton campus, which means taking a shuttle bus to campus. Not the end of the world, but not ideal either. Also, not everyone is guaranteed four years of housing (you find out when you get accepted).
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