Notre Dame vs. Georgetown

<p>Georgetown and Notre Dame are the two schools I'm choosing from. I'm having a really hard time with it, so can anyone help me out?? I'm going into business at both schools. im looking for a school that has intellectual people (which both do) who can also enjoy themselves (aka let loose, party, get drunk....etc...which i think both schools also have)</p>

<p>Gtown:</p>

<p>Pros:
Good (?) business school
Urban setting in DC
Good basketball and school spirit
Lots of opportunities in the surrounding area
students are heavily involved
on east coast where i've always wanted to be
great international focus that i'm interested in</p>

<p>Cons:
lacks unity of notre dame
lacks state school-ish atmosphere like notre dame's
i've heard the social life isn't all that, but i've also heard its really fun. any thoughts?</p>

<p>Notre Dame:</p>

<p>Pros:
Good business school
TONS of school spirit with good football, bball, and other sports
beautiful, spread out campus
hall living creates frat/family type feel</p>

<p>Cons:
in the middle of nowhere (i'm from socal so this worries me)
stronger catholic association than gtown
stupid rules like parietals and no hard alc
not as diverse as i would like</p>

<p>thats pretty much my list. do you guys have any thoughts???? i would really love some input. i think the social life at both schools is what is most important to me because i know both schools have great academics and reputation but the social life is a little bit harder to figure out without actually visiting or talking to students. if any current students have insight i would love to see what you guys do for fun/parties and just what the overall social atmosphere is like. also feel free to say you disagree with something on my pros/cons list if you think im wrong. i want to have the correct image of each school in my mind</p>

<p>i also posted this in the gtown forum just fyi</p>

<p>after last year, georgetown does not have a great basketball team … jk - lol. </p>

<p>ND is the second ranked business school in the country - so it is a great business school. </p>

<p>i think that your list is pretty reasonable though. </p>

<p>a friend of mine had the same decision and is selecting ND (unless he gets off harvard’s waitlist), because of his visit to ND so make sure you visit before you rule ND out.</p>

<p>Notre Dame’s Catholic identity is stronger than it is at Georgetown in the sense that it exists. That it exists, however, should not, and typically does not for many students here, impose upon the freedom of the student (excepting things such as parietals), nor has it, as evidenced by its ranking, imposed on the intellectual aspirations of the students.</p>

<p>The difference you may encounter between Notre Dame and Georgetown, as far as its Catholic identity is concerned, is that at Notre Dame, should you so choose, you have the option of engaging in the Catholic tradition. Such opportunities are not so available at Georgetown. Thus, for someone who chooses not to engage in the Catholic tradition, as far as the pervasiveness of the faith on campus is concerned, one will little tell the difference.</p>

<p>As far as social life goes, it’s no Los Angeles or New York City but I’m kept thoroughly entertained by on-campus events which are plentiful, off-campus digs which can be quaint, and the tight knit group of friends with whom I hang out. There’s a little bit of everything for everyone. I used to bar crawl three or four nights a week before my wallet started hurting, now I still find plenty to do with my friends without having to fork over too much.</p>

<p>While ND clearly has a more traditionally Catholic identity, there is no shortage of Catholic influence, activities or involvement available at GU.</p>

<p>My son is at GU now (he was WL at ND last year) and while you may have to look a little harder, the faithful Catholic kids that want to get involved in Campus Ministry or one of the dozens of other Catholic activities can do so.</p>

<p>The prevailing atmosphere at GU is, however, not as “Catholic” as ND, but it has a number of other attributes that ND does not have.</p>

<p>Both are great schools, and both have Catholic activities and associations. I would not make the choice based on that factor alone, unless you are someone that will only be able to flourish in a more overtly Catholic environment.</p>

<p>^ I think you guys are missing the point. This thread is about which university has the better social life. This is my opinion, these schools both have noticeable social lives but they differ in one pivotal way. ND is more campus parties and frats; however, Georgetown is more built around the resources of the surrounding city. Personally, I’d choose Georgetown because I’m a city boy.</p>

<p>Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.</p>

<p>@thenextbigthing: the thread is about a variety of things including what the op perceived to be a pervasive catholic identity at notre dame as opposed to that found at georgetown. also, what you must mean is frat-like as Notre Dame is not home to any greek life, only those tight knit communities found within each dorm which often acts as a large house.</p>

<p>@duckpondparent: as far as the number of other attributes that nd does not have, nd has the same advantage over georgetown. in fact every school similarly ranked has something over its peers while lacking in some other area, thus making that very argument moot.</p>

