How do Georgetown and Boston College compare for undergraduate research opportunities?

Georgetown has the edge for a student who wants research tied to public policy, international affairs, health, or Washington-based institutions, while Boston College is especially appealing for close faculty mentorship within a traditional research-university and liberal-arts setting. Both schools make undergraduate research attainable, but neither treats it as an automatic placement: students typically build relationships with professors, apply for funded programs, or join projects through their department.

Georgetown’s location is a meaningful differentiator. Beyond laboratory and campus-based faculty projects, students can connect research interests to federal agencies, policy organizations, archives, think tanks, and global-affairs institutions in D.C. That can be particularly useful for political science, government, economics, public health, security studies, and related interdisciplinary work. In STEM fields, the accessibility of a lab position will still depend heavily on the individual department and professor’s current projects.

Boston College offers substantial undergraduate research through faculty labs, independent studies, summer research funding, and its Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program. Its smaller, more residential academic environment can make it easier to develop sustained relationships with professors, particularly after taking an upper-level course or working with a faculty member over multiple semesters. BC is well positioned for psychology, neuroscience, biology, chemistry, education, economics, and humanities research, with the broader Boston academic and medical ecosystem adding opportunities beyond campus.