Well, pre-1994 status, and Fr. Peter can correct me if I'm wrong, is when the BOC was in no communion with any Church, OO or EO. As Fr. Peter alluded, this is the status they chose, and this means they are essentially in schism. The reason we are confused is perhaps this is, to put it in very strange terms, the "most civilized schism" we have seen in our lifetime.
I'm sure there was a lot a discussion and debate behind closed doors, but rather than making a spectacle and public defamation about it, they recognized that there is no way they can maintain communion as much as they could for whatever reasons we may find out later as time goes on.