Boston College - Does it matter if you're Catholic?

CCSavant
Fri, 05 Jul 2019 19:26:20 +0000

OP asked a simple question (or a series of questions). How Catholic is BC? Does it impact admissions and life at BC? Of the Catholic colleges/universities, I would rank Notre Dame and Holy Cross at the higher end of “Catholicism”. Both have student bodies of 80% plus Catholic, but more than that, there is an explicit Catholic ethos that drives the school. BC is perhaps a bit more “Catholic” than Georgetown, both in percentage of Catholic students and “ethos”, but both are a far cry from ND or HC. I do not think that a non-Catholic student at any of these institutions would have issues (and I was one several decades ago). But that does not mean that BC is for everyone. BC, like its cohorts, is a work hard play hard athletically oriented school. Sure, there are scholars. But it is not all about intellectual absorption (which happens, but as much in late nights at the dorm rather than on Walden Pond). It is a “conservative campus” by college standards, which means it is slightly left of moderate. So if you are super liberal, like to dye your hair purple, and otherwise want to revolt against establishment…Amherst and Brown are probably better choices. But this is no knock on BC (or these other schools). BC is an incredibly inclusive Jesuit experience. At the end of the day, none of this is a BC issue - it is an applicant/student issue. If a Jewish student wants more Jewish students around them, BC is a poor choice. Not because BC is in any way anti-Semitic or not welcoming, just that Jewish students (and many others) chose not to apply or attend because of its Catholic affiliation (rightly or wrongly though I would say wrongly). If students do not like big time athletics, don’t blame BC. I have seen students at Notre Dame decry football Saturdays (perhaps with good rational reasons), but give me a break - did you not know that this was part of the ND culture?

I will close by noting that I have become Catholic since my experience as an atheist/agnostic at Georgetown (you never know where life and faith may take you) and am welcoming my Jewish roommate from Georgetown to visit this next week. Jesuit institutions teach you a lot about life.

BC is a welcoming place for all students. But if it is not what you want, for any variety of reasons, don’t blame BC. Just go somewhere else.