Would you send an atheist/non religious student to a Catholic university?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you going to make a decision for a soon to be adult based on what they'll be "exposed to." Surely she knows that some religions don't have female leaders, I disagree with that, but it's not going to harm her to be around people from that religion.

I just want a higher standard than not harm. I think it is important for a young woman to see by some women in the highest leadership positions of the organization at a time of such growth in her life. I went to a Catholic college and I don't think that part of it was helpful to me.

[Anonymous]

Yes, because family was Catholic. As a non-religious/Jew, no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you going to make a decision for a soon to be adult based on what they'll be "exposed to." Surely she knows that some religions don't have female leaders, I disagree with that, but it's not going to harm her to be around people from that religion.

I just want a higher standard than not harm. I think it is important for a young woman to see by some women in the highest leadership positions of the organization at a time of such growth in her life. I went to a Catholic college and I don't think that part of it was helpful to me.

I think it's more important for young women to make their own choices about where they go to college. You don't teach autonomy by taking it away

[Anonymous]

Anyway..the OP wants opinions about catholic colleges so just give your opinion and why instead of attacking my experience.

[Anonymous]

I would. You can choose any or no religion but you got to get out of your echo chamber and see things from other perspectives to understand your own decisions, to defend your point of view and respect others point of views.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure when it's a T20 like Notre Dame with superb student care or even little lesser but great schools like Georgetown or Boston College.

My kid is at ND. Not attending mass.
Doing great so far. Kid is also a minority.

The little ND and Georgetown spat with subtle back and forth digs is amusing but gets silly.

Is Notre Dame ranked higher for undergrad by USNWR? Yes
Is Georgetown ranked higher for undergrad by Forbes? Yes
Is Georgetown ranked higher for law and business school? Yes

They both place well nationally in terms of employment and are well-known everywhere. Can we just stop with the underhanded "little lesser but great schools" type of language back and forth? Shall we ask ourselves WWJD before posting !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does she feel compelled to want to attend a Catholic college/university ?

OP here - none of the earlier responses were me.

She has a list of about 15 schools and three of them are Catholic (Jesuit I think) They are attractive to her because of location, mission (social justice), they aren't horribly hard to get into, and the cost is a little more affordable than some other schools on her list.

As I said, I grew up Catholic (very religious) but it I never would have considered a Catholic college. She has not grown up Catholic and doesn't have any negative associations with the church. To be honest, I don't think she actually understands how conservative many Catholic churches can be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not a good idea, even just for female health care reasons at this point.

Have you already done campus visits to the colleges OP?

No. We cannot afford to make any campus visits, sadly. When and if she is accepted, we will look at the best financial aid offers and try to visit her top two.

[Anonymous]

For us: Maybe a Jesuit college, but no others (and we’re Catholic and kids in Catholic schools k-12).

[Anonymous]

I would send my child to any college they found themselves drawn to as long as they were mature and could be respectful of the mission of the school. I am not Jewish but did my student teaching in a religious school. I willingly followed all of their rules out of respect for the climate they were offering their students. I attended a Catholic college and had no issues with the myriad of students of other faiths because they were 99.9% of the time respectful of the climate they chose to put themselves in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would send my child to any college they found themselves drawn to as long as they were mature and could be respectful of the mission of the school. I am not Jewish but did my student teaching in a religious school. I willingly followed all of their rules out of respect for the climate they were offering their students. I attended a Catholic college and had no issues with the myriad of students of other faiths because they were 99.9% of the time respectful of the climate they chose to put themselves in.

It's not like anyone is saying to be disrespectful or that there are not great professors and excellent educational opportunities at some of these schools.

Whether or not this environment is the best one to choose as opposed to another option is the consideration.

[Anonymous]

I would and I did.

[Anonymous]

The jesuit schools that people actually want to go to are pretty socially liberal (Georgetown, Boston College, Fordham, Villanova, etc)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does she feel compelled to want to attend a Catholic college/university ?

OP here - none of the earlier responses were me.

She has a list of about 15 schools and three of them are Catholic (Jesuit I think) They are attractive to her because of location, mission (social justice), they aren't horribly hard to get into, and the cost is a little more affordable than some other schools on her list.

As I said, I grew up Catholic (very religious) but it I never would have considered a Catholic college. She has not grown up Catholic and doesn't have any negative associations with the church. To be honest, I don't think she actually understands how conservative many Catholic churches can be.

I'm not surprised, this thread is juvenile and kind of offensive.

OP, I think your daughter has great reasons to keep these schools on her list. We've visited a few Jesuit schools, and they definitely talked about their LGBTQ group, lots of social justice-oriented extracurriculars. I think ensuring access to reproductive care if she needs it is a valid concern. Everything else, I'd keep an open mind. You usually have to take a few religion classes, but they are diverse, interesting topics.

[Anonymous]

most top catholic colleges are great (I would not recommend Creighton or Marquette if your kid wants a more liberal crowd)