Open House

<p>Traveled 200 miles (1 way) w/ Daughter yesterday to visit for the open house. I was once again impressed by the HC staff, students, etc. </p>

<p>Last year, my son and I thought that HC did the best job w/ camous events, info sessions, etc. Yesterday's event was more of the same. Very informative. Real, down to earth, enthusiastic and informative students. Great format for the rounds of sessions and tours, etc. And, lunch to top it off.</p>

<p>My daughter came away w/ HC on top of her list. I want her to go ED, but I'm not sure she is quite ready to commit just yet. We will see. HC def did a great job yesterday. I would recomend that you visit campus. Reminds me of Georgetown in a lot of ways.</p>

<p>The reason for the similarity is that the school was founded by the Georgetown Jesuits in 1843 and in fact during the first couple years of graduates received Georgetown degrees because Massachusetts was slow to grant a charter because of strong anti-Catholicism at that time in history. One difference is Holy Cross is strictly undergraduate so there are no grad students teaching. Students have small class sizes and ther is lots of access to the professors. Many universites use grad students for teaching and access to full professors are extremely limited.</p>

<p>You seem to be a student or former student. Whjat is your overall impression and "inside scoop" so to speak. Is HC all that is appears to be from the outside? Strong academics, loads of opportunities, good alumni connections, close interaction w/ teachers, etc.</p>

<p>One negative I have seen in other fora is that the administration can be sometimes poor to repond or inattentive to students.. It does not appear that way from the outside, but what is the reality?</p>

<p>Your input would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>I am a former student from over 25 years ago so not sure how valid my input still is. My sense is that because Holy Cross is quite small compared to many other schools, they do take each student and their concerns seriously since there are only 2700 of them and so they have the ability to respond personally as compared to large schools with tens of thousands of students. I attended the University of Michigan as a graduate student and I really felt the difference. Holy Cross strives for a family like atmosphere whereas other schools seem more like a business. This is true even as an alumnus, although this is in part because they want contributions ;-></p>

<p>DuckPondParent-- I, too, am a long-ago alum (1975) of Holy Cross and the parent of a current junior. My daughter absolutely loves HC and has said, unprompted, "I can't believe what a great choice I made to come here". I think that the administration is very accessible and involved with the students. The class dean even helped students move into their dorms at the start of the year, carrying boxes and suitcases all day long. The alumni connections are outstanding, witness the very high rate of alumni participation in annual fund campaign and in recruiting of students.</p>

<p>Thank you for the replies. I get a very good sense about HC and hope my D gets in. I know she likes it very much too.</p>

<p>I really can not say enough about how they ran the program yesterday.</p>

<p>DuckPond:</p>

<p>Glad to hear that you enjoyed Holy Cross! I currently attend Holy Cross, so I'll try to fill in for KY Crusader and Innocent Bystander. Here, I feel like I'm not a number. My class dean knows all about me, and President McFarland makes it a point to know as many kids as he possibly can. The academics are definitely rigorous, but the professors are so willing to help. I have so many papers due next week, and each of my professors have spent at least an hour helping me focus on my topic and given me writing advice. In addition, the overall campus feel is outstanding. I was interested in larger schools, but after seeing my sister's campus (Colgate), I realized that I wanted to go to a smaller school. The community is extremely close up here, and everyone really cares about each other, including the professors. Another outstanding quality about Holy Cross - next year, all freshmen will go through what will be called Montserrat. It was formerly known as FYP. As a current member of FYP, it is an amazing way to integrate into college life. </p>

<p>If you don't mind me asking, in what subject is your daughter interested?</p>

<p>CMCrusader11: Isn't Colgate the same size as Holy Cross? I greatly prefer Holy Cross's location versus Colgate. I have no desire to be in some remote location of upstate NY state! Have you tried taking the shuttles to Boston or Providence or the local malls?</p>