Differences Between Christian Colleges and Suggestions

College Search & Selection
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Hi!

I’m currently a junior looking at christian colleges-- any denomination or nondenominational is fine, including Catholic. I’ve mostly been looking at colleges in California, but am open to some in other states. I live in Colorado and am very active in the outdoors, so somewhere I can do things like hike or go to a forest/beach/national park that is not too far away is important. I have a 4.0 GPA, 29 ACT, and lots of leadership positions like being Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, treasurer of National Honor Society, secretary of student government, and a leader in my church and Young Life. I’m also not positive what I want to study right now.

So far I’ve been looking at Point Loma Nazarene University, Westmont College, and Santa Clara University. I’ve looked a bit online at Biola and Chapman but haven’t visited.- I’ve visited Point Loma, Pepperdine, and Westmont. Pepperdine was beautiful but I’m not crazy about Malibu. I loved the location of Point Loma. However, there were no students at any of the colleges when I visited so it was hard to get a sense of the atmosphere and student life.

I’d love to hear what others think about these colleges or experiences you have had. How do these colleges differ in student body and student life? Academics? I realize Santa Clara for instance may be more rigorous, but how do Point Loma and Westmont compare? Recommendations for places to apply, etc? Any observations would be great to hear.

Thanks so much!

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Pepperdine and Santa Clara probably have a more “academic” reputation than either Point Loma or Westmont. Point Loma and Westmont are more “evangelical” in nature. Not necessarily a bad thing but you should be aware of that. However, I suspect you will get merit aid at both Point Loma and Westmont. St Mary’s in California might be a decent choice as well. University of San Diego is Catholic and has a good reputation in California.

Have you considered the PNW? University of Portland is Catholic. I also know someone who went to Whitworth and liked it.

Have you considered Sewanee? It is in the middle of a forrest and is affiliated with the Episcopalian Church.

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Thanks for the input!! I will take a look at Saint Mary’s, Whitworth, and University of Portland for sure. Not really looking to venture south, or else I would definitely take a look at Sewanee too.

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Just my quick takes-oh, and you can look at the affiliation/denomination to get an idea of what the school culture might be like.

USD- Liberal, secular Catholic university. Jesuit. Probably similar to Santa Clara in terms of culture. Lots of social justice. Maybe not as academically well regarded as Santa Clara, but well regarded. Beautiful campus overlooking San Diego Mission Bay. Nice, wealthy students. Some conservative Catholic students. Very So Cal feeling.

Pt. Loma Nazarene-I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s more conservative, though it does have some stricter rules; still, plenty of kids drink there. In the Wesleyan tradition. Lots of social justice. Overall nice kids. Less academic, but their science departments are well regarded and nursing is very popular. Gorgeous campus views, of course.

Westmont-overall, more conservative than Pt. Loma, but I don’t know much more. Have heard Christian students whose faith was strengthened there, and others that lost their faith there.

Biola would be considered more orthodox than the others-meaning it aligns with traditional views of Christianity-inerrancy of scripture, trinitarian, grace-based/faith-based salvation. I believe it is associated with a number of intelligent design advocates. It’s a large, friendly campus and the Torrey Honors Program is rigorous.

Chapman-I know little about it other than I believe it’s socially liberal and there seems to be a certain drinking/drug culture on campus from what I’ve read. Great performing and visual arts there.

Keep in mind that Christian colleges are not necessarily Christian in practice, and it’s good to go in with eyes open.

In Colorado, there’s Colorado Christian University, probably the most socially and politically conservative of all the colleges mentioned above. Don’t know much more about it, though. Seems like a nice school.

Other schools I know a little about if you’re interested: Taylor Univ in Indiana, Grove City College in PA, Grace College in Indiana, Patrick Henry in Va, and a few others.

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I attended Concordia University in Irvine, CA (Orange County) and loved it! The location is great since it’s right by beaches, Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm. There was always something fun to do during the week and weekends. I chose to go to CUI because they don’t require you to sign a faith statement like other Christian universities. You don’t have to be christian to attend which means I made friends with people who had different beliefs. Also, Chapel was optional which was nice because then you were with people who WANTED to be there.

