SJC and Gonzaga. ? about admissions as a non-Catholic

[Anonymous]

For those of you in the know about SJC or Gonzaga--

How much of a ding is it to not be Catholic when it comes to admissions? (assuming that otherwise the child is an equally qualified applicant).
My child is white and coming from a DCPS. We are quite observant Episcopalians (and we love the idea of a Catholic high school). We're just not Catholic.

Do non-catholic kids have a shot at the honors program at St Johns? At any of the scholarships at either school?

[Anonymous]

Yes to both your questions. Have him score sky high on the HSPT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you in the know about SJC or Gonzaga--

How much of a ding is it to not be Catholic when it comes to admissions? (assuming that otherwise the child is an equally qualified applicant).
My child is white and coming from a DCPS. We are quite observant Episcopalians (and we love the idea of a Catholic high school). We're just not Catholic.

Do non-catholic kids have a shot at the honors program at St Johns? At any of the scholarships at either school?

Two kids at SJC. I'd say SJC is less than 1/2 Catholic, and it might be considerably less than that. The school is almost half African American, who by population are only 5% Catholic. I don't think religious affiliation really matters in the admissions process, nor is it in their mission to educate primarily Catholics (unlike Diocesan schools). But is is a Catholic school - you will get 4 years of religion as an academic subject, prayer before meetings/games, Mass about once/mo, etc.

[Anonymous]

Working against you will be the preference of these schools for applicants of the schools they traditionally admit students from.

The relationship between Gonzaga and for example, Blessed Sacrament, is very long-standing and mutually beneficial. And Gonzaga gets both objective and subjective information about candidates they feel they can trust.

Gonzaga is the more academically-competitive and sought after of the two schools. So it will be harder to be accepted.

And at both schools --- because they are Catholic schools --- there is a preference for Catholic applicants that would affect both admission and financial aid decisions.

[Anonymous]

I know plenty of kids at SJC who are not Catholic and came from public school. I guess it depends on the applicant pool each year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you in the know about SJC or Gonzaga--

How much of a ding is it to not be Catholic when it comes to admissions? (assuming that otherwise the child is an equally qualified applicant).
My child is white and coming from a DCPS. We are quite observant Episcopalians (and we love the idea of a Catholic high school). We're just not Catholic.

Do non-catholic kids have a shot at the honors program at St Johns? At any of the scholarships at either school?

Two kids at SJC. I'd say SJC is less than 1/2 Catholic, and it might be considerably less than that. The school is almost half African American, who by population are only 5% Catholic. I don't think religious affiliation really matters in the admissions process, nor is it in their mission to educate primarily Catholics (unlike Diocesan schools). But is is a Catholic school - you will get 4 years of religion as an academic subject, prayer before meetings/games, Mass about once/mo, etc.

So, based on this it sounds like the SJC student population consists of 50% AAs (who are not Catholic) and 50% traditional Catholics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Working against you will be the preference of these schools for applicants of the schools they traditionally admit students from.

The relationship between Gonzaga and for example, Blessed Sacrament, is very long-standing and mutually beneficial. And Gonzaga gets both objective and subjective information about candidates they feel they can trust.

Gonzaga is the more academically-competitive and sought after of the two schools. So it will be harder to be accepted.

And at both schools --- because they are Catholic schools --- there is a preference for Catholic applicants that would affect both admission and financial aid decisions.

Gonzaga accepts 250+ boys
SJC accepts 150 boys

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you in the know about SJC or Gonzaga--

How much of a ding is it to not be Catholic when it comes to admissions? (assuming that otherwise the child is an equally qualified applicant).
My child is white and coming from a DCPS. We are quite observant Episcopalians (and we love the idea of a Catholic high school). We're just not Catholic.

Do non-catholic kids have a shot at the honors program at St Johns? At any of the scholarships at either school?

Two kids at SJC. I'd say SJC is less than 1/2 Catholic, and it might be considerably less than that. The school is almost half African American, who by population are only 5% Catholic. I don't think religious affiliation really matters in the admissions process, nor is it in their mission to educate primarily Catholics (unlike Diocesan schools). But is is a Catholic school - you will get 4 years of religion as an academic subject, prayer before meetings/games, Mass about once/mo, etc.

