Forbes Grades the Financial Health of Private Coll

[beast of the east]

Villanova president Father Peter Donohue just announced that their $600 million capital campaign launched 3 years ago, has just passed $620 million, 17 months ahead of schedule.

I bet if we had a $600 campaign we could match or even surpass that accomplishment.

Although I'm sure winning the NCAA championship didn't hurt the last 10 months of their campaign, this school does so many things right, including spending on quality staff and administration, providing high academics, an attractive campus with many new projects, and most certainly engendering an tradition of giving among alumni and parents. Even their basketball program can be more selective than SJU by avoiding potential problems like Brown. Unfortunately, in many ways, SJU has always chosen mediocrity in staff, faculty, administration, and overall quality of the student body. While other schools became more selective in all of those categories in an overall quality improvement strategy, SJU has always skimped on salaries for all employees and expanded the size of the student body by lowering the admissions bar, effectively becoming the Dollar Store of universities

 

[Sjugrad13]

Villanova president Father Peter Donohue just announced that their $600 million capital campaign launched 3 years ago, has just passed $620 million, 17 months ahead of schedule.

I bet if we had a $600 campaign we could match or even surpass that accomplishment.

Although I'm sure winning the NCAA championship didn't hurt the last 10 months of their campaign, this school does so many things right, including spending on quality staff and administration, providing high academics, an attractive campus with many new projects, and most certainly engendering an tradition of giving among alumni and parents. Even their basketball program can be more selective than SJU by avoiding potential problems like Brown. Unfortunately, in many ways, SJU has always chosen mediocrity in staff, faculty, administration, and overall quality of the student body. While other schools became more selective in all of those categories in an overall quality improvement strategy, SJU has always skimped on salaries for all employees and expanded the size of the student body by lowering the admissions bar, effectively becoming the Dollar Store of universities

I cant speak for the administration, or salary part. But our student body and academics is not bad at all. You do know the entry GPA for SJU is 3.5 right? I've been told a lot of older alumni would not have been admitted now ( no offense to our older alumni).

To put in perspective the entry GPA for the following schools in NYC ( source : Princeton Review)

Columbia University: 3.84
NYU : 3.70
Fordham university: 3.64
SJU: 3:50
Yeshiva University 3.49

Everything else (cuny's, other private colleges) enters the low 3.0 to 2.0 range. The only exception is cooper union university ( but that's its own story). I always wonder why there's a satisfaction disconnect between Commuter students and us Dormer students? I find it fascinating.

 

[SJU85]

Villanova president Father Peter Donohue just announced that their $600 million capital campaign launched 3 years ago, has just passed $620 million, 17 months ahead of schedule.

I bet if we had a $600 campaign we could match or even surpass that accomplishment.

Although I'm sure winning the NCAA championship didn't hurt the last 10 months of their campaign, this school does so many things right, including spending on quality staff and administration, providing high academics, an attractive campus with many new projects, and most certainly engendering an tradition of giving among alumni and parents. Even their basketball program can be more selective than SJU by avoiding potential problems like Brown. Unfortunately, in many ways, SJU has always chosen mediocrity in staff, faculty, administration, and overall quality of the student body. While other schools became more selective in all of those categories in an overall quality improvement strategy, SJU has always skimped on salaries for all employees and expanded the size of the student body by lowering the admissions bar, effectively becoming the Dollar Store of universities

I cant speak for the administration, or salary part. But our student body and academics is not bad at all. You do know the entry GPA for SJU is 3.5 right? I've been told a lot of older alumni would not have been admitted now ( no offense to our older alumni).

To put in perspective the entry GPA for the following schools in NYC ( source : Princeton Review)

Columbia University: 3.84
NYU : 3.70
Fordham university: 3.64
SJU: 3:50
Yeshiva University 3.49

Everything else (cuny's, other private colleges) enters the low 3.0 to 2.0 range. The only exception is cooper union university ( but that's its own story). I always wonder why there's a satisfaction disconnect between Commuter students and us Dormer students? I find it fascinating.

