Opinions about attending a religious college
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Anonymous
| Our family is Christian, with some family members that our super conservative, while others(like DD) don't really care for it. She does however attend church and her morals and values are based upon her Christian upbringing. she got into St. John's in NY, she really likes that it's diverse and has a business school. The large size and distance from home are some concerns, however her biggest issue is that she knows nothing about the Catholic faith. Would she feel out of place here? |
Anonymous
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OP I don't know about St. John's so can't comment on it. But a key part of my college experience was the church I went to. Is your DD interested in finding a church (preferably one with other young people) to attend? This would help her feel grounded/challenged in her own faith while she learned about this branch of Christianity that's not familiar to her.
The denomination she's coming from will also impact how she understands and fits into a Catholic institution and culture. |
Anonymous
| St johns is all about basketball. That is their true religion. |
Anonymous
| St Johns is excellent. I would send my kids there and we aren't christian. Make sure you can afford it. |
Anonymous
she's not really interested in church at all . We attend as a family, but she would rather not. Of course, I would like her to. But she says it can be too uptight. |
Anonymous
| Most Catholic colleges are very nominally Catholic anymore. I think less than half of the students at St John's identify themselves as Catholic, so I doubt she'd stick out much. Unless she's from a denomination that views Catholics as evil/cannibals/heretics or whatever (and it sounds like she's personally not) I doubt she'd have much of an issue. |
Anonymous
| My non catholic DC applied to both Georgetown and Boston College and was not bothered by the religious angle (stronger at BC than Gtown). In fact he likes the Jesuit philosophy and emphasis on service at both. They both have religion requirements as part of the core curriculum but it can be filled with philosophy/comparative religion type classes. |
Anonymous
| Isn't St. John's largely a commuter school for students from the outer boroughs of NYC? Not tring to be snarky, just never saw it as a school that people would travel a few hundred miles away from home to attend. |
Anonymous
It's a Catholic university? Yes? Catholic universities are really different from what you're thinking of as a "religious college." They do have standards for behavior and they usually require at least one religion class and an ethics class, but they tend to be very, very moderate in their approach to student life. They also tend to view their mission as embracing many of the more liberal aspects of the church's mission - helping the poor, proving healthcare, promoting justice. As long as she can tolerate a class on Christianity and an ethics class as part of her gen ed requirements, she should be perfectly comfortable. For a kid that's not very religious and a parent this is pretty religious, I think a Catholic university would make a great compromise. |
Anonymous
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Wife and I are atheists, and we would send our kids to a catholic college if it was the right fit academically, etc.
In comparison, no way in H-E-Double Hockey Sticks would we give an evangelical college the time of day, much less our money. Those places are teabag training grounds, nothing more. |
Anonymous
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I think there is a big difference among religious colleges. A non-religious person is going to have a much easier time at somewhere like Gerogetown vs. somewhere like Bob Jones University. Not really familiar with St. John's, but MOST Catholic colleges are rather limited in their approach to Catholicism on campus. Students typically have to take a theology or ethics class, but those are often taught from the historical perspective, and you can choose to do something like "Comparative Religion." Many Catholic colleges have more non-Catholic students than Catholics. Also worth noting that many promote the "appealing" aspect of Catholicism such as service and giving (as opposed to stuff like abortion) which is something pretty much everyone, regardless of religious affiliation, can relate and aspire to.
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Anonymous
| I just wanted to chime in but I think the advice above is correct. Many Catholic schools are only nominally so, and I think St. John's fits that. A few years back (maybe 15) the Vatican sought to make the US Catholic schools more religious but they focussed on only a handful -- including BC (where it did ramp up their religious connection) and Georgetown (very little influence). There are lots of Catholic schools, like DePaul, that even the students would likely not identify as Catholic, and I think St. Johns is closer to DePaul than it is to say Catholic University. Should not be a problem though your child might have a religious requirement, which will likely not have to be Catholic. |
Anonymous
Oh, be quiet! 
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Anonymous
Yup. Grew up nearby. I have Jewish friends who went there. No big deal. |
Anonymous
Bingo. I agree with this 100% If they gave my kids a full ride scholarship, plus room and board, I would never have my kids go to a place like Liberty University. |