<p>My son probably has the stats to get into Notre Dame, and it is a highly ranked school.</p>
<p>But he is not Catholic.</p>
<p>He is 1/2 jewish, 1/2 protestant, and basically has been brought up with no religion.</p>
<p>So my question is, if you are a secular non-Catholic, would you feel out of place at Notre Dame.</p>
<p>And a related question is, if you are a non-Catholic, is there any special reason to apply to Notre Dame.</p>
<p>As the parent of a kid from the “rival school” (Boston College), I can say that attending Notre Dame would give your S a great education, fantastic school spirit, incredible sports, amazing alumni network, and a very rewarding overall college experience-- regardless of religion. I’m also Jewish and happen to think very highly of the Jesuit philosophy on education.</p>
<p>Sorry to take over your thread, but could someone say what it’s like for religious non-Catholics? This seems like a good school, but would it be weird to be LDS there?</p>
<p>ask Manti Te’o. He seems to be doing fine.</p>
<p>I’m Catholic, but I’ll try to help out. Religion is a pretty major part of the school; you can’t really get away from it. Some Catholic schools boast that there’s as much or little religion as you want, but I don’t think Notre Dame can say the same. It’s a definite presence, including “mandatory” (not really, but they’re in between mandatory events in the same venue) Masses during Frosh-O.</p>
<p>Of course, there are non-Catholics here (including my R.A., though he does go to Mass), and I haven’t heard any complain; they knew they were coming to a Catholic school, so they were obviously okay with Catholicism.</p>
<p>If your son isn’t looking for any religion in his university, I suggest he apply elsewhere. Notre Dame is an excellent school; there are other excellent schools of the same (or higher, depending on major) academic caliber that have no religious element. The reason most of our students go to Notre Dame instead of one of those other schools is for the religion.</p>
<p>You don’t have to go to Mass, and there isn’t any social pressure to do so (most people go once a week, but at all different times and places, so it’s not like anyone would even notice). There are crucifixes in every classroom, but that’s the extent of effects on classes. However, there is still a religious presence, and it wouldn’t make much sense to go to a school intent upon ignoring one of its major aspects.</p>
<p>So if your son is averse to religion and doesn’t want to deal with much, it isn’t right here for him. If he’s interested in religion and has no problem with Catholicism, then it may be worthwhile for him to apply.</p>
<p>Note: All of this is about the environment and campus life. Academics here are much the same as they are at other caliber schools (no difference in science or anything like that).</p>
<p>
<ol>
<li><p>Notre Dame is not Jesuit, it’s Congregation of the Holy Cross, which is more conservative. Some like that and some don’t, but the difference isn’t much, despite some idiotic jokes I’ve heard about Jesuits here.</p></li>
<li><p>Notre Dame is much more Catholic, percentage-wise, so the experience is likely different, though I can’t speak to BC’s level of religious content.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Your son needs to understand that Notre Dame is a Catholic University, but in no way will he feel pressured to participate in Catholicism. Our 2010 graduate was not Catholic, though 1 parent was raised Catholic, and not once during his 4 years did the priest in his dorm approach him about mass, much less the RAs or other students. He never felt pressure of any kind to practice Catholicism. Your son does need to realize that ND has both a philosophy and a Theology requirement for graduation, no matter what major he might choose. But, there again, it did not seem to matter that our graduate was not Catholic. In fact, after fulfilling the Theology requirement, was asked by that department if he wanted to consider a minor in Theology–but he politely declined. Yes, there are crucifixes everywhere and the majority of students are Catholic and attend mass regularly. However, as one poster mentioned above, the quality of education and alumni network connections are superb. In short, as long as your son understands the climate of ND and the educational requirements, he will be fine. Our grad would not trade his time there for any other college experience! Good Luck!!</p>
<p>I’m a current freshman at Notre Dame and I’m also nonreligious. I applied to Notre Dame because of what it had to offer, not its religious affiliation. I’m here for the prestige of the university, the most tight-knit community I could find, the endless opportunities through its alumni networks, and much more.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t regret coming to Notre Dame one bit. Notre Dame really is like a family and they act as such too. Most my friends and Catholic, with a few non-Catholics and they don’t judge me or treat me unfairly in anyway. When the topic of religion comes up, it’s always with open minds and they respect my position. Catholicism doesn’t have as big of a role as you’d expect. The only real things that stick out are the old-fashioned parietals and single-sex dorms. While initially they may be a downer, I came to find that they weren’t actually that bad. There’s so much interaction that the single-sex dorms hardly make a difference, and as for parietals, there are very few occasions when you’d be with students of the opposite gender that late anyways. Plus, every dorm offers “24-hour spaces” where students of the opposite gender are welcome regardless of the time.</p>
<p>The only real presence Catholicism makes is the required Theology class, and I will admit that I’m not exactly too happy about it. But it’s only two semesters and from my experience, the professors have all been open-minded and accepting. It may be a little difficult if you lack background like me, but if you work hard, it’s easily manageable.</p>
<p>So as a current nonreligious Notre Dame student, I really don’t feel that Notre Dame’s catholic affiliation should deter you in any way. I don’t feel out of place at all, and I fit in perfectly fine. Best of luck to your son, and I hope wherever he ends up, he’s happy with it.</p>
<p>I’m religious, but I’m Indian. I have no problem attending a catholic school as some of my Indian friends went to Catholic high schools and they said it was fine (although i don’t know if this applies to college). I’m fascinated by Catholicism and I think it’s interesting, but are Indians and Asians discriminated against or on their own in any way? Will I feel uncomfortable there somehow because of the student body? Thanks</p>
<p>I don’t think you will feel discriminated against. Asians make up a sizable minority at ND and not all ND students are Catholic. Religion does have an unavoidable presence on campus, but if you are OK with being around Catholicism (with no pressure to participate), you should not feel uncomfortable. Additionally, if you are interested to learn more about Catholicism from an academic perspective, ND’s highly regarded theology department would be a great place to do so.</p>
<p>P.S. I find it rather humorous that an Indian is worrying about being discriminated against when India is one of the most racist countries in the world. Just saying.</p>
<p>@Manorite</p>
<p>BC and ND are definitely rivals, it’s called “the Holy War” for a reason. </p>
<p>Granted, our more bitter rivals are USC, Stanford, Michigan, and Navy</p>
<p>I’m Asian and I went to a Catholic HS. From what my friends who now go to ND say, it’s almost the same environment (except co-ed). </p>
<p>From personal experience, it was an open-minded environment. Though Catholic masses were mandatory, none of my non-Catholic friends minded (except that it was early in the morning and started falling asleep, but nothing against the religion itself). Heck, I had atheist and agnostic friends who were happy, and they really enriched the intellectual environment. </p>
<p>Case in point, coming from a similar environment, the religion is there and there will be some who are biased against non-Christians, but those are very few and most likely looked down upon.</p>
<p>Manorite pretty much says it all. Even regarding rivalries. The rivalry with Navy is exceptionally friendly, for example. ND almost always wins, and there is zero bitterness from Navy. BC is not quite as amiable, but still not serious. USC is the serious rivalry, and Michigan is reasonably serious.</p>
<p>I have never heard of non-Catholics feeling out of place. Slightly more likely is you are religious but non-Catholic.</p>
<p>By the way, almost exactly half of ND faculty are not Catholic. Doubtful that they feel out of place.</p>