Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

Does anyone have some good insight to this school?

By Reeses (Reeses) on Friday, July 04, 2003 - 06:35 pm: Edit

any alumni??

By Ksolo (Ksolo) on Sunday, August 31, 2003 - 01:51 pm: Edit

What do you want to know exactly?

Academically, it's a great school. Very competitive, and the workload is pretty rigorous many at times. Even a student that only has a 2.5 works pretty hard just to get that.

There's a prestige that comes along with the school. It's known. The average person may not have heard of it, but many white-collars have.

Great advantages are that it's small in size, 2700 students. So you get to make a lot of bonds with people, including professors. All these bonds are much more difficult to make at large universities. Yet, this can be a disadvantage sometimes. The school can feel like the sequel of high school at times, as many students know one another. This can lead to the infamous gossip. So if you make a crucial mistake with someone, many people can know about it. Whereas, with a large school, the personal scrutiny isn't there as much.

For entertainment, the life of students are based on-campus, and on weekends, at off-campus apartments/housing. Worcester, the city where the college is located, just isn't a "happening" place.

Anything else? Ask.

By Kwyjibo86 (Kwyjibo86) on Sunday, August 31, 2003 - 10:30 pm: Edit

i don't think this thread gets looked at too often but...
i love EVERYTHING about this school except for the fact that it is about 15 minutes from my house, and does not (i think) have a national reputation. So, can anyone tell me if holy cross is known outside the new england area - and if so, what do people think of it? what are some "peer" schools? i have always thought of HC as a crappy local school, but i went for a campus tour and i changed my mind.
i still don't know if i like the school enough to stay so local for college... please assuage my aforementioned concerns.
oh, and in case you were wondering, i have a 1270 SAT about a 620 average SAT II, 3.58/4.3 GPA, and i'm an eagle scout. my HS is seriously like a junior Holy Cross... i'm sure i could get in.
please respond!

By Jmgriffin (Jmgriffin) on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - 06:38 pm: Edit

I am a freshman at Holy Cross. The rumors about a rigorous course load are true. Students here work hard, but they also play hard too. There is plenty to do on campus, and in Boston, which is only 45 minutes away. Sports here at Holy Cross are big too. Our football team is nothing to get pumped up about, but our basketball teams are great. The school spirit is second to none, and everyone is here for the same reasons. The school is not very diverse though. You will find a lot of white irish/italian catholics. It is a great place to go to school and live. I urge everyone to look into it.

Students who apply to Holy Cross typically apply to Boston College, Colgate, Lehigh, Villanova, Providence, Fairfield, Loyola (MD), Georgetown, Dartmouth, Tufts, and Notre Dame.

By Chavela0 (Chavela0) on Friday, March 26, 2004 - 06:45 pm: Edit

Has anyone got their letters yet? Anyone know when we should be getting them?

By Catalinakc (Catalinakc) on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 06:26 pm: Edit

I just got my acceptance letter on Saturday (live in Mass).

By Chavela0 (Chavela0) on Monday, March 29, 2004 - 03:39 pm: Edit

I got my acceptance letter today - I live in Ohio. I really liked the purple writing...I'm not Italian or Irish, so might I feel like an outsider?

By Senior43 (Senior43) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 08:25 pm: Edit

Chavela0

I doubt you would feel like an outsider not being Italien or Irish. I didn't get that impression last summer when I visited.

Will you be attending Holy Cross? What aspects of Holy Cross do you like?

By Chavela0 (Chavela0) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 05:56 pm: Edit

Yeah Senior 43, I think that reading all of those guidebooks has really got me thinking about the ethnic makeup of Holy Cross. It's probably my first choice as of this moment - I definitely would not let the fact that I am German (haha) deter my choice. I mean, I really don't think that not being of one of the majority ethnic groups would change my experience at the college.
When I visited last summer, I really appreciated the small size - the fact that it seemed personalized to each student. Though Worcester doesn't appear to be the best city, it seems like a fun place to explore at night. It is in a great location, it's academics seem amazing, and I can't wait for the Open House on the 18th! Are you going?

By Senior43 (Senior43) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 07:43 am: Edit

Chavela0

Thanks for your thoughts. I agree with your reasons for liking Holy Cross. It seemed like a great atmosphere. I have a possible conflict with the Open House on 4/18, but I am going to try and get there.

By Chavela0 (Chavela0) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 09:45 am: Edit

I can't wait to visit! What are you thinking of majoring in?

By Weenie (Weenie) on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - 11:37 am: Edit

We visited the Holy Cross campus last week, and unfortunately they weren't offering tours. (Why do colleges not offer tours during times when high schools are off???) So, we walked around alone, which was not very informative.

When we left we drove through Worcester - YUK!!! It was really awful. For the price of Holy Cross, I guess I just don't know why a student wouldn't try to spend 4 years someplace better.

I'd be interested to hear from anybody who is currently going there. What about Holy Cross outweighs having to be in Worcester?

Also, my son plays trumpet and wants to continue playing, but probably not major in music. (He doesn't know what he wants to major in.) How are the opportunities there to play in a jazz band, or regular band?

Thanks!

By Chavela0 (Chavela0) on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 01:45 pm: Edit

I'm not going here - it was my top choice and I got in, but unfortunately too expensive. I'm going to St. Louis U in the fall - best wishes to everyone who is going there!
~Betsy~

By Weenie (Weenie) on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 12:16 pm: Edit

Can anyone tell about any financial aid they may have received from Holy Cross? Also, would you sya it is a liberal or conservative student body? I was a little concerned about this because of a student newspaper I picked up while on campus that was talking about some problems with gay-bashing. (I hate that.)

By Blane101 (Blane101) on Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 09:58 pm: Edit

I'm an incoming Holy Cross freshman. Regarding financial aid, I found it was pretty comparable to what other colleges were offering me. Holy Cross, and many other institutions of similar repute, will give you "demonstrated need," and are thus pretty similar unless they offer merit aid.

As for students' political beliefs, I would encourage you to take a look at this article from the Summer issue of Holy Cross Magazine:

http://www.holycross.edu/departments/publicaffairs/hcm/summer04/features/feature3.html

As you can see, the majority of Holy Cross students consider themselves to be liberal. However, there is a fairly large conservative contingent as well, which makes sense considering the school's religious affiliation.

In regard to the unfortunate incident of gay-bashing you mentioned, I too was concerned. It turns out, however, that that was likely an isolated incident by a single or small number of individuals who did not represent the student body as a whole. There was a very well-attended "stop the hate" rally immediately following the incident, which tends to put the situation in perspective. Additionally, the Princeton Review's ratings seem to suggest Notre Dame and Boston College are both less friendly to gay students.

All in all, I ended up chosing Holy Cross and I hope you will too if you feel it is the right school for you. Good luck.