My daughter loves Loyola! The only reason it was on our radar in 2018-2019 is that she wanted to study “popular and commercial music” and very few schools had programs like this when she applied. We are from Buffalo, but made the trip for her audition and she felt they were so welcoming and kind (definitely that Southern charm we hear about.) We only had a short time on campus but she asked if she could return for accepted student weekend if the merit package was decent and we agreed. They were VERY generous with talent and academic merit and really showed her the love with a personal touch. She was accepted to Berklee and CalArts, 2 pretigious music schools, but they didn’t offer enough merit and she fell in love with Loyola during the accepted student weekend. She wrote an appeal letter to bring the price a little lower since one school in her Top 3 had a lower COA (and we had to justify travel costs) and they gave her an extra $3K per year which sealed the deal. She loves the rich music history of New Orleans and the artsy vibe and feels the school is very welcoming of all backgrounds, religions, LGBTQ groups, etc. (they are Jesuit so she was a bit hesitant to attend any “religious” school.) As parents we like the comprehensive curriculum. Unlike conservatories where she works on her craft (voice, piano, etc.) they have a curriculum which includes the craft stuff but also requires music business, music law, songwriting, artist wellness, music tech, ensembles, etc. Since music is a tough business, we wanted her to truly be street smart and prepared. She has many friends at Tulane and they are definitely a more academic bunch (they do have a great honors program at Loyola for students who want to be challenged more so don’t want to give the wrong impression) but they like to have fun too. I believe they can share facilities like the cafeteria and gym. It’s literally right next door to Loyola, I didn’t realize how close they were. What does you daughter want to study? NOLA isn’t for everyone, as you are aware with your background living there, but it’s perfect for my artsy, music girl and most students seem to love it.
Wow, sounds like a perfect fit! Really interested to hear my daughter’s impressions…both schools are unlike any of the other places she has toured. She’s still narrowing down her field of study - interests are a little all over the place right now.
Thanks for your response…sounds like your girl landed in the right place! 
A friend’s daughter just enrolled at Loyola. Their family is Catholic (think three priest uncles) and from New Orleans so it was like, “of course X is going there” It’s nice to hear a different perspective of a kid from a different background who also feels at home there!
We are Catholic too but we attend a college Newman center with a very progressive priest who has openly expressed that women should be much more involved in church leadership, happily baptizes children of gay couples (believe it or not, some refuse) and is big on social justice with efforts to visit prisons and provide food for homeless shelters. That’s what religion means to her so she was always open to a Christian school as long as it offered this same spirit of community service, welcoming all and a focus on social justice. She had heard about colleges like Liberty (where cases of sexual assault were blamed on women because they broke a school rule and attended a party or dressed a certain way) or religion was forced on students, and was like “no way!” But Loyola exceeded her standards in that regard.
I gather from your comments your referencing Loyola - New Orleans. Just clarifying as there are 4 or 5 different Loyola’s out there
Yes, Loyola New Orleans : )
I’m not @AmyIzzy, but yes, she’s referring to Loyola New Orleans. As that is the Jesuit institution with which I am most familiar, that’s what I think of when I think of other Jesuit colleges. Does anyone have experience with other Jesuit schools that are not this way? (I’m not referring to other Catholic schools, but Jesuit Catholic ones.)
Anyone here have thoughts on Miami University Ohio? My son was invited to apply to a diversity fly-in program but he wants to be in or near a city and wants a diverse college (obviously they are working on it with programs like this but not sure if it’s currently very diverse.) I know it’s a cute college town but is it far from the action of Cincinnati and secluded from city life?
How about Xavier in Cincinnati? I think that one would check a lot of boxes for my son, but not sure on how generous they are with merit. Thanks.
Miami is a great program but it’s not very diverse and it is far from Cincinnati.
I have friends who sent both their boys to Xavier. Very generous with merit and they loved their experiences there.
Miami was on our list earlier due to it checking almost all of D23’s boxes. Except for the rural location and diversity. And also now state politics. She’s crossed it off her list since.
However, it seems there are a lot of things to love about this school for the right student!
