dramatic acceptance rate change: Holy Cross

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason is HC’s new President (first AA and first lay President) who is an excellent leader, strategist and administrator. Raising the College’s profile is a prime objective and he’s making it happen. Increasing the applicant pool nationally, and being less reliant on NE Catholic feeder schools. Becoming a Questibridge school a big plus. There was a time when HC was considered academically superior to Georgetown, never mind BC, which increased in popularity due to savvy sports marketing only in the late 1980s and 90s, not because of any genuine academic superiority. President Rougeau is bringing the school back to where it used to be. Worcester, which has come a long way since bottoming out in the 1980s, will never be Cambridge or Georgetown, but the campus is beautiful and self contained. And I’d argue it’s better than Waterville or Lewiston ME, or Hartford CT, or Poughkeepsie NY… the list goes on. Good hotel recommendation with the AC downtown, as well as restaurant recos. Plenty of very good restaurants on Shrewsbury St, and the Canal Districy is cool & funky. Worcester is 45 mins to Boston, and that much closer too to the Berkshires & Vermont. Route 494 also makes a trip to the Cape very turnkey, probably more so than from Boston crawling down Route 3.

Good to know. I'm old enough to remember when Holy Cross was the premier school in the "Catholic Ivy League."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason is HC’s new President (first AA and first lay President) who is an excellent leader, strategist and administrator. Raising the College’s profile is a prime objective and he’s making it happen. Increasing the applicant pool nationally, and being less reliant on NE Catholic feeder schools. Becoming a Questibridge school a big plus. There was a time when HC was considered academically superior to Georgetown, never mind BC, which increased in popularity due to savvy sports marketing only in the late 1980s and 90s, not because of any genuine academic superiority. President Rougeau is bringing the school back to where it used to be. Worcester, which has come a long way since bottoming out in the 1980s, will never be Cambridge or Georgetown, but the campus is beautiful and self contained. And I’d argue it’s better than Waterville or Lewiston ME, or Hartford CT, or Poughkeepsie NY… the list goes on. Good hotel recommendation with the AC downtown, as well as restaurant recos. Plenty of very good restaurants on Shrewsbury St, and the Canal Districy is cool & funky. Worcester is 45 mins to Boston, and that much closer too to the Berkshires & Vermont. Route 494 also makes a trip to the Cape very turnkey, probably more so than from Boston crawling down Route 3.

I grew up just outside Worcester and my dad went to HC. It was considered the gold standard in our (Catholic) family, although my siblings ended up at BC to the outrage of one grandparent. I agree the Cross is a hidden gem; Naviance for our MCPS HS made it look out of reach for our DC with a 4.5wGPA. And Worcester has improved a lot. But don't oversell; it's at least an hour to Boston by car (1.5hrs on the commuter rail.) And no one's heading out to the Cape during the school year - weather! - and even if they did, it would be at least 3hrs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historically HC also had a preference for kids active in Catholic faith and/or community service. I’m not sure if that’s still true but it can skew the admit rates a bit as they are looking for something particular.

Clark WPI and HC all seem to be getting more attention lately. But people have been saying worcesters coming back for a couple of decades and it does seem like a slow roll. My family roots are in Worcester so I’m always rooting for it a bit. It seemed positioned to pull a Pittsburgh, but couldn’t quite make it happen.

My DD goes to Assumption University - another hidden gem that DCUM doesn't care about - if your DC is considering HC (or Nova, or another of the big catholics) and needs a backup (or an option that gives significant merit aid!) definitely consider this school! She loves worcester - lots of cultural opportunities, sports (Woo Sox!), good restaurants, biotech industry (she has interned for two years at a leading bio med company).

Assumption is fine. It's in the nicest part of Worcester and I grew up down the street. Let's be frank though it is not a hidden gem. It has an 82% acceptance rate and is virtually unknown outside of central Mass.

[Anonymous]

Holy sh*t!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason is HC’s new President (first AA and first lay President) who is an excellent leader, strategist and administrator. Raising the College’s profile is a prime objective and he’s making it happen. Increasing the applicant pool nationally, and being less reliant on NE Catholic feeder schools. Becoming a Questibridge school a big plus. There was a time when HC was considered academically superior to Georgetown, never mind BC, which increased in popularity due to savvy sports marketing only in the late 1980s and 90s, not because of any genuine academic superiority. President Rougeau is bringing the school back to where it used to be. Worcester, which has come a long way since bottoming out in the 1980s, will never be Cambridge or Georgetown, but the campus is beautiful and self contained. And I’d argue it’s better than Waterville or Lewiston ME, or Hartford CT, or Poughkeepsie NY… the list goes on. Good hotel recommendation with the AC downtown, as well as restaurant recos. Plenty of very good restaurants on Shrewsbury St, and the Canal Districy is cool & funky. Worcester is 45 mins to Boston, and that much closer too to the Berkshires & Vermont. Route 494 also makes a trip to the Cape very turnkey, probably more so than from Boston crawling down Route 3.

