<p>Boston College and Georgetown really don’t have much of a religious feel anymore. They feel like any other University, with an occasional reminder. Holy Cross is smaller and has a much more religious atmosphere. But those who like that religious atmosphere tend to select it for that exact reason.</p>
<p>And Worcester isn’t THAT bad.</p>
<p>“And Worcester isn’t THAT bad.” I agree. Worcester is the second largest city in New England after Boston. Because I’m feeling lazy, here’s the blurb from the city web site:</p>
<p>“Music and theater flourish at Mechanics Hall and the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts. Museums including the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester Historical Museum and Higgins Armory Museum regularly schedule special exhibitions and present a variety of fun and educational programs for all ages. Edgy galleries including ARTSWorcester and Worcester Windows feature work by both new and established artists.”</p>
<p>No, it’s not Boston or New York. But it’s not Podunk either.</p>
<p>Holy Cross is the only top Jesuit school focused solely on undergraduate education. HC’s strength’s are great pre-med, pre-law, and good accounting major in addition to traditional liberal arts. Among Catholic schools, its alumni giving rate is the highest-54% and HC has a strong endowment for a school of 2800 students. From athletic perspective Holy Cross has won NCAA’s in basketball and baseball in Div1 and has the oldest relationship with the Ivy league-having played Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale, and Brown for over 100 years in most series. Fordham also plays some ivies in football by its affiliation with the Patriot League and the Fordham Rams also have strong basketball history.</p>
<p>^^Holy Cross is not a top jesuit school. Georgetown and BC are markedly better. It is probably the best Jesuit LAC, but it is not a national university on the level of Georgetown or BC.</p>
<p>Holy Cross is a top Jesuit school. Georgetown is a renowned university, but I would not say that is is “better”. To say that BC is “markedly better” is preposterous.</p>
<p>They are all fine schools, different in many ways, but fine schools. Many professors from HC went to BC and vice-versa, all praise the education but the fit is personal. One professor at HC told me BC wooed him (he was alumni) a few times, but he loved it there, loved the rivalry. It says a lot that so many come back to work or visit and volunteer, give every year (the alumni giving rate is excellent) and recommend it.
My dentist went to HC and Georgetown for dental school, he told me HC prepared him very well, much better than some of his peers and though Georgetown wasn’t easy by any means, he was on very solid footing.
I know my daughter, who is moderately liberal, has friends that are very conservative, (had some good debates) and some extremely liberal and they all respect each other. Other students tell her that professors are fair in their experience but time will tell for her. My friends son at North Eastern though had a professor give him a lower grade on a paper she disagreed with (he was pro-life) so that can happen anywhere.
I also loved Fordham (as 2 of my chidren did also) BC has a feel they didn’t like, seemed less diverse, the dorm/living situation wasn’t to their liking, but I never would say it was a bad school, just not for everyone, which is great, because one school couldn’t be a fit for everyone! : )</p>
<p>All 28 Jesuit colleges are outstanding in their own right. Measuring how good a school is by the SAT scores of the incoming class (exclusively) is not healthy nor accurate…though its the only objective measurement we currently have. Each college has a unique culture and heritage inside of the larger Jesuit heritage. There are personality differences and geographical/cultural differences. Not all Jesuits think alike either…some are conservative and some are very liberal and some are highly religious priests and some are marginal at best. Its all good.</p>
<p>Many Jesuits move around and teach at one, then move to another. They don’t dumb down by moving “down the ladder from Georgetown or BC.” </p>
<p>HC is a fine school and if that is what turns you on, then go for it!</p>
<p>Agree that Holy Cross is perhaps the most liberal Jesuit school.HC’s political alumni include 1 US Senator, 3-4 Congressmen, Chris Matthews of MSNBC, 1 US Supreme Court Justice.</p>
<p>Let’s not forget Jon Favreau, Obama’s Chief Speechwriter who is class of 2003 from Holy Cross.</p>
<p>Interesting. I never thought of Chris Matthews or Clarence Thomas as liberals. Who are the Senator and the Congressmen? Just curious.</p>
<p>Clearly Chris Matthews is a committed Liberal. Justice Thomas is a conservative. </p>
<p>Bob Casey Jr is the senator from Pennsylvania.His late father, also a Holy Cross graduate, was Governor of Pennsylvania. U.S. Congressmen currently serving include James Moran of Virginia, Peter Welch of Vermont, and Timothy Bishop and Michael McNulty of New York. There may be one more. A number of other HC grads have served in congress in past decade or two, such as Longley from Maine. The current spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State is P.J. Crowley, also a HC grad. Harry Thomas, another HC grad, was the Director General of the U S Foreign Service, but he was appointed as U S Ambassador to the Philippines by President Obama. HC has always had a strong connection to Washington DC.</p>
<p>HC is also a strong leader in business and medicine as it’s alumni include a Nobel Prize Winner in medicine and several CEO’s across the country.</p>
<p>John Gannon former CIA Deputy Director for Intelligence is a Holy Cross graduate.</p>
<p>HC’s very strong alumni network supports summer internships in the business community and with one of the highest alumni giving ratesin the country, Holy Cross is need-blind for financial aid(same as Duke and the Ivies.)</p>