<p>For instance, my top choice of college is Pepperdine which is affiliated with the Church of Christ. However, I am a Roman Catholic and have attended both Catholic elementary and high schools. For the letters of Rec, one has to be personal. For something I'm involved with in school, the Cardinal/Archbishop of the Arch Diocese of Philadelphia writes us a letter of rec. If I submit this, will it hurt my chances of being admitted because it's so Catholic (LOL I could not thing of a better way to put that sorry!)</p>
<p>Note: I'm aware that there are Catholics who go to Pepperdine I'm just wondering if submitting such a recommendation would hurt my chances of being admitted since it conflicts with the religion the school is affiliated with. </p>
<p>I do not have personal experience with Pepperdine, but I very much doubt that the letter would hurt you. The fact that faith is important to you will come through in the letter, and that will speak to your character.</p>
<p>You need to find out from people who actually know. Religious colleges certainly can discriminate in favor of students of their religion, whether, and to what extent Pepperdine actually does, it seems none of these posters know. Can your counsellor help?</p>
<p>Of course, if the alternative is a letter from someone with no religious credentials at all, then I share the suspicion that a letter from a Cardinal would be better. But then I don't work in admissions for Pepperdine.</p>
<p>I think your question might have been better phrased as "Can/would Pepperdine hold it against you if ..." because you're asking a very specific Pepperdine question, not a question about religiously afffiliated schools. Religiously affiliated schools covers a wide range of territory, from schools with nominal religious affiliations, to schools with decided affiliations (such as Georgetown or BC) but who seek a diverse student body, to schools such as a Wheaton College (IL), to the Bob Jones U's of the world.</p>
<p>Pepperdine has more Catholics than any other denomination.</p>
<p>I'm assuming the activity you are involved in is part of the Archbishop's Christian mission, so it has to be a worthy use of your time. Can't see how it would hurt at all.</p>
<p>We are Presbyterian and my daughter was accepted to Pepperdine, though she eventually accepted a spot at another school. I don't think being Catholic will be a problem at all.</p>
<p>Stickershock, really?? Where did you find that statistic? I am not questioning you , I am just surprised. I would have assumed that one of the Protestant faiths would comprise the majority. That's what I get for making assumptions huh?</p>
<p>Brigham Young University - the largest private college in the US I believe, will accept students of different faiths. However, you HAVE to take religion as taught by them!</p>
<p>Many of the faith based colleges require a religion class or two. Some are geared toward that particular faith and others are more history related. Some you can fulfill abroad. Wouldn't it be cool to take a religion class in Rome or Israel?!?!</p>
<p>Historymom, I had looked into Pepperdine a couple years ago & was also surprised at the large number of Catholics. Just checked the website, and see that Catholics are now 16% of the student body and COC are 17%. So it's adjusted a bit since I least checked. But the website is very clear about welcoming other faiths:
[quote]
Students, faculty, and staff members of all faith traditions are welcome to become part of the Pepperdine University community. God's truth as revealed in both the observable and invisible worlds is universal and nonnegotiable, and an individual's pursuit of that truth is respected and honored.
<p>Actually, at some religious schools being a different religion is a help as they seek to diversify their student body. A lot of religious schools are very diluted in their teachings to satisfy a larger "client base".</p>
<p>The answer to your question that is in the heading is "yes", they can. There are colleges that do so very heavily, some that do not at all. Most colleges will have a statement in their papers saying that preference is given to church members if that is the case.</p>
<p>When S was looking at a Catholic school, it asked for relig. affiliation on app. When we asked about it at tour, they said that it didn't help/hurt, but there were scholarships available for all different religions and they sort your app for your various Financial Aid opportunities....think that was true?</p>
<p>It depends on the school, Mizzou-mom. Yes, it could be true. Every Catholic college I have seen has scholarships for various Catholic groups. Catholic U of DC has a very nice scholarship that they have the archdiocese nominate kids for. Some area parish kids get some award too. Usually those are small amounts, about $1000.<br>
Many of the Catholic schools are now looking for diversity as the major universities are, and non Catholics may even get some preference for admissions as a result of this.</p>
<p>Understand that at Pepperdine only 17% may be Church of Christ, but you could knock me over with a feather if 70%+ weren't some sort of Protestant denomination, with most being evangelical.</p>
<p>JHS, check out the link I posted. I'm really not clear on which churches consider themselves evangelical, but 20% of the students fall into the Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, or Baptist category. Not many Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, or Hindus, but they are there.</p>