I want to know the answer to this question too. We are not Catholic but are not adverse to religious schools and there seems to be a lot to love about the Jesuit schools! Plus they are often mid sized and relatively more affordable sometimes.
I’ll show my son an online info session or tour and see if he likes the vibe of Miami (my gut tells me no) but it’s tempting to have him apply to the program because they give an extra $5000 scholarship to those who attend the fly-in program and he would qualify for some very generous scholarships outside of that. But I do feel fit is important so I don’t want to force it (he has other good options that will be within budget.) My friend lives near Xavier and she said it has a great reputation and she said the students are always happy and friendly. That one, I think, has potential.
I know many parents who have students at other Jesuit schools and they all seem to have those characteristics: open, welcoming of all, big on community service and a focus on social justice.
This is the general philosophy:
Jesuit education is known for its personalized attention and concern for the whole person — mind, body and spirit. We not only develop you as a student competent in your area of study, but ensure you are strong in character and conviction as well.
My husband was raised Catholic and converted to Judaism. He’s studied a ton of religion, all over the theocracy map. He adores Jesuit schools, even though we are very liberal and attend no religious worship in our marriage.
He says they teach you to think, challenge you, focus on critical give and take, and have the best parts of Christianity going for them and none of the not-so-great fundamentalist parts.
He’s on board with my kid applying to LoyNo and any other Jesuit schools that take his fancy.
Hope that helps.
Miami (Ohio) visual appeal: I toured it with my D17 and D19 some years back. My design-obsessed D19 and I thought it was the most absolutely stunning campus we’d ever seen, even on a grey drizzly day. (They have an architectural theme, and stuck with it even when expanding. Even better, they’ve expanded via adding quads, not just by building new buildings wherever they fit.) D17 wasn’t impressed, but I never got a good answer on why. If they had offered D19’s area of interest, it would probably have been high on her list.
My progressive secular Jew daughter went to Georgetown and had a great experience. She said the catholic aspect could absolutely be completely ignored if that is what you wanted to do. Certainly they were very liberal in terms of social justice issues and lgbtq issues. Less so on abortion (though Hoyas for choice that my daughter joined is a big presence on campus) but you are in DC so that aspect makes no practical difference. From that perspective I would take it any day over a non-religious school in an abortion ban state.
@AmyIzzy my younger son is a sophomore at Xavier. They were very generous with both merit and aid (we are a donut hole family and have two in college). I was surprised at the amount of merit he received as he was by CC standards, an average student (he has an LD, applied test optional with a 3.4 GPA and no AP classes). I’ve written about our experience with Xavier on another thread and can PM you the link if you are interested. My son is very happy there.
In terms of location, it is not in the heart of Cincinnati but in a more residential area of the city, about 5-10 mins from downtown by car/Uber. My son and his friends always seem to find stuff to do both on and off campus.
One thing I thought funny - I assumed most of the kids would be from OH or nearby states since Xavier seems to be more of a regional school than other Jesuits like BC, Fordham, Georgetown. Many of my son’s friends are from the East Coast (suitemates last year and this year are from CT, NJ and PA, all by chance). We are from MD.
Let me know if you have any specific questions about Xavier.
my S20 was interested in miami - we had done research - but we were slightly disappointed with the merit received for his stats back in 2020. there was a nice window (ACT/GPA back then) - he was in the top bracket toward the top – but the numbers didnt quite pan out. Later on in the spring they gave a bit more; but it was too late. I’m curious about it all now for our daughter. from what we see (midwest here), it’s easier to get a high GPA w/TO than it used to be with GPA/ACT, so i’m wondering if those scholarships are even more sparse than 3 yrs ago. ?? . (just from my local point of view!).
I went to Loyola in Baltimore and loved it. My son and I toured it last year and I said I’d like to go back if someone would like to foot the bill. 
He liked it too but we are from Baltimore so it probably won’t make the top of his list because it’s right here.
We’ve also looked at U of Scranton, St. Joe’s in Philly, Duquesne in Pittsburg and La Salle. We are going to visit Manhattan College next month. While I love Jesuit schools, I love the price of Lasallian schools even better.