Admissions & selectivity
Boston College Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at BC?
BC’s reported acceptance rate is 16.4%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 16.4%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
Source: Boston College Common Data Set 2024-25, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Boston College admitted 16.4% of applicants, a smaller share than the median of 47.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 34,779 first-year applicants and 5,632 admitted applicants.
Applicants should use the published score ranges and grade profile to decide how Boston College fits within an application list.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled BC students report?
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported score ranges that describe enrolled submitters rather than admission minimums. Applicants should compare their results with Boston College’s SAT range of 1460 to 1520, which covers the middle half of SAT submitters; 30% of enrolled first-year students submitted SAT scores.
The ACT range for the middle half of enrolled submitters was 33 to 35, with 15% submitting ACT scores. Among first-year students with a reported class rank, 90% fell in the upper tenth of their high-school class and 97% fell in the upper quarter.
These score ranges offer context for recent enrolled submitters, while the class-rank figures describe only those who reported a rank.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at BC. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
30% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1460
- Median
- 1500
- 75th percentile
- 1520
CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
15% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 33
- Median
- 34
- 75th percentile
- 35
CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Boston College Common Data Set 2024-25, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at BC?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 12.9%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 12.5%
- First-year retention
- 96.0%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 1,480 degree-seeking transfer applicants, with 410 admitted and 181 enrolled. Boston College has 10,085 undergraduates, and 12.9% receive Pell Grants.
An estimated 12.5% of undergraduates enter as transfers or part-time students, so the enrollment includes both direct-entry undergraduates and people continuing coursework begun elsewhere.
Students who start full time at Boston College remain enrolled and complete degrees at rates above the comparable-institution medians. Among full-time bachelor’s-seeking first-year entrants, the retention rate is 96.0%, above the peer median of 90.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
The first-time full-time cohort has a 90.8% six-year graduation rate, compared with a peer median of 80.0%. Pell recipients in that cohort have an 89.4% six-year completion rate, below the overall rate by 1.4 percentage points.
Enrolled students can expect these measures to describe cohort outcomes rather than an individual timeline. The above-peer retention and completion figures point in the same direction, although Pell completion is lower than the overall rate.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.