Boston College C/O 2017 Applicants Thread (2013-2014) Forum

[AndiDail]

Withdrawing my seat. Found out that though I made it to the final round for the Public Interest scholarship, I didn't make the cut - and I just can't swing it financially without it.

Hope my 14K/year goes to one of you!

[180kickflip]

Rankings may be a lot of BS, but if BC kept dropping the next 2 or 3 years, it could be out of the top 50 by the time current 0Ls graduate (not saying this is at all likely). That could result in fewer firms going to OCI due to some perceived drop in prestige. At that point, it could have a real impact on job prospects. This makes it seem somewhat relevant to me.

Im considering BC/BU now, and I can't really understand how they got so separated this year either. General TLS consensus seems to be that BC has better employment, but the rankings don't seem to be in line with that. Anyone else have any ideas?

Make of it what you will:

http://www.lstscorereports.com/compare/bc/bu/

Yeah man. I totally appreciate you linking this, but the info in it is sort of what's confusing me. I could totally be misinterpreting this, but when I look at it, I see BC having an edge in large firm hiring, an edge in clerkships, and a significantly lower percentage of school funded jobs clouding the data (and possibly explaining away a sizable portion of the PI difference). When I look at that, I feel like BC is the stronger school in terms of employment outcomes. But then I look at rankings, and I see a widening gap between them+ BU. I just can't connect the dots Man =/

[NoDayButToday]

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[180kickflip]

^thanks for the insight NoDay. I really appreciate hearing from someone who has weighed this IRL. Seeing the other ranking tilt the other way makes things a bit clearer. I always thought they were peers until I started seeing so many posts on here favoring BC.

[Otunga]

Anybody else shipping the check tomorrow? Shouldn't be a big deal, right? Or? I'm from the area so it should get there relatively quickly.

[NoDayButToday]

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[CNUCaptain]

Do we have any idea what the academic calendar will look like? I can see last and this years, but not the 2014-2015 one. I can find the university one, but not the law school specific one. I'm trying to figure out when orientation and things will be to figure out when I need to begin a lease and move in! Can it be assumed that the dates will align with the university one or with the law school ones for past years?

http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/sch ... 014-15.pdf

Thank you!!

[Kmart153]

Hey guys! Looking into where to live - any suggestions? And are there any girls looking to share a two-bedroom? Not looking to pay astronomical rent, but I want to live in something larger than a shoebox... I'm coming from out of state so I honestly don't know much about the area, any advice would be much appreciated!

[mrs.miawallace]

Hey guys! Looking into where to live - any suggestions? And are there any girls looking to share a two-bedroom? Not looking to pay astronomical rent, but I want to live in something larger than a shoebox... I'm coming from out of state so I honestly don't know much about the area, any advice would be much appreciated!

d

[potterdam]

Hey guys! Looking into where to live - any suggestions? And are there any girls looking to share a two-bedroom? Not looking to pay astronomical rent, but I want to live in something larger than a shoebox... I'm coming from out of state so I honestly don't know much about the area, any advice would be much appreciated!

d

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[Marquis]

Anybody else shipping the check tomorrow? Shouldn't be a big deal, right? Or? I'm from the area so it should get there relatively quickly.

Shipped!

[FeiLAw]

I got into BC today, I wasnt expecting it since my numbers were kind of low but now I dont know what to do. Im waiting on my number one school to render a decision but as of now its between BC or Brooklyn.

[Otunga]

I got into BC today, I wasnt expecting it since my numbers were kind of low but now I dont know what to do. Im waiting on my number one school to render a decision but as of now its between BC or Brooklyn.

I believe BC's numbers are a lot better. Do you want Boston or at least Massachusetts generally?

[FeiLAw]

I got into BC today, I wasnt expecting it since my numbers were kind of low but now I dont know what to do. Im waiting on my number one school to render a decision but as of now its between BC or Brooklyn.

I believe BC's numbers are a lot better. Do you want Boston or at least Massachusetts generally?

I have never been to Boston, I am from NJ and was looking to go to a NYC school because I would like to work for a law firm there. Do you know how far or how long it takes to get into the city from BC and how BC students do in terms of big law jobs in either Boston or NYC?

[ohhai]

Will be withdrawing today. Hope my seat and the money goes to someone else. Good luck y'all!

[Creditisgood]

US News and World Report Methodology overview:
--LinkRemoved-- ... s-rankings

Above the Law Rankings (2014 rankings coming out soon):
http://abovethelaw.com/careers/law-school-rankings/
Puts BC at 21 and BU at 23.

I'm not 100% positive, but I think the former considers selectivity in admissions and student scholarships and the latter considers more of the outcome/employment side of things. The fact that BC has slightly lower ranges could explain why it's ranked slightly lower.

