<p>ballerinawriter: Thanks for your input! I have a question: how are your professors? I can handle rigorous classes, so I don’t care if they are strict in the sense that they make you work hard for just an A- and have some rules. I just want them to be interesting so that I am excited about taking their class, to really care about teaching, and to be able to crack a joke every so often. :)</p>
<p>Amica mom: thanks, I’ll definitely look into Gonzaga. It sounds kinda what I’m looking for!</p>
<p>spencer and BlackRose: your posts are extremely helpful! ND, BC, and Gtown are probably the three hardest-to-get-in schools I am considering, so your comments are definitely helping me to narrow down my list. :)</p>
<p>The professors are fantastic. They really know their stuff and are true experts in their field. I’m finding that the more you put into getting to know a professor, they more they give back to you. I was struggling in my first English class as an English major, but after going into office hours, my professor worked really closely with me to help me improve and I grew a lot as a student. On another occasion, I was debating dropping a physics class I was taking for a requirement. I went into office hours to discuss it with my professor (who had won the highest award in Poland for science- so basically he is crazy smart). We ended up talking for over an hour, not just about my future in his class, but about books, travel, and life! Another of my professors was a priest who gives the French mass on campus, but also taught my theology seminar. It was cool to see him outside the classroom and share mass with him! At the moment I’m working on a research project with my French professor . I’m surprised how he has gone above and beyond to help me with my research interests and helping me try to get a grant to do my research in France! You will have some strange professors who will have sparse office hours, or won’t want to work with you. But in all, I think if you show that you care about a course and put in some extra effort, you can develop a really unique relationship with them!</p>
<p>Notre Dame and Holy Cross have 2 of the best alumni networks in the country. ND HAS Fantastic sports and Holy Cross plays Division1 sports against most Ivies and Colgate.</p>
<p>Whoops, I think you might have misread my post, BlackRose–during my visit to BC last fall, I got the impression that faith is a large part of the school’s character. I actually said that Georgetown seemed less vocally Catholic, even though it is a Jesuit school like BC. I think this is because of Georgetown’s incredible diversity, both in terms of religious beliefs and nationalities. </p>
<p>Of course, both types of faith communities have their pros and cons, so I think it’s more a matter of personal preference. Oh, and yeah–I hear that BC is definitely a party school, but it’s also got lots of alternative activities just down the road in Boston (sports, museums, restaurants).</p>
<p>Ballerina: I guess that’s the way it is in high school, too. 
Some good, some bad. But I’m glad to hear that overall you enjoy your professors. I’m starting to like ND more and more!</p>
<p>I’m going to be a freshmen at a Villanova University this fall so I actually just finished my college admissions process. I choose it because personally I went to a Catholic high school and having experienced attending both a catholic and a non-catholic school before, I am bias to say that I love the catholic environment. I also got the most financial aid here and I like how the class sizes are really small and their is a very strong sense of community, which I also find in many catholic schools as well. To me, the size was also ideal and perfect being around 6,000 undergraduates. Being suburban, the campus environment also seemed really peaceful, yet was still near a major city, giving me the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>I actually also really liked BC, but because I wanted to do engineering, I ended up having to cross BC and Georgetown off my list because they didn’t have my major and personally I liked ND but felt that the commute was going too much for me and that I might miss being near a city since I believed a city would give me access to more things to do and ways to have fun.</p>
<p>Of the 12 schools my daughter applied to, Notre Dame was the only Catholic school on her list, and that’s where she wound up. Although she is Catholic, that wasn’t really a deciding factor. She chose ND because of the incredible sense of family and community, how friendly and welcoming everyone was, and how much the students there really seemed to love it. And as a cheerleader, a school with big-time sports, tradition and school spirit was also a “must” for her… and it’s hard to find a school with more of that than Notre Dame. She loves ND and couldn’t be happier with her choice… and as a parent, neither could I! I feel like the professors and administration genuinely care about the students and go above and beyond to make sure they are happy and successful. It really is a special place.</p>
<p>Boston College is committed to maintaining and strengthening the Jesuit, Catholic mission of the University, and especially its commitment to integrating intellectual, personal, ethical, and religious formation; and to uniting high academic achievement with service to others.</p>
<p>Jesuits are active in all aspects of University life with a community of more than 150 Jesuits serving as faculty and administrators or studying for advanced degrees within Boston College’s various schools. Members of the Jesuit community also offer Ignatian retreats and spiritual direction to faculty, staff and students.</p>
<p>from: [Jesuit</a>, Catholic Tradition - Boston College](<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/about/tradition.html]Jesuit”>Catholic Intellectual Tradition - Boston College)</p>
<p>Cherry: my son has a similar background/stats to yours and will be a senior math major this year at Villanova. He also applied to and visited Marquette and ND; was accepted at Marquette with great merit aid and admission to the honors program but didn’t even make the waitlist at ND despite both parents (and grandparent) being ND alums.</p>
<p>He chose Villanova because of the emphasis on service and catholic faith, but also for the athletics. Basketball is huge, football is okay, lacrosse is fantastic; Villanova has a very strong intramural and club sport program – my son is a manager in the intramurals program which has turned out to be a great work study job for him. Sometimes it seems like everyone at Villanova played a sport in HS.</p>
<p>The core curriculum is extensive. He’s required to take 2-4 semesters in math, lab science, ethics, theology, social science, history, literature fine arts and a number of writing classes in addition to his major requirements. He is loving the math department: great advising, small classes. In fact, all of his professors have been great, classes interesting and fellow students interested in learning/participating.</p>
<p>The regional train system has two stations right on campus, so it’s easy to get into Philadelphia (and many bball games are held at the Wells Fargo Center). He also had an easy commute back to CT on Amtrak.</p>
<p>Personally, I think any of the Catholic colleges on your list would be a great academic choice. So your decision will likely come down to urban/rural and geographic location…and of course cost/financial aid (speaking as a parent).</p>
<p>I chose to apply to two Catholic Universities - The University of Notre Dame and DePaul University. This recent year, I was rejected to The University of Notre Dame even with a notable alumnus letter of recommendation but was accepted with a $14k/year scholarship to DePaul. The reason I applied to The University of Notre Dame was the academic quality, the #1 undergraduate business school, and when I visited, the campus would absolutely gorgeous. However, one of the things that I really disliked was the surrounding city. South Bend is to me, the stereotypical, dull Midwestern town with nothing to do. One of the main reasons I think I was not accepted was my ACT score. The mid 50% range is 32-34 and I was in the high 20’s. As for DePaul, I chose to apply because both of my grandparents went, and I wanted to have a city school as my option. They also have a pretty good business school. </p>
<p>If I had the opportunity to apply to any others, I would have applied to Villanova. I just didn’t have the desire to because I had already applied to nine schools (Notre Dame, Wake Forest, University of Virginia, Tulane University, University of Georgia, Clemson University, University of South Carolina, and DePaul University).</p>
<p>In faithful catholic circles I frequent, BC is considered good for the the theological and hard sciences as well as business but many consider the humanities to be too liberal. (Not political but rather in a religious sense) Notre Dame not so much(some people are still mad about he Obama thing 4 years ago). GT is considered by many as CINO: Catholic in Name Only.
