HELP! Boston College vs UW-Seattle (only 1 day left to decide)

YunaCamel
Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:17:12 +0000

So I am a student who’s been accepted at Boston College and UW-Seattle. I need help deciding which college to attend this fall and for four years of my life. I want to major in International Relations and possibly double major in Economics with a concentration/minor in East Asian Studies.

Below is the list of pros and cons of each school. I will truly appreciate your advices!

UW Pros:

Cheaper, because I am an in-state resident of WA state and have received 7k in grants and 1k in loans for around 20k cost of attendance.

More in-depth and various course offerings in the areas of my interest (IR and EAS), and I believe its international program is better especially with having a separate school (Jackson School of International Studies).

Closer from East Asia: I am an East Asian-American student and this is not a big factor to consider but I sure will visit my home country during summer and winter breaks, and it takes only 9-10 hours of flight to reach there, compared to 14 hours of flight from the east coast.

Good research programs/opportunities because it’s a big school, although I’m not sure if I’ll do any research as a IR/Econ major… maybe researches in history? (I love history!)

UW cons:

I am EAGER to get my butt out of Seattle… even though I’ve lived here only for 3 years (moved here from Toronto, Canada almost three years ago). I want to go to the east coast and live there so badly, but staying here for a few more years won’t be terribly bad either.

UW is too big, with over 20,000 undergraduate students. TOO big…

Didn’t really feel like a true campus setting when visited many times because it’s too big as mentioned above and Seattle’s weather… 300+ days grey and wet every year so the campus feels kind of gloomy and dark. I disliked the campus.

Can’t really meet new people and make strong bonds with other friends because I’ve been attending high school in WA state and so many people from WA areas go to UW… even if I’ll get to meet some people from other schools, everyone’s all connected here so they’re not truly new people… (might be a bit biased, lol)

QUARTER SYSTEM! I think this can be both pro & con but I heard in quarter system students’ workload is heavier and they get more tests…@_@


When I talked to a Korean woman who studied International Relations with concentration in East Asian Studies at UW, classes get smaller during junior/senior years, professors were very good and knowledgeable, and she has many UW graduate friends living in East Coast, etc… and UW Jackson International School is well-respected.


BC Pros:

A completely different, new place! I want to meet new people, experience a different environment. Boston is a very good area to live in terms of quality of life (transportation, Asian markets and restaurants nearby, and BC is located in suburb so not too crowded nor rural).

I’ve always wanted to live on the east coast and I think going to BC will have a much stronger alumni connection than UW if I want to get a job and settle on the east coast.

Private and small. I heard there can sometimes be big differences between a private school education and a state/public education. Smaller classes also mean more access to professors, stronger bond in community, more involvement in school, etc. etc. Generally all the good things about small schools. However BC is not too small so it’s sort of a perfect size for me.

Connection/exchanges with other college students: I heard from a current BC student that people from Harvard, MIT, Tufts, etc. sometimes come over and hang out at BC. I also want to make good friends at other schools.

BC Cons:

I’ve looked through both BC and UW’s course list offerings for International Studies and East Asian Studies, and BC has way less courses for IS and EAS… IS seems alright but EAS (minor) list is quite displeasing. Well BC has all the basic courses for both I think but I want to go more in-depth in IR and EAS… this is probably the biggest con of BC and pro of UW. I want to know more about BC’s IR and EAS programs. Anyone that has any ideas about them?

More expensive, although I’ve got $30,000 in grants. My EFC on FAFSA was around $6,000 so I thought I would receive more but meh. My parents, however, say that I shouldn’t worry about money that much because they want to let me go wherever I want to attend. I’m wondering if FA package is negotiable after submitting my enrollment deposit at BC, even $10-20k in loans will be okay. However that $30k was also awarded after appeal/negotiation already so I don’t know if it’ll work again.

*I’ve also talked to a current BC student on the phone and asked questions about the school, and I especially liked the fact that more leadership positions and opportunities are approachable at BC… For example she said she was never in Student Government during high school but was selected as one for next year, which I want to try as well. I also liked when she said people make friends at Harvard, MIT, Tufts too and everything’s very nice near the campus area.

I truly appreciate your time for reading this long thread.
Generally I think it’s ACADEMICS vs. QUALITY OF LIFE, if excluding the $$$ problem, which my parents told me not to worry about, lol. After my undergraduate studies, I plan on going to a graduate school for an MBA in International Business or M.A. in International Relations. My career goal? Anything related to international field and foreign languages!!!

I would love to have any of your advices and opinions about my options ASAP so that I can decide before May 1… sorry I should’ve thought about this earlier but I was appealing my FA packages at both BC and UW (can’t really be a good excuse ugh).

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!