<p>I have heard big differences of opinion about this school. Some say ND is overrated, people have attitude issue, it is for the elite, connected few, lot of legacies. Others say it attracts top notch students, serious, sincere, spirutial, but also social, sports loving etc. </p>
<p>We arent catholic, but comfortable with the spiritual emphasis. We can "afford" it, but will definitely feel the extra financial hit. S is strongly considering it for 2011. Probably major in business. Location is good.</p>
<p>From Notre Dame’s Mission Statement: “The University is dedicated to the pursuit and sharing of truth for its own sake. As a Catholic university, one of its distinctive goals is to provide a forum where, through free inquiry and open discussion, the various lines of Catholic thought may intersect with all the forms of knowledge found in the arts, sciences, professions, and every other area of human scholarship and creativity.”</p>
<p>From USA Today’s “Faith and Reason” in 2009: “A new front has opened in the continuing turmoil between traditionalist Catholics – who want no one taking the microphone on a Catholic campus who disagrees with Church on any moral question – and those willing to hear a wide range of views and hold on points of disagreement. The battleground: University of Notre Dame’s commencement May 17. President Barack Obama has agreed to be the speaker at the private, Catholic university in South Bend, Ind., and will receive an honorary degree.”</p>
<p>I respect ND and it would otherwise be a great fit for my S, but unfortunately, this is the reason that neither it nor other denominational universities are on his list.</p>
<p>My niece attends Notre Dame, and I don’t believe she has come across any significant Catholic dogma in her studies. And I suspect it would be even less in the Natural Sciences or Engineering.</p>
<p>Knowing the Jesuits, you are more likely to run across Liberal political orthodoxy than anything spiritually related, ala Richard McBrien or Daniel Berrigan. With the possible exception of the issue of abortion - but I doubt that is an emphasis on the campus.</p>
<p>But it is technically a Catholic school, just like Georgetown.</p>
<p>Notre Dame is affiliated with the Congregation of the Holy Cross, not the Jesuits. And it is much more than technically a Catholic School, and it certainly is not just like Georgetown. Yes, our son is a legacy, but he is also a student who is indeed serious, sincere, spirutial, social, and sports loving.
Our son finds ND to provide a first rate education and a vibrant Catholic community there for the asking, but never imposed. He is thrilled by the content and caliber of instruction as a business major, and has enjoyed vast and rich experiences as part of the ND community.
Our family knows that DS is lucky to be able to attend ND.</p>
<p>This was precisely what I was trying to say. For some reason I think you got the impression I was criticizing the school, which is completely the opposite of what I was trying to do.</p>
<p>Also, I am aware that it is not a Jesuit university. Granted, I was very unclear here. My point in bringing up the Jesuits was to say that not all Catholic educators are necessarily in lockstep with the Holy See. Some people consider that a postiive, other’s don’t like it. I certainly don’t consider Richard McBrien, perhaps the best known theology professor at ND, to be some sort of dogmatic traditionalist (and yes, I know he is not a Jesuit -but rather an archdiocesan priest). My point was that the school encourages different points of view, as opposed to what was implied by another poster. </p>
<p>As far as my comparison to Georgetown, I think on that I was fairly clear. They are both Catholic schools. I did not say they were identical.</p>
<p>@bovertine: My post may seem harsher and more personal than I intended. But I did think it was important to clarify that ND embraces its Catholic identity unlike Georgetown that at times seems to flee it. You of course may be very well aware of this, but others like the non Catholic OP may not. I apoligize for not making this clearer.</p>
<p>I know a number of ND grads and kids there, both Catholic and not, and they all loved/love the school. I think it does have a high satisfaction rating among its students. It does have a stronger Catholic identity than a number of Catholic schools,and if someone has issues with that, it is something to personally examine.</p>
<p>Make sure you child thinks long and hard before attending a religious affiliated school. After attending one for four years, I have basically become an atheist.</p>
<p>Appreciate the clarification of Catholic identity. Not too concerned about the Obama speech, since not a traditionalist Catholic. I look favorably on ND for having the open-ness to invite him. </p>
<p>It seems that the Catholic and Jesuit U’s are some of the strongest. S also accepted to Villanova, waiting to hear from BC. (We are protestant, S has many Catholic friends.) Also a couple of publics/honors.</p>
