<p>How would you rank Catholic colleges in terms of academics/selectivity, which is considered the best? (Parent) considering these with one kid eventually headed off to college.</p>
<p>Georgetown and Notre Dame are the top two. Boston College is third and Fordham is probably fourth. Other good Catholic universities are Catholic University (DC), Santa Clare University, Villanova, University of San Diego, St. John's University (NY).</p>
<p>Be advised that there is a distinct difference between those Catholic colleges that are Jesuit, and those that are not. The Jesuit colleges are definitely more liberal in their thinking, not necessarily alligned with the Pope, if that makes a difference to you.
Holy Cross is also another excellent one with an outstanding reputation academically.</p>
<p>"The Jesuit colleges are definitely more liberal in their thinking, not necessarily alligned with the Pope."</p>
<p>...all catholic schools are "alligned with the Pope" - jesuit or not. thats why Georgetown - the big jesuit bullwark of knowledge, doesn't distribute condoms to its students.</p>
<p>I don't know why people A) think that Jesuits are the radical left wingers (they're not) and B) that catholic schools are any different from non catholic schools. the only difference is that there are <em>shock</em> some priests, probably a religion requirement, and some religious art/architecture. big whoop.</p>
<p>Re Post #2:</p>
<p>What about Holy Cross?</p>
<p>In no particular order:</p>
<p>Marquette University
Iona
Siena
Manhattan College
Seton Hall</p>
<p>...many others I just have to recheck my NCAA pool.</p>
<p>Jesuit (roughly in order of reputation):
Georgetown
Boston College
Holy Cross
Fordham,
Marquette,
Loyola (Chicago)
St. Louis U,
Santa Clara
Xavier (ohio)
U of San Francisco</p>
<p>Non-Jesuit (roughly in order of reputation):
Notre Dame
Villanova
Providence
DePaul
Catholic U.
Seton Hall
St. Johns (NY)</p>
<p>Gtown, Notre Dame, Holy Cross, BC, Villanova. Holy Cross is the only highly ranked Catholic LAC while the rest are all fine universities with various graduate departments. ND and Holy Cross also have the highest alumni giving rates-around 50%.</p>
<p>I'd rank it roughly:</p>
<p>Georgetown
Notre Dame</p>
<p>Boston College</p>
<p>Holy Cross</p>
<p>Villanova
Loyola (MD)
Fordham
Providence College
Fairfield University
Depaul
Marquette
U. of Portland
Gonzaga</p>
<p>Sacred Heart
Assumption College
U. Scranton
Xavier
St Johns
Stonehill
Merrimack
Salve Regina
Canisius
Creighton</p>
<p>There is no reliable ranking of Catholic colleges (that I know of anyway) separate from the rankings of all colleges. All you will get on here is hear-say or rumor or personal opinion (based on what?!).</p>
<p>If you want to see where they actually fall in the rankings, just subscribe (for a cheap $15) to the US News premium online college site and look at all the rankings, then pick out the Catholic colleges.</p>
<p>That US News web site is really well worth the money. It will also show you (in an organized manner) a lot of good information for every school, such as the average test scores, the average merit scholarships, etc etc. </p>
<p>Often just looking at rankings masks important stuff that eventually becomes an issue: affordability, selectivity, size, rural/urban/suburban, geographic location, student teacher ratio, majors/minors, etc.</p>
<p>Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Thank you weenie; this ranking obsession gets nauseating - a post WWII phenomena. There is very good information in the USWN data, but as many have said over and over on CC, pay some attention to the rankings, but make your choice based upon fit. There is a good college, for example, that is not on any of the above lists; a very unique LAC, and one that is rising in the rankings. I am talking about St Johns in MN (not NY and not the non-Catholic St Johns in MD and NM. Some of the best small colleges in the country are not in the northeast and get little press here on CC.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for all of this information and taking the time to type all of ths lists. This is very helpful!</p>
<p>There are some Jesuit institutions in which the priests teaching certain classes were defrocked (Catholic U a long time ago, also a few years back at BC there was a nun who taught a liberal, feminist class and I believe the class had to be cancelled), because the classes being taught were definitely NOT alligned with the Pope. All I am advising is, if this is important to you, than you may want to look into it.</p>
<p>Creighton University</p>
<p>Catholic colleges with the highest SAT scores:
Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College, Thomas Aquinas College (CA)--with average scores (CR+M) in the 1300-1400+ range.</p>
<p>Catholic colleges that conservative Catholics consider to have Catholic culture (students and faculty follow church teaching): Christendom College (VA), Franciscan University of Steubenville (OH), University of Dallas, Thomas More College (NH), Ave Maria U. (FL) Thomas Aquinas College (CA)--A couple new ones: Southern Catholic College (GA) and John Paul the Great (CA).</p>
<p>One other poster has mentioned Loyola of Maryland (Jesuit, of course). "College compare" at the CollegeBoard site shows them about equivalent to Villanova and Fordham in terms of SAT scores. And they gave my D a generous scholarship!</p>
<p>THE TOP 5 CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES:</p>
<p>Georgetown
Notre Dame
Boston College
Holy Cross
University of San Diego</p>
<p>Honorable Mention: Fordham, Villanova, Santa Clara</p>
<p>Among the top 4, Georgetown, Holy Cross, and Boston College are all Jesuit schools.</p>
<p>I've heard good things about Manhattan College, a "Lasallien" catholic college. It's small but GC's have said it's a good college with some strong programs and although "not as catholic" as it used to be. A young man that wanted to be a priest was happy there but there were many students that never went to church, etc. or were catholic. It's there if you want it and maybe more strongly than at Fordham.
I wondered if anyone has visited, everytime we plan too something seems to happen. March is are next date, if anyone has and cares to share their thoughts, feel free! It's more of a "hidden gem" in some books, and I've read good reviews from students and others if I search, but it's a very "quiet college" and shadowed by Fordham and others nearby.</p>
<p>sunshadow,
I'm curious as to what the 'feminist nun' to whom you referred to at BC, was teaching, what topic, that the class was cancelled? What exactly was the problem or what did she say that offended? You can PM me through this board if you'd prefer. Thanks.</p>