Villanova is in the spotlight because of Pope Leo, so it might get more attention from kids who otherwise wouldn't have given it consideration, even non-Catholics. See the jump in attention to George Mason University the year it was a golden child in the NCAA Tournament. Schools in the spotlight can end up with more young people considering them simply because they've heard of them.

Acceptance rate could drop if only because the number of applicants increases - simple arithmetic. It doesn't mean Villanova is suddenly a better or more desirable school than Notre Dame or BC. It just means that as a standalone entity it might see more interest in the next year or two.

not reading 5 pages, but the tour of Villanova's business program was best we saw with super impressive results (basically, 98% of kids have jobs lined up by Christmas of senior year).

my kid went elsewhere, but if you're not Wharton-bound and you want a fun college experience and a job in business? Villanova does the job

No

Anonymous wrote:As a non-Catholic, I don't get the knocking of schools for being less purely Catholic. One goes to college to broaden their horizons and meet other people from other backgrounds. Going to a school that is 99% Catholic seems very isolating and like it won't prepare you well for the real world.

I feel somewhat the same way about women's schools and HBCU's but as groups that have faced significant discrimination in the not-too-distant past, it is different (I know Catholics have been discriminated against, but it is nothing compared to these groups, especially not in a long time).

Because the “real Catholics” as another poster put it (who aren’t the real Catholics at all, but that’s for another thread) are insecure and this is a way for them to signal that they are the most Catholic-y of Catholics.

It doesn’t matter. Most kids raised Catholic are choosing universities for other reasons and so, yes, schools like Georgetown remain popular. Even with Catholic kids, if not their virtue-signaling parents.

No, acceptance rates won't drop that much. But it put Nova in the national limelight that transcends its basketball success. It's a very popular regional school with more limited pull nationally than ND/Gtown so while apps will increase, the fact that they bought 2 campuses allows them to expand. Nova is a great school but it remains to be seen if they can attract ND/Gtown caliber students to enroll.

No

Anonymous wrote:No, but villanova has been on the rise for awhile and will continue to be a solid choice. I think the better question is will it ever outrank BC? I don't think it ever will be higher than ND or Gtown.

It probably will outrank BC or come close to it. Both are suburban schools with okay campuses and are not the best school in their respective metros. At this point Nova with some merit aid would be an easy decision over BC at sticker.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the matriculation numbers for perhaps best Jesuit high school in country Regis in NYC Holy Cross outperforms all the others and HC enrollment at 3200 kids is a fraction of Villanova and Boston College same applies for Loyola and Fenwick in Chicago. Alumni success in high profile positions matters Holy Cross, Gtown and ND have it. Take a tour of the top
Catholic schools and look at the ivy growing on older buildings, ND, Holy Cross, and Georgetown have it. The campuses at Villanova, BC, Fairfield and Providence are newer buildings reflecting their transitions to residential colleges,

All true. BC should be concerned because Nova is its most direct competitor and now it is pulling away like Secretariat with the new pope.

The BC basher can't resist. But too bad, BC has no reason for concern.

Anonymous wrote:Look at the matriculation numbers for perhaps best Jesuit high school in country Regis in NYC Holy Cross outperforms all the others and HC enrollment at 3200 kids is a fraction of Villanova and Boston College same applies for Loyola and Fenwick in Chicago. Alumni success in high profile positions matters Holy Cross, Gtown and ND have it. Take a tour of the top
Catholic schools and look at the ivy growing on older buildings, ND, Holy Cross, and Georgetown have it. The campuses at Villanova, BC, Fairfield and Providence are newer buildings reflecting their transitions to residential colleges,

Villanova, BC, Fairfield and Providence have not been commuter schools for the last 50 years. This was decent anlaysis in 1985.

So is your local Starbucks.

Anonymous wrote:Look at the matriculation numbers for perhaps best Jesuit high school in country Regis in NYC Holy Cross outperforms all the others and HC enrollment at 3200 kids is a fraction of Villanova and Boston College same applies for Loyola and Fenwick in Chicago. Alumni success in high profile positions matters Holy Cross, Gtown and ND have it. Take a tour of the top
Catholic schools and look at the ivy growing on older buildings, ND, Holy Cross, and Georgetown have it. The campuses at Villanova, BC, Fairfield and Providence are newer buildings reflecting their transitions to residential colleges,

ND is by far the top. Georgetown is not really on anyone's list that -- not really a catholic school. HC is niche and good. BC is quite good. Not ND but in the next level by itself. The others including Villanova are in a third tier.

BC location is good.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Nope. ND>Georgetown>Holy Cross>Nova=BC. Georgetown is most secular and gets perhaps a higher% of non Catholic applicants. ND has the huge endowment and football branding advantage. Holy Cross has niche spot of being top25 LAC. Now Villanova has some great news but needed as US News rank fell to 58 fairly low. BC and Villanova rely on sports success for favorability- football and hoops respectively. But ND, Georgetown, and HC have a larger much older prestige advantage to overcome don’t believe even Pope Leo can overcome.

Nope but closer.

It was ND>Georgetown>BC=Villanova>Holy Cross

Now ND>Georgetown>Villanova>BC>Holy Cross

Nope.

Georgetown is much farther down thst list for Catholics.

Perhaps. But it is also the only one non-Catholics will consider so it has a much broader applicant pool. I know plenty of Jews who would apply to Georgetown but none of the others.

BC has always has a decent size Jewish student population.

Except in football can’t seem to get that trophy . It is the flagship of Catholic schools. Nova and BC are so far down.

ND is #1