My daughter was one of those Dormer students who was not satisfied and transferred out after two years. I think the difference is the Commuters are just that commuting and don't expect to do or spend a whole lot of their time when not in class on campus (like my generation). The Dormers however are there all of the time and expect more activities and excitement and don't get what they perceive as the whole living on campus experience. That's my take from discussing this with others, students and faculty.

 

[SJU85]

Villanova president Father Peter Donohue just announced that their $600 million capital campaign launched 3 years ago, has just passed $620 million, 17 months ahead of schedule.

I bet if we had a $600 campaign we could match or even surpass that accomplishment.

Although I'm sure winning the NCAA championship didn't hurt the last 10 months of their campaign, this school does so many things right, including spending on quality staff and administration, providing high academics, an attractive campus with many new projects, and most certainly engendering an tradition of giving among alumni and parents. Even their basketball program can be more selective than SJU by avoiding potential problems like Brown. Unfortunately, in many ways, SJU has always chosen mediocrity in staff, faculty, administration, and overall quality of the student body. While other schools became more selective in all of those categories in an overall quality improvement strategy, SJU has always skimped on salaries for all employees and expanded the size of the student body by lowering the admissions bar, effectively becoming the Dollar Store of universities

When they were originally building the dorms and other new buildings,while raising the tuition, they were also supposed to increase their faculty profile by raising salaries so they could attract and retain "higher quality faculty". What happened? This was all supposed to be part of the plan to raise the academic profile and expand the University.

 

[Sjugrad13]

Villanova president Father Peter Donohue just announced that their $600 million capital campaign launched 3 years ago, has just passed $620 million, 17 months ahead of schedule.

I bet if we had a $600 campaign we could match or even surpass that accomplishment.

Although I'm sure winning the NCAA championship didn't hurt the last 10 months of their campaign, this school does so many things right, including spending on quality staff and administration, providing high academics, an attractive campus with many new projects, and most certainly engendering an tradition of giving among alumni and parents. Even their basketball program can be more selective than SJU by avoiding potential problems like Brown. Unfortunately, in many ways, SJU has always chosen mediocrity in staff, faculty, administration, and overall quality of the student body. While other schools became more selective in all of those categories in an overall quality improvement strategy, SJU has always skimped on salaries for all employees and expanded the size of the student body by lowering the admissions bar, effectively becoming the Dollar Store of universities

I cant speak for the administration, or salary part. But our student body and academics is not bad at all. You do know the entry GPA for SJU is 3.5 right? I've been told a lot of older alumni would not have been admitted now ( no offense to our older alumni).

To put in perspective the entry GPA for the following schools in NYC ( source : Princeton Review)

Columbia University: 3.84
NYU : 3.70
Fordham university: 3.64
SJU: 3:50
Yeshiva University 3.49

Everything else (cuny's, other private colleges) enters the low 3.0 to 2.0 range. The only exception is cooper union university ( but that's its own story). I always wonder why there's a satisfaction disconnect between Commuter students and us Dormer students? I find it fascinating.

My daughter was one of those Dormer students who was not satisfied and transferred out after two years. I think the difference is the Commuters are just that commuting and don't expect to do or spend a whole lot of their time when not in class on campus (like my generation). The Dormers however are there all of the time and expect more activities and excitement and don't get what they perceive as the whole living on campus experience. That's my take from discussing this with others, students and faculty.

I guess we'll have to disagree. Since 2014 the majority of Freshman are dormers now ( 58 percent last year). I guess we'll have to see what happens. I had a great time dorming, I guess hanging out with my NC brothers helped. Shrugs!

 

[beast of the east]

Villanova president Father Peter Donohue just announced that their $600 million capital campaign launched 3 years ago, has just passed $620 million, 17 months ahead of schedule.

I bet if we had a $600 campaign we could match or even surpass that accomplishment.

