Will Villanova become more competitive than ND or Georgetown?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, very few have Pope as their career goal. But for those that do, it might swing the needle to Villanova.

Those kids attend the Neuman List schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MAGA turned Catholics against the Pope. Hopefully this won't have an ill effect on Villanova admissions going forward.

Pope Francis turned against traditional Catholics.

There is a lot of hope that this new pope will be more Catholic and less political, given his canon law background, especially among traditional, church attending Catholics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for admissions readers at Villanova as you know there are going to be tons of kids who try unsuccessfully to mention the Pope in their essays. It will become very cliché.

They will see through it. My daughter will get in. She’s an excellent student who has always taken her faith seriously and isn’t jumping on the Pope bandwagon. They will see that in her essays and her ECs. She will choose ND over Villanova if she has that as an option though.

My son who fit this profile and had grade/SAT stats above Villanova's was wait listed.

Don't count your chickens.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Villanova's acceptance rate will decline and its yield will rise.

Georgtown University's popularity soared after winning the NCAA basketball championship in 1984.

Maybe Villanova will change their mascot from a wildcat to a Pope.

[Anonymous]

What is Nd?
I don’t think Georgetown or this ND are that popular. So yes, Villanova will be more popular. Which is good, because they just bought the campus down the street and need to he wears income and students to fill it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for admissions readers at Villanova as you know there are going to be tons of kids who try unsuccessfully to mention the Pope in their essays. It will become very cliché.

They will see through it. My daughter will get in. She’s an excellent student who has always taken her faith seriously and isn’t jumping on the Pope bandwagon. They will see that in her essays and her ECs. She will choose ND over Villanova if she has that as an option though.

It is now ND>Nova>Gtown>HC>BC for Catholic applicants.

This.

I would move Georgetown down one step and Holy Cross up though. Georgetown's hard turn away from Catholicism the past decade or so moves them farther away from being a desired Catholic University.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for admissions readers at Villanova as you know there are going to be tons of kids who try unsuccessfully to mention the Pope in their essays. It will become very cliché.

They will see through it. My daughter will get in. She’s an excellent student who has always taken her faith seriously and isn’t jumping on the Pope bandwagon. They will see that in her essays and her ECs. She will choose ND over Villanova if she has that as an option though.

It is now ND>Nova>Gtown>HC>BC for Catholic applicants.

Notre Dame > Villanova > Catholic University > Holy Cross > Georgetown > Boston

In a few years, Georgetown will drop further on this list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is Nd?
I don’t think Georgetown or this ND are that popular. So yes, Villanova will be more popular. Which is good, because they just bought the campus down the street and need to he wears income and students to fill it.

You are joking, right?

Notre Dame is far and away the Catholic flagship university in the US for Catholic families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Nope. ND>Georgetown>Holy Cross>Nova=BC. Georgetown is most secular and gets perhaps a higher% of non Catholic applicants. ND has the huge endowment and football branding advantage. Holy Cross has niche spot of being top25 LAC. Now Villanova has some great news but needed as US News rank fell to 58 fairly low. BC and Villanova rely on sports success for favorability- football and hoops respectively. But ND, Georgetown, and HC have a larger much older prestige advantage to overcome don’t believe even Pope Leo can overcome.

Nope but closer.

It was ND>Georgetown>BC=Villanova>Holy Cross

Now ND>Georgetown>Villanova>BC>Holy Cross

Nope.

Georgetown is much farther down thst list for Catholics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Nope. ND>Georgetown>Holy Cross>Nova=BC. Georgetown is most secular and gets perhaps a higher% of non Catholic applicants. ND has the huge endowment and football branding advantage. Holy Cross has niche spot of being top25 LAC. Now Villanova has some great news but needed as US News rank fell to 58 fairly low. BC and Villanova rely on sports success for favorability- football and hoops respectively. But ND, Georgetown, and HC have a larger much older prestige advantage to overcome don’t believe even Pope Leo can overcome.

Nope but closer.

It was ND>Georgetown>BC=Villanova>Holy Cross

Now ND>Georgetown>Villanova>BC>Holy Cross

Nope.

Georgetown is much farther down thst list for Catholics.

