<p>I was just accepted to Catholic for fall of next year. I have walked around campus but haven’t gotten a tour and I know almost nothing about it. I plan to be a political science major and I LOVE DC. Can someone who goes there or has visited tell me more about it? What you like, what you don’t etc. Thanks!</p>
<p>Congratulations! I live near there and have a lot of ties with the place, and have gone to open house with my son who will most likely be a freshman in Fall 2011. It has a friendly atmosphere. Due to the location, the job and internship opportunities are great. I will say, though, that the freshman guys’ dorm that we saw was horrible. My son and his friend could not believe it. The building exterior was nice, and it was in a nice, secure courtyard of dorms, but the interior was awful. That aside, everything else seemed very nice there. There is a new fitness center for students only. There are nicer dorms, too- they are not all that basic. The food situation sounded good. There is a new program called First Year Experience that helps each freshman to connect more with faculty, the city, etc. It involves having a professor meet with a fixed group of students for discussions, field trips, dinners, etc on a weekly basis. We were really impressed with the academic programs, campus, support systems, friendliness, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks! I’m going down to the open house on the 24th. I’ve been talking to people who go there and everyone I’ve talked to loves it! I’m excited to go on a tour (and to go back to DC.)</p>
<p>I wonder how the girls freshman dorms are? Did you happen to see any on the tour? </p>
<p>I hope to visit with my family in the Spring if my daughter gets in.</p>
<p>They did not show a girls’ dorm, but we were in a courtyard of four or five identical buildings, and some of them were for girls. Most likely, the interiors were similar, although it is possible that the girls did more to make the hallways look nicer.</p>
<p>My friend showed me her dorm and it was in a dorm that you need to write an essay to get into but it was pretty standard…For anyone who is interested, I loved the school when I went to the open house. There isn’t a big emphasis on sports which I’m fine with, everyone is very nice and everyone I’ve talked to who goes there absolutely loves it. It’s very convent with the metro right on campus. If anyone has any other questions let me know!</p>
<p>Percent of students who return for sophomore year: 81%</p>
<p>-collegeboard</p>
<p>What do you guys think of this?</p>
<p>When I read that I had a few thoughts. Catholic has a high yield, accepts a lot of students and some might not succeed the first year and have to leave or decide to transfer to a cheaper college. Some students might find their intended major is not well represented, “maybe” they thought they wanted nursing, but changed their minds. Others might have lost scholarship money or decided to try for their favorite college that rejected or waitlisted them. I suppose the reasons can be many, but they do matter.</p>
<p>Just from what I’ve heard I think that the tuition rates are a big factor in people not returning. Next year tuition will be over $50,000 a year.</p>
<p>Wow, one year is half the cost of my first condo.</p>
<p>Just checked CUA’s website, and their tuition for engineering this year is 16K a semester, which is 32K a year. Where did the 50K figure come from? Is that tuition, fees, room, and board, or is tuition going to go from 16K a semester to 25K a semester? That’s a pretty big jump, but not beyong the realm of possibilities. Would love more info about this increase.</p>
<p>This was written this past Dec.
<a href=“Controller | Washington, D.C. | Controller | CUA”>Controller | Washington, D.C. | Controller | CUA;
That seems about 1700 more.</p>
<p>They are working on reducing the high attrition rate by having the First Year Experience program. Many places have attrition rates like that. Many new college students do not know how to study, or are distracted by the change in environment and the removal of support systems such as nagging parents and friends who helped them in high school classes. I also have friends with college age kids who have made them transfer after freshman year due to low grades. Many parents just panic if they see a lot of Cs, and maybe lower, and are paying out a lot of tuition money. In a lot of cases, if they just rode it out, things would improve. I guess it is hard when the money is not easy to come by. But realistically, even many state universities have high attrition. College is over-glamorized, and when it does not live up to expections, many people take time off or transfer.</p>
<p>That was interesting about a dorm that you write an essay for. Nobody mentioned that at open house. Next time we visit, we will ask to see more dorms if possible. Our tour guide mentioned that the dorms with common bathrooms are better in one way, because they are cleaned by the maintenance people.</p>
<p>Sometimes they don’t advertise things like that, re the dorms. Fordham also has a dorm (Queens Court) that you have to write an essay about, but my son didn’t hear about it until he inquired about a sub-free residence.</p>