I don’t think looking at “required chapel” is a good criterion but rather “how many students/what percentage students attend chapel” at a college where it’s not mandatory. That will tell you much more in terms of how Christian the college is. You want a college where students aren’t there because they have no choice but rather because they really want to be there.
Look at Calvin and Hope. Both have excellent reputation for Christian pre-med students (in addition to Wheaton).
With regards to BYU and the students I know, many from my school are members of the faith prior to going. It’s a common school for LDS students to consider. The other two were not, but they were Christian.
I’m in the east but typical schools kids around here consider are:
Messiah
Eastern
Taylor
Grove City
Geneva
Covenant
Cedarville
Wheaton
Calvin
Liberty
Union (TN)
Those are the ones coming to mind at the moment anyway.
Wheaton, Grove City, Covenant, and Calvin attract more higher level students than the others. The first three of those also seem to attract the higher level more conservative in beliefs “want a Christian school themselves” students. Cedarville, Geneva, Union, and Liberty are also conservative. Eastern might be too liberal for what you are looking for. Messiah and Taylor are probably more in the middle - still solidly Christian (not only Christian in name) - just perhaps not as conservative.
I should note that a bit of this comes from talking with students and hearing their assessments, though my oldest also is a Covenant alum. I have not been to any of the others on that list myself. I just talk with seniors about where they are applying, where they are accepted, and where they’ve opted to go as part of my interacting with them.
I thought this morning that you might also want to consider Palm Beach Atlantic in your list of schools. I don’t know anyone personally who went there, but it’s one we visited with my youngest son while in FL. It’s definitely a Christian school with the vibe I think you are looking for. The other students seemed quite pleasant and genuine in their faith too. Unlike Pensacola, they are accredited.
My guy ended up choosing Eckerd because at the time he was looking for Marine Science and they are the top school for it (or at least among the top schools for it). Eckerd lists itself as being Presbyterian, but it’s in name only - few students are openly Christian. Even with that, my lad has found a great group of believing friends to go along with his non-believing friends. FWIW, he’s glad he chose an essentially secular school because he feels it’s made his faith stronger and more accurately represents the world we live in. My Covenant College lad enjoyed his time too, so I don’t want to diss on Christian colleges as much as say that Christians definitely have choices. If Eckerd (Top 10 in Reefer Madness) can have decent a decent Christian club, it’s likely in pretty much any school.
Calvin is a very good Christian school. My son was accepted with a modest FA but we are finding it difficult to raise the difference as international.
I live in the Westmont/Pepperdine/Biola/Azusa general area. Academically, I think you would get a very good education at all the SoCal schools you mentioned. I know students who have attended each of them, and who have done very well post-graduation.
If you want faith-based, Biola and Westmont would probably be the way to go in the SoCal area. Pepperdine is faith-based on paper and there are certainly very sincere Christians there, but it is also a gorgeous Malibu school for rich kids (not that everyone is rich, but it’s kind of a destination school.) You would need a car to get around, as it’s kind of on a hill not close to anything.
Azusa is definitely the most diverse in all senses of the word. You will find more liberal students there.
All the schools require chapels, or “convos”. Not sure about the required number for each school.
If you want a really interesting perspective on Liberty University, read “The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University,” by Kevin Roose. It’s the story of a non-believer (actually he’s not really a complete non-believer, he’s more of a secular, non-practicing Christian) who attends Liberty undercover for one semester to learn about a foreign culture that is very different from the liberal culture at Brown University, the school he really attends. Roose is an extremely talented writer, and he is very fair and balanced in the way he describes the people and classes at Liberty. This book actually strengthened my faith and I think it makes Liberty look pretty good!
chris17mom, I’m going to check the book out at the library. Maybe get check the kindle store if it’s not available. I really like Liberty University, but I have heard some negatives about the school that I hope will be addressed in the book.
Honestly, the main problem with Liberty is the name and the perception that every student who goes there believes what they say to the point of not tolerating others who don’t share the beliefs/values. It’s not true. Some of the most intolerant folks I’ve come across didn’t (and wouldn’t) go to Liberty, but that’s the perception. The kids who actually attend have a wide variety of beliefs, some very mainstream or liberal. I’ve never seen a student rejected from Liberty, so it’s an easy school for those with low stats to get accepted to (also not a plus with some employers and associated with the name) and their financial/merit aid can attract some very strong students (though not many from our school as ALL schools want those students - some just offer more money, etc). All that to say they attract a variety.
