<p>I'm thinking of applying to Gtown because I love the location and the amazing academics they offer, plus I'm interested in IR. I'm just concerned about their religious affiliation. Does anybody know if it influences heavily on the school/students/professor/way of teaching/anything at all?</p>
<p>no. it’s not overly religious at all. i’m not religious, and never felt marginalized. you might be surprised to hear though some of the most interesting classes are with jesuits, who are incredibly understanding and open to other world views</p>
<p>No, it has very minimal to no influence over day-to-day academic life. In fact, the rumor has it that some older catholic graduates are reluctant to donate to Georgetown because they do not believe it is Catholic enough. It is likely for this reason that the University likes to remind everyone that it is Jesuit through pointless videos on its homepage, as well as Jesuit motto banners throughout the campus.</p>
<p>I think at least half, and by some estimates majority, of the students at Georgetown are not Catholic. The Jesuit faculty are obviously catholic but their classes do not seem to be influenced by any single religion, unless you take a class on Catholicism specifically. The rest of the faculty are as liberal as they come and most of them donated to the Obama campaign (you can just Google that), which is common in many universities. Quite frankly I think Georgetown is becoming less and less religious, which is understandable because the cosmopolitan image it is trying to create - as opposed to for example Notre Dame - seems an important component of being on the same level as the Ivies, which Georgetown likes to refer to as its “peer schools.” The only thing that’s pulling it back is its low endowment, which showed some improvement and will probably keep improving as the alumni ranks are filled with new blood.</p>
<p>"In fact, the rumor has it that some older catholic graduates are reluctant to donate to Georgetown because they do not believe it is Catholic enough. " Not just a rumor. Georgetown is very controversial in the Catholic community for not being very religious. the jesuits don’t care what other Catholics think of them - they haven’t for centuries. They think they know what is best for creating a world-class environment for openess and education. Unless you are seeking a unique Catholic experience, you have no worries.</p>
<p>my understanding is that Georgetown wants its students to have some theological thinking capacity by the time they graduate, but it’s by no means a very religious institution</p>
<p>I was surprised when I first learned it was a Jesuit school (and my Dad went to Loyola) but then it was Georgetown that took DC to court for a decade because they didn’t want to include a gay student group in their booklet of official student groups. Catholic U (also in DC) didn’t do that.</p>
<p>Georgetown is simply intellectually honest. It pushes you to ask the deep questions of humanity without forcing any answers on you. It seeks to instill in you a higher purpose behind what you set out to do with your life, education, and career rather than contribute to the great mass of students blindly going along as a cog in the American higher education machine.</p>