<p>My daughter is considering both of these schools. She has received $10,500 in merit aid per year from messiah which brings the price close to GCC. Visited messiah and she liked it very much. Visiting GCC next week. She will pick one of them. She is very active in church and we attend a small non denominational church that's very much into missions. She will study abroad at some point in Italy or England. Will major in English and would like to teach high school and eventually college. Loves literature and the classics!!! Very academic kid and very much a critical thinker. Any thoughts on both schools? Differences? Pros cons of each? Any and all advice wanted and appreciated.</p>
<p>Let her choose based on which one she likes better. In general, Messiah is quite a bit more liberal than GCC, so she ought to be able to feel the differences, esp if she talks with students or professors in her department.</p>
<p>I know students that have loved both places - and not liked both. GCC is much higher ranked academically, but I don’t know about the specific major. It can make a difference.</p>
<p>To expand on one comment …
What that essentially means is that GCC is more selective, as it generates a larger pool of applicants/space available. Other measurements, faculty credentials, research and scholarly output, student:faculty ratios, class sizes, endowment/student would offer different descriptions, measures, and assessments. There is no doubt that GCC is more conservative. Both campuses are attractive. Each has some unique academic programs. Both are fairly regional. GCC is much lower in cost, which many would indicate is the essence of the relatively larger applicant pool. Messiah offers much more FA. Net cost will be situation specific. Both are in immediate proximity to interstate access. Messiah is closer to metro setting (15 miles from Harrisburg), GCC is closer to a more major metro (60 miles from Pgh). Airport close to Messiah.</p>
<p>The worldview differences between Messiah and GCC are larger than one might see at an initial examination. Messiah is more liberal politically and theologically than GCC. I would suggest that she spend some time interviewing some profs in her potential departments (English and education?) at each school to get an idea of her level of comfort. GCC’s humanities core curriculum is a key difference which points to GCC’s emphasis on a coherent Christian worldview. This can be seen either as an advantage or disadvantage, but it is a difference that adds up to 18 hours of course work. As a parent of a GCC graduate, I can see that this humanities core curriculum was very valuable.</p>
<p>I have two Ds at GCC–both love it. They’re both very smart and good students, but they still have to study to keep up with their science majors. They’re both quite moderate theologically and politically, but feel comfortable there. Admin and faculty have been helpful and involved. They say most of the kids who complain can’t keep up their grades. I for one, know they come home smarter after each semester–can’t beat them at scrabble anymore. </p>
<p>The male/female ratio is better at GCC :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the replys so far. She will be visiting GCC next weekend. She will interview, tour, attend a class and overnight with a student so she should get a pretty good idea of what to expect.</p>
<p>Can you explain what a “coherent Christian worldview is”? also why would somebody see the positives vs negatives on the humanities core curriculum? Thanks</p>
<p>Good questions–I’ll try to answer them. A coherent Christian worldview involves the development of thinking about all areas of life, not just strictly theological areas, from a biblical or Christian perspective. Christians ought to learn how to think about philosophy, ethics, biology, psychology, sociology, law, politics, economics, art and history in a way that is coherently Christian and true to reality. The core curriculum, in my opinion, helps students to develop such a coherent worldview. This does not mean that they all end up thinking the same things–far from it. But the students are challenged to think Christianly through the six core courses.</p>
<p>I think that the positives are obvious to the approach. The entire student body has been, is being, or will be exposed to the same questions, much of the same material, and is challenged to think through the same problems. This creates a lot of good discussions, not just in the classroom but throughout the campus.</p>
<p>One way to measure the effectiveness of the core curriculum is what it produces. Here is an excerpt from the wikipedia article on GCC: “In two consecutive nationwide studies made by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) in cooperation with researchers from the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy to determine the extent of civic literacy in higher education, Grove City College students ranked among the top 5 nationally in terms of knowledge of U.S. history, government, economy and international relations. The study was based on the results of a multiple-choice test given to 14,000 randomly chosen freshmen and seniors on 50 college and university campuses. In two consecutive years of ISI’s study, Grove City was ranked number 4 in 2006 and number 2 in 2007, above most Ivy league universities. The school’s college debating team is ranked number 1 by the National Parliamentary Debate Association, the biggest intercollegiate debate league in the United States.”</p>
<p>The negatives–there are 18 hours devoted to this core which in schools without core curricula can be more personalized to pursue individual interests. The class size in the core classes are larger.</p>
<p>I would encourage your daughter to ask about these matters–ask faculty and students. She will likely get a more detailed list of advantages and disadvantages.</p>
<p>Hope this helps! My son loved his Grove City experience. He will be defending his doctoral dissertation at Georgia Tech in April. He was accepted to programs at Stanford, Illinois, Purdue, Notre Dame, Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and Johns Hopkins in addition to Georgia Tech upon his graduation from Grove City.</p>
<p>I am a student at GCC and we have an amazing education program. It’s a difficult major, but ed majors are so well prepared to teach when they are done. Many students are very active in missions. We have a big program called Red Box Missions through which students can go to many different countries and serve. We also have a lot of study abroad opportunities and the International Education Office is really helpful and encouraging because they want students to study abroad. I hope your daughter enjoys her visit here.</p>
<p>Let me start by saying both schools are great! I am a senior and strongly considering Messiah. I looked at Grove City also, but, personally, I like Messiah much better. As others have mentioned it is much more liberal than Grove City. For example, my sister, an alumni, told me about the increasingl LGBT presence on campus. Along with this has come some dialogue about homosexuality in the context of the Christian faith. Also, at a recent visit a current student told me that all of his biology professors teach evolution. Messiah is very progressive.</p>
<p>As for study abroad Messiah ranked very high for sending a lot of students overseas according to this article [Franz</a> Kafka The Judgment Criticism](<a href=“http://www.enotes.com/twentieth-century-criticism/judgment-franz-kafka]Franz”>http://www.enotes.com/twentieth-century-criticism/judgment-franz-kafka).</p>
<p>Also if your daughter is into sports, Messiah has some stellar teams. A lot of students attend the soccer team’s games who have been national champions a good number of times recently.</p>
<p>I hope that this helps! Good luck on deciding.</p>
<p>I posted the wrong link. My appologies.</p>
<p>[Messiah</a> College: Messiah News - News Releases Messiah College ranks seventh in the nation for sending students to study abroad, according to Open Doors report](<a href=“http://blogs.messiah.edu/news_releases/2010/mc-084-10/]Messiah”>Messiah College News - Messiah College News Releases » Messiah College ranks seventh in the nation for sending students to study abroad, according to Open Doors report)</p>
<p>My daughter is also considering both of these schools. I love to hear feedback from other students and parents to help us with our decision. I know from some students that Grove City is more difficult than they expected with regards to academics. My daughter is a strong student but I also want her to enjoy her time at college! I am sure Grove City will prepare her well, I’m hoping the same about Messiah. She likes GC campus better but likes the emphasis on missions more at Messiah. The price difference is significant even with my daughter’s merit scholarship offered to her from Messiah. Just wanted to join this discussion.
Thanks!
K</p>