Meet BC's Class of 2027
The Boston College Class of 2027 is impressive on its own terms: a 2,335-strong group of academically excellent young people, the majority of whom ranked within the top 10 percent of their high school class, one-fifth of whom are graduates of Catholic/Jesuit high schools, and who represent all 50 of the United States.
In a wider context, the current first-year class—now in its second month at the Heights—represents continued validation of the University’s undergraduate admissions strategy, specifically its adoption of an Early Decision (ED) program in 2019 to meet the growing preference of high school students and to enroll more applicants for whom BC was a first choice. This move has paid immediate dividends, administrators say, while also putting BC in a favorable position ahead of a demographic transition certain to affect American colleges and universities. ED applicants make up 55 percent of the Class of 2027.
Grant Gosselin (Lee Pellegrini)
“Not only has the quality of our ED pool continued to grow, but the quality of our overall application pool has as well,” said Dean of Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid Grant Gosselin. “Even more notable is that the interest among applicants in the Regular Decision pool continues to increase, as well, which speaks to BC’s continuing popularity among high school students of a high academic caliber.”
The overall yield for the class was 41 percent and the overall admit rate dropped to 15 percent, confirming the University as one of the country’s most selective institutions. Both are believed to be records for Boston College—at minimum, said Gosselin, they are records in modern BC history. “As the nation’s high school/college population is projected to decrease in the coming years, Boston College is well positioned among the nation’s elite universities.”
Ninety percent of the first-year class were ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school’s graduating class, while the standardized profile for enrolled students submitting tests is 1450-1520 for SAT and 33-34 for ACT—solid indicators of the class’s academic excellence, Gosselin noted.
The progress toward diversity in BC’s undergraduate enrollment is evidenced by the percentage of AHANA students, said Gosselin, which in recent years has been consistently in the middle to upper 30s and hit a record 38 percent for the Class of 2027. Another positive trend has been the increased presence of students who are the first in their families to attend college: They make up 12 percent of the Class of 2027.
Gosselin also pointed to the success of BC’s partnership with QuestBridge, a non-profit program that helps high-achieving, low-income students gain admission and scholarships to the country’s top-ranked colleges and universities. A total of 105 students enrolled via QuestBridge for the Class of 2027, 90 of whom were admitted through the National College Match program, for which students are awarded full scholarships without loans. In just three years, Gosselin said, BC has become one of the largest college partners in the QuestBridge Match program.
For only the second time in BC history, all 50 states have at least one student in the first-year class. The Mid-Atlantic and New England (both at approximately 29 percent) are the top geographic regions for the Class of 2027, followed by the West, Midwest, and the South/Southwest. Massachusetts (460), New York (293), New Jersey (197), California (178), and Connecticut (120) are the most represented states among BC’s first-year students. The most represented countries of origin for the 162 first-years with international citizenship include China (39), Canada (14), South Korea (13), the United Kingdom (11), Germany (7), Indonesia (7), and the United Arab Emirates (7).
Every first-year class, at BC or elsewhere, brings with it a set of shared experiences tied to major historical events or cultural movements; these are common to all undergraduates of the same generation, of course, but each class tends to have its own unique perspective. The first two years of high school for the Class of 2027, for example, were dominated by COVID-19 and the national response to the George Floyd murder, as well as the Election 2020 controversy, culminating in the January 6 insurrection.
“When school counselors have a question or a problem, they know they can deal with us directly, instead of having to use an application or platform. We value the relationships we keep with schools. Not only do they provide an important service to school counselors, but they make us better admission professionals in the process. It’s an illustration of how BC’s cura personalis is an institution-wide philosophy.”
Within the college admission process, the changes have been equally robust. In the past four years, the field has seen the introduction of test-optional admission at the nation’s most selective universities, the growing popularity of early-admission programs, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ban of race-conscious admission practices, and the rapid evolution and increased use of artificial intelligence, especially ChatGPT and similar programs. These and other issues not only have repercussions for the next group of first-year students, but for the high school guidance counselors advising them on their college-related decisions, according to Gosselin.
“We’re finding that school counselors are increasingly challenged to understand the complexities in higher education, specifically with regard to colleges’ changing policies and practices. In order to provide good counsel to their students, it is critical for them to have open lines of communication with admission professionals. Unfortunately, we also know that as college admission officers face their own challenges, many have turned to technology to communicate with school counselors, as opposed to engaging in conversation.
“This is where Boston College benefits from the personal connections our Admission staff have forged over the years with high school counseling staff across the country. When school counselors have a question or a problem, they know they can deal with us directly, instead of having to use an application or platform. We value the relationships we keep with schools. Not only do they provide an important service to school counselors, but they make us better admission professionals in the process. It’s an illustration of how BC’s cura personalis is an institution-wide philosophy.”