Boston College Top Questions

Overall the student body is accepting but there are certainly exceptions. Most students dress well and that is largely because a lot of students come from money. Students from low-income families and racial minorities may feel out of place because there is not a lot of diversity here. With that said, the students themselves do a lot to make these students feel welcome. BC students are very politically active and the overwhelming majority are strongly left, to the point that can be quite annoying at times if you have different political beliefs.

The style at Boston College is predominated by preppy clothing, and the skin tone is definitely light. Students who are of different races or socioeconomic classes will not be discriminated against but may feel uncomfortable at first.

On a typical winter day, I wear sweatpants or jeans, a hoodie, Uggs, and my fleece to class. There are always a few girls who have taken the time to style their hair and coordinate their outfits, but they are out-numbered by the basic jeans-and-a-sweater look that most students have going on. Seven of the eight girls in my suite are from the Northeast, six are from New England, and three are a forty-minute drive away from campus. A lot of students are from Mass. and live no more than an hour away. Then again, I have friends who are each from Texas, Hawaii, South Dakota, and Idaho. To my surprise, there are a lot of BC students from Illinois, especially from the greater Chicago area.

Diversity is definitely increasing. There have been some racial tensions over then past couple of years, but I think that is a sign of change. The university and students have been addressing these tensions. Race, diversity, and being welcoming are openly discussed. Courses are being created that focus on different cultures' histories etc. As far as the whole LGBT thing goes, this is a Catholic school so unfortunately the administration can be a little conservative at times. They canceled their big dance a year or two ago, but students made a big to-do about it and got some media coverage. Most students are open to the LGBT community, even those who may really be homophobic or excessively conservative rarely open their mouthes to their closest friends because that mindset is not socially accepted here.

Students shouldn't necessarily feel out of place at BC, for there are so many groups on campus to support one's race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, etc. However, that doesn't mean that everyone is going to be fully accepting. The majority of students here are very tolerant of other people's lifestyles, but acceptance isn't universal. The LGBT crowd here is so small that it is certainly difficult to just casually meet someone of similar orientation, unless GLC is sponsoring an event or holding a meeting. The University canceled a GLC dance a few years back, and there are some big-wigs at BC who fear that by including sexual orientation in the non-discriminatory clause, alumni and donors will stop giving funds to the school. But again, people shouldn't feel totally ostracized, for there are plenty of student-run resources readily available to them.

I really think BC is doing themselves a disservice by not recognizing the LGBT group on campus, and accepting sexual tolerance into the non-discrimination clause. I think BC is wrong in that there's no way to promote unity without encouraging gay behavior, if that's the stance the Catholic Church wants to take. I would think there are some students that would feel uncomfortable here, just because BC is the type of school that pulls in a certain individual. The alternative/social-progress individuals I have met here seem to hold a grudge that the campus is not that diverse. Yet I find this is something that they should have expected, and cannot hold against the school once they are here. I would say that most students are from the east coast, but there has definitely been a move towards recruiting students from more areas of the country. Students here are politically minded, even if it's just an echo of their parents' own beliefs. To me, BC is predominantly right, but as a Catholic private institution, I think that's expected. I don't think students talk about how much they'll earn one day, but students are definitely aware that CSOM is where the money is. As the financial school, their concentration on money will usually correspond to a strong job out of college.