We are essentially half Jewish and half Catholic. The major holidays are observed out of tradition but that is the extent of religious practice. The plan to consider secular schools has been a relative flop for our very social, very high energy, athletic, B+ student with a commendable 27 ACT score.
The Catholic schools seem to always push the buttons, and I won’t deny I got that feeling as well.
So my question is what has been the experience of non-Catholics at Catholic colleges. We already know about core philosophy and theology requirements. We are actually happy about that.
Realize there is a tremendous spectrum when it comes to Catholic colleges. Non-Catholic students will feel much more comfortable at a Jesuit Catholic College than at schools on the Newman list, which adhere much more rigidly to Catholic doctrine and have a higher percentage of Catholic students overall.
Probably 99% of Catholic colleges do not care what your faith background is…or isn’t. No one is pressuring you to convert or “get baptized” or anything.
Sure, there will be religious items around…statues, crosses, stained glass, etc. I don’t know how much that would bother your child.
Notre Dame is probably the most famous in the US that “feels” more Catholic, so that’s probably not a good choice. The few “ultra” ones, like Ave Maria, Franciscan - Steubenville, and a couple others probably won’t be a good fit.
The rest would just be like any other small private, but “with stuff.”
My D is not Catholic, and probably would consider herself a deist at best. She is a freshman at Notre Dame, so it’s still early, but she loves it there and has had no issue whatsoever with the religious aspects of the school. She is a very open-minded kid though.
We have visited Villanova, Providence, St. Michael’s, Siena College, St. Anselm, Fairfield and Stonehill.
The secular schools we all thought would be a good fit were Union, Juniata, Ursinus, Allegheny, Susquehanna and Clark. We are planning to go to Muhlenberg soon. Many of these schools just seemed so flat in energy and purpose they just weren’t memorable at all.
Since we have a daughter, my wife and I do not mind the policies about visitation at a few, and she doesn’t seem to care either. Seeing symbols isn’t an issue either.
We looked at a number of Jesuit schools with my S (and he ended up at Fordham). And like yours, my S grew up in a Jewish/Catholic household where we enjoy traditions of both but did not raise our children in one religion. We did not set out to look for a Catholic school for my S but a number of the Jesuit schools just had what he liked in terms of size of school, location in/near a city, right academic fit etc. He had a great four years at Fordham. Religion was there for those who wanted it but the Jesuits are educators first and foremost and did not push Catholicism on anyone.
I would say that your S would have to be comfortable seeing some religious items on campus, and he would need to be respectful of religion etc… He already seems fine with the required theology/philosophy classes.
Fordham will not work. So many kids from her high school apply that they accept the top 12 or so regardless of the qualifications of #13. Fordham is an automatic wait list based on Naviance data.
Although D was raised in a church environment (Presbyterian, not Catholic), she is decidedly agnostic/skeptical. However, she wound up at Depaul University in Chicago - the largest Catholic university in the US. It’s Vincentian, not Jesuit, so it emphasizes service, and it does require a few religion classes for graduation.
That being said, it is pretty liberal (for example, it offers a minor in LGBTQ studies) and is located in a great part of the city. Very few religious items on campus and no proselytizing (at least in D’s experience). Depaul could be a good fit for your D (B+ GPA and a 27 ACT) if she’s looking for an urban school and if she doesn’t mind going out to Chicago.
Don’t even think about the % of Catholic students. Notre Dame is the de facto flagship Catholic higher education institution in the US. Has a very high number of Catholic students. It is only marginally Catholic in terms of doctrine. Sure, there are priests there and imagery, but the the Catholic identity is more in name than it is in practice. Many of the Catholic kids that go there are what some would consider cultural Catholics rather than religious Catholics. Religious Catholics would tend to go to a more spiritually connected school like Franciscan or Ave Maria or the Catholic University of America.
There are very few Catholic colleges, regardless of the sponsoring institution that would be considered overtly Catholic (in comparison, BYU is definitely an LDS school). Things to look for: if there is no specific code of conduct that requires students to adhere to core beliefs, it will be fine for non-Catholics to attend.
@Torveaux Would the Catholic-Light schools have a strong culture of community service even if they don’t practice the few conservative Catholic principals?
That would mean that you are essentially not any religion. If what you are looking for is a place with a strong mission sense, but not pushing doctrine, try Duquesne and University of Dayton as well. I was impressed with the message at both of them, and they are also large enough to be diverse.
Also, there is a recent thread on this you might check out.
Actually, Villanova, Providence, and Siena are all jesuit. Seems like you found a fit…
I know many people who attended jesuit schools, both 30 years ago and today, east and west coast, and there is not a big religious push, especially if you don’t mind seeing the symbolism. Most of them just require one or two semesters of religion classes as a core requirement, which could be judaism, islam or some spirituality thing.
Some swear that a jesuit education is among the best you can get - despite the religious undertone, they really do care about and focus on learning above all else. And yes, these schools are predominantly populated by social, athletic, B to A- students, many of whom went to parochial schools (a bit of stereotyping there but I’m pretty confident since my overall sample set is pretty darn large). So they do sound like a good fit for your D. Good luck!
@Consolation No but we have seen similar schools in that peer group and the Midwest is not likely to happen. The trips to Juniata, Allegheny, Ursinus and Clark were mostly positive but they followed Providence, Villanova and St. Michael’s so there was no way they could compete on balance.
Siena is Franciscan, not Jesuit. I’ve been there during the summer and seen Franciscans in brown robes belted with rope walking around campus.
Cross-posted: I think that Earlham and The College of Wooster are very different from Juniata and Ursinus academically. A much more intellectual, less vocational vibe. That may or may not suit your D. The kids I’ve known who went to those two schools would never have gone to Juniata et al.
While they may not be what you are looking for, I do want to dispel the notion that the smaller Catholic colleges that adhere to the Magisterium are unwelcoming to non-Catholics. D attends one such college and has both a Hindu and an atheist in her section. They are both very happy and doing well academically, and neither has been pressured to convert in any way. I would just like you to know that there is no Catholic school I know of where your daughter would be unwelcome, regardless of her faith or lack thereof.
AStern, my kid is looking at many of the same schools as a non-Catholic and if you would consider sharing your thoughts about the schools you visited, I would be grateful.
My son is applying to muhlenberg and my daughter was accepted there but declined because she wanted a big school, but it’s a fantastic place with a great vibe. Among the college visits for 3 kids, it is by far my favorite. My son loved Susquehanna and it’s currently his top choice.
@AStern I guess a Jew generally ignorant to the differences b/w Catholic sects shouldn’t be so quick to speak.
However, my comment still stands on Nova and Providence, with respect to quality education and non-pushing the religion as I know a lot of people from those two schools.