I grew up just outside Worcester and my dad went to HC. It was considered the gold standard in our (Catholic) family, although my siblings ended up at BC to the outrage of one grandparent. I agree the Cross is a hidden gem; Naviance for our MCPS HS made it look out of reach for our DC with a 4.5wGPA. And Worcester has improved a lot. But don't oversell; it's at least an hour to Boston by car (1.5hrs on the commuter rail.) And no one's heading out to the Cape during the school year - weather! - and even if they did, it would be at least 3hrs.

Haha - fair re Cape (but three hours?? Guess depends on where) but proximity to Berkshires and VT was nice for me as a student, and to Boston when I felt like it. Def don’t want to over promise Woo - I went to HC for HC, not for Worcester, and it’s likely the same for almost all now. But I would say it’s net neutral/positive now, vs a negative in the past, depending on your frame of reference. No dig on Waterville, ME, a fine town with great outdoors access, but I’d rather be in Worcester. Colby is a great example of a LAC that has dramatically enhanced its standing over the past decade through effective marketing and capital campaigning, and it’s not Waterville that is bringing people there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historically HC also had a preference for kids active in Catholic faith and/or community service. I’m not sure if that’s still true but it can skew the admit rates a bit as they are looking for something particular.

Clark WPI and HC all seem to be getting more attention lately. But people have been saying worcesters coming back for a couple of decades and it does seem like a slow roll. My family roots are in Worcester so I’m always rooting for it a bit. It seemed positioned to pull a Pittsburgh, but couldn’t quite make it happen.

My DD goes to Assumption University - another hidden gem that DCUM doesn't care about - if your DC is considering HC (or Nova, or another of the big catholics) and needs a backup (or an option that gives significant merit aid!) definitely consider this school! She loves worcester - lots of cultural opportunities, sports (Woo Sox!), good restaurants, biotech industry (she has interned for two years at a leading bio med company).

Assumption is fine. It's in the nicest part of Worcester and I grew up down the street. Let's be frank though it is not a hidden gem. It has an 82% acceptance rate and is virtually unknown outside of central Mass.

That part of Worcester is indeed beautiful and could easily pass for Chestnut Hill, or better. The bio med opportunities should not be overlooked in Woo for students interested in that space/medicine. That is the industry that has been key to Worcester’s turnaround.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worcester is starting to re-gentrify and I think people have started to look at it harder since BC has gotten so hard to get into. It used to be a very highly respected school but seemed to decline in popularity over the past couple of decades. I'm glad to see it coming back.

This. I think, also, that the 30-40% acceptance rate was a big draw. It was so obviously off.

FWIW, we considered it a low target for my daughter (who did get into BC and other reach-for-everyone schools), and she was waitlisted at HC.

FFS this is called yield protection

Isn’t “yield protection” actually lack of demonstrated interest. Lots of colleges prioritize how much the applicant demonstrates that they WANT to attend there. For a number of reasons. Cohesive, vibrant student body with school spirit for example. Casting it as “yield protection” makes the colleges’ motives sound more sinister when it’s really that the applicant appeared to the college to just throw the application in along with a dozen others. Colleges don’t, nor should they, admit only on GPA and test scores.

In the workplace analogy, I’m hiring the 3.4 GPA grad from UMD who actively networked and sought out my company over the 3.8 GPA from JHU who submitted a resume through career services and not much else.

I do this as well with hiring. However if my choice was someone from a religious private that is small nope public wins

So you admit that you practice religious discrimination in hiring?

[Anonymous]

Holy Cross has, except for a strange (and small) recent downturn been comfortably among the academic elite. It is odd to see comments talking about it as something less than that. But I suppose these things can be cyclical. I see schools that have prospered very recently (from say, a few national basketball championships or some such) posing as long time academic bluebloods. That is simply false-some of those schools wouldn't have gotten a second look as recently as the early 2000s. HC has basically returned to what it was. This is not something new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holy Cross has, except for a strange (and small) recent downturn been comfortably among the academic elite. It is odd to see comments talking about it as something less than that. But I suppose these things can be cyclical. I see schools that have prospered very recently (from say, a few national basketball championships or some such) posing as long time academic bluebloods. That is simply false-some of those schools wouldn't have gotten a second look as recently as the early 2000s. HC has basically returned to what it was. This is not something new.

Yawn

[Anonymous]

this is the same pattern being experienced across the board at most collleges. Kids are now applying to 15, 20+ colleges whereas they were appkying to onky five a decade ago. That phehomenon alone accounts for larger applicant classes = drop
in acceptances

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this is the same pattern being experienced across the board at most collleges. Kids are now applying to 15, 20+ colleges whereas they were appkying to onky five a decade ago. That phehomenon alone accounts for larger applicant classes = drop
in acceptances

No, not “alone.” Holy Cross laudably tried to go need blind for many years and did not quite have the money (though its per student endowment still exceeds all other Jesuit schools). Coupled with poor nationwide admissions recruiting, which was exacerbated by COVID, its acceptance rate went up, relative to its peers, to its highest ever. Targeted merit aid and better recruiting made that a low bar to overcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's something wrong with the process if seniors are allowed to each send dozens of applications to whatever schools, just to chase merit/FA dollars. TO has little to do with it.

Allowed? Who is going to limit the number of schools someone can apply to?

You realize it's still a free country (unless Trump wins and then who knows what will be allowed. Teenage girls will likely be forced to be handmaids instead of going to college.)