<p>ND has somewhere on the order of 8,000 or so undergrads. I believe any school that is as selective as ND and admits that many students would be hard to characterize as having a uniform religious attitude, let alone an oppressive one. I doubt that your S would have any problems, so long as he is also tolerant.</p>
<p>I know a few of the kids well that have enrolled at ND from our local HS the last few years. What they had in common was that they were passionate, honorable kids - though not necessarily academic elite. They were “team” people, and not self-absorbed.</p>
<p>Yes, ND is a wonderful school full of capable kids. However, the school’s biggest strength may be its alumni influence. Alumni are aware of the financial sacrifice many of the families have made. I went to an alumni meeting, and the loyalty was evident and expressed strongly. </p>
<p>I hope we will be faced with the same decision next year with DS. It will be a family decision as the finances will have long-term implications. A lot will depend on the conviction and motives of DS.</p>
<p>We are Protestant and currently have a sophmore at ND. Didn’t follow ND until our kid showed an interest. We now realize why it’s alumni and friends are so passionate about it-and its not all about the football. Hard to describe but when they say they educate the heart and the mind I think they do that as well as any school in the Country. For a really top notch undergraduate education i can’t think of a better place to go than ND.</p>
<p>Have to agree with previous posts; we have a 2010 grad who, we feel, received a top-notch education (and yes, at a pretty steep price!) Regrets–none. Our student was raised Protestant with one parent Catholic, however, our student never had any formal Catholic training-just exposure only. I think I can confidently say that as one poster mentioned that while many may shy away from the Catholicness of the university, it is definitely not imposed on students. Our student lived in a dorm for all 4 years, just a few doors away from the priest that also resides in the dorm. In the entire 4 years, I can say that not once was our student asked to attend Mass, etc. I have been quite surprised that this occurred…so this can be just a small example of the fact that religion is not pushed on students at Notre Dame. </p>
<p>Alumni are fantastic esp with regards to employment ops as well. We always joke around and say that ND alums are everywhere…we will notice someone with a T-shirt, cap or car tag in some places that you would not expect there to be ND alums.</p>
<p>I guess that in reflection, with our own now an alum, ND’s strength for our student seemed to be the support it offers to all students in making sure their students are educated and graduated. We have spoken with many other parents of kids at different schools and this is the one thing that seems to be quite strong at ND that we have walked away with our own graduate. The faculty and calibur of student were top-notch and I think our own grad would agree that the education was collaborative, not competitive.</p>
<p>As I said in my first comments–regrets, none!</p>
<p>If the environment of a school is what is in question, I suggest that the student spend a day or even two shadowing a student and spending time at the school. We did this with two of the schools that my middle son liked. I was concerned because they were quite a distance from home and very different from the way his high school was. We spent a few days for him to make this determination. He liked both school, both were acceptable, but he fell in love with one. Another son who spent the day at a former all female college just did not like the atmosphere there and crossed it off his list. Ironically, his good friend who was with him, added it to his list when he was just visiting to keep my son company and happened to be here at the time. He ended up not liking the atmosphere of the school on his list which my son liked. </p>
<p>My friend’s family was concerned about the atmosphere at Brandeis where a student was accepted with her best aid package. A two day stay there dispelled those concerns. </p>
<p>My son is going to be doing an overnight at a school where he has been accepted that was not really high on his list but their merit award has attracted his attention. I’m hoping he likes it. The environment, feel , and, yes, it is a Catholic school, how religious it is (which I don’t think will be an issue) will all go into the assessment. Providence College did not make the cut for applications when he visited it last year. </p>
<p>i’ve never heard anything but wonderful things about ND from anyone who went there but they might have prescreened themselves by not considering it if the Catholicism is an issue. Our neighbor across the street deliberately did not apply to any schools that had Catholic or Christian overtones right from the onset because it was an issue to them. So ND would not have even made their list.</p>