<p>I'm a Roman Catholic, but since I made my confirmation I have not had much to do with the church. I am looking into Wheaton (I am currently at a community college, I was supposed to go to a Big Ten school, but decided very last minute not to go). I know it is very selective, and from what I have read, they are really faith based. My questions main question are: How difficult will it be to be admitted as a transfer student(I am looking to transfer after two years of community college, so, the fall of 2013)? Is it true that transfer students do not receive as much financial aid as a first-year student? Will I feel "out of place" at Wheaton given my religious background? How faith based are they-do they include their beliefs in every aspect of education-is it focused more on applying what they are learning to their religion? Also, I live very close to the campus (about ten minutes away), I would be commuting to school.</p>
<p>Generally at highly selective places, Wheaton being no exception, do not accept many transfers. I’m sure the stats are available. The reason’s economic. Much preferable to admit a potential 4 year paying student than a 2 or 3. Furthermore, at highly residential places like Wheaton, transfers can be both disruptive and have difficulty in assimilating to the “community.” But it is possible. Your view on FA, at least merit aid, is more right than wrong. I don’t believe catholicism per se would lead to any discomfort. Conversely, you will find many, perhaps most students to be either serious Christians and/or coming from homes that have worked at nurturing their faith. Wheaton is very serious about its faith basis, unlike many so-called Christian colleges. Don’t know what their policies are toward commuting students. Check out their website and you’ll likely get some real insight to your good questions, valid concerns. Here’s hoping it works out for you. Pray genuinely for God’s guidance and blessing, and however and wherever will be perfect place for you.</p>
<p>Wheaton has a medium level of selectivity (~60% for incoming freshmen), though I’m not sure what the stats are for transfers. However, I know people who have transferred in, and they seem to have gotten along fine. The community is quite warm/welcoming, so I personally don’t think assimilating would be a problem, but I suppose it could depend on individual personality types, etc. Most students do live in dorms, though, which could have an impact.
The school is quite faith-oriented (as opposed to just being “religious”–people at the school actually care about Christianity). Chapel is held for the entire student body three times a week. As for being Catholic, I do not think that that should cause you any concern. The school is nondenominational, and while a majority of the students are probably Protestant, the student body is also quite accepting of people of all sorts of denominations. I know people who are Calvinist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, and, yes, Catholic, who go/have gone to Wheaton.</p>
<p>I would agree on much of the above but the admissions selectivity. Princeton Review lists @ 94. In any case it is not at “a medium level of selectivity.” There is obviously much more to that assessment than apps vs. admits. Informed applicants don’t apply to Wheaton frivolously. Token Christians, oxymoron as that may be, are not great candidates for admission and/or a desirable experience.</p>
<p>A few points to consider about Wheaton:</p>
<p>(1) They do take a fair number of transfers. The current numbers at collegeboard.org show that they accepted 86 of 148 transfer applicants, for an acceptance rate of 60%. This is only slightly lower than their regular acceptance rate of 66%. </p>
<p>(2) If you had very good grades in community college and your SATs are within the Wheaton range, then it’s certainly worth applying. Schools like Wheaton may even prefer transfer candidates from 2-year schools, rather than from other 4-year schools. If you want to transfer from one 4-year school to another, then this may raise questions, because it means that somehow the first school wasn’t working out. But if you did well at a 2-year school, then there are no questions; it’s obvious that you would want to transfer to a 4-year school.</p>
<p>(3) Be aware that while Wheaton may admit Catholic students, they do not allow Catholics to serve as faculty members. A popular Wheaton philosophy professor who converted to Catholicism a few years ago was [url=<a href=“http://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/01/to-be-a-christian-college--1]fired[/url”>http://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/01/to-be-a-christian-college--1]fired[/url</a>] for doing so.</p>
<p>Understandably. Like it or otherwise, and it’s been discussed on this forum ad naseum, Protestant and Catholic theologies are inconsistent with each other. And so it is, rightly or otherwise, that there are Catholic and Christian colleges. I’ve no idea when, why, or how this has evolved, i.e. Protestant colleges being collectively referred to as Christian colleges, but the categories, like the theologies are fully disparate to all but the uninitiated and/or uninformed. Venturing a guess in light of some of the writings of purist, conservative Christian apologists, some and perhaps many would argue that Catholic theology does not fully coincide with the teachings of Christ and biblical authors. If others have explanation of this, illumine readers.</p>
<p>Back on point re: Wheaton, suggesting Mary merits sainthood beyond defining that as all Christian Believers or that one can “earn” one point toward Heaven or that the Pope is an essential celestial conduit or even necessary in Jesus new covenant scheme of Christianity might be problemmatic in Theology 101.</p>
<p>Undoubtedly, Wheaton faculty are called to serious account in knowing, living, and teaching … the truth. Those and other theological aspects fail the truth test.</p>