<p>so if i'm not roman catholic, but the college has a roman catholic "affiliation," does that mean i cannot apply there?</p>
<p>like it says "blah blah is a private Roman Catholic university"</p>
<p>Depends on the college, but in general they don’t require that your beliefs align with the affiliation. There exist Christian colleges that require church attendance and teach young-earth creationism, but I don’t think this is a common thing, and those colleges are almost always Protestant anyway.
A Christian college might require that you take a couple of theology classes, though.</p>
<p>do you think it would be annoying to go to a college with a religious affiliation? i barely go to church, so i have no problem with other religions… i don’t even follow my own, tbh. </p>
<p>do you think the whole student body would be super religious? i guess that depends on the college, but if it’s a religious college, then the people who go there who DO follow the affiliation are probably really hardcore into their religion lol</p>
<p>i also don’t want to come off as disrespectful, since i don’t follow their religion. it’s not like i really follow any religion though</p>
<p>and on the application, when i put “no preference,” would the adcoms view that negatively?</p>
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<p>I think it depends on you, and also on how open-minded the school is. At some colleges the affiliation is just nominal and doesn’t really affect anything. I don’t imagine a non-Catholic would deliberately seek out a Catholic college, so I’m assuming you have a specific school in mind?</p>
<p>I would probably be unhappy at a religious school. I’m intellectually open-minded, but I don’t know what it’s like to believe in God, and I sometimes find it difficult to connect with people whose belief in God is an important part of their lives. I can ask them questions about what it’s like, but on some fundamental level I’ll never be able to understand it because I’ve never experienced it. So it would be weird for me if everyone was really religious, but at a more “liberal” Christian college the Christianity might be just a cultural thing anyway. You could probably get a sense of this by visiting the college.</p>
<p>I also wouldn’t want to go to a school where a lot of people believed I was destined for hell. Many Christians don’t believe this, but I assume it would be a common view at a really conservative/Biblical literalist school.</p>
<p>i would not want to go to a “conservative/biblical literalist school” especially since we would have many differences in opinion, such as if i’ll go to hell and if they like rick santorum LOL
the problem is, i really like the college, and then i see “roman catholic” and i’m like ughhhh what does that mean for my social life and what will future employers think? plus college is where you probably meet your future spouse, and i don’t think i would wanna marry someone who’s super religious </p>
<p>but i can’t tell if a college is super religious, or if it’s just a slight affiliation. it’s hard to tell. with georgetown (not the college i’m talking about), it’s roman catholic and it requires theology, but there a lot of students from many different religions who attend georgetown, and the theology class can be about any religion.</p>
<p>so how can you tell if it’s really religious, or if it’s more liberal, without visiting?</p>
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<p>This is something you have to research by visiting and asking people.</p>
<p>What college is it?
But anyways, see if you can talk to admissions reps or something… admissions reps are sometimes/usually alumni so they could tell you about it.</p>
<p>it’s more than one college, but i’m kinda on the fence about mentioning it on here. wouldn’t that be bad?</p>
<p>how can you talk to the admissions reps?? lol sorry im clueless</p>
<p>not really seeing why it would be bad… </p>
<p>but anyways, it really depends on the school… but generally on the colleges’ websites, information about admissions counselors/reps is under “Contact Us”, “Visit us” or “Interviews”… And their contact information is usually listed.</p>
<p>Notre Dame has Samoans.</p>
<p>Does that answer your question?</p>
<p>I don’t know of any Catholic college that requires students be religious, much less Catholic. Most schools will list the % of the student body that is Catholic. @halcyonheather - many non-Catholics seek out Catholic schools, as they have a history of quality education. Most Catholic elementary, middle and high schools also have a significant % of non-Catholic students (my daughter’s best friend from high school is a Southern Baptist). You’ll find agnostics, athiests, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, students of every stripe at Catholic colleges (including openly LGBT, depending on the school). That said, every school will differ in its feel. The schools on the Newman list will tend to be more conservative and adhere more closely to pure Catholic doctrine. Jesuit Catholic schools are typically very open-minded and tolerant.</p>
<p>Any Catholic school is going to require theology and philosophy type courses. Look at each school’s requirements - they’ll differ. At some schools you can meet the requirements without ever studying religion, or by studying religion in a historical manner. That might make you more comfortable than a school that requires a course more rooted in religious faith. And definitely check the % of Catholic/non-Catholic in the school profile - you will see you will not be alone on campus. </p>
<p>Employers are not going to look at you negatively for going to a Catholic school. Or do you see it as a negative to graduate from a school like Boston College, Notre Dame, Georgetown, or one of the Loyolas? Lower-tier Catholic colleges are also typically known for strong academics and work ethics.</p>
<p>If you discount Catholic colleges entirely, you’re missing out on some high quality schools.</p>
<p>I can’t see a downside to listing schools you are interested in - there’s bound to be folks here with first-hand knowledge of the religious atmosphere.</p>
<p>thanks for the great advice, inigo!!</p>
<p>lol well you named most of the colleges i was thinking about…except georgetown</p>
<p>as far as employers: maybe they’ll assume i’m roman catholic, and discriminate? i have no idea; it was just a question.</p>
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<p>I’m pretty sure it’s illegal if they did.</p>
<p>but they wouldn’t outright say they discriminated</p>
<p>I’ve really not heard that much discrimination against Catholics these days. And this is from a practicing Catholic, Catholic college graduate who lives in the South… Some haters gotta hate, true, but I don’t see this as a potential negative. Especially with the positive name recognition of the schools you’re thinking about. You’re more likely to get discriminated against because the employer graduated from a sports rival college!</p>
<p>What college?</p>
<p>If you’re talking about Georgetown, my mom went there and she had an atheist religion professor.</p>
<p>Whoops, didn’t read the whole thread.</p>
<p>Anyway, I am Catholic and I agree with the poster above me about discrimination. I don’t think it’s much of a problem.</p>
<p>Most Catholc colleges don’y require you to be Catholic, and you likely have a wide variety of options when it comes to theology classes.</p>
<p>thanks, guys!!</p>