<p>How is the lifestyle at Holy Cross? Is the city of Worcester nice? Fun? Are there things to do? Is there a college life?</p>
<p>Please let me know
Thank you</p>
<p>Bump*********</p>
<p>does anyone have any comments?</p>
<p>Great college. Really good education. Lots of fun. Its a bit of a heavy drinking school, but the academics are top drawer. Worcester is not a great turn on, but its about 90 minutes to 2 hours from Boston for big time sports and entertainment. Plenty of colleges in Massachusetts provide a lot of fun and rivalry. The best part is its not as remote as Williams, which is in the STICKS. </p>
<p>Its a top tier Jesuit college. But its only undergraduate, with no graduate programs. Big rivals include Georgetown and Fordham and Boston College.</p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>thanks for the response</p>
<p>When you say it is “not a great turn on” are you indicating that it is rather run down? or is it crime filled? or is it more of a boring setting?</p>
<p>bump*******</p>
<p>Its industrial and a bit past its prime. I dont know it well, only been there twice. Holy Cross campus is beautiful. Jesuit colleges tend to be urban campuses, inner city. But the Jesuits also emphasize community outreach and social justice and there may be opportunities to help kids by tutoring, or other outreach activities which can be highly rewarding. Most people say in psychological testing that they derive more pleasure from helping others than by gaining income for themselves. </p>
<p>All cities have crime. Whether its Boston, New York, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Atlanta, LA…name a place. Be smart and you will be fine. Dont get drunk and wander around alone at night. </p>
<p>Worcester is not a hot spot, but it does have favorite restaurants and watering holes. There are other colleges nearby as well. Its not “remote and alone” in the sticks. Most kids are plenty busy on campus M-F anyway. Then there are weekend football games (in Patriot League with Fordham and Bucknell and Colgate and Lafayette, Georgetown and Lehigh), and basketball games. Or you can head into Bean Town for big time entertainment. </p>
<p>I wouldnt turn it down because of Worcester. In the end, you have to visit and make your own decision on what you want, the vibe, do you fit in there with others? Is it challenging? Is it laid back or frenetic? Are students supportive or cut throat? Stuff like that. </p>
<p>I commend Holy Cross. I’m a Fordham person. But I have no problem recommending “the Cross” to anyone. Of course, we would rather have you at Fordham! LOL.</p>
<p>ps, you bump a little too soon…relax a bit. People will get to you when they have time. bump if you dont hear something within 6-8 hours perhaps. You are a junior so you have lots of time. Enjoy the college search process. It will get very stressful next year for you…so just chill and research and enjoy the process.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman and loving it. She isn’t a drinker and so far hasn’t found that to be an issue. Most of her friends don’t, others not so much.
She toured parts of Worcester, said they have some great diners, restaurants, museums and some shopping nearby. She grew up in an urban city, a nicer part of it, but is used to a busy city, so it wasn’t a culture shock.
They do a lot of reaching out, their motto “men and women for others” is very prevelant and there is a lot of reaching out if you want to do volunteer work. She joined a group that does that, but you can pick and choose what you’d like to do during the year.
The academics are rigorous and the Dean meant it when she said, “We don’t have gut courses”.
If you can spend a day, talk with the students. There is always something going on, but whether it’s a “fit” is a personal thing.</p>
<p>Worcester is only 40 miles west of Boston and the college provides free shuttle service to both Boston and Providence which are each 1 hour away. The MBTA also runs 12 commuter trains each day between Boston and Worcester. They are in the greater Boston metro area and the television stations are all Boston based.</p>
<p>Is is really the party school Thurs through Tues the guide books says it is?</p>
<p>1980 college grad: Thanks for that clarification. I am not from Massachusetts and its been several years since I was in Worcester. The point is that its close enough to Bean Town to visit on weekends for entertainment/sports etc if someone wants.</p>
<p>Debruns: Well, all schools have drinkers. Its true that the better students frequently congregate together and use study time to socialize…making for a wellness group, if you will. My kid does that at Fordham and has made lifelong friends (we hope) in the process. There are heavy drinkers at Fordham too and its sad. “The Cross” has a history of heavy drinking…even Chris Matthews of MSNBC has commented on it. Whether they have curtailed that in recent years is another question. I know Fordham is working diligently on curbing binge drinking. A kid died at MIT a few years ago…a freshman, two weeks into school. I am glad your daughter is not drinking and being responsible. But if your peruse CC you will see/hear horror stories about what goes on…at most every college. Most kids who party too much will flunk out…and many will get their act together after mid terms come out and settle down and have an “OMG!” moment…fear of failure. </p>
<p>nyc1478: Guidebooks are notorious for inflammatory remarks that are sometimes way out of context or just some kid trying to be funny. Many remarks we read about various schools turned out to be false and misleading. So no, I don’t think “the Cross” is a party school. Kids will be kids and do stupid things. Some do it to relieve the stress…academic schools are often stressful and very competitive…not because professors are unreasonable (though they do pour on the work load and use red ink freely when grading papers), but because fellow students are competitive with each other and nobody wants to be crowned with “the dunce hat” after finals are over. The key is to be calm, organized and find healthy ways to vent frustration, stress and dorm drama. </p>
<p>Whether someone prefers BC, Holy Cross, Fordham, Georgetown, Marquette etc often comes down to subjective criteria and where they want to spend four years going to college. You can’t go wrong with any Jesuit college in my view.</p>
<p>Just an FYI, Worcester is not that close to Boston. Most Holy Cross students stick around the Worcester area, which isn’t bad. There are a few good local bars that people hit up, and there are parties. But if you want the big city atmosphere, Boston College/Georgetown/Fordham would be better choices.</p>
<p>How is Holy Cross when it comes to scholarships and other money factors?</p>
<p>No earthly idea about that. You have to ask them directly or look through the archives of CC for a Holy Cross thread on finances. </p>
<p>Princeton Review does give Financial Aid ratings, but that may not be terribly accurate, not sure. Most schools use financial aid and scholarships to encourage applicants or discourage the ones they don’t really care about. Holy Cross is a small school with a relatively small pool of applicants, unlike Georgetown and Fordham and BC which are besieged with applications.</p>
<p>Holy Cross is one of a small list of colleges that offer both need-blind admissions and full-need for U.S. students. Complete list here: [Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission]Need-blind”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Holy Cross is a “full-need” school although parents don’t always agree on what that is. : )
They did want us to pay what the fafsa profile said, within a couple of thousand if I remember correctly. It wasn’t enough 4 years ago for my son, but we were able to make it work for my daughter since I had 3 in college/grad school.