Although I'm sure winning the NCAA championship didn't hurt the last 10 months of their campaign, this school does so many things right, including spending on quality staff and administration, providing high academics, an attractive campus with many new projects, and most certainly engendering an tradition of giving among alumni and parents. Even their basketball program can be more selective than SJU by avoiding potential problems like Brown. Unfortunately, in many ways, SJU has always chosen mediocrity in staff, faculty, administration, and overall quality of the student body. While other schools became more selective in all of those categories in an overall quality improvement strategy, SJU has always skimped on salaries for all employees and expanded the size of the student body by lowering the admissions bar, effectively becoming the Dollar Store of universities

I cant speak for the administration, or salary part. But our student body and academics is not bad at all. You do know the entry GPA for SJU is 3.5 right? I've been told a lot of older alumni would not have been admitted now ( no offense to our older alumni).

To put in perspective the entry GPA for the following schools in NYC ( source : Princeton Review)

Columbia University: 3.84
NYU : 3.70
Fordham university: 3.64
SJU: 3:50
Yeshiva University 3.49

Everything else (cuny's, other private colleges) enters the low 3.0 to 2.0 range. The only exception is cooper union university ( but that's its own story). I always wonder why there's a satisfaction disconnect between Commuter students and us Dormer students? I find it fascinating.

You aren't seriously going to compare the academic qualifications of students attending NYU and Columbia, for example, to students attending SJU? GPA's cannot be measured comparatively, but certainly ACTs and SATs. can. Columbia is one of the top ranked Ivies, and NYU is the 30th ranked school in the country. Do you seriously want to compare the SJU student body's academic credentials to those of the schools you mentioned? If you want a fair comparison compare the standardized exam results of not just ACCEPTED students (who applied and didn't come here) but those actually attending. You certainly may feel you received a good education at SJU and you can be proud of it, but a 3.7 GPA at a lower performing public HS doesn't compare to a 3.7 at Great Neck, Manhasset, Jericho, etc, not to mention that many high schools exhibit grade bloat.

 

[SJU85]

Villanova president Father Peter Donohue just announced that their $600 million capital campaign launched 3 years ago, has just passed $620 million, 17 months ahead of schedule.

I bet if we had a $600 campaign we could match or even surpass that accomplishment.

Although I'm sure winning the NCAA championship didn't hurt the last 10 months of their campaign, this school does so many things right, including spending on quality staff and administration, providing high academics, an attractive campus with many new projects, and most certainly engendering an tradition of giving among alumni and parents. Even their basketball program can be more selective than SJU by avoiding potential problems like Brown. Unfortunately, in many ways, SJU has always chosen mediocrity in staff, faculty, administration, and overall quality of the student body. While other schools became more selective in all of those categories in an overall quality improvement strategy, SJU has always skimped on salaries for all employees and expanded the size of the student body by lowering the admissions bar, effectively becoming the Dollar Store of universities

I cant speak for the administration, or salary part. But our student body and academics is not bad at all. You do know the entry GPA for SJU is 3.5 right? I've been told a lot of older alumni would not have been admitted now ( no offense to our older alumni).

To put in perspective the entry GPA for the following schools in NYC ( source : Princeton Review)

Columbia University: 3.84
NYU : 3.70
Fordham university: 3.64
SJU: 3:50
Yeshiva University 3.49

Everything else (cuny's, other private colleges) enters the low 3.0 to 2.0 range. The only exception is cooper union university ( but that's its own story). I always wonder why there's a satisfaction disconnect between Commuter students and us Dormer students? I find it fascinating.

My daughter was one of those Dormer students who was not satisfied and transferred out after two years. I think the difference is the Commuters are just that commuting and don't expect to do or spend a whole lot of their time when not in class on campus (like my generation). The Dormers however are there all of the time and expect more activities and excitement and don't get what they perceive as the whole living on campus experience. That's my take from discussing this with others, students and faculty.

I guess we'll have to disagree. Since 2014 the majority of Freshman are dormers now ( 58 percent last year). I guess we'll have to see what happens. I had a great time dorming, I guess hanging out with my NC brothers helped. Shrugs!

