<p>So I am interested in SCU for engineering but I just had a few questions about the schools religious affiliation. I am not catholic, nor religious whatsoever. In fact, I would probably consider myself leaning towards atheist/agnostic. </p>
<p>What is the religious presence like at SCU? Im fine with people being religious but does SCU have any mandatory religious classes/services? Is the majority of the student body ardent catholics against all liberal ideas? I would like to go to school with a lot of like-minded individuals. </p>
<p>As a side-note, do I have a good chance of getting admitted to civil engineering with a 3.59W/ 1920 SAT? Decent extra curriculars.</p>
<p>We visited SCU two weeks ago for the open house day and talked to a number of students. We were told it’s a very open-minded, friendly campus even for atheist/agnostic. We picked up a current issue of college newspaper, it had a coverage on front page of the opening of a meditation room (a quiet space) for “students of different faiths -or no faith at all”. </p>
<p>DD is a senior at SCU. She is not a Catholic. Yes, there is a religion requirement but there are about 100 courses from which to choose. DD took a “Women in Religion” course for example…and loved it. The school is open to folks of all faiths (or not), and you will not find it overwhelmingly “Catholic”. The Jesuits do have a presence on the campus, but DD says they are wonderful and articulate folks who she really admires. There is no requirement to go to church. </p>
<p>Re: your chances…I have no idea. Our DD had very similar stats and did NOT apply directly to the engineering school. She applied as an undeclared arts and sciences major. She didn’t think her chances of acceptance directly into engineering were very good.</p>
<p>When she got there, she took ONLY the required courses that would fulfill her engineering degree (as a freshman and first quarter sophomore). At the end of her first quarter sophomore year, she declared her major as engineering in the engineering school…without any problem (she had a fine GPA…so no issues).</p>
<p>Interesting. So would you suggest I apply to a less competitive/undeclared major? What risks go along with that path? I know I want to do engineering so I wouldnt want to be stuck in a different major paying that hefty tuition. If she didnt have a great GPA would she have had issues declaring engineering as a major?</p>
<p>Pioneer, I don’t know what would have happened if her GPA had not been sufficiently decent. It was. My guess is she would NOT have been allowed to declare an engineering major. BUT I also think the school does not encourage anyone who has a less than decent GPA to continue in engineering…they have some standards which you have to meet as a major. My kid had a 3.3 GPA when she declared her major as engineering. </p>
<p>I would suggest that you talk with an admissions person at SCU. They can be very helpful. My daughter, BTW…applied as an undeclared student. She declared NO major at all. Her rationale was that many, if not most, college students change majors anyway. She was pretty sure she was going to pursue engineering, but things could have changed. SCU has a rigorous core course requirement and students are required to take quite a few courses in all the disciplines at the school. Many students “find” their major after taking the bulk of the core requirements. My kid just took the sciences …bio, chem, calculus, etc…that would have been the same as if she had been in the college of engineering. Those courses also fulfilled core requirements for any major. But then she stuck with it…because she liked it…and when she spoke to her advisor, he suggested she declare her major if that was really what she wanted to do.</p>
<p>So she did.</p>
<p>I can’t really tell you what to do. But do call them…the engineering folks can discuss this with you as well.</p>