TS0104:
According to my Google search, Boston College, Seattle U, Georgetown and LMU are Jesuit. Notre Dame and Providence College are Catholic. Even though Jesuits are Catholic, there is a difference both “technically” (as in the official affiliation of the college) and culturally. In general, Catholic schools (and even more so, Christian schools) have a stronger religious presence than Jesuit schools. ND in particular has some rules for students that are based in the tenets of the faith, called Parietals, regarding opposite sex guests.
It sounds like you are OK with the feel of Jesuit schools and not Catholic schools, which makes sense. The Jesuit culture overall is more a philosophy of service and education than pushing a certain religious faith, and the religious presence or pressure on a spectrum will be the lowest at Jesuit schools than at a Catholic or Christian school.
For reference, I’m a Catholic and a fan of Jesuit schools. I’ve visited several Jesuit schools including Georgetown, and, long ago, ND. My D attends a Jesuit school (LMU) even though she is not a practicing Catholic and did not want a religious feel to her school. She does appreciate, and enjoy, the Jesuit culture. Aside from its focus on service, education, and “Cura Personalis” (meaning ‘whole person’), Jesuit culture is also typically very accepting of all faiths (or no faith) and somewhat liberal.
From what I know, the Jesuit schools will have some religion OR ethics classes in their core curriculum, so check that out. It can be ANY religion or, as I mentioned, ethics (I believe GT offers ‘Do Dogs Go to Heaven?)’ There will be a chapel on campus, but you will not be required to go in there or to attend any services. You may see religious symbols around campus (such as the obvious, a Christmas tree, and/or crucifixes) and perhaps see some of the Jesuit brothers around campus. In my research and experience, you will not be pressured in any way to practice any religion. Your fellow students will be a varied mix of all faiths, no faith, some may practice, many do not. If you WANT to partake, it will be there, but you will not be pressured to.
I teach at a Jesuit and I’m not even baptized so I guess I don’t consider Jesuit colleges “churchy”. I agree that Jesuit is more focused on service learning and helping out others. They take a more holistic approach to learning and to people overall. Many of the priests and such on my campus are teaching. I agree that they are open to all faiths and are passionate about learning in general. I’ve worked with several priests and didn’t even realize they were priests honestly.