Maybe it is a better experience for those out of state (like your NC brothers) than those who are from NY. There are many different reasons. .

 

[Sjugrad13]

Villanova president Father Peter Donohue just announced that their $600 million capital campaign launched 3 years ago, has just passed $620 million, 17 months ahead of schedule.

I bet if we had a $600 campaign we could match or even surpass that accomplishment.

Although I'm sure winning the NCAA championship didn't hurt the last 10 months of their campaign, this school does so many things right, including spending on quality staff and administration, providing high academics, an attractive campus with many new projects, and most certainly engendering an tradition of giving among alumni and parents. Even their basketball program can be more selective than SJU by avoiding potential problems like Brown. Unfortunately, in many ways, SJU has always chosen mediocrity in staff, faculty, administration, and overall quality of the student body. While other schools became more selective in all of those categories in an overall quality improvement strategy, SJU has always skimped on salaries for all employees and expanded the size of the student body by lowering the admissions bar, effectively becoming the Dollar Store of universities

I cant speak for the administration, or salary part. But our student body and academics is not bad at all. You do know the entry GPA for SJU is 3.5 right? I've been told a lot of older alumni would not have been admitted now ( no offense to our older alumni).

To put in perspective the entry GPA for the following schools in NYC ( source : Princeton Review)

Columbia University: 3.84
NYU : 3.70
Fordham university: 3.64
SJU: 3:50
Yeshiva University 3.49

Everything else (cuny's, other private colleges) enters the low 3.0 to 2.0 range. The only exception is cooper union university ( but that's its own story). I always wonder why there's a satisfaction disconnect between Commuter students and us Dormer students? I find it fascinating.

You aren't seriously going to compare the academic qualifications of students attending NYU and Columbia, for example, to students attending SJU? GPA's cannot be measured comparatively, but certainly ACTs and SATs. can. Columbia is one of the top ranked Ivies, and NYU is the 30th ranked school in the country. Do you seriously want to compare the SJU student body's academic credentials to those of the schools you mentioned? If you want a fair comparison compare the standardized exam results of not just ACCEPTED students (who applied and didn't come here) but those actually attending. You certainly may feel you received a good education at SJU and you can be proud of it, but a 3.7 GPA at a lower performing public HS doesn't compare to a 3.7 at Great Neck, Manhasset, Jericho, etc, not to mention that many high schools exhibit grade bloat.

Woah playboy, I never said we were with Columbia or NYU at all, so calm yourself ( I just posted the top entry GPA from all NYC colleges and Universities). What I said was that comparing SJU academic body to a dollar university is not factual at all. That's all I was getting at.

Now to be fair, most SJU students ( who commute) come from the big three Catholic schools (Prep, Bishop, and Cross), or good NYC public schools ( Cardozo, Bayside, etc),and most of us dormers come from Catholic high schools in other states. I wouldn't consider any of those three private schools or public schools mediocre at all.

I was just making a counter argument to the poster above me. I'm very aware of Columbia and NYU rschoolsn, they come here during the Graduate seminar to recruit us for Grad, law, and medical school. So we know.

Sidenotes: I'm not from long Island , so I had to do a basic google search of the arelas you posted. Impressive to say the least.

Sidenote # 2 Contrary to popular belief some of us do choose SJU over other great schools. I was accepted to Fordham University, Syracuse University, Howard University ( I am African American), Morehouse college, and Wake Forest University.

I respect the dialogue.

 

[beast of the east]

Villanova president Father Peter Donohue just announced that their $600 million capital campaign launched 3 years ago, has just passed $620 million, 17 months ahead of schedule.

I bet if we had a $600 campaign we could match or even surpass that accomplishment.