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Concordia University Irvine sounds like it would be a great fit for you! It is located in Southern California so it has awesome weather and a lot of hiking trails around! Concordia has awesome classes and awesome professors who want to get to know you inside the classroom and outside.
Some of the reasons I chose to attend Concordia was for its location(Irvine is so pretty and close to the mountains and the beach), the small class sizes, as well as the faith life on campus! Going to chapel is a choice here! So I get to choose if I would like to go! It’s nice that the whole campus shuts down so everyone has the opportunity to go if they would like to!

There are also a lot of paid leadership positions on campus! You get to get people or of their dorms and into the Concordia family, whether it is at a hall event, a sponsored LEAD event, or an athletic event! Leadership is a perfect opportunity to network yourself and gain experience for the working force after your graduate!

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My daughter just graduated from HS here in CO and I encouraged her to look at Christian colleges because I went to Biola way back in the day and absolutely loved it. She visited Biola, Pepperdine and Westmont. Of those 3, she liked Westmont the best because of it’s proximity to the mountains and the beach. Plus Santa Barbara is just a great town. She hated Pepperdine and Biola. Pepperdine because it was too isolated and Biola because it was too “Christian” for her, if that makes sense. She didn’t like the idea of having to sign a faith statement because 1) she felt that kids were doing it for their parents and not necessarily for themselves and 2) she wanted diversity in thought.

At one point she also was considering Hope College (Michigan) and Whitworth (WA state). There is also Azusa Pacific in SoCal.

She ended up going to a state school (UNC in Greeley) because of finances but she may transfer at some point.

Good luck!

8

George Fox in Oregon near Portland worth looking at as well as Cal Baptist in Riverside

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Just came from Westmont prospective students day, and have previously visited Santa Clara, Seattle University, Loyola Marymount, University of San Francisco, and St. Mary’s with one or both of our kids. WE are Presbyterian, and younger daughter is very involved with our youth group. My impressions (some of which are further discussed in college vibe).
St. Mary’s (that’s the one in Oakland, right?) - not a good fit…rigor and enthusiasm seemed very low
USF- perhaps we just had a bad admissions session, but again the academics seemed lacking. Location beautiful…good scholarships…Our overall impression was that it rode on its location rather than the quality of the school.

Santa Clara- engaging, enthusiastic students and professors. Very interesting programs. More active faith community, both Christian and non-Christian. DD1 had this as a top choice, and DD2 is intrigued as well. extremely high quality education by all reports. Merit scholarships for top 10 percent.
SEattle University- in a fun area of Seattle, good merit scholarships, students seemed engaged. You have to be comfortable with the laid back culture of the Pacific Northwest. DD1 likes to dress more formally, and it was not a good culture fit. Christian focus seemed 'dialed down" in comparison to Santa Clara, but more so than USF.
Westmont- great fit for DD2. Excellent academic rigor combined with very strong faith based culture. Extremely strong community feeling…but 3 times a week required chapel. No personal belief statement required, but if you weren’t into deepening your faith I would not think you would would be comfortable. Attended a chapel service. Very high energy, inspirational and practical message about living in community with others effectively. Students we talked to said that chapel services are always excellent, and no one complains about going.

Hope this is helpful! WE found that asking how many church services there are on campus a week was a reliable way of judging the amount of active spiritual practice on campus. Westmont would definitely be the high end for Christian’s. Santa Clara for the huge number of services on campus for a variety of faiths, and USF at the low end: they were baffled by the question.

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Loyola Marymount University in LA is Jesuit, but it still offers diversity. You can come from any religious background and aren’t required to go to services. It’s nice that everyone brings their own unique views. It has beautiful views of both the Hollywood hills and the ocean. I visited and loved the atmosphere. Also, they have special dorm halls called “living learning communities” and basically you apply for one that you want if you’d like and live with people who have similar interests. I know theirs some sort of outdoors one, and the students in it take weekends trips doing things like kayaking and hiking.

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USD is Catholic. It is not secular and it is not Jesuit.