Perhaps. But it is also the only one non-Catholics will consider so it has a much broader applicant pool. I know plenty of Jews who would apply to Georgetown but none of the others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Nope. ND>Georgetown>Holy Cross>Nova=BC. Georgetown is most secular and gets perhaps a higher% of non Catholic applicants. ND has the huge endowment and football branding advantage. Holy Cross has niche spot of being top25 LAC. Now Villanova has some great news but needed as US News rank fell to 58 fairly low. BC and Villanova rely on sports success for favorability- football and hoops respectively. But ND, Georgetown, and HC have a larger much older prestige advantage to overcome don’t believe even Pope Leo can overcome.

Nope but closer.

It was ND>Georgetown>BC=Villanova>Holy Cross

Now ND>Georgetown>Villanova>BC>Holy Cross

Nope.

Georgetown is much farther down thst list for Catholics.

Perhaps. But it is also the only one non-Catholics will consider so it has a much broader applicant pool. I know plenty of Jews who would apply to Georgetown but none of the others.

And the post is about desirability of Catholic Universities for Catholic students.

[Anonymous]

Facts- in 2025 ranking Villanova fell to 58th, Santa Clara University is 63rd and post Jay Wright the Broncos have a better basketball program. The Pope as a grad is nice but the future success of Villanova basketball under new coach Kevin Willard probably more important as aplplication driver. And yes Willard’s dad is a Holy Cross basketball star and grad from late 50s. HC grads everywhere! BC and Villanova have long way to go to catch Georgetown and Holy Cross and no Catholic school will ever catch Notre Dame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for admissions readers at Villanova as you know there are going to be tons of kids who try unsuccessfully to mention the Pope in their essays. It will become very cliché.

They will see through it. My daughter will get in. She’s an excellent student who has always taken her faith seriously and isn’t jumping on the Pope bandwagon. They will see that in her essays and her ECs. She will choose ND over Villanova if she has that as an option though.

It is now ND>Nova>Gtown>HC>BC for Catholic applicants.

This.

I would move Georgetown down one step and Holy Cross up though. Georgetown's hard turn away from Catholicism the past decade or so moves them farther away from being a desired Catholic University.

Real Catholics don't care for Georgetown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Nope. ND>Georgetown>Holy Cross>Nova=BC. Georgetown is most secular and gets perhaps a higher% of non Catholic applicants. ND has the huge endowment and football branding advantage. Holy Cross has niche spot of being top25 LAC. Now Villanova has some great news but needed as US News rank fell to 58 fairly low. BC and Villanova rely on sports success for favorability- football and hoops respectively. But ND, Georgetown, and HC have a larger much older prestige advantage to overcome don’t believe even Pope Leo can overcome.

Nope but closer.

It was ND>Georgetown>BC=Villanova>Holy Cross

Now ND>Georgetown>Villanova>BC>Holy Cross

Nope.

Georgetown is much farther down thst list for Catholics.

Perhaps. But it is also the only one non-Catholics will consider so it has a much broader applicant pool. I know plenty of Jews who would apply to Georgetown but none of the others.

And the post is about desirability of Catholic Universities for Catholic students.

Yes, but Georgetown will have much better selectivity metrics because of its broader applicant pool.

I work on Wall Street. I would hire a Georgetown grad in a heartbeat over Holy Cross. I know there is the tight Holy Cross network that takes care of itself but otherwise it is perceived as lower. I also know tons of Chaminade, Regis, and Delbarton grads and the ranking I provided is how those schools rank them.

I don't understand why Holy Cross is propped up on DCUM like Bucknell, Northeastern and a few others. Perfectly fine school but their aggressive alums/fans try way to hard to make them seem more impressive than they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Facts- in 2025 ranking Villanova fell to 58th, Santa Clara University is 63rd and post Jay Wright the Broncos have a better basketball program. The Pope as a grad is nice but the future success of Villanova basketball under new coach Kevin Willard probably more important as aplplication driver. And yes Willard’s dad is a Holy Cross basketball star and grad from late 50s. HC grads everywhere! BC and Villanova have long way to go to catch Georgetown and Holy Cross and no Catholic school will ever catch Notre Dame.

I don't get all this talk about Holy Cross. It's a safety for most strong Catholic students. It is a 60% acceptance rate coming out of my daughter's Catholic HS vs. around 26-28% for BC and Villanova. And FWIW, Georgetown is a 40% acceptance rate.