Although I'm sure winning the NCAA championship didn't hurt the last 10 months of their campaign, this school does so many things right, including spending on quality staff and administration, providing high academics, an attractive campus with many new projects, and most certainly engendering an tradition of giving among alumni and parents. Even their basketball program can be more selective than SJU by avoiding potential problems like Brown. Unfortunately, in many ways, SJU has always chosen mediocrity in staff, faculty, administration, and overall quality of the student body. While other schools became more selective in all of those categories in an overall quality improvement strategy, SJU has always skimped on salaries for all employees and expanded the size of the student body by lowering the admissions bar, effectively becoming the Dollar Store of universities

I cant speak for the administration, or salary part. But our student body and academics is not bad at all. You do know the entry GPA for SJU is 3.5 right? I've been told a lot of older alumni would not have been admitted now ( no offense to our older alumni).

To put in perspective the entry GPA for the following schools in NYC ( source : Princeton Review)

Columbia University: 3.84
NYU : 3.70
Fordham university: 3.64
SJU: 3:50
Yeshiva University 3.49

Everything else (cuny's, other private colleges) enters the low 3.0 to 2.0 range. The only exception is cooper union university ( but that's its own story). I always wonder why there's a satisfaction disconnect between Commuter students and us Dormer students? I find it fascinating.

You aren't seriously going to compare the academic qualifications of students attending NYU and Columbia, for example, to students attending SJU? GPA's cannot be measured comparatively, but certainly ACTs and SATs. can. Columbia is one of the top ranked Ivies, and NYU is the 30th ranked school in the country. Do you seriously want to compare the SJU student body's academic credentials to those of the schools you mentioned? If you want a fair comparison compare the standardized exam results of not just ACCEPTED students (who applied and didn't come here) but those actually attending. You certainly may feel you received a good education at SJU and you can be proud of it, but a 3.7 GPA at a lower performing public HS doesn't compare to a 3.7 at Great Neck, Manhasset, Jericho, etc, not to mention that many high schools exhibit grade bloat.

Woah playboy, I never said we were with Columbia or NYU at all, so calm yourself ( I just posted the top entry GPA from all NYC colleges and Universities). What I said was that comparing SJU academic body to a dollar university is not factual at all. That's all I was getting at.

Now to be fair, most SJU students ( who commute) come from the big three Catholic schools (Prep, Bishop, and Cross), or good NYC public schools ( Cardozo, Bayside, etc),and most of us dormers come from Catholic high schools in other states. I wouldn't consider any of those three private schools or public schools mediocre at all.

I was just making a counter argument to the poster above me. I'm very aware of Columbia and NYU rschoolsn, they come here during the Graduate seminar to recruit us for Grad, law, and medical school. So we know.

Sidenotes: I'm not from long Island , so I had to do a basic google search of the arelas you posted. Impressive to say the least.

Sidenote # 2 Contrary to popular belief some of us do choose SJU over other great schools. I was accepted to Fordham University, Syracuse University, Howard University ( I am African American), Morehouse college, and Wake Forest University.

I respect the dialogue.

Civil discourse is really an important aspect that is absent from public dailogue these days, so your last comment means a lot. I am well aware that many of SJU's better students chose the school because they were offered more money to come here than some of the better ranked schools they were accepted to. Congratulations on the success you had in attaining a degree here, and I hope your career is going well. If you want to PM me, let met know what your major was and also your career goals, and if I can help you in any way, I will.

 

[Andrew]

I have to imagine the dorms have helped with the college experience. I started college in the late 1980's and most of my friends that went to St. John's were above average students that got scholarships or average students that wanted to stay home or their parents wanted them near home. I am not an alum but a lifelong Queens resident who is very familiar with public and private high schools in Queens as well as those fortunate to own homes in Manhasset and Jericho.

 

[Class of 72]

Villanova president Father Peter Donohue just announced that their $600 million capital campaign launched 3 years ago, has just passed $620 million, 17 months ahead of schedule.

I bet if we had a $600 campaign we could match or even surpass that accomplishment.

