<p>I have great respect for Georgetown as an academic institution, but to paint the school simply as one of many “with people of diverse religions” is disingenuous.</p>
<p>The school is not a non-sectarian Northwestern, or Yale, or Penn, or Brown, or Stanford, or . . . . . .</p>
<p>This is as clear as the crucifixes adorning every classroom on campus. Its Catholic heritage AND its continuation as a “Catholic and Jesuit university” may be seen as a strength to some, an issue to others.</p>
<p>i wasn’t trying to pound the discussion or say that georgetown wasn’t a terrific college, i just don’t like my posts being labeled as “ignorance” when i am clearly in the right and that poster is contributing explicitly erroneous information</p>
<p>The weather at Georgetown is much, much better than Nrthwestern. Does it matter? Well, I’m in DC and today I went biking on the C&O canal (180 miles of national park along the Potomac, accessible from campus).</p>
<p>I think anyone who’d turn down a school like Georgetown because there were crucifixes (or any religious icon, for that matter) hanging on the walls needs to open his or her mind a bit.</p>
<p>Its not a matter of being close minded- some people are simply turned off by in-your-face religiosity of that sort. I remember being somewhat irked by the GIANT WHITE CROSS on the side of one building when I visited (largely just because it was ugly). I thought the Jesuit thing was cool, but I wasn’t so keen on the crucifixes either. The admissions office made my decision easy though :P</p>
<p>I suppose it’s a matter of perspective, then. I tend not to classify anything I can choose to look away from or ignore as in-your-face. That doesn’t apply to blatant proselytizing, though - that kind of thing really gets my goat.</p>
<p>I would agree with you on that, but only for things its easy to ignore. It would’ve taken a deal of effort, at least for myself, to ignore a 3-4 story tall cross.</p>
<p>Let’s ignore the religious aspect for a moment. I think the reason is because Georgetown fills a certain niche. G’Town is in DC and has amazing polysci/IR programs. They’re probably the best of all colleges when it comes to this. Northwestern may be better overall academically and more well-rounded, but it doesn’t DOMINATE one particular field of study like this, the closest is comes is journalism, which is not as popular a major.</p>
<p>It seems like Georgetown is caught in a fight it can never win. Both sides of this issue constantly criticize the university. On the right, we have conservative Catholics who see Georgetown’s progressive stance and interreligious understanding as an attack to its Jesuit heritage. And these critics compare Georgetown to ND, BC, Holy Cross, and Fordham all which seemingly maintain a more dogmatic approach to their Catholic heritage. Meanwhile, we have the left condemning the University for preserving its Catholic roots by having Crucifixes in each classroom. It is certainly a hard task to balance, considering Georgetown is, and will continue to be, a leading research university in this modern and dynamic world.</p>
<p>As a student at Georgetown, I can assure CC that the religiosity on our campus in multidimensional. In Campus Ministry there are representatives from many faith backgrounds. One of our school’s mottos is, “Interreligious Understanding.” I find it sad that people on these threads attack Georgetown for clinging on to its Jesuit heritage. If people were to understand that there is much more to learn from this heritage than to attack, people would see the Jesuits as an asset not a hindrance. </p>
<p>The Jesuits are leaders within the secretarial world; they are beacons for progression and advancement in a society that has seen faith become increasing conservative in the past years. I wish all could speak with a Jesuit before making such harsh conclusions.</p>
<p>I haven’t seen any “harsh conclusions” here, just the statement that some people prefer not to have religion be a mandatory part of their education. I would be just as uncomfortable attending a Jewishly affiliated University as a Jesuit one. tdolson, I’d argue you very eloquently defended your alma mater from a straw man.</p>
<p>2-iron, your point is a very good one. I only applied to Georgetown because of the School of Foreign Service. Of course, that program, much like Penn’s Wharton, is likely responsible for skewed admissions statistics.</p>
<p>you guys know you have a choice whether to attend or not, right? </p>
<p>“some of us don’t like how religion is a mandatory element of the curriculum” or something like that.----Or really? Then why the heck do you go to a jesuit school? If you don’t like it, why did you come to gu in the first place? GU is a catholic university, and thats the way it’s gonna stay. You knew gu was religious when you applied, and you knew gu was religious when you decided to matriculate, so anything you say about not liking the religion is completely pointless–not to mention how much it makes you look stupid. There are other great programs (yes, IR included) in the country at other institutions–so just shut your trap and leave!</p>
<p>^ Wow. You make Georgetown Catholics sound great – really friendly and open-minded.</p>
<p>I agree with 2-iron, though – Georgetown and Northwestern are catered towards fundamentally different student bodies, IMO. Georgetown with its D.C. location and plethora of political science/SFS majors is naturally more attractive to a prospective student interested in politics, international relations, or something in that vein. There’s also no denying the fact that D.C. has better weather and has a more east-coast feel than Evanston. I’m sure for some applicants the Jesuit ties play a role in their decision-making – I can understand why one who isn’t Catholic might have some doubts about, say, a school where the pro-choice group isn’t able to be school-sanctioned – but there are other differences, too.</p>
<p>Northwestern – and maybe I’m biased – seems to offer a well-rounded undergraduate program, ideal for those who are unsure of what they’d like to pursue and appreciate the ability to navigate between majors without compromising quality. I’m not saying that Georgetown doesn’t give its students that option – a Georgetown degree of any sort is certainly nothing to turn your nose up at – but in terms of pre-professional feel, I think you’ll see a lot more “I’m going to be president by 2036” types at Georgetown than NU.</p>
<p>Of course, there’s also the difference of Greek life: Northwestern, as top schools go, is VERY Greek, though their system of sororities and fraternities isn’t exactly Animal House. Georgetown, on the other hand, if I’m not mistaken, has no Greek life whatsoever? Though I think both schools give off a vibe that’s more preppy than it is crunchy (neither of them is a Brown or an Oberlin, in other words) I think the two are different enough that a comparison of the choices of cross-admits could be related to many other factors other than just prestige or perceived quality of education. Just my .02.</p>