Gargan Hall, Bapst Library (Photo by Caitlin Cunningham)

Most popular majors

Finance, economics, biology, and political science top this year's survey

卡罗尔管理学院(Carroll School of Management)大三学生吉米·奥马利(Jimmy O’malley)学习金融所需的所有灵感都来自他的父母和他们的创业热情——他的父亲曾从事餐饮业, painting, and then dog-walking, while his mother went from selling shoes online to running a private psychotherapy practice.

“Having watched my parents struggle to run their own businesses without formal accounting, 金融, or marketing training, I entered Boston College hoping to get those skill sets,” he said. “在这些领域接受了更正规的培训后,能够帮助我的父母在各自的企业中工作,这是一段令人欣慰的经历. As I looked toward my career, I knew I wanted to explore 金融 more, given the platform BC gave me—something neither of my parents had.”

O’Malley is among the 1,461 majors in 金融, which again leads the list of BC’s most popular undergraduate fields of study. 2023-2024学年招生人数最多的其他9个专业也与去年持平:经济学(1),278), biology (816), political science (691), psychology (615), communication (567), computer science (556), nursing (429), neuroscience (417), and applied psychology and human development (380).

These and other data for the University’s 9,575 undergraduate day students and 5,机构电子游戏正规平台与规划办公室(IR)在2023年秋季学期编制了119名电子游戏正规平台生&P) as part of its yearly compendium of facts and figures for administrators, faculty, 工作人员, and students. Current and past editions of the Boston College Fact Book are accessible at mbk68.com/factbook.

(Data for economics and computer science majors reflect enrollments in both the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences and Carroll School of Management; as of 2023, the computer science major reflects enrollments in MCAS only.)

Ronnie Sadka

Haub Family Professor Ronnie Sadka, chair of the Finance Department. (Lee Pellegrini)

金融也是不列颠哥伦比亚省最受欢迎的本科辅修专业,有606名在校生. The other top minors are marketing (298), management and leadership (285), Managing for Social Impact and the Public Good (204), philosophy (157), history (131), computer science (117), Global Public Health and the Common Good (106), English (105), and accounting for 金融 and consulting (104). Those enrollment figures do not include pre-dental, pre-law, pre-medical, or pre-veterinary programs of study.

BC管理人员和教师通常认为热门专业和相关统计数据可以提供BC学生兴趣的见解, motivations, and aspirations, and how these may evolve or remain constant over time. 这些数据还提供了一种方法来考虑BC学生在更广泛的社会和世代趋势中的学术和职业兴趣:学习或与商业相关, nursing, psychology, biology, economics, computer science, communication, and political science tend to be highly enrolled throughout American higher education. However, say administrators and faculty, it’s instructive to view BC’s numbers in the context of a major national Jesuit, Catholic university and the students it attracts.

“虽然金融专业和辅修专业人数的增加与我们在全国本科课程中观察到的总体趋势一致, 我认为还有许多其他因素对项目的成功起着重要作用,” said Haub Family Professor Ronnie Sadka, chair of the Finance Department.

“系里和学校都投入了巨大的努力来招聘不同级别的杰出学术人才, further improving the quality of our teaching and research. 课程将根据金融市场的新发展和学生的反馈不断进行审查和调整. 最后,我们改进了课程的可访问性,以欢迎来自全校的学生.

“我们非常感谢BC高层领导给我们机会参与学生的教育体验,并在毕业时提高他们的吸引力.”

As a 金融 major, O’Malley opted to focus on investment banking and private equity, 大二的时候,除了课堂上的经历,他还花了相当多的时间准备面试. He will work this summer as an analyst at Blackstone. “I am extremely grateful for this opportunity, which would not have been possible without the incredible teachers, junior and senior mentors, and 校友 who helped me navigate the process.”

在2018年的校友加布里埃尔·勒布朗(Gabrielle LeBlanc)对自己在不列颠哥伦比亚省金融专业学习经历的评价中,感激之情也很明显. More than a set of required courses, she said, the program is “a holistic approach to navigating the world of 金融,在那里,“优秀的教师和强大的校友网络”帮助学生找到实习和就业机会.

 “The program is first-rate, and the curriculum taught me how to think critically in the world of business and 金融,” said LeBlanc, 巴克莱投资银行部股权资本市场部副总裁. “What truly differentiates 金融 at BC is the people, from the professors to the career advisors to the students. 从长远来看,你在课堂上遇到和共事的人会为你的成功奠定基础.”

Tara Pisani Gareau

Tara Pisani Gareau, 环境电子游戏正规平台项目主任兼地球与环境科学系实践教授. (Lee Pellegrini)

Environmental Studies majors number far less—105—than those in 金融, 但自2014年作为专业引入以来,该项目的电子游戏软件人数增长了600%, the most such increase of any during the past decade. Professor of the Practice Tara Pisani Gareau, the program’s director, attributes its popularity to students’ concern about the multitude of environmental challenges, 从猛烈的风暴和灾难性的野火到淡水资源的损失和农作物产量的下降.

“When we ask graduating seniors their primary reason for choosing Environmental Studies, 最常见的答案是,他们热衷于解决这些复杂而存在的环境问题,” said Gareau. “这是人类历史上的一个分水岭时刻,环境电子游戏正规平台项目为学生提供知识和技能,以设想和制定积极和持久的解决方案,以维持人类和地球.”

Environmental Studies majors also appreciate the program’s interdisciplinary curriculum, added Gareau, 引用一名学生的话说,环境问题已经超越了科学和政策,包括了社会学, politics, 生态, 地质, and psychology—all of which interested the student.

“Shared purpose—to transform society to be ecologically regenerative, socially just, and economically secure—is Environmental Studies’ secret sauce that makes students, 校友, and faculty feel connected to one another and to something larger than themselves,” said Gareau. “学生们重视我们提供或促进的有意义的体验的多样性,这些体验塑造了他们在BC的经历,并帮助他们辨别出大学毕业后的生活道路.”

Ethan Sullivan

Carroll School Senior Associate Dean and MSI Interim Director Ethan Sullivan.

自2016年秋季该项目首次亮相以来,社会影响管理迅速成为一个受欢迎的辅修课程:今年的204名注册者是2020-2021年97名MSI未成年人的两倍多. CSOM Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduates Ethan Sullivan, the MSI interim director, said MSI is a natural fit for undergraduates seeking to address compelling social justice issues; about half of the enrollees are CSOM students motivated by the school’s Portico program to explore topics such as economic disparity, sustainability, innovation, and ethics.  

“它为学生提供了一个机会,将整个大学的200多门选修课以非常有趣的组合融合在一起,” said Sullivan, who credits Carroll School Professor Emeritus Mary Cronin for conceiving MSI. “探索新选项和设计自己的辅修课程的能力呈现出如此吸引人的选择和设计中的大量自由.”

本科生将MSI视为在非营利组织和具有社会影响使命的公司中获得机会的潜在途径, 或者是与社会影响倡议相关的工作,比如银行或保险公司的社会责任基金会, according to Sullivan. 其他人可能只是想通过参与志愿者活动或当地政治活动,将他们从MSI中学到的知识融入他们的个人生活, perhaps with the eventual goal of a second job or career.

“Whether or not that always happens, we are helping to form great citizens with a mindset to solve problems,” he said.