Although I'm sure winning the NCAA championship didn't hurt the last 10 months of their campaign, this school does so many things right, including spending on quality staff and administration, providing high academics, an attractive campus with many new projects, and most certainly engendering an tradition of giving among alumni and parents. Even their basketball program can be more selective than SJU by avoiding potential problems like Brown. Unfortunately, in many ways, SJU has always chosen mediocrity in staff, faculty, administration, and overall quality of the student body. While other schools became more selective in all of those categories in an overall quality improvement strategy, SJU has always skimped on salaries for all employees and expanded the size of the student body by lowering the admissions bar, effectively becoming the Dollar Store of universities

I cant speak for the administration, or salary part. But our student body and academics is not bad at all. You do know the entry GPA for SJU is 3.5 right? I've been told a lot of older alumni would not have been admitted now ( no offense to our older alumni).

To put in perspective the entry GPA for the following schools in NYC ( source : Princeton Review)

Columbia University: 3.84
NYU : 3.70
Fordham university: 3.64
SJU: 3:50
Yeshiva University 3.49

Everything else (cuny's, other private colleges) enters the low 3.0 to 2.0 range. The only exception is cooper union university ( but that's its own story). I always wonder why there's a satisfaction disconnect between Commuter students and us Dormer students? I find it fascinating.

You aren't seriously going to compare the academic qualifications of students attending NYU and Columbia, for example, to students attending SJU? GPA's cannot be measured comparatively, but certainly ACTs and SATs. can. Columbia is one of the top ranked Ivies, and NYU is the 30th ranked school in the country. Do you seriously want to compare the SJU student body's academic credentials to those of the schools you mentioned? If you want a fair comparison compare the standardized exam results of not just ACCEPTED students (who applied and didn't come here) but those actually attending. You certainly may feel you received a good education at SJU and you can be proud of it, but a 3.7 GPA at a lower performing public HS doesn't compare to a 3.7 at Great Neck, Manhasset, Jericho, etc, not to mention that many high schools exhibit grade bloat.

Woah playboy, I never said we were with Columbia or NYU at all, so calm yourself ( I just posted the top entry GPA from all NYC colleges and Universities). What I said was that comparing SJU academic body to a dollar university is not factual at all. That's all I was getting at.

Now to be fair, most SJU students ( who commute) come from the big three Catholic schools (Prep, Bishop, and Cross), or good NYC public schools ( Cardozo, Bayside, etc),and most of us dormers come from Catholic high schools in other states. I wouldn't consider any of those three private schools or public schools mediocre at all.

I was just making a counter argument to the poster above me. I'm very aware of Columbia and NYU rschoolsn, they come here during the Graduate seminar to recruit us for Grad, law, and medical school. So we know.

Sidenotes: I'm not from long Island , so I had to do a basic google search of the arelas you posted. Impressive to say the least.

Sidenote # 2 Contrary to popular belief some of us do choose SJU over other great schools. I was accepted to Fordham University, Syracuse University, Howard University ( I am African American), Morehouse college, and Wake Forest University.

I respect the dialogue.

Nice response young grad. There are many very bright and motivated students at St. John's. Like NYU, there are tiers within the colleges that admit lower qualified students. That is what we hope improves. If NYU's school of general studies was looked at closely you will see a few thousand students that may not be top of the class.

 

[BrookJersey Redmen]

Hey, Beast, your assessment of Holy Cross is way off the mark, just saying.

I could point to all sorts of objective criteria that place HC just below ND and Georgetown as the top three Catholic Universities, including placement of graduates in Medical School, Law School, PhD programs, etc.

I do agree that Worcester is not the most prominent New England city for sure, but lots of terrific academic institutions and medical institutions for that matter are not in the "best neighborhoods", like on the Main Line.

A PhD head of one of he most prestigious departments at Boston College gave this advice to our family: of all the Jesuit colleges, Holy Cross was the most highly regarded by the Jesuits themselves.

 

[McGarry2]

Hey, Beast, your assessment of Holy Cross is way off the mark, just saying.

I could point to all sorts of objective criteria that place HC just below ND and Georgetown as the top three Catholic Universities, including placement of graduates in Medical School, Law School, PhD programs, etc.