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Here is a good link from a high school counseling office from several years ago. Though old, it’s still informative. It lists various schools and rates them on various scales (size, admissions scores etc, retention, grad rates, avg debt of grads, and various religious measures)

http://www.calvinchristianescondido.org/editoruploads/files/C%26C/CHRISTIAN%20COLLEGE%20COMPARISONS.pdf
(if moderators block that link just do a google search for ‘comparison of christian colleges wheaton calvin’ and it’ll be the first ‘non-ad’ link. the high school is calvin christian in escondido.)

I encourage you to add Calvin College (in Grand Rapids Mich) and Seattle Pacific University (in downtown Seattle). If money matters to you, some of these schools are much more financially friendly than others (SC and USD are not financially friendly, Pepperdine is very friendly if you’re Church of Christ, and the schools with a little less cachet have lots of merit/talent scholarships (Calvin, SPU, Westmont, etc)

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@shoot4moon - St. Mary’s is in Moraga. Mills is in Oakland.

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One of my daughter’s good friends from high school is at Seattle Pacific. She’s a fairly liberal-minded Christian, from an evangelical background and is happy there. I know she got excellent financial aid.

15

Liberty University in Virginia is worth looking into as well

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Wow…for those interested in a Christian college, lz’s link above is absolutely excellent!!!

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Can anyone tell me how religious the environment will be at, say, Calvin College?

I like everything about the college except the fact that it is Christian. I’m an international student and an atheist.

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Hi @mundanewarrior, I can’t speak to Calvin College specifically, but I’ll try to give you what insight I can into some college’s that are similar to Calvin.

I’ve never visited Calvin, but I have been to several other small, Christian liberal arts schools and they are distinctly Christian. Calvin is affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church. I’m not very familiar with them in particular. The schools I have visited are Nazarene, Baptist, and nondenominational. Each one has a huge Christian presence/influence. Unlike a lot of Catholic/Jesuit schools where students of many/no faiths can seamlessly blend-- these schools have an unapologetically religious culture, that’s kind of what makes them unique from a lot of other liberal arts colleges. Spiritual life, I’ve observed in many cases, is as important/present as academics. There’s typically a large chapel presence on most of these schools and attendance is mandatory a certain amount of times a month for many of these schools, some even require signing serious agreements to abstain from alcohol and drugs, intimate premarital relations, etc. I applied to a Christian college this fall, and as part of the process had an interview. A lot of the interview was religiously based-- where I went to church, for how long, how I’ve been involved, etc. It made me realize how integral spiritual life is to that school, and I can easily see how an aethist would feel uncomfortable.

I think the best thing you could do would be to visit Calvin and see the degree to which it is religious. Talk to some professors/faculty and current students, get a feel for the campus. Find out how many students are Christian, their chapel requirements, and religious course requirements.

I hope someone with some experience with Calvin College specifically can better answer your question.

Good luck to you on your search, I’m so glad to be nearly done!

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@isabee

In case you didn’t notice, I started my very own thread, with zero replies so far. Don’t know if I’m allowed to post links. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/christian-colleges/1947174-how-religious-is-calvin-college-international.html

As I said, I’m an international student, so it is not possible for me to visit the school. But from my research, it appears that chapel service is voluntary, while a few religious courses are required, which I’m okay with.

But then, if it happens to have an “unapologetically religious culture”, then I don’t think it makes sense for me to go there. I was hoping it would kinda be like the “Jesuit” schools (I looked at Seton Hall). I really like everything else about the college.

I hope someone more acquainted with Calvin responds soon. The deadlines are approaching.

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@mundanewarrior I am not an expert on calvin, but I recommend you look at their core curriculum.

https://calvin.edu/offices-services/academic-services/advising/core-curriculum/

You can try to look up the class codes on google and see if you can get course descriptions.
In my unprofessional opinion, it seems more religious than Jesuit Universities. At those, you normally have the freedom to take religious classes that are more broad and factual vs at Calvin it seems as though they would lean towards proselytizing in some of those courses.

Full disclosure: I am an atheist.

What is it that you like so much about Calvin? Perhaps people can make recommendations on similar feeling colleges that are not as religious?