<p>My daughter will be applying to BC this fall, and we were wondering how religious is the school? We are not very religious, and are not catholic. Will that hinder her acceptance? Is it more of a casual jesuit atmosphere? Do they have to attend mass or take religion classes?</p>
<p>The Jesuits, by definition, are “casual”. :)</p>
<p>Seriously, BC has a lot of folks of different faiths, and no faith. Mass is offered on campus, but not required. Most students do not attend regularly. (If I recall, approx. 65% of students self-identify as Catholic.)</p>
<p>Two theology courses are required, but they are academic courses – not religion per se – and can be fulfilled in a number of ways. Yes, the focus maybe on the Roman Catholic tradition, but other faiths are discussed/analyzed in the academics as well. My D’s theology teacher was Jewish, btw.</p>
<p>BC is extremely welcoming to anyone who believes in a rigorous education and service to the community.</p>
<p>Thanks blue bayou! I see you are from Southern ca…we are up north in silicon valley. So maybe I should ask you another question…how does your daughter enjoy (deal) with the weather? My daughter loves the city of Boston and thinks it would be cool to attend college there. Not so sure she will agree with that thinking in the middle of January! What has been your experience?</p>
<p>And what about the 2 campuses? Did your daughter live on the main campus or Newton freshman year? Did that matter to her?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance. ANY information you have would be appreciated since this is such a big decision.</p>
<p>D graduated this past May. Weather was enjoyable. Boston is an awesome college town.</p>
<p>She lived on main campus as a Frosh. Approx. 40% of Frosh live on Newton campus, but it seems that the bus is great a bonding experience. After a couple of months, most of the Frosh claim that their living situation is better than the alternative. (Grass is always greener…) Newtown supposedly has “better” food, but since its the same food service, I’m not sure I can buy that spin. hahaha</p>
<p>IMO, there’s a mild catholic presence on the campus, but there’s not much of an “active” religious presence in the student body as a whole, although there are many different groups one can go to practice their faith. </p>
<p>My required theology course, which was one of many options, was honestly just a history class on the Bible from a very academic perspective. Also, I’m not catholic and I don’t think on an individual basis one’s religion has a real affect on acceptance or denial, but each student has to make his/her own choice on whether or not they like BC.</p>
<p>I’m Muslim and I got into BC EA for the class 2017. In fact, the person whose name is always at the end of an acceptance letter hand-wrote a note in the corner of my acceptance letter saying he looks forward to talking to me (and I asked my friend who’s a student at BC and she said they didn’t do that to her or anyone else she knows). I’ve already been to the orientation and honestly everyone is just so nice and helpful; very accepting of different faiths. And the thing I observed about BC through people who go there and the events I joined this year is that there’s a family-like atmosphere prevalent among the student body and admin. And all the students seem SO (genuinely) happy overall. I live in Jersey and my mom feels no worries about me moving to Boston and attending BC. In terms of religious tolerance, I don’t think anyone needs to worry about BC.</p>
<p>I have to confirm what kardelen wrote. I am not Catholic and I have yet to feel out of place (I am going into my sophomore year). Everyone is so welcoming and friendly, that there isn’t a sense of isolation if you don’t identify Catholic. There is a majority that identify as Catholic, but there is a range of faithfulness and many may have questioned their faith since they filled out the dreaded Common App. There are also many organizations that students with other faiths attend (I’ve been to some events run by BC Hillel).</p>
<p>Ironically, the class I took for my Theology core (Biblical Heritage I & II) actually was one of my favorite classes at BC. Similar to bluebayou’s class, it had an academic perspective and actually focused more on the Old Testament. My professor for the class actually moved onto another teaching job at a Baptist university and she was worried about how that university would react to her class (which demonstrates how open BC is).</p>
<p>So don’t break a sweat.</p>
<p>I’m a rising sophomore and the best thing I can say to anyone looking at Boston College is that yes it is a Catholic University but not in the same sense as many Catholic High Schools in the United States. In catholic high schools, they are almost teaching you and preparing you to be good Catholic citizens in the world. You say prayer during school or at the end of school and also talk about God. At Boston College, this isn’t the case. It isn’t really a catholic school more so than a University that was founded on catholic PRINCIPLES towards education. Men and Women for others, Educating the whole person, etc. They are not going to be telling you why God is good, why sex is bad, etc. Furthermore they are Jesuits which are very liberal catholics. Several fathers who taught me in Economics and Statistics would joke about Alcohol all the time etc. lol Coming into Boston College, I was also looking at schools such as USC and Michigan, and while they are at about the same level or maybe a little more “prestigious” than Boston College, I can confidently say that BC offers you a better educational experience. These Jesuits are damn smart and I was glad that I took philosophy and theology classes at BC.</p>
<p>@cavmom I am from NorCal and recently graduated. There are a considerable number of students from this area attending BC. Everyone on campus deals with the weather together. It’s honestly not bad at all. Snow storms were a blast and the below zero temps felt like a badge of honor. In all honesty, the walk to class usually wasn’t longer than 10mins.</p>
<p>“They are not going to be telling you why God is good, why sex is bad, etc.”</p>
<p>Catholics don’t believe that sex is “bad.”</p>
<p>I meant premarital sex, but I was trying to convey that the Catholic professors here aren’t trying to instill their beliefs or convert you, but rather just to educate you in an academia setting rather than a religious one.</p>