<p>Can anyone comment on any of these schools. In your opinion, is the religious presence strong? The agenda overly conservative? Attendance at mass required? Catholic religious courses required?</p>
<p>Actually, Holy Cross is considered by many Catholics to be kind of a hot bed of liberalism. :) </p>
<p>You will find many faculty members at these schools to be liberal-leaning, but most of the ones on your list have administrations that bend towards traditional Catholic values due to the Church's demands. Example: most won't dispense birth control in their campus health centers.</p>
<p>No requirement for mass at any of these schools and they generally go out of their way to make non-catholics fit in and feel comfortable (i.e., they are not going to try to convert your kid). However, there will be some sort of religion course requirements at all of the schools. Nearly all Catholic schools do NOT require a class about Catholicism to meet the religion requirement. Some do require a class about Christian thought. At others you can take any religion class (even Buddhism) to satisfy the religion requirement. So, check on each school's site to see which is which.</p>
<p>The only school on that list that I have personal experience with is BC, and it is not someplace I would be reluctant to go just because I wasn't Catholic. There's a religious contingent, but there are also plenty of kids there who aren't Catholic or whose Catholicism is not front and center. You won't be weird for not being Catholic there.</p>
<p>I am a current student at BC, and agree with the above posters.</p>
<p>Holy Cross is very liberal and prides its academic and athletic alliance with the Ivy League and great liberal art schools like Bucknell and Colgate. HC recruits faculty and students who are not Catholic.</p>
<p>"Holy Cross . . . prides its academic and athletic alliance with the Ivy League"</p>
<p>. . .huh?</p>
<p>They've taken being jealous of BC to a new level, stepping up here, and while we may be joining the ACC, the Ivy League is proud to announce it's newest addition! It was supposed to be a big secret so Duke wouldn't get annoyed, but I guess it got leaked to the press..</p>
<p>hey Drink the Ass, it is great to see a Boston College grad prove his intelligence (or lack thereof) by not realizing that the word âitâsâ stand for âit isââŠyou may have a better football team, but donât ever think the academics are even close to Holy Cross.</p>
<p>Holy Cross plays the New England-based Ivy league schools in football each fall.</p>
<p>Regarding post #5 that poster always promotes Holy Cross, is either an alum or works for Holy Cross!</p>
<p>Par72/1980collegegrad (same â â â â â ?) must work for Holy Cross, with the amount of posts they have claiming HC is as good as or better than the Ivy, Georgetown, BC, etc. It has come to the point where you can predict what they are going to say (amazing athletics, ivy league quality, in Boston, etc. - none of which is true). If a school actually hires someone to â â â â â these websites, it is probably a school I wouldnât want to attend. Sad.</p>
<p>That being said, Boston College is one of the jesuit schools that has gone very secular, similar to Georgetown. There is hardly a catholic feel on campus other than the occasional priest you will see and the church that is on campus. Other than that, it is your typical undergraduate experience. Holy Cross is similar. At these schools, you can have a religious experience or you can have a secular experience, which is pretty much the same at any school.</p>
<p>Neither school allows religion to distort the subject matter or the education. They are not like the crazy christian schools (typically in the south) that refuse to teach evolution or aspects of science that conflict with the bible.</p>
<p>I woudnât worry too much about the theology/religious classes. i went to Marquette (also a Jesuit school) and had to take 3 theology classes, so I took âProtestant Thought & Theologyâ, âIntro to the Old Testamentâ and âIntro to the New Testamentâ. The latter 2 classes were taught by a professor that spent his summer in the Middle East on archeological digs. They were both like a combination literature/history class, rather than religion. Despite having gone through 12 years of Catholic schools, I learned more about the Bible in those 2 semesters. They were fascinating classes. The Protestant classes was one of the most popular in the department and always had a waiting list. Again, more like a history class, tracing the history of all the mainline Protestant religions. </p>
<p>As with any class, you should ask around. There were some classes that were heavy into theology and Catholicism. </p>
<p>Also see if you have to take Philosophy classes. At Marquette, those were the ones that tended to get more preachy on religious views. I stuck with the business ethics offerings!</p>
<p>Georgetown and Holy Cross are liberal Jesuit schools while Notre Dame is more conservative.</p>
<p>Notre Dame is not Jesuit. THe Jesuits are considered the most liberal of Catholic orders, so much so that they were kicked out by Rome. Hereâs the list of Jesuit colleges:</p>
<p>[Member</a> Institutions](<a href=âhttp://www.ajcunet.edu/Member-Institutions]Memberâ>http://www.ajcunet.edu/Member-Institutions)</p>
<p>Actually Boston College is the home to one of the worldâs largest Jesuit communities (A Catholic order of priests). I learned this on a tour of the campus in 2007. They also just recently put crucifixes back up in all of the classrooms. It is unquestionably a Catholic Jesuit college but like all Jesuit colleges they are welcoming of students of all faiths or none at all. But Catholic services including Mass, Chaplains office, Retreats and Faith-based organizations are easily accessible and the majority of the student population will be Catholic.</p>
<p>From asking this question in the past, I was told that BCâs student body is about 80% Catholic while Georgetown is only 50%, has its own campus Protestant ministers, aand even its own campus Imam. Iâd have trouble imagining that BCâs feel is as secular as Gtownâs. </p>
<p>IâM NOT YOUR SWEET BABBOO !!!</p>
<p>Sorry - That brought back memories of a Peanuts childhood - I couldnât help it. :)</p>
<p>OP must have graduated from college by now, this is from 2005 !</p>
<p>BC is as secular as Georgetown. Only around 50-60% are catholic and less of those are practicing. Actually, there is a significant jewish population at BC. Few if any students go to BC for religious reasons anymore. It used to be much more religious, but it has become much more secular. If you are looking for a more religious feel, Notre Dame or Holy Cross would be better fits.</p>
<p>I wouldnât be concerned about religious indoctrination or a prevalence of conservative views at these colleges. I would be concerned about the availability of contraception and reproductive health services. I believe itâs still the case at Georgetown, for example, that contraception and reproductive health services are not available through student health services, even in the event of rape, on grounds that contraception is against Church teaching, as is premarital sex. Student groups unsupported by university funds distribute free condoms on campus, but thatâs clearly inadequate. Iâm not exactly encouraging my daughters to be sexually active during their college years; in fact, Iâd much prefer they werenât. But I remember my own undergraduate days and . . . well, letâs just say âstuff happensâ of a consensual nature. And unfortunately, sexual assault is not uncommon on college campuses. No doubt there are other ways for Georgetown students to get access to contraception and reproductive health services, but to my mind anything that raises cost or inconvenience barriers to adequate protection or treatment in the event itâs needed is a problem, and possibly a reason to look elsewhere. </p>
<p>[Georgetown</a> Boasts Diversity, Silences Opposing Viewpoints | The Nation](<a href=âhttp://www.thenation.com/blog/georgetown-boasts-diversity-silences-opposing-viewpoints]Georgetownâ>http://www.thenation.com/blog/georgetown-boasts-diversity-silences-opposing-viewpoints)</p>
<p>^ Still, Georgetown is in a big city, so its students have all the resources they could need without having to rely on the school. This may be different out in the boonies in South Bend, but D.C. has everything a person could need.</p>