The relative movement of BC and BU (the former declining ~4 spots, the latter rising about ~4 spots) made me nervous at first, but I've looked at the employment outcomes and talked with career services at both schools. Generally speaking, my sense was that the schools have marginal differing strengths and weaknesses, but that they're both about the same in terms of outcome. Half of people I've talked to have said BU has a slightly more national reputation; half the people I've talked to have said BC has a slightly more national reputation. I've heard fierce advocates for both schools.

So I figured, all things equal, I would picture the school that was the better fit for me...and that was BC. It reminded me of the best of my undergrad school (a small, suburban LAC), and I felt like the personality was just more in line with what I was looking for. And then when I asked both schools if they could please match a higher merit scholarship offer I got from a third school, BC did and BU didn't. So that made my decision even easier.

I also think BC has a stronger undergrad school than BU. The UG school will keep the money and the prestige into the law school. So BC law is going to be within the T40 for sometimes. However I wish they had a medical school as well to strengthen their name brand.

[Smer45]

Finally under review! first movement since 2/26

[Bobzilla]

Finally under review! first movement since 2/26

+1

[Ngoblue2014]

got into BC last week with a much higher scholarship than i expected (about 50% tuition) but i am so confused what is going on with the US news rankings?? also considering emory, wash u, unc chapel hill, but very very interested in BC. how do i explain to my parents going to BC when they are extremely rankings driven? the employment numbers are as good or better than schools ranked 17-25 from what I have seen. Is it crazy to choose bc in my situation? (emory, wash u, minnesota, indiana, unc, william and mary acceptances) please help! Thank you, visiting BC next week good luck everyone!

[Marquis]

got into BC last week with a much higher scholarship than i expected (about 50% tuition) but i am so confused what is going on with the US news rankings?? also considering emory, wash u, unc chapel hill, but very very interested in BC. how do i explain to my parents going to BC when they are extremely rankings driven? the employment numbers are as good or better than schools ranked 17-25 from what I have seen. Is it crazy to choose bc in my situation? (emory, wash u, minnesota, indiana, unc, william and mary acceptances) please help! Thank you, visiting BC next week good luck everyone!

USN rankings are worthless. Do you want to work in Boston? If yes: go to BC. If no: go elsewhere.

[Creditisgood]

Here is a thoughtful interview with Boston College Law Dean regarding the 2014 USnews rankings.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/ ... l?page=all

It looks like they know why they fell down to 36 and they are working on improving their rankings. They are not going to fall out of T40.

[RPK34]

got into BC last week with a much higher scholarship than i expected (about 50% tuition) but i am so confused what is going on with the US news rankings?? also considering emory, wash u, unc chapel hill, but very very interested in BC. how do i explain to my parents going to BC when they are extremely rankings driven? the employment numbers are as good or better than schools ranked 17-25 from what I have seen. Is it crazy to choose bc in my situation? (emory, wash u, minnesota, indiana, unc, william and mary acceptances) please help! Thank you, visiting BC next week good luck everyone!

Seriously, stop caring about USNWR rankings. They mean nothing and no one cares about it. It's a shitty magazine with a horrible ranking methodology that exists only so 0Ls can justify their law school decisions. Hiring partners don't care about it, people in the legal field don't follow them (except their own school), and it will never affect your legal career. BC's relative employment rankings went up, and it dropped like 8 spots in USNWR. How does that make any sense?

I was talking to a hiring partner from one of the top firms in Boston recently, and someone brought up the rankings. He just shrugged his shoulders and said he hadn't looked at them in 20 years. He then looked around for another point of conversation. It was like someone asked him if he liked Kim or Chloe Kardashian more.

For all the 0Ls concerned about rankings, there are great reasons to go to BC, and great reasons to avoid it. USNWR rankings are neither of those things.

If you want to practice in Boston/NY, and you chose Georgia because its a higher ranked school, you're an idiot. If you're dying to practice in NY and you took ASU over Fordham, you deserve all the disappointment you're going to get when OCI is a disaster for you. If you're deciding between BC/BU and base it on rankings, fine, but you might as well flip a quarter. It's equally arbitrary.

It's a shit system that should never factor into law school decisions

[RonBurgundy]

So I went under review on 4/17. So should I be hearing back today/tomorrow via email? Good Luck to all of you waiting and making decisions still.

[cricketlove00]

So I went under review on 4/17. So should I be hearing back today/tomorrow via email? Good Luck to all of you waiting and making decisions still.

Still not under review. Given up at this point.

[lawprincess]

So I went under review on 4/17. So should I be hearing back today/tomorrow via email? Good Luck to all of you waiting and making decisions still.

Still not under review. Given up at this point.

Just got waitlisted, below both medians (well below the 25th GPA), and never went under review. Hang in there, there's still hope!