<p>Hi! I was just wondering if anyone has any input about attending either Saint Mary's or Holy Cross. </p>
<p>Do you know how involved students can get with ND activities/campus life? Is the atmosphere of either school too competitive (with perhaps a large number of hopeful transfers)? Do you think transfer applicants from SM or HC get the upper hand against applicants from another Catholic institution with similar academic standards?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for any comments!</p>
<p>(...and best of luck to the frosh moving in this week!)</p>
<p>Two at Saint Mary's and here's my observations:</p>
<p>Involvement: Plenty of opportunities on campus for large school activities. This is quite a unique situation and if you review the histories of how both schools began...it sheds some insight into why the traditions and opportunities continue today. You can spend a lot of time at ND, or none at all, it's your choice. One daughter has been involved in Marching Band, singing at dorm masses, attending swing dance lessons, etc. You can try out for various musical ensembles/choirs/band. There are opportunities at The Observer if you wish to write and/or photograph events. You are able to purchase a single student ticket for the football games. My daughters appreciate and respect many of the rich traditions that they are able to take part in - it's awesome. While I believe Saint Mary's can stand on it's own, this proximity, history, and relationship with ND makes it a stand out for a small women's college.</p>
<p>Atmosphere: There is a percentage of students that enter intent on transferring to ND. I do not believe they have any upper hand and it's quite competitive. The students we know who were accepted as transfers had stellar GPA's and activities. You must be in the upper most range on the GPA scale. Some decide Saint Mary's is "home" and decide to stay. Many choose Saint Mary's because of the college itself with no regard to ND. It is a superb place to live, work, study, and make lifelong friends. As parents, we have been extremely happy with the college, professors, academics, leadership opportunities, quality of life issues, and the over all college experience. </p>
<p>Feel free to message if you have any questions!</p>
<p>As an alum of SMC, I can only echo what smcmom has said. There are plenty of opportunities for anything that interests you. Few really end up transferring, as I do think they begin to call SMC home. It is a special place where I made life long friends I still see today. The education was great. The halls/dorms are beautiful and the campus is gorgeous. In short, it's a wonderful choice with traditions of its own but with a wonderful advantage across the street too...</p>
<p>My son is the director of a student organization at ND and he has a number of SMC students participating. But he says he has never seen a Holy Cross student.</p>
<p>I have to keep this short, grad school is killing me, but a few notes. First of all, SMC is a wonderful school and done I full-heartedly recommend. I really think they have the best of both worlds...and this is coming from a ND grad.</p>
<p>As for transferring, while plenty of students come from both SMC and HC, it is far harder for them to get into ND than it was for me transferring from Creighton. It is just one of those things where ND doesn't want all of their transfers coming from the same school and they get a lot more applicants from those two schools than from anywhere else. If your intent is transferring, I think there are better choices. That being said, SMC is a great school.</p>