<p>I had a question because I'm coming down to the final few weeks before making a decision for college, and I'm between Notre Dame and Georgetown. I'm looking to either study finance at the Mendoza School of Business, or economics/ political economy at Georgetown because I applied to the college, not the McDonough School of Business. </p>
<p>I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions/reccomendations on which school is stronger or what you're choice would be and any reasons why. I was wondering especially for getting a job out of college, if recruiting from one school is particularly stronger than another.</p>
<p>Hey R2. As I’m planning on going to ND I’m biased, but I think if you’re planning on studying some sort of business, Notre Dame is the way to go. It seems BusinessWeek agrees with me.
[Best</a> Undergraduate Business Schools 2011 - Businessweek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>Of course, you should make your decision on more than just rankings and stuff; choose whichever school you honestly like more. You can’t go wrong with either of those schools, that’s certain.</p>
<p>Although the schools are superficially similar (highly selective Catholic universities with about 8000 undergraduates), they are in many respects quite different. The most obvious difference, besides the locations, is that Georgetown has been quietly and gradually shedding its Catholic identity over the last few decades. Only about 40% of the student body is Catholic, as opposed to over 80% at Notre Dame, and far fewer members of the Georgetown faculty are Catholic. There is a nice new Jesuit residence on the Georgetown campus, but most of the residents are quite elderly, and there are far fewer priests on the faculty or in the administration. The numbers translate into a much less palpable sense of Catholic identity on campus – there are far fewer Masses, confession times, etc than at Notre Dame, which has more than 150 Masses each week and a priest living in all of the men’s dorms (and some of the women’s dorms as well). </p>
<p>Another difference is the number of graduate and professional students – Georgetown has about 9000; Notre Dame has 3000. Most of the emphasis at Notre Dame is on the undergraduate program.</p>
<p>Of course, you can get a good education at both schools.</p>
<p>Also, don’t forget that the location is a big differentiating factor. ND is in a small city in the middle of an economically depressed area, although the campus is beautiful. Chicago is probabably too far for more than the occasional visit. GU is in DC, which is not only a great city, but also a great college town, second probably only to Boston in best US college big city. The academics are top notch at both places, although GU is more internationally focused in terms of programs and student body. Therefore, it is really a question of what sort of city/local surrounding you prefer.</p>
<p>Notre Dame’s surrounding city results in life being quite campus-focused. My freshman year, I didn’t leave campus between August and Christmas break. Of course, this lends itself to the fierce loyalty we ND grads have for our school. I’m at a place now for grad school with an awesome off-campus scene and all it seems to do for the undergrads is make social interaction more spread-out geographically and more expensive. To each his own, I guess.</p>
<p>It is perhaps at this juncture that mention should be made that although Washington is a great college town, it’s also one of the most…sketchy ones as well. I mean, DC is one of the most dangerous cities in the states (well, it’s not like Detroit or New Orleans, still, not the place where I want to live), even if the Georgetown neighbourhood is one of the safest ones. Of course, safety issues can be raised in connection with every major cities, while the ND area is might be boring, and filled with priests, but at least it’s safe :D</p>
<p>I graduated from ND in 2005, and during my time there, plenty of students got mugged (while off-campus), and several off-campus apartments got broken into, particularly over break. In fact, I remember during freshman orientation the Dean of Students joked that he would rather “drop his daughters off in Beirut than in downtown South Bend at 2:00 am.” The point of this was, of course, that you have to be safe and smart when venturing off campus. So, when you’re considering the immediate vicinity (i.e., Georgetown neighborhood versus the periphery of ND’s campus), I might argue that Georgetown is safer.</p>
<p>That said, I loved my time at ND and wouldn’t have rather spent my time anywhere else. However, to suggest that it’s in the middle of Shangri La just is not true. Having DC at your doorstep is definitely a draw for G-Town, but I think major distinctions also lie in the respective cultures. While both are great academically, ND adheres much more to its Catholic roots (and consequently has a more homogeneous population) and is a little less cosmopolitan. Then again, it’s also a Midwestern school, while G-Town lies on the East Coast.</p>
<p>No, it was not meant to be a comparison. I would choose Georgetown over ND any time Anyway, I had no idea how high crime rates SB have; I thought it’s just another town in the middle of nowhere in Indiana, and mostly, such towns are pretty safe. At least the classic college town in Indiana, Bloomington is pretty safe - the town is much smaller than SB, of course.</p>
<p>My S is a freshman at Georgetown so I can ony speak to his experience there. There are 3 Masses daily, the most popular one at 10pm. MANY students attend. Every residence hall has multiple chaplains, many of whom are Roman Catholic priests, though other faiths are also represented. While many of the teaching priests are not young, they are extraordinarily learned. There are priests all over campus at all hours. There are waiting lists to get into their classes, whether Philosphy, History, Theology. Two theology classes are required for graduation, most but not all of which are taught by Jesuits. The campus ministry priests are all young and with it. The desire at Georgetown is to make students from all faiths feel welcome and at home, while making it clear to all that the university’s mission is one of higher learning for the greater glory of God, in the spirit of St. Ignatius Loyola.</p>
<p>A large group from Georgetown will be attending World Youth Day–Madrid 2011 in August with Pope Benedict.</p>
<p>As far as recruiting goes, relax, Georgetown students’ analytical skills and global view are very highly valued on Wall Street, multinationals and at graduate schools aroung the world.</p>
<p>My view: pick the school where you feel most comfortable. You can’t go wrong at either one.</p>
Anyway, I had no idea how high crime rates SB have; I thought it’s just another town in the middle of nowhere in Indiana, and mostly, such towns are pretty safe. At least the classic college town in Indiana, Bloomington is pretty safe - the town is much smaller than SB, of course.</p>