I do agree that Worcester is not the most prominent New England city for sure, but lots of terrific academic institutions and medical institutions for that matter are not in the "best neighborhoods", like on the Main Line.

A PhD head of one of he most prestigious departments at Boston College gave this advice to our family: of all the Jesuit colleges, Holy Cross was the most highly regarded by the Jesuits themselves.

Holy Cross was for the children of the elite Boston College for the working class a similar structure was envisioned for New York with Fordham and The College Francis Xavier but the subways were built which resulted in Xavier High School when the college was closed

 

[RedStormNC]

With all of this, St. John's remains a school in transition... attempting to diversify by moving beyond commuter school stigma, to one that has has some dorms and attempting to build a campus feel & trying to attract a broader, high performing student base leveraging the NYC pull for many out of state.

Seems a few have either been recent student graduates or have had children attend in more recent years.

I guess the question remains... If your child was going to be graduating in a year or two, and they didn't have the grades for Ivy/elites, but was a very good student, would you encourage and support your child considering applying to / attending SJU or do you think you'd try to gently steer them to other options (either in NY or elsewhere) that you'd perceive as better fit or option ?

 

[beast of the east]

Hey, Beast, your assessment of Holy Cross is way off the mark, just saying.

I could point to all sorts of objective criteria that place HC just below ND and Georgetown as the top three Catholic Universities, including placement of graduates in Medical School, Law School, PhD programs, etc.

I do agree that Worcester is not the most prominent New England city for sure, but lots of terrific academic institutions and medical institutions for that matter are not in the "best neighborhoods", like on the Main Line.

A PhD head of one of he most prestigious departments at Boston College gave this advice to our family: of all the Jesuit colleges, Holy Cross was the most highly regarded by the Jesuits themselves.

I's a very good school, not easy to get into by any means, but as a small liberal arts school without any professional schools or business curriculum, there are better choices. Nearly any student who is accepted to BC and HC would choose BC all things being equal, and most would choose Villanova as well. That's not to denigrate HC, but I am guessing you have a kid at HC or went there yourself.

HC has a very small student population - about 2800 students. About 1/2 of all students do a 1 year study abroad Junior year, leaving less than 2500 students on campus. The campus is basically situated on a steep hill, and while the library is beautiful, just to get around campus on a cold, windy winter's day is a bitch. The school promotes that they run shuttle buses to Boston, which is deceiving because Boston is 40 miles away and students rarely venture to Boston.

Again, it's a very good school, and has very bright students, but there are simply better choices for top students.

 

[otis]

Admissions stats to Villanova and The College of the Holy Cross are nearly identical except for # of applicants:

Villanova
Math ....................... 630-740
Reading/ Writing ..... 650-730
ACT ........................,...29-32
Total applicants .......16,206
Enrolled ...................1,700

Holy Cross
Math ....................... 640-720
Reading/ Writing ..... 650-730
ACT ........................, 28-31
Total applicants ..........6,693
Enrolled ........................765
Applied early decision ..477
Admitted early decision. 347


Note that Holy Cross has binding Early Decision; Over 45% of the entry class for Holy Cross is admitted through binding Early Decision. Villanova does not have biding Early Decision.


Source: The College Board

 

[beast of the east]

Admissions stats to Villanova and The College of the Holy Cross are nearly identical except for # of applicants:

Villanova
Math ....................... 630-740
Reading/ Writing ..... 650-730
ACT ........................,...29-32
Total applicants .......16,206
Enrolled ...................1,700

Holy Cross
Math ....................... 640-720
Reading/ Writing ..... 650-730
ACT ........................, 28-31
Total applicants ..........6,693
Enrolled ........................765
Applied early decision ..477
Admitted early decision. 347


Note that Holy Cross has binding Early Decision; Over 45% of the entry class for Holy Cross is admitted through binding Early Decision. Villanova does not have biding Early Decision.


Source: The College Board

Good job. Very close indeed with slight edge to Nova. I am curious as to cross applications. I know for BC the top 10 schools their students applied to are 8 ivys, gtown and nova.

