Over the March break, I visited four universities: Boston College, Northeastern University, Western University and Babson College. I’ll be breaking down my notes on each university into two parts: objective standpoint + personal takeaways. This way, you can also learn about each school without my personal biases but also take a look at my opinions.
Boston College
Key points
● Strong emphasis on Jesuit education, values and learnings.
● Mandatory core curriculum with 15 courses.
● Two mandatory courses on theology and two on philosophy
● IB philosophy does not provide credit for this course
● High-school AP and IB courses can potentially replace all other 11 courses
● The website says there is a 15% acceptance rate. Seminar says they accepted 2400 out of over 36000 applicants, which is closer to around a 7% acceptance rate ○ Around 8% of the student body are international students
● Comparatively lower than many other US schools I’ve visited
● Strong school spirit, with many D1 athletics. School hype revolves mostly around hockey + hockey rivalry with Boston University.
● A tier 1 research university, which is on the level of Ivy Leagues.
● No Greek life + something about mandatory volunteer hours
● The campus literally looks like real-life Hogwarts
● 20~ minute drive from downtown Boston
My takeaways
● I personally don’t like the idea of mandatory philosophy and theology courses.
● The seminar presenters, which included two speakers and five student panellists, were all Caucasian. BC doesn’t seem to place much emphasis on diversity.
● Jesuit values, core curriculum, and mandatory volunteer hours make it seem like high school all over again.
Northeastern University
Key points
● Guaranteed co-op program
● Basically an upgraded internship:
● Much longer, 6-8 months, you actually get paid, don’t need to pay tuition during that time, doing real work that’s useful and fulfilling
● “Intro to co-op” mandatory course to prepare students for real-world professional skills when entering co-op program
● Strongest attraction point, esp. with the current job market
● Average class size is only 24
● International students make up 20% of student body
● Half of admitted students apply through ED
● 15% of admitted students receive merit-based scholarship
● Based on combination of grades and leadership
● Automatically submitted with application
● Northeastern has three campus locations: Boston, California and London.
● Majority of students are at the Boston campus
● London campus offers a US + UK degree in four years
● Course selections are really flexible (ex. switching majors, adding a minor, etc.)
● Acceptance rate dropped from around 15% to 7% in 2023 admissions
Personal Takeaways
● Guaranteed co-op program is very appealing
● Student body diversity is also a win in my books
● Flexibility regarding how hard you want to push yourself within the environment is a big win
Babson College
Key points
● Every student graduates with the same degree – BSC in business administration
● You can choose a “concentration,” to focus on, but otherwise, everyone takes the same courses
● Located in quiet suburbs, ~15 minute drive away from Boston
● Average starting salary of graduates was 76k
● Most alumni go into the sports industry
● SAT/ACT optional → for those that submitted SAT, average was 1460
● Approx. 22% acceptance rate
● #1 in world for “entrepreneurship”
● School provides around 3k for funding, students work in groups of 15+ on a product and learn from real-life applications of textbook knowledge
● Product life-cycle, marketing, supply chains, etc.
Personal Takeaways
● Don’t like the way they teach “entrepreneurship”
● Really don’t like how everyone learns the same content
● No diversity in thought or perspective
● 22% acceptance rate is crazy
Western University (Ivey)
● Advanced Entry Opportunity Ivey is a 4-year program that leads to a HBA degree ○ You can also have a dual degree for 5 years, except for law + HBA, which is 6 years.
● Roadmap: two years in a major of your choice with 80%+ average as prerequisite → two years in Ivey Business OR three years in Ivey + second degree
● “Competitive grade” for applying to Ivey is around the low 90%.
● Leadership and EC involvements are considered in the application
● Ivey program focuses a lot on using case studies as a way of learning (hence the famous Ivey Western case studies)
● Options for majoring before Ivey include subjects in arts and humanities: economics, BMOS, history, politics, etc.
Personal Takeaways
● #1 Canadian school pick
● Modelling learning after case studies seems to be unique, fun, and part of my strong suit
● HBA + law dual degree sounds very appealing to me. Or even just econ + HBA.
The Blue and White 