Emmanuel College

Emmanuel College in Boston is truly a hidden gem. Boston is known for its colleges, but once you remove the uber-selectives, the niche schools and the “Boston” schools that are actually in the suburbs, you’re left with very few institutions. This is where Emmanuel comes in. Emmanuel was founded in 1919 as a Catholic college for women and went coed in 2000. Located in the Fenway, Emmanual has 1800 undergrads, but as a member of the Colleges of the Fenway consortium, students can use facilities, join clubs, eat in dining halls, and cross-register for classes at Wentworth, Simmons, Mass College of Art & Design, and MCPHS.

Emmanuel offers housing for all 4 years and most students live on campus. Opportunities in Boston abound: tickets to the MFA and the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum are free, there's a special night at both the Celtics and the Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker once per year with discounted tickets, and Red Sox tickets are $9. 70% of the students are female, and 25-30% are athletes.

Classes are small: our tour guide's biggest class was 25. Two religion classes are required, one in the Catholic tradition. Most popular majors are Biology, Psychology, Communication & Media, Business, Elementary Ed and Nursing, which is the only direct admit and the most selective program: the acceptance rate is 40%, and the average GPA of admitted nursing students is 3.85w. Experience in health care is a bonus, but math and science grades are paramount: AP Bio, AP Chem, or Anatomy & Physiology is ideal. Precalc is a must, stats a bonus, and calc is even better - it doesn’t have to be AP. A’s in math and science are best; B’s are acceptable. The first nursing cohort entered in 2018 with 35 students and has grown to 100, with no further plans to expand. They’ve put a significant investment into the nursing program including new sim labs in 2020 and have added faculty every year the program has grown. And the past 3 years, they’ve had a 100% first-time NCLEX pass rate. With world-class hospitals within walking distance, most nursing students turn their senior clinicals into a job upon graduation.

Business is also strong: students are required to have 2 internships, first-year salaries for accounting majors are about $80K, all finance and economics majors are Bloomberg certified by graduation, there’s a 2-year-new finance and analytics lab, and the university has connections with the Red Sox for internships for the sports management students. Through the Emmanuel Business Collaborative, business majors are paired with a local mentor senior year. Data science is a new major, as is Biotechnology with a science or business track.

The campus is immaculate and the facilities are gorgeous. Direct billed costs are $70K, but merit scholarships are available up to $30 and most students get something. Emmanuel is also need-blind. Demonstrated interest matters, so please visit and interview! For students hoping to go to college in Boston, seeing Emmanuel is a must!