They give athletic scholarships and I think one other, but that’s it. It’s mainly need.
I realize students drink, I had a son graduate last year (he never drank either, except very little senior year) but my point was, you could go to certain colleges and be fine, not drinking. When my daughter visited, she talked to many students at lunch, some who just didn’t find it appealing, some who held the same cup all night and some who did indulge almost every weekend. There didn’t seem to be a barrier there, some colleges she went too, she felt, it you didn’t party, you were shut out. </p>
<p>I agree also, a Jesuit education is hard to beat. : )</p>
<p>I’m a parent. I don’t claim to have any personal connection with “the Cross,” though a gazillion of my cousins’ kids have gone there.</p>
<p>Worcester is a hole. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to go to Boston or Providence, but Worcester itself is pretty awful. Now, having said that…reality is that location really doesn’t matter much to most students. Indeed, it matters far less than most high school students think. Students’ lives revolve around the campus and/or those of the other local colleges–Clark, WPI, etc. However, if you are one of those rare students for whom the access to opera, live theater, classical musical, etc. matters…well…don’t go to the Cross. </p>
<p>HC is a Catholic college–and it’s not Catholic in the same way as Georgetown or Boston College. While LOTS of the students there are not practicing Catholics, they are definitely “culturally” Catholic. The majority of students will be of Irish, Italian, Polish, etc.descent–from ethnic groups which are historically Catholic. If you aren’t “culturally” Catholic, you may feel uncomfortable. There aren’t a heck of a lot of URMs–understandably, there are more Hispanics than African-Americans. </p>
<p>In fairness, “the Cross” has always been one of the more leftist Catholic colleges. This isn’t Steubenville. Still, it’s a lot different than a secular college and you should understand that before you enroll.</p>
<p>H.Cross is Catholic, but as stated, many practice, many fall in-between. There are atheists, agnostics, Jewish students, etc. My daughter has friends from all over, England, Ireland, Columbia, Vietnam,to name just a few. It was much less diverse years ago in many ways, it’s getting better.
As 1980college grad printed on the Holy Cross page, they are more accepting of alternative lifestyles also. I had a friend with a gay son at BC and he said it wasn’t the most accepting environment, especially from the administration.</p>
<p>Every college has it’s own personality, it’s what is right for you.</p>
<p>Agreed with all of the comments above. Its what you make of it. My kid is at Fordham (caveat: Fordham plug coming next). Fordham’s main campus is in the Bronx. Some of the Bronx (but not all of it) is a little more eclectic and “reality” than many suburban kids can handle or have seen in their sheltered lives. Fordham admits kids from all walks of life and all parts of New York, as well as over 40 states and numerous foreign countries. Fordham is roughly 25% minority: made up of African Americans, Latinos, Asians/Islanders. Some kids come to Fordham and embrace it (my kid…and we are southerners!), working in the Bronx in community service jobs/internships, tutoring at risk kids etc. Some kids stay within Fordham’s gates and only venture out to hop on the Metro North Train into the city. Drinking happens at Fordham…in nearby bars that are loose on ID’s. But MOST kids at Fordham don’t drink…or drink heavily because a) its too expensive to blow the money on tuition and b)their workload is so heavy they simply don’t have time. Many drink once or twice, pay their homage to the porcelain gods and then vow never to do it again. </p>
<p>I have heard that the Cross is more leftist than some other Jesuit colleges. (Fordham is very moderate and middle of the road…if anything, its apolitical). The most important thing for someone concerned about politics is to determine if professors respect all opinions and grade FAIRLY, and if fellow students treat people with mutual respect even if they disagree vehemently. (That is the mantra at Fordham…and my D1’s experience…and she is a bold writer who puts it out there for professors to see in full NBC color…) So long as you are treated fairly and with respect, it doesnt matter what the prof or fellow students think. </p>
<p>I have tremendous respect for the Cross. (Huge football rivals to Fordham!) </p>
<p>Pick the college that best suits your personality, your objectives and interests, your social strata etc. (For some, if they are contrarians, it means picking the opposite). That could mean BC if you are huge into sports or big city, or HC if you are wanting a smaller school, focused solely on undergraduate work, or Fordham if you want the Big Apple, two campuses (Lincoln Center and Rose Hill). Or Georgetown for the power hype. There are 28 Jesuit colleges in the US (Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities), and among them are some hidden jewels with less national recognition: like Loyola New Orleans, for example. </p>
<p>Best of luck to the OP.</p>