<p>Daughter having a hard time deciding. Did anyone have this choice? Why did you choose your school? She is interested in Economics, env. studies, and dance. She is a a very out-going, social kid.</p>
<p>I had this choice as well and easily picked Georgetown. Tufts seems to have a wonderful energetic student body and the three professors and administrators I met with this last summer were enthusiastic to meet with me and were a great help. </p>
<p>Georgetown is by far the better school academically though. I’m looking at political science and international relations. Tufts has a wonderful IR program, but SFS blows them out of the water; not to mention D.C. for politics!</p>
<p>Either school is a good choice.</p>
<p>I agree with what Cedardog said. i currently go to Georgetown. And I really love what the school and the city has offered. According to your daughter’s background, she seems like a perfect fit for Georgetown. Anyways, either school is great! Welcome to the hilltop!</p>
<p>My D is not facing that choice yet, but may next year. She is interested in both Tufts and G-Town with a poli sci/pre-law bent. If it were a religion-neutral choice, perhaps no contest in favor of G-Town. But it is not a religion-neutral choice. As an atheist, I am uncomfortable about the idea of sending my money to a Catholic institution and if D is faced with such a choice, I would likely encourage her to attend non-sectarian Tufts over G-Town for this reason. Perhaps this is not an issue for you. But if you are not Catholic, you might want to factor that into the equation.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help everyone. @DGDZ I also share some of those concerns.</p>
<p>@DGDzDad, I am not a Catholic but have absolutely no problem attending Georgetown. Universally everyone I have met so far has said it’s there if you want it to be a part of your life, but you can go four years without it at all. A non-catholic recent grad I met at a reception even said her two favorite classes were taught by the jesuits</p>
<p>This has been very helpful feedback.</p>
<p>I am not religious and can corroborate that the jesuits are awesome. In fact, being non-religious at a de facto “religious” institution has been one of the best experiences of my life.</p>
<p>i am not religious, and i almost know nothing about religion. Somehow, i fit very well in this school. There are two theology class requirements, and all of the theo classes are amazing! Definitely eye-opening. Plus, Georgetown is a very international-oriented school, where you are able to be exposed to tremendous amount of opportunities. Bill Clinton just came today.</p>
<p>Also not religious and GU being Catholic is the last reason to reject Georgetown. It’s never forced and you learn a lot from people who are not like you.</p>
<p>Our econ department beats Tufts any day and we have awesome Dance programs.</p>
<p>I’m glad those of you who are not religious are still comfortable at Georgetown. That’s awesome for you. Go for it. I’m just saying that personally, as a parent paying the tuition, there’s a certain “ick” factor just thinking about sending my money to a Catholic institution. Maybe it’s their position on same sex marriage, contraceptives, or covering up pedophilia, etc. But if given the choice between two awesome institutions like Georgetown and Tufts, I’d rather send my kid and my money to Tufts.</p>
<p>Georgetown is first and foremost a leading university with a wonderfully diverse student body. As a non Catholic whose children attend catholic school, I am happy to support the school financially and I am grateful that my daughter is having a great education both in and out of the classroom (she heard Bill Clinton speak in Gaston Hall today.) She calls home so excited about her classes (mainly govt. law english and econ) all amazing and she has visited library of congress and the supreme court on school assignments. She attended the inauguration (won tickets in a raffle the night before - high point, Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce!) and sat in on lectures by head of peace corp, former head of the world bank and Madeleine Albright. Met Gary Johnson on Monday night at GW and paddle boated through our nations capital with her boyfriend amid gorgeous cherry blossoms over the weekend. This is a snapshot of her freshman year. Is it worth the money? Yes, because it is a good fit for her. I am grateful she found this fit - it’s tricky to know for sure what is right. As an FYI, when she visited Tufts she ruled it out without applying. Not sure if this means anything. Good luck with your decision - just a day away. D decided between Claremont McKenna and Georgetown on the very last day. Hope your decision is easier.</p>
<p>I mean, if you’re actively anti-Catholic, then yes, Georgetown would probably be a bad fit.</p>
<p>Having said that, there are a few things I’d like to throw out, from my perspective as an alum who has long checked “None” as his religious affiliation.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Georgetown was the first University in the country to be open to students from any and all religions - including those without any religious affiliation - having been explicitly founded that way by John Carroll. From the very beginning, the school has had a religious mission as part of its overall raison d’etre, but it has not been a mission of indoctrination.</p></li>
<li><p>One could, I suppose, list a bunch of various liberal or downright progressive stances the University has taken, such as being the first U.S. university to have a full-time Muslim imam on staff, being the first Catholic school to have an LGBTQ resource center, offering same-sex partner benefits (technically, any adult with whom you were legally domiciled was eligible, but I think that makes it an even more progressive concept) since long before gay marriage or civil unions were a reality, various commitments to sustainability, a living wage for employees, etc. etc. One could just as easily counter with some conservative stances, of course, but the point is to paint a more complete picture than the one conjured by simply thinking of a “Catholic school.”</p></li>
