Wash U - BC

Son seems to very much like these two schools - Washington University St. Louis and Boston College.

We have done a fair amount of research on both, including visiting, but would welcome any thoughts from parents and/or alumni on their experience, the pros and cons and how the two schools might be similar/different.

Thank you!

One is Jesuit. One isn’t - and has a large Jewish population but is not religiously based.

Is that a concern ?

WUSTL is known for top dorms. BC isn’t, etc.

I assume your student is not an engineering major. If so, it’s not be BC.

Good luck.

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These are both excellent colleges. Is there some reason why your student can’t apply to both regular decision?

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BC started an engineering program in 2021. They are not yet ABET accredited, but will apply for that after they graduate their first class in 2025.

I had thought the vibes of these two schools were different. According to a relative that graduated from there, BC was maybe more preppy/pre-professional. Wash U had a more liberal arts and midwest laid-back feel. I’d suppose that the Wash U b-school would be more pre-professionally oriented, but the rest of the university didn’t feel that way. The D1 sports at BC was a big draw as well as access to Boston and all the other colleges in the area. St. Louis is a nice city, but arguably with fewer activities (but with lower costs!) than Boston.

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Yea but based in arts & sciences.

I’m guessing a student that has engineering on the list would have 100 schools b4 bc.

Likely this student isn’t going that direction.

Another difference I believe is that some first year house on a different campus a mile or so away at BC. WuSTL is very contained to the living area from the campus. Almost Disney like. BC has religious imagery.

Depends on what’s comfortable for the student.

That is correct, not considering engineering.

Are we voting? I can think of a couple of things that would make me (the parent) lean towards BC.

  1. It’s an easy train ride from Boston to NYC for school breaks…and visits.

  2. My kid graduated from a Jesuit college on the opposite coast. This family is very strong fans of the Jesuit colleges. The Jesuits have higher education done well. And their mission of giving back to the community is worthy.

Major? DD24 applied to both schools this year. Unfortunately, waitlisted to both.Ultimately did not get in. A bit surprised in not getting into BC having applied ED2, but it’s a good school with a <15% acceptance rate. WashU was a reach. Business/Accounting major. She liked BC more since she liked the campus and surrounding area and felt that Boston (area) has a fun college town vibe. Seems like much more to do in Boston than St. Louis. I liked WashU almost as much and found St. Louis to be a nice city with more to do than I thought (Forest Park, museums). Overall, I think WashU may have a better overall reputation especially in pre-med, STEM, and maybe even business, but you can’t beat the location of BC. Both campuses as you already know are beautiful. I hear food is better at WashU as probably the housing. Regardless, both schools are top notch schools that your student will surely enjoy should they get in. If we are voting, I’d say BC since you are a short 30 minute ride to Boston and are surrounded by so many opportunities and other college students. But WashU is a close second based upon the education, food and dorms, and future opportunities.

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There are definitely some similarities–private research universities, very selective, Gothic campuses, and access to large city amenities are the most obvious.

In terms of differences, BC is a bit bigger with D1 sports. I do tend to think region can make a difference in terms of cultural norms/vibes.

BC has recently been relatively more white-domestic than WashU, WashU more Asian-domestic and Black-domestic than BC (although still a plurality white-domestic). I think it would be fair to say WashU is closer to the sort of “standard” ethnic mix for a very selective “national” college.

It appears from recent reports the effects of the Supreme Court decision have not changed this relative relationship much, although apparently the percentage of Black-domestic enrollees dropped at both, and a little more so at WashU closing the gap a bit.

Of course BC is Jesuit, WashU is secular. Student religious affiliation isn’t reported the same way, but apparently around 70% of BC students are Catholic (so more than, say, Georgetown, but less than Notre Dame). I’d suggest the above differences in ethnic mix are mostly an effect of that difference, given the typical ethnic mix of US Catholics (relatively high percentages of Hispanic and non-Hispanic whites, relatively low percentages of Black and Asian).

BC has no Greek life. WashU has some, but it definitely does not dominate the social scene, it is just an option.

In terms of curriculum, if the student would be in Arts & Sciences, I know a bit about that (less so Business or other schools). Consistent with the typical Jesuit approach, BC has a fairly extensive core requirement, albeit with some flexibility:

WashU A&S calls its gen ed requirements the Integrated Inquiry (IQ) Curriculum, and it is pretty complicated but the general idea is to allow a flexible, personalized curriculum plan that will include a range of fields and then also multiple areas of concentration (in fact it appeared to me lots of WashU kids end up with multiple majors/minors because that is one way of satisfying that concentration component):

https://artsci.washu.edu/finding-your-path-curriculum-philosophies

As usual, I don’t think there is an objectively better or worse here, but I do think these end up pretty different colleges overall. Not that this is the only way to think about these things, but in my circles, BC tends to be most popular with kids who want to be in Boston/New England/East Coast, want D1 sports, and (maybe) are Catholic. WashU A&S appeals to kids who see St Louis as an interesting city, are a little more focused on academics, and (maybe) find the exploratory/multidisciplinary approach at WashU appealing.

Edit: Oh, the other thing I think appeals to some kids about WashU is the South 40 experience, particularly for your first year. It is a dedicated area for underclass dorms with a lot of amenities, and the dorms pair up as residential communities for various purposes:

I assume you saw this on your visit so sorta forgot to mention it, but I do think it is among the factors that some kids in my circles consider when making a final decision.

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Thank you for that insightful response.

I’m going to vote for BC, because I don’t know anything about WashU, but my kid goes to BC and she’s very happy there. Studying liberal arts very successfully, :wink: . Your child will probably end up applying to both and get into the right one.

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I can only speak to WashU as I have a current Senior student there. They are a double major A&S/business. Has a current accepted offer for an MBB consulting job after graduation. Significant other has top-tier CS accepted offer after graduation. Has friends with offers in quant, IB, gov as well. Outstanding pre-med placement. Basically, what I’m saying is WashU is a university that is strong in job placements across many different fields. The curriculum is very flexible and yes - very easy to double major. My student went in undecided and was able to find a path over the first 2 years, not locked in early so time to explore.

I believe WashU is consistently ranked near top in nation for financial aid as well. It is currently meets full need/no loan. Our experience has shown the financial aid to be incredible -beyond what was expected. There are grants for so many things that may not be considered when thinking of college costs, but add up to quickly. For example: student health insurance, housing costs when on an internship, etc.

My student has had a wonderful WashU experience - it really seems to have something for everyone (other than D1 sports).

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Thank you.

Has your child visited these schools? Mine did not like the feel of BC at all. Although Catholic he attended public school and they were dismissive of that at the information session. He thought all the students were all the same and all of the buildings were the same. I know a sophomore there. He likes it, but complains about the high cost of the food. I know a junior at WashU, a neuroscience major. She likes it and stayed in St. Louis to do research in summer. Personally, I would vote for Wash U. Good ouck.

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I’m in the “you can’t go wrong” camp on these two. I think they are different culturally–but solid education, nice setting, lots to do both on and off campus, great launching pads professionally and academically. Comes down to preferences-- the kids I know at BC are definitely “sportier”- both activity wise and spectator wise. But not a knock- just an observation!

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Funny that, because my daughter had the opposite experience. She knew nothing about BC, went for a visit and decided it was beautiful, and so she thought she would apply. Now she goes there and loves it. People definitely should visit if they can, because we aren’t all the same, so we like different things.

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For sure. Some people think all Boston colleges are the same and they really are not. Definitely visit and see what feels right to you. Also, while online recommendations may be interesting, personal fit is the key.

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