<p>Good luck to your D, abasket - wherever she winds up! My D had similar stats to your D (but not quite as good) and Depaul started out as her safety school. She was admitted to higher-ranked universities but chose Depaul over everyone else because she liked it so much.</p>
<p>DePaul dropped from our D’s list because she visited and loved St. Thomas in St. Paul. Now I am thinking we should give it another look. Thanks for all the great feedback.</p>
<p>“I do not know where DePaul falls on the liberal/conservative Catholic scale, but I have absolute certainty that Loyola and Notre Dame are nowhere near each other on that same scale. Loyola, being a Jesuit institution, is very Catholic-liberal whereas Notre Dame is clearly Catholic-conservative. Both Loyola and Notre Dame have a religious presence, very different. For Catholic’s that understand it’s like the difference between Pope Francis and his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI. It is pretty hard to out Catholic-liberal the Jesuits.”</p>
<p>If I may, how I (as a non-Catholic, but a former one years ago) would describe the three is -
DePaul’s Catholic presence feels mostly historical in scope (“this is our origin”)
Loyola’s Catholic presence feels very service-oriented in scope ("we serve others because that is part of our commitment as Catholics)
Notre Dame’s Catholic presence feels the heaviest of the three – with the grotto, many chapels on campus, “God country and Notre Dame” and so forth</p>
<p>In terms of comfort level for a Jewish student specifically, I think DePaul is a non-issue. Jewish students are certainly welcome and present at Loyola and Notre Dame, but they have to be willing to “accept” / live with more of the overt Catholic feel, religious artifacts, etc. If they’re willing to live with that, then no problem. </p>
<p>I’d maybe put in this order - DePaul, Georgetown, Loyola, ND in terms of low to high Catholic religious feel / presence. </p>
<p>I THINK she will choose something a little closer to home. I THINK she may want more of a campus feel than what you all are describing. But we shall see!</p>
<p>We are Catholic by practice and she attends a Catholic high school. However, I would describe our family as liberal Catholics - and this D, the MOST liberal! The Catholic component is really not the component she needs. Just so happens that she has tuned into a couple of these schools. </p>
<p>We visited Notre Dame with my son and yes, I would say that the Catholic “feel” was quite evident there. </p>
<p>"I’d maybe put in this order - DePaul, Georgetown, Loyola, ND in terms of low to high Catholic religious feel / presence. "</p>
<p>I see what your saying. Maybe a more apt term for DePaul may be that they are more secular rather than liberal/conservative. Georgetown is certainly more secular than Loyola or ND, so I see what your getting at.</p>
<p>Yes, maybe secular is a better word. </p>
<p>I never went to DePaul, (but dated a young man who did, briefly) but I lived in the immediate neighborhood in my early to mid-20s. Lincoln Park/East Lakeview is the name of the area, and it’s pretty safe. Lots of people about at most hours, but, of course, like most major cities, do not walk ALONE in the wee hours… The near north side is actually a great place to be if you’re a young person, and Chicago is a world-class town, IMO. It’s been over two decades since I lived there, but I still have friends on the north side - it’s still a nice area. Lots of bars, restaurants, Wrigley Field nearby, close to downtown, Lincoln Park and the lake is walking distance, with bike trails and beaches… </p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, with DePaul and Loyola have a fairly diverse student body. Don’t think there’s a need to be Catholic.<br>
Of the two, I think DePaul is the more selective. They are both considered respectable schools among those who live in metro Chicago. </p>
<p>@abasket - one thing that would be to her advantage of going to DePaul if she is considering the health sciences is that, there are plenty of programs in the Chicago area with health science programs, including OT, other than DePaul. If she were to go there, she would be in a position to really scope out the OT programs at other schools, if for some reason she couldn’t get into the one at DePaul (if its masters in OT is a separate admission, which I suspect it is). And perhaps the biggest draw would be the opportunity to experience the offerings of The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), one of the world’s premiere rehabilitation facilities, which is downtown. You just can’t beat the learning opportunities at RIC. Of course, Chicago is not the only city to offer so many options in health science-related programs, but it is quite thorough. </p>
<p>This is true Teri. She is certainly considering the variety and availability of excellent health care systems in the cities where she is applying. Also on her radar are schools in the Columbus area (oodles of health care opps and a huge children’s hospital) and Cincinnati. </p>
<p>I graduated from DePaul over 30 years ago as an accounting major. I loved the school, the neighborhood and great connections to Chicago businesses.</p>
<p>Back then I’d say approximately at least one-third of my accounting professors were Jewish. As far as the religious leanings, DePaul always stressed “ethics” and “doing the right thing”, not doctrine. While there has always been a requirement to take a couple religion classes - many of the offerings are related to learning about world religions or comparative religion classes - not catechism classes. </p>
<p>Another great place to be a health sciences student, with a semi-urban campus in a great neighborhood in what is functionally (if not technically) the Midwest, and not dauntingly difficult in terms of admission, is the University of Pittsburgh.</p>