<li><p>In response to this specific point: “as a parent paying the tuition, there’s a certain “ick” factor just thinking about sending my money to a Catholic institution.”</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I see where this is coming from, but I’m not sure that judging a (pretty independent) institution by its progenitor is all that reflective. I think the government of the State of Texas does lots of deeply stupid and immoral things and the ranks of the state’s elected offices are filled with many knaves and scoundrels. I’m not going to hold that against the University of Texas. Better to judge the institution itself and how it chooses to utilize the tuition dollars it receives.</p>
<ol>
<li>Specifically with regard to “Maybe it’s their position on same sex marriage, contraceptives, or covering up pedophilia, etc.”</li>
</ol>
<p>One must take care to distinguish religious precepts in theory from that faith as put into practice. On number two, the vast majority of American Catholics disagree with the church’s official stance as it is (and the history of Vatican II shows that the majority of those tasked with studying the topic actually reached the opposite conclusion from the final decision that was made, which was a minority view). </p>
<p>On number one, if a majority don’t already disagree with the Church on this point, then that point will be reached within a few years. The highest-ranking Catholic in America is Joe Biden, whose stance on those two issues is well-known. Another Catholic, Governor Martin O’Malley, led the charge for same-sex marriage in Maryland, which became the first state in which the public voted FOR same-sex marriage in an up-or-down vote. Maryland is, of course, a historically Catholic state. Massachusetts, the state with perhaps the strongest Catholic identity in the country, is one of the most liberal and was the first U.S. state to recognize gay marriage. </p>
<p>Long story short, breaking down obsolete dogmas is very much a possibility, and it has already happened to a great extent among the faithful, and it is highly likely that Georgetown - which has often been at the forefront of such change - will play a central role in that.</p>
<p>On number three, the only thing I can say is that, while the Catholic Church worldwide deserves a great deal of blame for its handling of the sexual abuse of children, it is in no way a problem unique to the Church. It may seem more pervasive because it is the single largest hierarchical organization on the planet. But as one can see all too well from a glance at the headlines, this is a problem in Protestant churches and in Jewish communities and in youth sports teams and in pretty much any other facet of society. That includes attempts to hush things up. It is a societal problem, first and foremost. (“Insurance companies, child advocacy groups and religion scholars say there is no evidence that Catholic clergy are more likely to be involved in sexual misconduct than other clergy or professionals.” - [Source](<a href=“http://blogs.denverpost.com/hark/2010/05/25/scandal-creates-contempt-for-catholic-clergy/39/]Source[/url]”>http://blogs.denverpost.com/hark/2010/05/25/scandal-creates-contempt-for-catholic-clergy/39/)</a>.)</p>
<p>But yea, if your approach to religion is more Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris than Barry Lynn (Georgetown Law Class of '78) or Michael Ruse, then it’s probably not a great fit.</p>
<p>@DGDzDad - why would you let your D apply to an institution where, if she were accepted, you would refuse to pay the tuition? Perhaps you already told her of your misgivings and she wants to apply anyway. If so then more power to her for being independent and not letting your bias influence her choice. Of course she would need to decide if the personal debt is worth the cost of attending.</p>
<p>Great response, dzl.</p>
<p>DGDad, I hope that if you have no intention of spending your money at Georgetown that you save your dd some heartache and let her know that before she applies. What’s the point of letting her apply, perhaps get accepted and then refusing to pay? If it’s not an option, you should state that up front. I get where you’re coming from though.</p>
<p>May we ask where your daughter decided, G’town or Tufts?</p>
<p>Your initial question seemed to generate more meat-and-potatoes
advice on the Tufts page than you received here (name-dropping,
religious ethos of the school).</p>
<p>dzleprechaun- Well said. </p>
<p>It’s unfortunate that religion-bashing is apparently live and well on CC. </p>
<p>Your points were thoughtful and reasoned, exactly what we should be looking for on the forum.</p>
<p>Sorry- that should be “alive and well”. I missed the “a” on my post.</p>
<p>To clarify my point, my D will have the final decision. I want her to be happy with her choice. She’s only a HS junior now and exploring options. All I am saying is in my prior posts is that if she were fortunate enough to be admitted to both Tufts and Georgetown, I would probably encourage her to choose Tufts. I wouldn’t forbid her to go to Georgetown if that’s what she decided, and I would pay the tuition, even if I had to cringe a little.</p>
<p>Having said that, I now want to extend the Georgetown community a BIG apology. We visited during the past week and we were very impressed. D loved DC and the Georgetown campus. Our tour guide was Muslim and I was impressed with what he had to say about religious tolerance there and the absence of any Catholic indoctrination. I guess I expected to see priests walking around and crucifixes hanging everywhere. I did not see anything like that at all. There was a chapel on campus and a few statues of priests, but that was about it. I have to admit that the campus visit and tour really eased my mind. If D is lucky enough to be accepted to both Tufts and G-Town, I would happily support whatever decision she makes. Basically, I was wrong. Sorry.</p>
<p>DGD, that’s fantastic and mirrors my experience when we finally toured (ds had been accepted EA, but we’d never been on campus). Any concerns I had about the religious aspect on campus were allayed.</p>