<p>I am a junior looking at colleges and was wondering if any parents have/had children who go/went to catholic schools for secondary education. If anyone has input on catholic schools, how liberal/conservative, admissions standards, and experiences from children who go or have went to catholic schools I would really appreciate it. I've tried searches but most are about what it's like to be non-catholic at a catholic school rather than how the school itself is.</p>
<p>You really need to be more specific, wordgirl.</p>
<p>Catholic colleges run the gamut from quite conservative to fairly liberal and attract like students. Core requirements will vary, as will admissions selectivity.</p>
<p>Can you tell us more about what you are looking for? We could then direct you to places that might suit your needs.</p>
<p>My son will be attending University of San Diego in the Fall, I’ll let you know later! Also, he was accepted at Loyola Marymount University but felt USD was a better fit. He got in with a 4.27, and 1850 SAT. He did not get in to Notre Dame. I’m not sure if that helps! He’s pretty conservative and a devout Catholic. (Also accepted at Pepperdine which is Church of Christ-based, which did have a minor impact on not going there.)</p>
<p>LOL! My DD will graduate from USD next month.
She’s fairly liberal.
But I doubt our kids’ singular impressions of one school will be particularly helpful to a stranger choosing colleges without some reference points.</p>
<p>More info: I’m interested in majoring in athropology. I’m currently ranked 9/~250, my gpa is a ~4.05w/don’t know about uw, I’m taking the sat/act in the next two months…but practice tests are about 1950. I have one of the most challenging courses in my grade, aps and honors classes. I’d prefer to stay east of the Mississippi River, but location isn’t a huge issue. It doesn’t matter if it’s a big city or a town in nowheresville. I’m not into huge schools, I want to be able to talk to professors and have them no me personally. I would like to go to a catholic college. I’m more liberal than conservative but very close to middle of the road. If there is any more information let me know and I’ll post it.</p>
<p>Saint Mary’s College which is an all girls school and a sister school to ND; also University of Notre Dame. I highly recommend either one. Both of these are conservative.</p>
<p>There have been some threads on Catholic Colleges–look under “College Search” - “Christian Colleges.”<br>
If you are looking for conservative Catholic colleges (colleges that follow the teachings of the church/Pope), The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College is an excellent resource. Beyond the 20 or so schools in the Newman Guide, most Catholic colleges are fairly liberal, with few “religious study” requirements. You would find a higher percentage of non-catholic students at the more liberal colleges. Whether liberal or conservative, most Catholic colleges welcome students from other religious backgrounds. Many of my relatives, including 2 of my kids, have gone to various Catholic colleges–from liberal to ultra-conservative. PM me if you want my opinion on a certain school. (fwiw, I would not call Notre Dame conservative–I’m conservative, and I’d call it “liberal,” but I think most would classify ND as “middle of the road.” Notre Dame is one of the most highly selective Catholic schools–2100+SAT scores would be more in the ballpark.)</p>
<p>I think she said she is more liberal than conservative.</p>
<p>wordgirl, are there any particular Catholic schools you are already considering? There are so many, it’s a bit hard to direct you.</p>
<p>Are you aiming for some of the most selective of the Catholic U’s (examples: Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College, Holy Cross)? Do you want a certain type of campus? Do you want or want to avoid a school with a strong D1 athletic teams? “East of the Mississippi” is a big territory… in an ideal world, do you have any more specific geographic criteria?</p>
<p>I can think of dozens of Catholic U’s/colleges without even straining, at all levels of selectivity - just on the East Coast alone. But I wouldn’t know where to begin in recommending particular ones to you, based on what we know of your likes/dislikes so far.</p>
<p>I could be wrong, but I think the criterion you mentioned so far -wanting to get to know and be known by your profs - can be achieved at virtually any of the Catholic U’s/colleges… certainly all of those familiar to me.</p>
<p>A lot of Catholics are upset that the colleges are not Catholic and conservative enough. You do have to check out certain schools as to how “CAtholic” they are. I can tell you that Fordham, Georgetown, Duquesne, Villanova are examples of schools that could be of any religion or none. A lot of none Catholic kids there , and you just don’t get any feel that the school is affiliated with a religion. Schools like Franciscan in Steubenville are deliberately trying to accentuate the CAtholic identity and I can see where someone who wants an independent school can feel uncomfortable.</p>
<p>My daughters both attend a Catholic college. But I’m still not sure what you are asking exactly.<br>
I think for my daughters the medium size of the school and its urban location were more important than religious affiliation, even though we are Catholic.</p>
<p>As others have said you must narrow down your geographical area of desire as you might freeze your buttons off in the northeast or be a little hot under the collar in the south.<br>
My D spent her first year at a Jesuit School where she really liked the teaching as opposed to the non-Catholic schoo where she now goes. The professors (those who speak decent english) are quite liberal, but then again academia in general is quite liberal. When it comes down to it the only real conservative schools that I would call just that are the military academies.
My S will soon be on his way to a small Catholic college. Of his 14 acceptances 5 were Catholic and he narrowed it to 2 Catholic with 1 of those a Jesuit. I can say from dealing with both kids’ searches that the Catholic schools were more generous when it came to scholarships. I haven’t found too many that really push the religious aspect. Like all the others they’re pretty much interested in your money. Good luck</p>
<p>Ohio: John Carroll University, Dayton, Xavier
DC: Catholic, Georgetown
IN: St. Mary’s, Notre Dame
KY: Bellarmine, Brescia, Thomas More
Those are just off the top of my head, there are so many more!</p>
Notre Dame gets a conservative reputation because the Congregation of Holy Cross is more conservative than the Jesuits (I personally like the Society of Jesus a bit more, but not by too much, as both are Catholic, and will be attending ND). Actually, in the school’s 2008 mock-election, Obama and McCain went about 50-50 (I don’t know who won), so it’s a roughly even split. Catholics do tend to be socially conservative and economically liberal in general. You can see examples of this in predominately Catholic countries with socialistic economic practices and fierce anti-abortion laws.</p>
<p>Marquette University in Milwaukee, a small big city. Less than 8000 undergrads, COA around $40K. You could probably expect merit aid with your stats if that’s a concern.</p>
<p>I’d disagree with the socially conservative stance. I would say aside from abortion/artificial contraception and gay marriage issues (albeit two big issues), the Catholic church is largely socially liberal.</p>
Well, it depends upon how you define socially liberal. Social justice and the emancipation of the poor are certainly Catholic doctrines; I just put them under economically liberal. Of course, someone else could categorize them as socially liberal, so it’s an imperfect system of assigning categories.</p>