If anyone is acquainted with the environment at Providence college can you tell me what it´s like there. Since I´m not a catholic student, I´m a little bit worried about all that religious affiliation stuff.
Providence feels slightly more Catholic than some of its peers, likely because of the parietals that dictate opposite-sex visiting in dorms. Otherwise, it’s a nice campus in a decent neighborhood. They have recently dedicated new space to the business school and the fitness center is tremendous. Lots of school spirit, especially for hockey and basketball.
What about the mandatory courses that everyone has to take and the masses on Sundays? @Middleman68
No masses on Sundays. You won’t find they are required anywhere. Students from all faiths are welcome. Crucifixes in the classrooms and some statuary are common as well. As far as the required core classes, yes, there is some theology. The primary requirement is a Western Civ class that students love to hate.
" Love to hate" :))
You can take generalized theology, which students should take anyway. Understanding theology and what motivates people is key to understanding some of the world’s most dangerous problems. It is not CCD that Catholic grade schoolers take. Theology is the study of religious belief in general, not necessarily Catholic doctrine. Looks like half of the faculty in the Theology department are lay people.
Visitation looks like the standard midnight and 2 am on weekends. Unless you have a single room, parietals are a non-issue unless you plan on bedding down with someone while your roommate is there.
None of this prevents PC from being an extremely fun campus.
No such thing as required Masses and I doubt more than 25% of the kids go to Mass.
If you want to join the community service programs, they are generally managed by the campus ministry office.
The best thing to do is visit the campus and see if you are comfortable. I’d post this on the Providence page as well.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/providence-college/
Aniani24…my daughter attends a Catholic High School…and most kids that apply to HC PC BC are looking for a continuation of theology included in their post education…yes you don’t have to participate in Mass or Community Services…but the main reason to attend one of these Jesuit Dominican College is to embrace the whole aspects of what is offered…what other colleges did you apply to and get accepted into? Maybe you should rethink why you want to go to a college that is faith based before you commit the next 4 years …just food for thought
^^^^Just want to offer a different experience/perspective from a mom of two public school kids. I can see where a Catholic HS student might have a slant but the students from our public HS generally do not apply to Catholic Schools, including the ones noted above, for their theology/philosophy courses of because they particularly want a faith based education. Rather they apply because they feel the schools are good overall fits academically, socially, location-wise, size of school, affordability etc. And non-Catholic students apply and attend these schools with regularity. My S applied to a mix of Catholic and secular schools that we felt were good fits and we had not real preference.
And having a son go through a Jesuit College his experience was that religion was there for those who wanted it, but it was not forced upon anyone. IMO it is necessary to be respectful of religion, but other than taking the required classes, it is not necessary to to participate or be interested in in religious based activities. There are some quirks (ex. birth control not given out at health center, parietals) at many Catholic colleges but students generally figure their way around those things pretty easily and quickly. You would need to research PC to see if it is similar in nature to the Jesuit colleges.
As I noted above, if you can visit, that is best. Otherwise try to read some guide books (ex.Fiske, Insiders Guide, Princeton Review) and maybe see if the school newspaper is available online.
Post #7 needs clarification. For the Class of 2019 only 35% of PC students came from Catholic high schools. 58% from public school. I sincerely doubt these students applied for faith reasons. Moreover, even of the 35%, most didn’t either.
Happy,OnTheBubble…I know way did I mean that only Catholic students apply to faith based colleges…Im giving an opinion regarding my daughter’s experiences from a Catholic perspective…I sent my daughter’s to a school that taught faith based ideas…it wasn’t free unlike public schools…I’m not sure why someone would want to go to a college if not to embrace what it has to offer…yes Mass is not forced on anyone at any college…but to say that just because it’s not forced doesn’t mean that someone should apply to colleges that they haven’t researched before hand and know what the mission of the college is about…the additional essay from PC ask…Providence College students have an extraordinary ability to balance challenging academics and involvement in their school,local,global community which is the epitome of what it means to be a Friar . Please share how your own experiences demonstrate what it means to be a Frair. I’m just pointing out that most kids like my daughter’s only apply to colleges that offer faith…