I just want to thank those that gave the experiences of their kids at the CTCL schools. My oldest is a 9th grader but that is really helpful in thinking about how to discuss what to look for in a college, the pressure cooker that high school and college have become and that there are lots of options.

My kids are very bright and academically successful but the race to perfection for college entrance sucks the joy out of learning and daily living sometimes.

We visited Rhodes last week and it was great. They have EA and will give a merit pre read too. Memphis is a great place to go to college. They have a great relationship with St Jude’s too, lots of students do projects/internships there and other local hospitals.

Here is my sense as a public school educator who has worked with private schools. A number of college administrators and professors will tell you the suburban student or Catholic school alumnus with a C average is way better prepared an urban or rural student with an A grade.

Your kid might not get into an Ivy League, but they can get into a decent college and do fine. I was a C student from a medium-sized public suburban high school that had little problem with college.

Look hard at the Catholic colleges. In our experience they were more forthcoming with aid for applicants from Catholic high schools.

Niece and nephew went to D.C. "big three" privates, had high B averages -- one went to Michigan, other to NYU.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Now we can add anti-Catholic bigots to the list of why to avoid CTCL schools.

Can you keep your paranoid psychoses in the religion forum please? Love, your Atheist friend.

I'm a CTCL parent. I'm a fan of CTCL colleges. Some friends have kids at Jesuit schools. Those schools would not have been a good fit for my kid, but many seem like great, reasonably priced options.

The ones my friends' kids attend have MUCH more intellectual and artistic programming than I would have guessed. All of the kids are left of center politically, by the way.

A bunch of the Catholic colleges are also in very nice cities. Few small liberal arts colleges are in cities.

It would appear that several people have shared positive experiences with various schools, some of which just so happen to be CTCL, such as Juniata, Lynchburg, etc. There is no need to let negativity overshadow positive experiences.

Anonymous wrote:OP back again. To clarify, my son goes to a Catholic HS so Catholic colleges are definitely a consideration. The cost of them are the only thing that gives me pause. I transferred to a Catholic college my sophomore year and if I didn’t go to summer school to catch up on credits, it would’ve taken me more than 4 years to graduate. Life happens sometimes so the best laid plans of mice and men...

OP, I'm the PP whose DD is having a fantastic experience at Denison.

Leaving aside the above Catholic v. CTCL exchanges, I encourage you to consider schools for the right "fit," and fwiw, when we were looking at colleges, I set parameters that included: (1) geography (we wanted her to be within driving distance), (2) four-year graduation rate >75%, (3) per-student endowment (a big endowment enables lots of valuable extras for students including e.g. paid research), (4) strong department in the relevant major(s), and (5) "fit"/feel.

Adam Weinberg, the President of Denison, has written and spoken about this topic in various contexts:

https://denison.edu/campus/president/speeches/130348

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/five-tips-for-choosing-a-_b_9369730

Best of luck to you and your son.

Anonymous wrote:OP back again. To clarify, my son goes to a Catholic HS so Catholic colleges are definitely a consideration. The cost of them are the only thing that gives me pause. I transferred to a Catholic college my sophomore year and if I didn’t go to summer school to catch up on credits, it would’ve taken me more than 4 years to graduate. Life happens sometimes so the best laid plans of mice and men...

Many Jesuit schools give merit aid. Take a closer look.

OP back again. To clarify, my son goes to a Catholic HS so Catholic colleges are definitely a consideration. The cost of them are the only thing that gives me pause. I transferred to a Catholic college my sophomore year and if I didn’t go to summer school to catch up on credits, it would’ve taken me more than 4 years to graduate. Life happens sometimes so the best laid plans of mice and men...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Now we can add anti-Catholic bigots to the list of why to avoid CTCL schools.

Who said anything about being anti-Catholic?

"And can we talk about the wholesale pedophile's running the Catholic church at any point ? Is this an organization that you are recommending I support ?"

Not exactly pro-Catholic, is it? It's a bigoted and ridiculous response to a post extolling the virtues of Jesuit education.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Now we can add anti-Catholic bigots to the list of why to avoid CTCL schools.

Who said anything about being anti-Catholic?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yawn. This thread wasn’t nearly as helpful as I hoped it would be. Can the two fighting about Jesuit schools (??) move on?

Explain why suggesting a Jesuit school to a B student isn't any more relevant than a CTCL school please.

It would be fine to suggest one and move on - but you’re not going to move on, are you? If you keep derailing the thread with your insistence on having the last word about something so irrelevant, I’ll be happy to report you. MOVE ON.

Report me for what? For being relevant?

Wow. Now we can add anti-Catholic bigots to the list of why to avoid CTCL schools.