Would I be stupid for turning down the chance to do my year abroad at Notre Dame compared to northea

Someone who is not religious may not enjoy being at Notre Dame.

Also, as a study-abroad student, prestige doesn’t matter. You want to go where you’ll be able to study your coursework and be in close proximity to historical sites.

I would say Mason or Richmond would be some of the best choices from that list. I don’t know Temple that well, but from people’s descriptions, that definitely would be a good option too. Mason has the easiest transportation to DC, since there is a campus shuttle directly to the metro. From Richmond, you can take the Amtrak train to DC; it’s about 3 hours I believe. The Amtrak station is very close to campus (you can actually hear the trains at night on campus).

I’m actually a current student at Richmond, but I live very close to Mason (I have all my life) and took a couple summer courses there. In terms of academics, Richmond is much more rigorous and is very strong, especially in the humanities and international studies (its also fairly selective; approx 30% acceptance rate). Mason is still primarily a commuter school, but they have a growing community of students staying in the dorms.