Applications are open until March 9 for summer management program that draws growing numbers of arts and sciences students

UPDATED: February 12, 2021

Across Boston College, more and more students from outside the Carroll School of Management have taken an interest in adding business savvy to their tool kit, if the rising numbers of enrollees in the Summer Management Catalyst Program are any indication. The summer program, which introduces non-business students to the core disciplines of management, began in 2014 with 33 students. Last summer, 90 students took part, even with the program moving online due to the pandemic.

group photo of 2019 catalyst participants standing in the Fulton atrium

Students in the summer 2019 Catalyst program. This summer, Catalyst will have on-campus and remote options available.

During this academic year, regular classes have resumed with great care on campus at Boston College and the Carroll School. Catalyst, too, will be returning as an on-campus program this coming summer, with an all-remote, synchronous option available. Applications are now open, John and Linda Powers Family Dean Andy Boynton announced in a letter to members of the Boston College community.

In eight weeks, Catalyst students earn nine credits, taking three courses—in accounting, marketing, and finance or business law—plus a practicum that covers Excel, big data, and other career skills. Those credits can be applied toward a management minor, and most students who complete Catalyst (primarily from Boston College’s Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences) decide to do just that.

Jordan St. John '22

Jordan St. John, MCAS '22, a neuroscience major, discovered a passion for finance at Catalyst.

For example, Jordan St. John ’22 is a neuroscience major at Morrissey who took Catalyst last summer to broaden her horizons and skill set. “Catalyst completely exceeded my expectations,” says St. John. “I developed a passion for finance, and I am now pursuing the subject as a minor.”

This coming summer, St. John will be interning at Morgan Stanley in New York City. “I would not have been able to attain this internship without the valuable academic and career skills that I learned during Catalyst,” she says. 

Other alumni of the program have gone on to full-time jobs at Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Leerink, and many other high-profile firms in finance, technology, and health care. Catalyst alumni shared their stories, and faculty answered students’ questions, during an information session via Zoom on February 11. There was also an informational webinar for parents on February 4.

The Catalyst program is accepting applications until March 9. Visit www.bc.edu/catalyst for more information.

—Carroll School News