Non-Catholic Attending Catholic High School?

[Anonymous]

My son will be applying this fall to several Catholic high schools. We are not Catholic and my son has never been to church. He's hoping for a better education and better athletic opportunities. We support exposure to religious education. Can anyone shed some insight on how the interview process will work for a non-practicing student? What might interview questions look like and what is the best way to respond?

[Anonymous]

I doubt there'd be any questions about your faith. But out of curiosity, maybe attend a local service for the experience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son will be applying this fall to several Catholic high schools. We are not Catholic and my son has never been to church. He's hoping for a better education and better athletic opportunities. We support exposure to religious education. Can anyone shed some insight on how the interview process will work for a non-practicing student? What might interview questions look like and what is the best way to respond?

SJC parent here. There is no interview process per se, although your son will meet the admissions staff when he does his shadow day.

It's hard to get a fix on it, but I'd say SJC is close to majority non-Catholic. It is very different than Catholic K-8 parochial, which is almost 100% Catholic. As a student, he will take 4 years of religion, prayer before just about all classes, games, etc., and Mass once per month. If that much Catholicism is a problem, you won't be a fit. But there are Jewish, Muslim, and atheist (!) kids there, and I think they do their best to not have anyone feel left out. The staff only has about 3 brothers that teach - the rest are all lay people. The mission and campus ministry program is obviously very Catholic, but all that is optional.

[Anonymous]

Our DD will be starting at the of the area Catholic girl high schools in the fall. We're Catholic but I can't say there is a "Catholic" aspect to the application process but more of an expectation that you understand that it is a Catholic school. The schools emphasize their Catholicism differently. Some are very attentive to the obligatory or ritualistic, e.g., penance. Others are more about putting faith into action, e.g., community service. Find out who emphasizes what and then match it with your level of comfort.

[Anonymous]

Visit the schools and see for yourself (and your kid can see for himself) how much religion plays a part in the day of the school.

And I agree you should attend a Catholic service. They also vary in terms of how formal they can get - full insense swinging, prayers in Latin, or kid friendly and short.

But you need to know what happens.

[Anonymous]

I'm not Carholic, and I went to Catholic schools my whole life. In HS, they will have religion class and will be required to attend mass. If it's Gonzaga, they have some faith based retreats and students are very involved in faith based community service.
They won't ask during application process.
I didn't learn that they Bible isn't literally true and that we come from apes until college though. It was quite a shock. They do brainwash a bit,IMO.

[Anonymous]

It's surprising that so many non-Catholics aren't aware of the Catholic sub-culture. It's as if Catholics leave their culture at the door when they leave Mass or Religion class.

This, of course, would be more important where Catholics dominate. If non-Catholics are close to the majority at SJC, it won't be all that big a factor.

[Anonymous]

OP which schools? They all have a different approaches to how Catholicism is incorporated into everyday life at the schools. That may be a bigger factor for your child than the interview.

While we are Catholic we came from public middle school. For the schools that required an interview there was no discussion of religion during the interviews that my DC spoke about. They weren't very long or in-depth sorts of interviews.

[Anonymous]

Specifically, he is looking at Good Counsel, Georgetown Prep, St. Johns, Gonzaga (possibly) and DeMatha (possibly).

[Anonymous]

I am catholic and find it strange that your first choice would be a catholic school. My DC is at a progressive school because we like their curriculum better. There are many great schools out there, what's the catholic appeal if your are not religious?

[Anonymous]

He is an athlete and the draw of the strong athletic programs (combined with the solid academics) is the reason he wants to apply to a private school. We are also less than thrilled with some of the things we are hearing about the public high school he is slated to attend.

[Anonymous]

I can only speak to GZ, GP and SJC.

GP is the only one which had an interview which was done on the shadow day which was before he had even applied. These were for the regular programs. Not sure if the scholars programs involved interviews though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He is an athlete and the draw of the strong athletic programs (combined with the solid academics) is the reason he wants to apply to a private school. We are also less than thrilled with some of the things we are hearing about the public high school he is slated to attend.

Got it. I wouldn't expect any disadvantages. Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

They will ask if he is comfortable going to a Catholic school, knowing that this is an integral part of the education. If he can answer honestly "yes", that will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Gonzaga parent here. I know of a few non Catholics at the school, but probably not as many as at SJC. What sport does your DS play? SJC is strong in certain sports and Gonzaga in others, so you may want to investigate that as well.