<p>in any case, you and i are saying the same thing. at notre dame, you have the opportunity offered at a relatively pervasive and flourishing catholic institution where at georgetown, should this be your choice, you can, as you are able to at many other universities, to engage in campus ministry activities on your own accord.</p>

<p>my point, however, was to address the perceived catholicity in the con list of the op. the op, it seems, isn’t worried about not having those opportunities, as you suggest they exist at both universities; the op is, rather, interested in whether the pervasiveness of the catholic identity poses a negative effect on student life on-campus. i argue that its effects are negligible at best and, therefore, the catholic tradition at notre dame should not be too significant a factor in the op’s decision.</p>

<p>with regards to the social life: i was corresponding with a professor at georgetown, formerly of notre dame, and while georgetown thrives on a diversity of activities to be envied by many including those at notre dame, notre dame thrives on community based activities. it depends on which the student values more and it should be said that while diversity of activities is to be found at notre dame just as community is sure to be found at georgetown, one is more overtly available at one institution and vice versa.</p>

<p>you’d be surprised how quick you burn holes in your pockets in washington. you’d also be so surprised how strict they are about showing IDs to get into the library at Georgetown.</p>

<p>well, let me try to clear some stuff up.</p>

<p>i am catholic, but pretty much only technically. i go to mass on easter and christmas, and that’s pretty much it. and i disagree with some of the teachings of the catholic church. so if i can even consider myself catholic i dont know, but it is what it is.</p>

<p>and yes, my main concern is the social life. i just got back from visiting notre dame yesterday, and although it has the “frat” feel, as in people live in big dorms that have personal dorm identities, they do not have “frat” parties on campus. most parties are held off campus in (sports) houses. they do have smaller on campus parties inside of the dorms, but if they get out of hand they are shut down.</p>

<p>my main concern with notre dame was if the school’s catholic identity interfered with the students, seeing as though im barely catholic. i love all the ra-ra school spirit and community atmosphere, but i can’t get over that hang up about restrictions and rules, even though current students keep telling me they aren’t too harshly enforced.</p>

<p>as for GU, is it more of a club scene? because bars are expensive hahaa</p>

<p>jasonpham, when you say “diversity of activities” what exactly do you mean?</p>

<p>unfortunately, there are those rules at ND. But i was that the social life was still very good at ND and that there were numerous parties etc. when you visited did you stay with someone overnight, because if you did than you might have seen something i did not (I am doing an overnighter next week. I am told that the major social events happen on Friday and Saturday nights (one reason why you can not sleep over then…lol).</p>

<p>If your main concern is a completely unrestricted social life, with easy access to alcohol and members of the opposite sex 24/7, then ND might not be for you. There are rules, the enforcement of which might be described as “intense” or “sporadic,” depending upon whether the person you’re talking with has been caught breaking them. And there are plenty of parties at the sports and other off-campus houses, but the local police have been cracking down on them, probably much more so than will be the case with the DC police at GU’s off-campus parties.<br>
It seems that you have real concerns about the ND’s Catholic identity interfering with your social life. Do you want to spend your years on campus fuming about the “stupid rules” (that will not be changed)? If you can’t come to terms with them, you might be happier elsewhere.</p>

<p>that’s a very good point clairemarie. i think i have to realize what im getting myself into and come to terms with it and accept it for what it is. if i can’t, then maybe that’s not the right place.</p>

<p>thanks everyone for writing your comments. keep 'em coming!</p>

<p>…bump</p>

<p>From what I saw of ND’s party scene was that it was great, and maybe we’ve had different experiences because of different visits, etc. But maybe one floor/hall is more strict than some (and I know some are lax), then worst comes to worst, one party is shut down (i didnt catch a whiff of that ever happening with my experiences), then you can go to another, as there is definitely a lot going on every weekend. I also saw a lot of hard alcohol and games there, so my experience was that its pretty fun there. I would think that ND is more of an on-campus/off-campus party scene. And maybe a few weekends you can drive up to Chicago with some friends for some city.</p>

<p>This is compared to GU’s more city life, which is expensive but still fun. I got the impression that it isn’t the ra-ra, bonding, connectedness kind of social life there. You find your niche, small group, and hang out, maybe go out to parties in apartments, but a lot of it is “out on the city” type of social activities like clubs and restaurants and such. Which is still fun, just different. I loved both schools, and for me, would be happy at both.</p>