Some up and coming colleges. Include UDallas grew school Thomas Aquinas and Loyola Marymount</p>
<p>I haven’t seen Providence College mentioned but its a wonderful school to obtain a well rounded Catholic education. The Dominicans are more conservative than Jesuits but just as dedicated to academics and education. The core curriculum is broad - requirements in math,science, ltheology, iberal arts and the big kahuana Development of Western Civilization! In my day it was a 20 credit course that met 5 days a week and was team taught by history, philosophy, literature, theology and art history professors. It was arduous but of all of the courses I took at PC, it has stayed with me most of all. These days its 16 credits and is taught seminar style but it still has the basic core principles. </p>
<p>The school has expanded since my days but still retains the close knit atmosphere. Good D1 sports too.</p>
<p>DD visited and applied to many Catholic colleges. Her entire education has been Catholic, but that wasn’t a requirement when we were narrowing down schools. She wanted a school with a strong core curriculum and liberal arts tradition, and a size of 2,000-6,000 or so. Here are the schools she visited and her reaction to them (which, of course, will be completely different for different people)</p>
<p>-Stonehill - she didn’t want to love it (Dad and I are alums) but she did, and received a generous scholarship
-St. Anselms - felt too small and too remote (did not apply)
-Providence - Really liked it, got a very generous scholarship, but it felt a bit too conservative for her and the # of students of the keystone core class was off-putting
-Boston College - she really thought this would be the fit for her, but after visiting she felt like it was too many people on too small a campus - didn’t apply
-Mt. St. Marys (MD) - hated it from the minute she stepped on campus, and didn’t seem very rigorous academically - didn’t apply, although they bombarded her with scholarship offers
-Villanova - liked it a lot, but the money wasn’t there. They made it clear on our tour they don’t guarantee to meet EFC
-Catholic University - really liked it, loved the idea of being in DC, good scholarship offer, accepted into Honors - if she hadn’t been we’d have been concerned about the academic rigor
-Loyola Maryland - loved EVERYTHING about the school from the first minute. It just felt right to her. (And the ridiculously gorgeous dorms didn’t hurt…) Accepted into honors, generous scholarship - she’ll start there in the fall. Very rigorous core, especially as an honors student. Just got her book list - the amount of reading required for Honors is huge, but she’s a kid who will thrive on the challenge. </p>
<p>Bear in mind, while her education has been entirely Catholic, there are tenets of the faith she disagrees with and is very vocal about. She’s not a kid who would have done well at schools on the Newman list of Catholic colleges. That’s why I see the Jesuits as a good fit for her.</p>
<p>I don’t want to hijack this thread, but while we are on the topic of Catholic colleges, which schools would you recommend for Computer Science? Unfortunately it seems as though Catholic colleges aren’t particularly strong in CS or engineering, with a few exceptions like Villanova for engineering or Santa Clara for its location. Would Villanova be the best Catholic school for CS, or would it be Notre Dame or some other school?</p>
<p>My computer science degree is from Stonehill, but that was back in the era before PCs… I do know that Loyola Maryland and Villanova both offer a 5 year combined undergrad/masters in CS. You’re not going to find MIT level computer science programs at most Catholic colleges, but if you’re looking for a well-rounded education it’s a good fit. The skills I acquired in writing and communicating (I was a communications minor) have proved extremely valuable throughout my career.</p>
<p>One of the programmers at a company I used to work for graduated from Loyola Marymount’s CS program. Don’t know how good it is though.</p>
<p>Gannon University, Iona College, Loyola University Maryland, University of Notre Dame, Santa Clara University, University of Scranton, and Villanova University have ABET approved Computer Science programs.</p>
<p>Check Creighton University in Omaha. I hear this is a wonderful school with a really good pre-med program.</p>
<p>Georgetown Holy Cross and Notre Dame are academic powerhouses with national alumni networks. ND has the largest endowment among Catholic schools while Holy Cross with alumni giving rate of 56% has one of the highest giving rates in the country. ND is known for good accounting and engineering programs, Holy Cross tremendous pre-med and Georgetown has fantastic foreign service program.</p>