Hi folks. We have been visiting colleges for our 2016 - a range of size and locale. He’s a good student at a very good private school in Maryland. We thought we’d love the UC schools like UCSD and UCLA and the LACs like Pomona and Haverford but after looking at 10 in CA and some on the East Coast, we really like the Jesuit (yes I know one is some other order) schools - BC, Santa Clara, U of San Diego and maybe Villanova. The size (medium) seems perfect. They seem to be well run. They seem strong in science and business and more pre-professional than the LACs. We wonder about how Catholic they feel as we are not anything. We also worry about the frat culture. He is very into sports but not a frat kid at all. We have read that these schools can be cliquish…and we worry about endowment numbers at U of San Diego and maybe Santa Clara, his two favorites. Would love to hear from any parents who were skeptical about these schools but whose kids ended up choosing one. We didn’t expect to like them but we loved them.
The mainstream Catholic schools like the ones you mentioned are essentially secular schools no matter what the order.
Don’t believe the myth there is anything culturally different about Jesuit schools. It just so happens there are more of them.
Any school can have cliques, I don’t see it as more common on Catholic campuses.
Holy Cross should be on your list as well.
If your child has stats high enough that you visted Pomona and Haverford, then Notre Dame should be considered as well.
Villanova is Augustinian BTW. That is a great school and the area is fantastic.
I think you can judge how “Catholic” they are by looking at the curriculum. Many of these schools require 2 or 3 classes in “religion” as part of general ed requirement. Many do not require the class to be even about Christianity. I went to SCU decades ago and my 2 religion classes were about Judaism. My daughter toured some “Christian” schools in her college search and some of them required attended at church services. Catholic schools do not. Jesuit, Holy Cross, etc, will all be run a little differently and some will be more “Catholic” than others. Notre Dame, for example, is very Catholic (every dorm has a chapel). Do a little more research for requirements to attend. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
True there are Chapels in the ND dorms but many were built about 100 years ago. Many of the main quad buildings like Sorin and Walsh are on the National Register of Historic Places.
The one thing that is very Catholic about ND are the parietals. That’s about it.
As stated required religion classes even include things like human sexuality in world religions.
I would suggest visiting the Catholic schools on your list to see if your S is comfortable. My S went to a Jesuit college and religion was present for those who wished to take part, but it was not forced on people. In general I’d say that any student at a Catholic university should 1) be OK with seeing some religious symbols on campus 2) be respectful of religion 3) expect to take courses in theology and philosophy (you can check each school’s website to see the requirements).
We know many kids, including my D’s best friend, who are non-Catholics at Gonzaga out in Spokane. It seems like a good match for your son, a little smaller than the ones on your list, but no frats and only about half the students are Catholic.
The kids tend to love their college - the main complaint is Seattle kids not liking the city of Spokane. D’s friend is a very good student, 4.0, track and XC in HS, engaged, active and involved, fairly consistent with the other students D has met when visiting.
We know of students at USD and Santa Clara, hear good things, but will defer to those who know better.
U of San Diego is not a Jesuit college.
My DD is not catholic. She graduated from Santa Clara University…and loved it. There is a religion course requirement, but there are tons of courses from which to choose. My kid took a Women in Religion course, and an ethics course of some kind…and loved them both.
The size of the school was exactly what our kid was looking for. She also really liked their core course requirements, and found them a welcome change from her major course of study.
My (secular) Jewish niece also went to Santa Clara. No issues at all.
Many Catholic schools are not fratish at all. I think some don’t even have Greek houses.
At most Catholic univs, being non-Catholic is no big deal…at all.
Only about 20 Catholic schools are considered compliant with the Ex Corde Ecclesiae by the Cardinal Newman Society. Sort of funny.
@mom2collegekids There is only one house worth visiting on any Catholic campus, 
And don’t forget, just because there may be priests on campus, the vast majority of faculty are just academics, and cover the full spectrum of faiths or no faiths. One of the popular theology teachers at Boston College is Jewish.
My oldest is strongly considering applying to a couple of Catholic colleges. We’re not Catholic, but rather adherents of a Christian faith that some Christians don’t acknowledge as such—but she feels (as do I) that she’d feel more than welcome at the places we’ve visited. Also, the religion course requirements at all of them we looked at appear to be aimed at expanding one’s understanding of spirituality generally, not trying to convert anyone.
@dfbdfb East coast schools?
@Juno1956 I don’t live far from Villanova and many of my son’s friends are going there. How would you describe your son in terms of dress, grooming, interest in playing intramurals and overall personality.
@BatesParents2019: Both east coast and midwest.
I have two friends who are Jewish whose children went to Georgetown. No issues, fabulous academic and social experience. There were crosses in the classrooms, along with respect for the world’s various religions.
No big deal.
Especially at the Jesuit colleges (BC, Georgetown, Santa Clara, Fordham, Holy Cross). Jesuits generally are not the hard line conservatives of the Catholic priesthood. Look at current Pope Francis, who is a Jesuit. Very welcoming to gays, believes in climate change, etc. etc.
Among the Catholic colleges, I’d say Notre Dame is the most Catholic and conservative. About 80% of the students are Catholic, which means 20% are not. ND’s culture/doctrine would be more in line with, say, Pope John Paul II than Pope Francis.
I don’t think any Jesuit schools have fraternities in the traditional sense. Not consistent with the values, especially the exclusionary aspect of frats.
No frats at ND either, although the house/dorm system functions in a somewhat similar fashion as a frat or social club. I think Nova and USD have traditional fraternities.
FYI, USD and Villanova and ND are Catholic but not Jesuit colleges.
By picking a Catholic college, I think you do get some focus on spirituality, values, community and ethics. But not so much Catholic doctrine.
Catholic University is much more conservative than Notre Dame. @northwesty
This thing about Jesuits is sort of an urban myth. Most Catholics would consider Franciscans the least dogmatic and most progressive, especially on the issues mentioned as well as womens’ role in the church. They are often considered heterodox. They also have some Buddhist tendencies.
I think the image non-Catholics have is the classic Dominican.
Jesuit colleges have a huge community service component as well. They do outreach into the communities near the schools. In addition, they do mission trips during spring breaks. My DD felt this was great.
There was an apartment for one of the Jesuit priests in each dorm. My kid said these priests were terrific. At Santa Clara, the administration was comprised of Jesuits as well as lay folks. My DD worked in admissions for 3 1/2 years and had many chances to interact with the Jesuit admins. She felt they were excellent, wise, and progressive.
We are not Catholic.
I think you need to visit the schools. If your student gets accepted at Santa Clara, they should try to do the Shadow SCU program which is for accepted students (my kid helped develop and grow that program).
Some Jesuit schools have Greek organizations, others don’t. Why people have this idea Jesuit universities don’t have them, I really don’t understand—nearly half of the Jesuit institutions (in the United States) do.