So, based on this it sounds like the SJC student population consists of 50% AAs (who are not Catholic) and 50% traditional Catholics.

Not all nonAA students are Catholic!

[Anonymous]

Both schools have plenty of non-Catholic kids. It really depends on what that applicant pool looks like. If your child is smart, has great scores on HSPT and happens to be applying in a year when there are a lot of boys applying from Catholic schools who are also smart and scored high on the HSPT it may matter. You just don't know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you in the know about SJC or Gonzaga--

How much of a ding is it to not be Catholic when it comes to admissions? (assuming that otherwise the child is an equally qualified applicant).
My child is white and coming from a DCPS. We are quite observant Episcopalians (and we love the idea of a Catholic high school). We're just not Catholic.

Do non-catholic kids have a shot at the honors program at St Johns? At any of the scholarships at either school?

Two kids at SJC. I'd say SJC is less than 1/2 Catholic, and it might be considerably less than that. The school is almost half African American, who by population are only 5% Catholic. I don't think religious affiliation really matters in the admissions process, nor is it in their mission to educate primarily Catholics (unlike Diocesan schools). But is is a Catholic school - you will get 4 years of religion as an academic subject, prayer before meetings/games, Mass about once/mo, etc.

So, based on this it sounds like the SJC student population consists of 50% AAs (who are not Catholic) and 50% traditional Catholics.

Not all nonAA students are Catholic!

PP here. I'd say maybe 1/2 of the non-AA population is Catholic. Jewish, Muslim, non-religious not at all uncommon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Working against you will be the preference of these schools for applicants of the schools they traditionally admit students from.

The relationship between Gonzaga and for example, Blessed Sacrament, is very long-standing and mutually beneficial. And Gonzaga gets both objective and subjective information about candidates they feel they can trust.

Gonzaga is the more academically-competitive and sought after of the two schools. So it will be harder to be accepted.

And at both schools --- because they are Catholic schools --- there is a preference for Catholic applicants that would affect both admission and financial aid decisions.

Completely agree on this. Without getting too specific, I know of a student last year who was in an Arlington Diocese parochial, applying to a Arlington Diocese HS. Acceptance should have been automatic, but the kid was a terror at his parochial - fighting, pulling fire alarms, that kind of thing. He was not accepted at the HS. Parochial administrators value being able to place 'their' kids in Catholic HS's, and wont send a problem kid along with a good recommendation if it hurts their parochial's overall standing with the HS admissions staff.

[Anonymous]

What??!! There is no preference and convoluted stories of rumors add nothing to your credibility. No preference even for one feeder school over another. They evaluate the student not the pedigree, religious or otherwise. Take a sniff of reality rather than conspiracy, OP, apply to both and you'll find a wonderful Home at either place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What??!! There is no preference and convoluted stories of rumors add nothing to your credibility. No preference even for one feeder school over another. They evaluate the student not the pedigree, religious or otherwise. Take a sniff of reality rather than conspiracy, OP, apply to both and you'll find a wonderful Home at either place.

Oh, come on. GZ has a barbell shaped admission - high wealth and legacy on one end, URM/FA on the other end. Not much in the middle except maybe top athletes. SJC is different - alumni and Chevy Chase neighborhood on end, and URM/FA on the other. I think you are being very unrealistic as to how admissions work at these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What??!! There is no preference and convoluted stories of rumors add nothing to your credibility. No preference even for one feeder school over another. They evaluate the student not the pedigree, religious or otherwise. Take a sniff of reality rather than conspiracy, OP, apply to both and you'll find a wonderful Home at either place.

Oh, come on. GZ has a barbell shaped admission - high wealth and legacy on one end, URM/FA on the other end. Not much in the middle except maybe top athletes. SJC is different - alumni and Chevy Chase neighborhood on end, and URM/FA on the other. I think you are being very unrealistic as to how admissions work at these schools.

Definitely not our experience at Gonzaga. I have a white son receiving decent FA with no legacy and certainly not a top athlete. Came from a public school but our family are active Catholics, including my son.

[Anonymous]

These schools are flooded with applicants. Even siblings are not a lock as they once were. Can make the admissions process seem very random when they have so many qualified students to choose from.