<p>I know ND stands on it's own as a unique and wonderful school!!! But, what other schools are like it in spirit and student body? Our next child will be up for the big college decision in two years, but probably won't have the right combination for ND...where oh where would you look for some of the same qualities??? Oh, as a note...we are from the Chicago area and he doesn't want to go too far away......yikes!</p>
<p>By the right combination, do you mean "would not enjoy ND" or "does not have the grades/scores/etc. to get into ND"? If the latter, I would suggest Marquette. For one, it had a great feel when I visited, very similar to ND in terms of the personality of the student body. It doesn't have the same feel of tradition that ND has, but then again, few schools do. On the upside, it's only like an hour or so away from Chicago.</p>
<p>Oh! By "right combination" I meant he wouldn't have the grades/test scores/rank etc. A good student, a really good kid, just not that "top tier" student that you have to be now to go to ND...too bad in a way, but what can you do? </p>
<p>And, yes, Marquette is on the "radar". He has mentioned some interest in having "football" at his school...you know the whole, fall football scene etc. So, that kind rules out the city schools. But, maybe it's not that big of a deal...</p>
<p>School spirit, a unified student body...</p>
<p>Ah, yeah... Marquette is noticeably missing football, as is Loyola Chicago. Has he considered the University of Wisconsin? I know it's a lot larger than Notre Dame, but there's definitely plenty of school spirit, and their football program is usually pretty sensational.</p>
<p>Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska is kind of like my "safety ND". It is a great Jesuit school that attracts the same kind of kids that like ND (me, for example). It is similar to Marquette in admissions standards. And, if he's thinking premed Creighton is a great choice. I am applying to Creighton instead of Marquette because their premed is stronger (but I would say Marquette is better for engineering). However, Creighton doesn't have a football team, but they do have a great soccer team.</p>
<p>My husband and I went to Marquette and would not really recommend it. I had fun, but shortly after we left a friend of ours was shot and killed in front of a fraternity. Former roommates lived down the street from Jeffrey Dawmer. My dorm (West) was next to an abortion clinic and across the street from a group of prostitutes.</p>
<p>Soooo.. I'd say the U of Dayton is a neat place to be. They have division 1a (I think) football and are D1 for other sports. My brother went there and absolutely loved it. Tons of school spirit. When my daughters and I visited 2 years ago we were amazed at how friendly the students were and how enthusiastic they were about UD.</p>
<p>it's almost impossible to find a school like ND, ESPECIALLY if he wants the fball aspect--ND is only one of 2 catholic universities that has a D1 fball team (other being BC of course, but who wants to go there? lol) it's weird because I kept thinking of schools and I honestly could not think of any... BC is probably the closest if he wants the big time fball team (even though it's not really "big time" although they are good this year) but BC is pretty far from chicago... i'm also from chicago and could not find any close schools like ND in case i didn't get into ND... for me it was ND, u of i, or washington university--wash u is a great school with a really nice campus and it's fairly close (although he won't get the experience of being part of a big athletic program)</p>
<p>Id say Boston College is the closest thing to ND</p>
<p>Also go the the thread that discusses which schools the Class of 2012 is applying to besides Notre Dame. That should give you a pretty good idea of what the typical Notre Dame student is looking for</p>
<p>I would like to recommend U of Dayton as well. Great student body, great atmosphere and academically very sound. I loved my visit there and probably would have gone if I didn't get into Notre Dame. If your kid likes sports, Dayton has a good D1a football team and the basketball games are popular for the entire city. UD basketball games are really fun to go to; the atmosphere is part of the reason the NCAA puts the play-in game to the NCAA Tourney and sometimes a couple first round games in UD Arena.</p>
<p>I would think any of the Big 10 schools would have a similar experience with school spirit - esp. U of M, MSU, OSU, U of I, IU...some good football, some good basketball, some with both. </p>
<p>I think what makes Notre Dame distinctive - and I think the element my fellow Domers and I know so well - is the family that the student body, alums, and fans have formed. We have an awful football team this year, but the games have still been fun. Unlike a lot of athletic programs, our fan support is extremely inelastic. It's because people recognize that "Notre Dame" means something more...transcendent than football, not to overstate it or anything.</p>
<p>So..now that I've rehyped ND...I would like to say that the close-knit, family feel unique to Notre Dame is probably most likely to be found at smaller schools, and not the Big 10. </p>
<p>Some other Midwest schools include Xavier University (in Cincinnati), University of Detroit, John Carroll U, and Rockhurt. </p>
<p>I am assuming your son prefers a Catholic school? or no?</p>
<p>Holy Cross near Boston is like a small Notre Dame. Founded in 1843 it is the oldest Catholic college in New England. Strictly undergraduate and #33 on the US News rankings for LACs. The princeton review gave Holy Cross its highest academic rating (98) of all Catholic colleges. This is due in part to very small class sizes (10-19) and the fact HC is undergraduate only. Professors are totally focused on undergrads and not distracted by grad students. No grad students means no grad students teaching class which is common at large universities.</p>
<p>Holy Cross also has some great Division 1 athletics. Holy Cross' men's basketball has won at least 20 games in five of the last seven seasons, got to the NCAA tournament four times (2001, 2002, 2003, 2007) and NIT in 2005(beating Notre Dame BTW). In the past 21 years, the HC women's team has sixteen 20-win seasons and has made 12 postseason appearances (11 NCAA Tournaments and one WNIT). Men's hockey first earned an NCAA Tournament win with the 4-3 overtime victory over Minnesota in Grand Forks, N.D., on March 24, 2006.</p>
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<p>are you president of holy cross</p>
<p>I bet Holy Cross paid him to make all these posts</p>
<p>^^I have to wonder...</p>
<p>haha lolz</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is somewhat similar.... same ranking by USNEWS, big time athletics, but lack of Religion</p>
<p>Holy Cross has a similar atmosphere as ND. It has some big time sports but is only competitive with the Ivies in football. Academically, Holy Cross is considered to be the best Catholic undergraduate experience in the country. It's ranked higher then ND, Georgetown, and BC. HC has a fantastic alumni network and an impressive giving rate (ND's is 49% and HC's is 47%). I was not paid by Holy Cross to write this.</p>
<p>The College of the Holy Cross (not to be confused with Holy Cross College of Notre Dame, Indiana) recently ran afoul of the Bishop of Worcester, MA for its support of on-campus seminars run by Planned Parenthood and NARAL. In keeping with other Jesuit-run colleges, notably Georgetown, liberalism in administration is beginning to replace fidelity to Church teachings.</p>
<p>Here's a link to further reading:</p>
<p>College's</a> Catholic status threatened for hosting pro-abortion groups at conference</p>
<p>Holy Cross' Alumni Giving Rate actually increased to 53% this most recent year. The college did not sponsor the Planned Parenthood conference. It rented the conference space to the group and had nothing to do with the conference officially. It did create a lot of controversy and will likely not be repeated given the highly negative reaction.</p>
<p>Holy Cross's men's basketball team defeated Ohio University this evening and is off to a 5-0 start to their season.</p>