<p>the overseas travel and connections is not something to be underestimated, which is why I would drop ND down the list. For most convenience, that leaves the east coast, with Boston College (closest and most convenient, counting local travel to campus) and Georgetown (numerous flights to Dulles).</p>
<p>Not many (if any?) connections to Worchester (sorry, HC), and Philly doesn’t have as much international traffic as does Boston and DC. Obviously, JFK has plenty of air traffic, but Fordham is more of a suitcase college than the other three.</p>
<p>As I previously pointed out (post #39^), Holy Cross is one hour by a very reasonably priced shared van from Boston Logan Airport. It can easily take that long to get to JFK from Manhattan, or to LAX from parts of LA. Yet no one would say Manhattan and LA lack international air service. The reason there aren’t connections to Worcester is that people in Worcester use Boston Logan as their local airport.</p>
<p>but that IS the point; when I wrote connections, I meant regularly-scheduled ground transportation. Expecting to “share” a van to the distant 'burbs after a 6/7 hour international flight is akin to asking for divine intervention. </p>
<p>The subway system is connected to JFK and LAX, so local ground transport is available 24/7. But for the same reason, I would not recommend colleges to internationals that were distant from those airports, however. Chapman is just too hard to get to by public transit from LAX and even John Wayne.</p>
<p>Of course, since I was nonplussed when I visited HC, I can’t recommend it anyway.</p>
<p>So, JackUK, how does your child feel about the Greek Life?
If Greek Life dominates, i.e. “Fratty” how will he feel about that?
It is my understanding that Villanova is “Fratty”. </p>
<p>Boston College has no Greek Life, however there is a housing shortage & you must live off campus for one year is the way I understand it. (there are about 6-7 BC alum in my H’s family, including him). We attend BC athletic events. </p>
<p>There are other lesser known Catholic schools in New England: Emmanuel, Fairfield, Stonehill, Anna Maria, etc.</p>
<p>^ IIRC, it’s not so quick and seamless to get from Dulles to Georgetown, either. The Metro shuts down at midnight, and you need to take a bus from Dulles even to get to the Metro. And there’s no Metro stop in Georgetown anyway, so if you’re going by train it’s bus-train-bus, a real pain. Georgetown does operate a (shared ride!) shuttle to the nearest Metro stations but that also shuts down at midnight and doesn’t operate at all on Saturday mornings or all day Sunday. There are scheduled express buses from Dulles to downtown DC (L’Enfant Plaza), but then you need to transfer to a local bus (or two?) to get from there to Georgetown, or get on the Metro at L’Enfant Plaza then transfer from the Metro to a local bus. Dulles is quite a distance out of DC so a taxi is quite expensive. Given the alternatives, I suspect most Georgetown students flying into/out of Dulles would use . . . a safe, convenient, and relatively inexpensive shared ride shuttle! FWIW, the Georgetown Admissions website doesn’t even bother giving public transportation directions to/from Dulles; they have public transportation options for the other two airports, but for Dulles they recommend either biting the bullet and paying for a taxi, or renting a car. </p>
<p>So I don’t know, bluebayou, if you’re going to rule out Holy Cross on transportation grounds, you might need to rule out Georgetown as well. </p>
<p>As for not liking the school, that’s another matter.</p>
<p>If you actually want a Catholic intellectual atmosphere…go to either the University of Dallas or Thomas Aquinas College (I think that’s what is called). If you don’t care about if a “Catholic” school is actually Catholic, and are more into prestige, go with a higher ranked school like Notre Dame or Georgetown.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard that Boston College has a housing shortage and students must live off campus for one year. I know that some kids are guaranteed three years and others four years of housing, but this is nothing new. Four kids from our town’s high school are heading off to BC in the fall and they all received 4 years guaranteed housing. My D and the majority of her friends also have 4 years guaranteed housing as well. </p>
<p>After BC purchased the Brighton Campus (143 acres/5 buildings) from the Archdiocese of Boston in 2004, expansion plans were started. In 2008, BC launched its 10-year institutional master plan which calls for $800 million in construction and renovation over the next ten years. They plan to build 4 new academic buildings on Middle campus (Stokes is already underway), a new facility for the Graduate School of Social Work and the Connell School of Nursing, construction of an integrated science building (for scientific research and teaching), and on Lower campus there are plans set for the construction of an enlarged recreation complex, a new University Center for student organizations and dining, the expansion and upgrading of the present Robsham Theatre, creation of additional athletic fields, construction of the Brighton Athletics Center and the development of a Brighton Campus Fine Arts district. </p>
<p>Regarding post #39 "I’m not even so sure about Villanova; I know there’s a pretty active campus life, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the Philadelphia/New Jersey kids go home on the weekends. "</p>
<p>Villanova definitely NOT a suitcase school . very few kids go home on weekends and there tend to be many visitors in dorms on weekends.</p>
<p>SLUMOM - My son is somewhat introverted and a bit of a floater (he gets along with mist of the boys in his year, but has few close friends). Therefore, he would probably be better off at a uni where frars are not a big part of campus life. I will leave it to him to decide whether or not to join a frat, but my wife and I would be happier if he chose a school where frats are not particularly strong. I believe that BC and Georgetown are not big frat schools, so he probably fit in better there. Thanks.</p>
<p>Don’t forget Notre Dame. It seems to fit what you are looking for, ca. 8000 undergraduates, no frats. Students can fly into O’Hare or Midway, then take a smaller plane to South Bend Regional Airport (about 15 minutes). Does it have to be a Catholic school because there are so many good LACs out there like Williams, Bowdoin, Haverford etc. Lots to choose from.</p>
<p>Collegecarla, Thanks. We will strongly consider ND also, although we need to get our heads around taking another flight or train from O’Hare to South Bend. We will also consider some of the non-Catholic LACs.</p>
<p>FWIW, Dulles Airport is a simple cab ride away from Georgetown. However it’s not cheap, so those on a budget often take the SuperShuttle van or the Washington Flyer Coach Service or better yet, get a friend to drive them. Meanwhile National Airport is located on the Metro line.</p>
<p>ND and Holy Cross have the strongest alumni networks of the top Catholic schools with HC having one of the best alumni giving rates in the country at 55%. The ND campus is large and fall football weekends are tops in South Bend.</p>
<p>Thanks JackUK and Bluebayou for the info. It seems you helped me more :)</p>
<p>About your criteria:</p>
<p>1) Quality of Education, preferably within a Liberal Arts Curriculum</p>
<p>I’m not sure, but I think most if not all Jesuit Catholic schools have a rigorous required curriculum in a broad range of subjects that can span for 2-4 years. But I can’t deny that Holy Cross would be better in this regard as it is a Liberal Arts College, and would therefore have a Liberal Arts Curriculum. :)</p>
<p>2) Overall quality of life/campus environment</p>
<p>I think it depends to OP’s wants though. You can go Fordham, where the environment is the Bronx- intimidating but most students say you get over it and you enjoy more of the city because of it. Gtown- Two letters, DC. If you’re a political freak, and would want to have internships, I think going to Gtown, would really open more doors for you. Plus, DC is a great town(from what I’ve heard). BC’s kinda suburban though, bad for some good for others. Notre Dame- it’s either you love it or you hate it. You love that it’s a tightly-knit community or you hate that it’s in the middle of nowhere. </p>
<p>3) Distance/accessability from an international airport</p>
<p>No idea :(</p>
<p>4) Size - definitely under 10,000 undergrads</p>
<p>I’ve got some estimates but it would be better to consult the college website or even wikipedia :)). </p>
<p>Hope I contributed a little to your search. You’d never go wrong with most of these schools so good luck!</p>