Boston College Top Questions

I have taken some great classes at BC, but I have also taken some that seemed like a waste. Though I like the idea of a core curriculum, I wish that in some of the areas of study there were more interesting classes that counted towards it. Depending on the way in which professors like to teach, class can be very engaging or pretty dry. There are many options to take smaller, more intimate classes, which i find easier to be engaged, but at the same time I have had some amazing lecture professors. I actually chose history as a major because the history classes that I had taken freshman and sophomore year were the most interesting and captivating classes that I had taken in college. I looked forward to going to class to learn, in both large lecture settings, and smaller classes with more personal interaction and discussion.

I am a Communication major, and love it. You have to take two classes that require a large research paper (25 pages), but other than that, its awesome. The Public Relations courses are great, as well as advertising and Public Speaking. I always felt comfortable seeking out teachers for help outside of class. If you combine the education opportunities at BC with the Career Center on campus, finding a decent job or internship out of college is not as tall of an order as you may think. No one ever really knows what they WANT to do, but there are so many avenues to go down as you age at BC. Studying is not all its cracked up to be...unless of course your parents still reward you for your GPA. Participating in class is always a good thing...it helps teachers distinguish you from the group. Go to class, ask questions, and turn stuff in on time. You're golden after that.

The classes at BC are fine for the most part. Other then some teachers being brought in at way to young of an age and making an ass of themselves by trying to pretend like they know more than they do. The academics is really the only good thing about this school. As long as you get a few more classrooms your all set. The Networking here is better than anywhere in the country.

BC is unique in that you have to fulfill a core of 15 or so classes in all the departments in order to graduate which is cool, esp for people like me who have no idea what they want to major in: it's a good way to explore your options. I haven't seen the competitive side of students but that may be because I don't see myself as being that competitive when it comes to academics, I do my own thing and try not to worry about others. In my classes, it gets painful sometimes when teachers ask for participation but other times it gets interesting. I think this happens though because you don't really have to do work to do that well in a class. I have at least 2 classes that require reading for class, I can honestly say I havent read all semester and I have a B+/A-...I don't know if its all colleges or just BC but as long as you do well on the papers/midterms/finals, it really doesnt matter what other work you did for the class, it's real easy to figure out how to get by...Signing up for classes is kind of like the housing lottery and people get shafted more than they should, Ive been through 3 regisration periods and been near the last if not the last group everytime and esp being an athlete with severe time constraints on when I can take classes, none after 1 pm, it's a real big pain in the ass. Other schools I talk to are flabergasted at the fact that athletes don't at least get first pick before the rest of their class. Luckily for us, teachers are rather lenient about letting us into their classes after they are already closed, but things don't always go as planned.

The majority of the professors here are very good. There are many that are incredibly good at their subject and aren't condescending about it. They take the time to get to know your name and who you are, if you're willing to put a little bit of effort into it. The only downside is that, as a freshman, you get shafted for the upperdivision classes. The really good and popular ones are always full by the time you go to register, so you're left kind of hanging.

The academics are good. The class sizes are rarely huge, so it is easy to get to know your professors. The one problem I have with academics at BC is that at times, you are just expected to just take your professors word for it on certain things. You can take classes that are geared toward a profession and you can take classes just for the sake of learning. They require 5 classes per semester, while most schools require 4. You get a chance to take more electives that just interest you.

Professors are very nice and helpful, classes vary in size.

BC has a very small computer science department. As a result, the professors know almost all of the students, and you will frequently have the same professor more than once in your college career. I think this is a great feature because it allows the students to form a much stronger relationship with their professors. I'm taking five classes as a senior, and I have had all of the professors at least once before. I spend most of my time in the computer lab in the basement of Fulton Hall. It is designed for the computer science majors, and there are always at least a few CS kids in the lab. This is great for working on homeworks or projects because your classmates are always there to help you if you have a question. It is also very similar to a lot of computer labs in the real world where we might end up working one day. CS majors, like most college students, have a tendency to procrastinate and leave large programming assignments until the night before. It is great to have the computer lab because everyone will be there working together and helping each other out when one of us hits a bump in the road. You can't learn computer science just by reading text books (I never even open mine), so it's great to have a place where you and your peers can learn together from one another. My only regret is that I did not discover this computer lab until the end of my sophomore year. It would have been great to know about this useful resource as a freshman. I took a year of physics as part of my "hard science" requirement for my CS major. This was the only "pre-med" class that I took at BC, and I really did not like the format of the class. It is my understanding that all pre-med classes are set up in the same way. No one actually gets As or Bs on the tests and it is all based on a curve. Thus, all of the students are competing against one another and hoping that their peers do poorly on the exams. I do not think that this is very conducive to learning. I prefer to have all of the students working together to help one another learn the material and to succeed.

The classes here are generally taught by professors, however some are taught by grad-students,and a majority of them don't speak English. The professors here do care about their students and they make themselves available through office hours. Most students don't spend time with their professors out of class freshman year because the big lectures make it hard to get to know them. BC is a liberal school so in turn students are required to take certain classes as part of the core. This can seem restricting at times because it differs students from taking classes they may be interested in taking so that they can fulfill the requirements.

Professors at BC care so much about their students. Even in huge lecture intro classes, one visit to office hours and the professor knows your name AND uses it during class. For my intro history class, I had one question on a reading and ended up spending 45 minutes in my professors office talking about my adjustment to college. My favorite class is my Studies in Poetry class; the teacher, Sue Roberts, is so engaging and treats students as equals in the exploration of poetry. She is a companion and a guide rather than a orator or lecturer. My least favorite class was Calculus, but not for the teacher or class but my own aversion to math. Everyone studies daily and usually for upwards of 3 or 4 hours. Class participation is key. Not everyone participates but the more advanced your classes get, the more people are interested, and the more inclined they are to take a stake in the class. Class readings will often spark heated and dynamic out-of-class conversations and extracurricular groups, like Amnesty international and 4Boston foster a social conscience on campus and debates over ideas of social justice. Students are competitive; everyone was the best in his or her high school and everyone seeks the same success on the college level. The competition is more encouraging and motivation than cut-throat and discouraging. The Jesuit education and the core definitely aim at love of learning rather than jobs (except CSOM).