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They’re pretty much academically equal. SFS is a point for Georgetown, Business is a point for ND (though Georgetown has a rising business school), colleges are about the same.</p>
<p>Georgetown is ranked lower because of its endowment. In the Jesuit tradition, they’re not a fan of hording money for endowments. They spend the money on the school and students as it comes in, so there’s not as much just sitting in accounts and the market to call an endowment. While admissions rates play a large part in the ranking, the fact that Georgetown’s is ten percentage points less than ND (19% vs 29%) is counterbalanced by the endowment issue.</p>
<p>Of course, college rankings are flawed in nature, and each person has a different list of colleges that are the best for him/her. The academic calibers of these schools are so close that it is useless trying to declare one clearly better.</p>
<p>Prestige, of course, is relative. People in the Midwest will likely hold ND in higher regard, people on the East Coast will likely hold Georgetown in higher regard, and Georgetown has the better international reputation (given the number of heads of state and other foreign government members who have attended). Prestige is all about who you ask, so it’s not a good measure.</p>
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Historic American Anti-Catholic sentiment? I had someone on the “Christian Colleges” forum ask me if Catholicism was similar to Christianity… and refused to believe me that most of the world’s Christians were Catholic. The poster said Catholicism was “a bastardization of Presbyterianism.” It was among the stupidest and least historically-informed things I’ve heard.</p>
<p>Of course, most Catholic schools in the US formed because Catholics were being turned away or mistreated elsewhere.</p>
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It is not.</p>