My son is scheduled to visit and tour Messiah in PA. We were researching the college and have some concerns about students being fined and put on chapel probation if they don’t attend church enough. My son has been raised Catholic, although he’s somewhat open to other conservative denominations. He doesn’t feel comfortable attending ultra contemporary services with rock music or hand holding. Sorry…likes his service kind of dry.
What is the environment really like at Messiah?
What does it mean to be put on chapel probation? (He wants God in his life, but doesn’t necessarily want it to dominate his day-to-day activities. And I don’t want it to feel forced on him.)
Are there other good options in mid-Atlantic and Northeast with strong merit aid?
We are ideally looking for a small to mid-size school that has a biology/biochem/neuroscience or other pre-med type major. STATS: 1400 SAT and 3.7UW/4.1W GPA. Villanova is a tad too large and doesn’t supposedly offer a lot of merit aid.
I’m a Messiah grad but from way back in the class of '97. But my son is a senior in high school this year and he visited last year so we have some recent knowledge. But hopefully other current Messiah students will chime in.
Chapel is offered 2-3 times/week - Tues & Thurs mornings and Tues evening in various styles and locations & types of chapel. A student needs 14 chapels per semester. Church attendance on Sunday is encouraged but not required. Again, a variety of churches are in the area.
Messiah is an evangelical Christian college but attracts students from many different denominations.
Campus is alcohol and tobacco free and there are open dorm hours for allowing visitation of members of the opposite sex.
I’d suggest a visit, as Messiah is a great school with friendly students.
They seem to say that 10% of the students at the school are Catholic, so it doesn’t seem like he’d be alone. The folks there ought to know more about the types of services, etc.
I know many kids from our school apply to Messiah. Some attend. I’m not sure how many are which particular denomination though.
I’m not sure Messiah would be a good fit for him. It’s strongly evangelical. I don’t know what their worship services are like, but I can guess they are going to involve contemporary praise songs, and will probably not be liturgical at all.
Has he toured Boston College? That might be a good fit, but I’m not sure about the merit aid.
Look into Holy Cross (there’s very little merit aid at BC), UScranton (lots of merit aid for his stats), UDayton, Fordham, perhaps Eastern and Moravian?
The Mid-Atlantic (not Georgetown) Catholic Jesuit schools might be great for him if merit is needed. Saint Joseph’s (in Philly, might be worth a look if Villanova was too big), UScranton, Loyola Maryland. Merit would definitely a possibility at all of them. Schools are mid-sized, not too big, not too small. And all of the Catholic aspects are there if you want/need them.
Heading further north, what about Fairfield or Fordham? Like BC, Holy Cross offers limited merit. But the other two are more generous.
Your son is a strong student. The ONLY reason for him to attend a college like Messiah (with its specifically religious mission) would be if he specifically wanted a college for evangelical type worship. But you and he have reservations about their religious requirements and do not share the predominant religion there, so it seems a poor match.
There are so many great colleges in the nation. Everyone here seems to have named strong Catholic-affiliated colleges as suggestions. That’s great, but if you were willing to look at a non-Catholic college in Messiah, why not look at some completely secular non-religious-affiliated colleges?
If you want your son to be able to attend Catholic services, he will be able to do that at most of the secular colleges. Every college we looked at in the northeastern United States- and we primarily looked at colleges without any religious affiliation, on purpose- has opportunities for Catholic students to worship together… even the only college we looked at that had a plurality of Jews still had a large number of Catholics and a Catholic chapel!
At a nonreligiously-affiliated college, there will be opportunities to join worship and service groups for students of his own faith, but the college will not be FORCING him or any other student to engage in religious practices nor will it try to elevate one religion above another.
He might look at Clark University, with no religious affiliation and great merit aid. He might check out Muhlenberg, which is strong for pre-med and has good merit aid. It is officially Lutheran but has more Catholics than Lutherans. Loyola in Maryland is Catholic and offered great merit aid to a student I know who had a lower test score than your son. So he can find many colleges, both affiliated and not, with merit aid. Look through College Confidential threads about colleges that offer merit aid, and scan descriptions in College guide books for this as well, and cross check these for his preferred majors, the percentage of students accepted to medical school, and the presence of Catholic services if he wants these. He will find a ton of options, many of which are fully secular and welcoming to students of all different faiths and nonreligious students as well.
BC and Fordham are both significantly larger than Villanova, which you stated was too big. Based on what you shared, your son would be hard-pressed to get much if any merit aid from Holy Cross. I agree with others who recommended Loyola, Scranton, and Fairfield. I would add Providence as a possibility, as well.