Tell me about College of the Holy Cross?

[Anonymous]

DD is starting to look and is interested in a school a little bigger than the 1500-2000 student SLACs and not geographically isolated. (So many of them are.) Holy Cross seems a good possibility but we don't know that much about it in terms of feel, etc.

[Anonymous]

The College of the Holy Cross is an excellent, academically strong, liberal arts school. It is very traditional in terms of campus feel and vibe. The students are friendly and generally service oriented. It is a Catholic Jesuit school and holds close to those values. It is located about an hour away from Boston in Worcester, MA. Many students are from New England, but there are a good number from the DMV. Most of those who attend from this area went to a Catholic high school. A visit would give your daughter a better feel for the place. It is a great school!

[Anonymous]

I have family members who attended and loved it. It is a small school that is more academically rigorous than most people believe or expect - great preparation for working world and graduate school. I have a niece and nephew who attended and graduated recently. Both went on to graduate school (one right after Holy Cross, the other after working for 2 years).

It's definitely worth a look!

[Anonymous]

They offer a full-ride scholarship every year to a student majoring in classics. My daughter, who loves Latin, is interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They offer a full-ride scholarship every year to a student majoring in classics. My daughter, who loves Latin, is interested.

I have 2 DCs who were finalists for that scholarship; it is extraordinarily competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The College of the Holy Cross is an excellent, academically strong, liberal arts school. It is very traditional in terms of campus feel and vibe. The students are friendly and generally service oriented. It is a Catholic Jesuit school and holds close to those values. It is located about an hour away from Boston in Worcester, MA. Many students are from New England, but there are a good number from the DMV. Most of those who attend from this area went to a Catholic high school. A visit would give your daughter a better feel for the place. It is a great school!

Worcester is the armpit of New England. Awful, ugly city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The College of the Holy Cross is an excellent, academically strong, liberal arts school. It is very traditional in terms of campus feel and vibe. The students are friendly and generally service oriented. It is a Catholic Jesuit school and holds close to those values. It is located about an hour away from Boston in Worcester, MA. Many students are from New England, but there are a good number from the DMV. Most of those who attend from this area went to a Catholic high school. A visit would give your daughter a better feel for the place. It is a great school!

Worcester is the armpit of New England. Awful, ugly city.

How far removed is the Holy Cross campus from the downtown? I always believed that it is basically on the outskirts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The College of the Holy Cross is an excellent, academically strong, liberal arts school. It is very traditional in terms of campus feel and vibe. The students are friendly and generally service oriented. It is a Catholic Jesuit school and holds close to those values. It is located about an hour away from Boston in Worcester, MA. Many students are from New England, but there are a good number from the DMV. Most of those who attend from this area went to a Catholic high school. A visit would give your daughter a better feel for the place. It is a great school!

Worcester is the armpit of New England. Awful, ugly city.

,
I definitely have stories about the Worcester Greyhound station from back in the day when I was in college in western mass, but I have to say that Worcester is looking a lot better than it once did, and there seem to be a lot more restaurants and amenities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The College of the Holy Cross is an excellent, academically strong, liberal arts school. It is very traditional in terms of campus feel and vibe. The students are friendly and generally service oriented. It is a Catholic Jesuit school and holds close to those values. It is located about an hour away from Boston in Worcester, MA. Many students are from New England, but there are a good number from the DMV. Most of those who attend from this area went to a Catholic high school. A visit would give your daughter a better feel for the place. It is a great school!

Worcester is the armpit of New England. Awful, ugly city.

+1. I’d rather be in an isolated location than that hellhole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The College of the Holy Cross is an excellent, academically strong, liberal arts school. It is very traditional in terms of campus feel and vibe. The students are friendly and generally service oriented. It is a Catholic Jesuit school and holds close to those values. It is located about an hour away from Boston in Worcester, MA. Many students are from New England, but there are a good number from the DMV. Most of those who attend from this area went to a Catholic high school. A visit would give your daughter a better feel for the place. It is a great school!

Worcester is the armpit of New England. Awful, ugly city.

+1. I’d rather be in an isolated location than that hellhole.

Let me know where that is so I can avoid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The College of the Holy Cross is an excellent, academically strong, liberal arts school. It is very traditional in terms of campus feel and vibe. The students are friendly and generally service oriented. It is a Catholic Jesuit school and holds close to those values. It is located about an hour away from Boston in Worcester, MA. Many students are from New England, but there are a good number from the DMV. Most of those who attend from this area went to a Catholic high school. A visit would give your daughter a better feel for the place. It is a great school!

Worcester is the armpit of New England. Awful, ugly city.

+1. I’d rather be in an isolated location than that hellhole.

I visited Holy Cross as a high school senior, along with a friend whose Catholic parents made visiting Holy Cross a condition of allowing us to drive to Penn and MIT. It didn’t leave a great impression - Worcester was indeed a pit, the locals called the school “The Cross,” the campus was kind of dull, and the students mostly seemed to be Catholic school kids from New England.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is starting to look and is interested in a school a little bigger than the 1500-2000 student SLACs and not geographically isolated. (So many of them are.) Holy Cross seems a good possibility but we don't know that much about it in terms of feel, etc.

My impression is that it has ultra-loyal alumni who will make sure alumni have jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The College of the Holy Cross is an excellent, academically strong, liberal arts school. It is very traditional in terms of campus feel and vibe. The students are friendly and generally service oriented. It is a Catholic Jesuit school and holds close to those values. It is located about an hour away from Boston in Worcester, MA. Many students are from New England, but there are a good number from the DMV. Most of those who attend from this area went to a Catholic high school. A visit would give your daughter a better feel for the place. It is a great school!

Worcester is the armpit of New England. Awful, ugly city.

+1. I’d rather be in an isolated location than that hellhole.

I visited Holy Cross as a high school senior, along with a friend whose Catholic parents made visiting Holy Cross a condition of allowing us to drive to Penn and MIT. It didn’t leave a great impression - Worcester was indeed a pit, the locals called the school “The Cross,” the campus was kind of dull, and the students mostly seemed to be Catholic school kids from New England.

Thanks for the 25+ year old input. It’s not super helpful, but thanks anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is starting to look and is interested in a school a little bigger than the 1500-2000 student SLACs and not geographically isolated. (So many of them are.) Holy Cross seems a good possibility but we don't know that much about it in terms of feel, etc.

My impression is that it has ultra-loyal alumni who will make sure alumni have jobs.

That wouldn't surprise me. I have 2 friends who went there. They loved it and were able to use their network for jobs.

[Anonymous]

Worcester is looking remarkably better. Other similar schools in that geographic region are Assumption, Merrimack, Regis, Stonehill, St. Anselms and further out Fairfield, St. Michael’s, Sacred Heart, Salve Regina and Providence.