Hey Otis, how do BC statistics match up?

 

[BrookJersey Redmen]

HC's campus is on Mount St. James. It is a gorgeous spot with beautiful views from upper campus. The campus is a registered arboretum and has won numerous awards for its landscape architecture. The Princeton Review ranked the campus as #5 most beautiful campus in the nation and consistently ranks the campus in the top 15. The design and landscape is ingrained in the nickname for the campus which is commonly known as The Hill. With over 38 campus buildings many of them of outstanding architectural significance, it is by no means small.


The Princeton Review awarded Holy Cross a 98/99 academic rating. Only 5 colleges or universities were awarded a higher academic rating. According to The Alumni Factor, Holy Cross is ranked 5th in the nation based on how well it develops and shapes its students, and what becomes of them after they graduate.

A criticism of HC being "too small" is small minded. It is a college not a university for sure, but its students go on to some of the best post-graduate programs in the country. One could criticize Williams College, Amherst College, Davidson College, Grinnell College, Colby, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Bates, Wm & Mary, Pomona, Washington & Lee, etc., but that type of criticism loses sight of the great academic credentials of the school. Actually when it comes to acceptance in post-graduate programs HC consistently ranks among the highest for medical and law school acceptance rates.

 

[beast of the east]

HC's campus is on Mount St. James. It is a gorgeous spot with beautiful views from upper campus. The campus is a registered arboretum and has won numerous awards for its landscape architecture. The Princeton Review ranked the campus as #5 most beautiful campus in the nation and consistently ranks the campus in the top 15. The design and landscape is ingrained in the nickname for the campus which is commonly known as The Hill. With over 38 campus buildings many of them of outstanding architectural significance, it is by no means small.


The Princeton Review awarded Holy Cross a 98/99 academic rating. Only 5 colleges or universities were awarded a higher academic rating. According to The Alumni Factor, Holy Cross is ranked 5th in the nation based on how well it develops and shapes its students, and what becomes of them after they graduate.

A criticism of HC being "too small" is small minded. It is a college not a university for sure, but its students go on to some of the best post-graduate programs in the country. One could criticize Williams College, Amherst College, Davidson College, Grinnell College, Colby, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Bates, Wm & Mary, Pomona, Washington & Lee, etc., but that type of criticism loses sight of the great academic credentials of the school. Actually when it comes to acceptance in post-graduate programs HC consistently ranks among the highest for medical and law school acceptance rates.

How many HC students would you say were accepted to BC? I can tell you that HC isn't one of the top 10 schools BC accepted students apply to - it is all Ivy's and Villanova. It is a great school, in my opinion one of the best Catholic Universities in America, but trails both Georgetown and BC in the academic credentials of their students. BC is one of the top 25 most desirable schools in the country for employers - HC is not. BC has a top 20 business school - HC doesn't have one. HC is a great liberal arts school and great Jesuit College, but students with better opportunities generally choose elsewhere unless scholarship money is involved.

Small schools generally have limited student life. I know at least 5 recent HC graduates - all very bright and capable kids. 3 of them say would have gone elsewhere looking back on their college experience.

 

[BrookJersey Redmen]

Beast, you're way off base. The chairman of a major department at BC told me that the Jesuits of the Boston Province consider HC the hidden gem and academically more rigorous than BC. He told my child if she got into both schools (and she did) to go to Holy Cross. For one thing, the level of scholarship measured by student time spent on studies and homework is much higher at HC than BC. I have a relative and a close friend, the relative has three sons, one went to BC, one went to Harvard and one went to HC, the HC graduate worked harder than the other two and ended up with a more advanced career. The close friend has four adult children two went to Harvard and two went to HC, in his opinion the two that went to HC ended up with a more well-rounded and superior education to the two who went to Harvard.

Your anecdote about the 3 recent graduates of HC who didn't like their experience runs counter to all of the objective reporting about alumni satisfaction, where HC is among the highest in the country when it comes to giving back to their undergraduate college.