Nonetheless, the perception is there among many who hire and/or accept students for grad/professional schools, so you need to decide if it matters to you. The perception is really unlikely to go away.
According to College Navigator, Liberty had an acceptance rate of only 24% for Fall 2016. They reject literally tens of thousands of applicants every year.
However, there is a catch: that statement only applies to Liberty’s residential programs. Liberty is also a very successful player in online education, and the online enrollment (around 110,000) now dwarfs the residential enrollment (around 15,000). The online program is basically open admission (like a community college), and it is widely believed to be less academically rigorous than the residential program, even within the Liberty community.
It's fine, of course, for a university to have different academic divisions with different levels of selectivity and different academic standards. However, Liberty is unusual in that it makes no formal distinction between their traditional and online degrees. Some people suspect that the potential value of a Liberty traditional degree is compromised by the larger (and growing) numbers of Liberty online degrees in the marketplace, which are seemingly equivalent, yet which do not actually represent the same degree of selectivity or academic rigor.I keep reading that stat of a low acceptance rate for residential students - and have still yet to see one rejected from our statistically average public high school (meaning our average SAT is around 1000). Count me a disbeliever in the stat. I wonder if they get “spam” applications from kids who don’t really want to go there? I’ve no idea - just guessing - but I know what I see at our school.
^^^ Just taking a quick look at College Board, they say there were 14,567 applicants with 5741 admitted in 2016/2017, so hardly tens of thousands rejected to begin with…though just under 9000 by those numbers. Then I have to wonder about those rejected still. Did they truly apply or just start an application and get it counted?
Their average SAT is listed as 1040-1240 with essentially half in that 500-599 slot (40% for reading, 50% for math). In that range I’ve yet to see anyone rejected from our students or the homeschoolers I know who applied. I suppose it’s possible that several apply with really low numbers. I wouldn’t know the reasons. I just know I’ve yet to see anyone rejected. YMMV
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/liberty-university
My source is the US Dept. of Education’s “College Navigator” website, which reports 35,627 applicants at Liberty and a 24% acceptance rate for Fall 2016. This implies a 76% rejection rate, which would be 27,077 rejections. https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=liberty&s=all&id=232557
College Navigator reports a lower range of 950-1190 for Fall 2016, although this is for enrolled students (not accepted students).
^However some of these students could be rejected due to not passing the “creed” and “faith” aspects of their application.
Entrance difficulty is classified as “minimally difficult” as per the CDS (data given by the university itself) which would indicate the criteria for selection aren’t academic. Half the class was outside the top quarter of their HS class, with 22% in the bottom quarter.
And if this were true, I’d expect to see it happening IRL just as I do for every other college I can think of, esp selective colleges. Since I don’t see it, my first guess is something unusual is going on “cooking” or skewing the data. You can believe what you wish.
I see more of what MYOS1634 reports - very minimally difficult - so minimal I’ve yet to see a rejection even with average or a little lower stats.
You can apply for free and submit the essay and letter of recommendation at a llater date. They have large preview weekend events (bussing in as far away as Canada) where they offer incentives/drawings for applying on the spot. Then they follow up frequently to see if you plan to complete the application. Wondering if those incomplete applications add to the skewing of statistics.
^^^ I’ve wondered things like that too. Something just doesn’t match, but I haven’t delved into it. I just keep it as a tidbit of info in my mind. With some stats they seem selective, but in reality, they aren’t. We have kids from our school who get accepted there pretty much every year. Some attend. Those who have and who have come back to report like it.
I live in Virginia and am a member of an evangelical, non-denominational church (i.e., Liberty’s kind of people :)). I don’t know a single person who has been rejected by Liberty. At all. I honestly don’t know how they arrive at their 24% (or whatever it s) figure, other than playing games with the numbers.
A friend’s D who is interested in medical school chose Messiah because, according to her research, it had better stats than comparable Christian schools in our area for med school acceptance. However, I was shocked at how little merit the girl received for being a very high stat applicant with interesting ECs. Her net cost was $35K and I think her costs would have been much lower elsewhere. But she was set on Messiah after the research she had done and only applied there.
We visited Grove City and it was very nice and everyone we met was helpful, but D immediately felt like she wouldn’t fit in. All schools have their different vibes and I think that can be more intense at faith-based colleges, so I would really recommend visiting.