<p>Anyone have any thoughts re Holy Cross v. Villanova?</p>
<p>Thank you very much.</p>
<p>In general Holy Cross is ranked higher in the various rankings like US News, Barron’s, Princeton Review but that said they are actually quite comparable academically. Villanova has a better basketball team. HC has a prettier campus but Villanova’s is rather nice as well. If you are premed, HC is far better. Villanova is better for business school.
Cannot go wrong at ether college.</p>
<p>Thank you very much 1980collegegrad</p>
<p>I agree somewhat and disagree somewhat with the above. They are both very simnilar academically, w/ a slight edge maybe to HC.</p>
<p>In terms of non-academics, HC is much smaller so if you are into the lib arts small school atmosphere, HC is more like that. If you want a somewhat bigger (not huge) atmosphere, then Nova fits that bill better.</p>
<p>I think that Boston (and the surrounding area) is a much nicer area ot go to school (just my opinion) than Philly. Both areas have tons of colleges nearby, so there are lots of college kids and college appro activities etc.</p>
<p>The Catholic influence at Nova is probably a bit stronger than at HC.</p>
<p>Both are terrific schools and you can not go wrong. Visit both if you haven’t already, it could help you get that “feel”</p>
<p>Thank you very much DuckPondParent.</p>
<p>Two follow-up questions:</p>
<p>1) Why do you think that the Catholic influence is stronger at Nova than HC? I would have thought the opposite.</p>
<p>2) Although Emma will be a liberal arts major (French), she wants to be able to minor in business. HC has an accounting program (which seems fairly accessible); Nova has a business Minor Program (which seems fairly competitive). Any thoughts re a business minor at both?</p>
<p>Thank you very much,</p>
<p>Lewis</p>
<ol>
<li> First, the Augustinians (who run Nova) are much more traditional than the Jesuits (who run HC) and the Jesuit institutions are usually much more keen on secularizing to an extent so as to not offend non-Catholics. Non-Catholics can do very well in boith schools, but I think that traditional Catholics might find Nova to be a more compatable atmosphere.</li>
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<p>Also, on all my visits (more than 1 for each of my 2 kids) I got the sense that Nova was a more Catholic atmosphere, but that’s just my perception.</p>
<p>Catholic activites, mass etc. are available at both. I would bet though, that the percentage of students who are Catholic is a lot higher at Nova than at HC. But those stats are easily verified by looking at the websites of both schools and on visits.</p>
<ol>
<li> I can not really opine on the business issues as both my kids were lib arts kids. I do know Nova has a highly ranked undergrad businss program, and a very nice business infrastucture. HC is much less pre-professional, but I am not well versed on their exact offerings. Again, visits would do wonders here.</li>
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<p>Just to let you know, for full disclosure, I do not have kids at either (though both of my kids applied to both and were accepted at both). We liked both very much, and my D had HC as 1 of her 2 finalist, before finally chosing Fordham in NYC. My son had both high on his list, but instead chose to go to GU.</p>
<p>Thank you very much DuckPondParent</p>
<p>Wow, the Duckpond family is all about the Jesuits! Fordham, Gtown, HC. </p>
<p>I think the comparisons of Jesuits to Augustinians is fair. I don’t think the Augustinians try to alienate non-catholics. I do think Jesuits are more inclined to secularize the college experience - sometimes to a fault. Like when the Jesuits at Gtown covered the crucifix when Obama came to campus. I was one who bought into the Jesuit thing before college but now I tend to think that many of the Jesuits are sometimes too concerned about personal recognition or personal accolades than they should be. I think the secularization is based on that.</p>