Looking for the Right College

[YEARNING4TRUTH]

Hi, what kind of questions should I be asking myself and people from the admissions office etc. when I’m trying to look for a good Catholic college? I want to major in Psychology and minor in something like intercultural studies, so if you guys also think up of any good questions in regards to my major please let me know.

 

[ChurchSoldier]

Go to the cheapest one which will give you a degree.

If you are going for “intercultural studies” you aren’t going to find a program which aligns with the Catholic faith. It’s kind of oxymoronic. At best you will probably find one which I’d deeply based on Liberation Theology… which is Marxist…which is anti-Christian.

Good luck.

 

[Richard_White]

For good Catholic colleges and universities, look to The Cardinal Newman Society. They have a list of all the Catholic schools who are adherent to the teachings of the Catholic Church and have a vibrant spirituality on campus. They have a guide that you can purchase, but they also have quite a bit of information on their website that you can search through. They go into detail about all the schools on their list.

cardinalnewmansociety.org/recommended-colleges/

If you go this link, you will find their list, and then you can click on each of the schools to go to their complete profiles.

As for Psychology and intercultural studies, you can probably do well with those programs anywhere.

May God bless you on your journey!

 

[PraiseChrist]

Hi, what kind of questions should I be asking myself and people from the admissions office etc. when I’m trying to look for a good Catholic college? I want to major in Psychology and minor in something like intercultural studies, so if you guys also think up of any good questions in regards to my major please let me know.

Hi,

You should make college visits and see what the daily routine/culture is like at each campus. Ask students attending this college questions about their lifestyle there. That will give you a basic understanding of what you’ll be doing for 4+ years.

Next, you should see if the college you are attending is good for the major you want. If you are planning on attending a very orthodox/devout Catholic college, you probably won’t have to worry too much about the orthodoxy of what’s being taught. Some of these colleges I know off the bat are Christendom, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ave Maria. But make sure you also won’t spend thousands of dollars in tuition, and not be able to find a good career. The point of the Catholic college isn’t merely to preserve the faith/sanctification of a student attending, but to make sure the education they receive will land them a stable job.

May I ask what career you’d like to get into with a major in Psychology and a minor in intercultural studies? I’m not too familiar with those majors too much, and am interested what you’d like to do.

 

[ChurchSoldier]

I don’t want this to sound harsh, it’s not meant to be.

So first, don’t spend money on intercultural studies.

At best intercultural studies is going to have a bent towards Liberation Theology…which is Marxist…which is anti-Christian. Though usually they are just straight up Marxist without the veil of theology. If you truly have an interest in it, just study it on your own. You can still go to all the Antifa protests without worrying about the $30,000 in school loans you have to pay for the minor which you can’t use.

If you are really interested, just do your internships in a multi-cultural environment (that’s what I did). It will give you more experience than some classes and be of more value.

Secondly, if you are going for Psych, you really need a Master’s. Head towards that with a singular intentional focus. Max your load each semester and don’t freak out about the GPA, your clients won’t care about your grades, only about how you provide care. Go to a Community College connected to a 4 year school which is connected to a Grad School. This will be you cheapest and possibly smoothest route.

Psychologists don’t get paid much, so the goal is to have as little debt as possible when you get out.

Thirdly, and don’t take this the wrong way, if you haven’t done your own emotional / therapy work, start with that. With more than a decade in the Pastoral and Counseling field I have seen most undergrad Psych / SW students are taking it in hopes of fixing something in themselves. Just do the work now and save yourself a decade of possibly being unhappy. If it turns out you really do have a passion for helping others, having done your own work will be of incredible value!

Good luck!

 

[joeybaggz]

For good Catholic colleges and universities, look to The Cardinal Newman Society. They have a list of all the Catholic schools who are adherent to the teachings of the Catholic Church and have a vibrant spirituality on campus. They have a guide that you can purchase, but they also have quite a bit of information on their website that you can search through. They go into detail about all the schools on their list.

Not to contradict Richard, but I’ve read the colleges that top the Newman society list and generally they are all quite orthodox. Particularly the ones already mentioned.
There are any number of good Catholic colleges that don’t make the Newman list because they are not totally orthodox. I’m not too sure if Notre Dame makes the list.

The Catholic college I graduated from doesn’t make the list of preferred colleges. It is St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. It is a Benedictine liberal arts college in addition to a major seminary, and the largest Benedictine monastery in the U.S. Absolutely everything Catholic is offered there, from adoration to daily mass, a multitude of clergy for guidance and counseling, everyday confession and daily vespers with the monks at 5PM, and much much more through a vibrant campus ministry The seminary chapel has almost daily Eucharistic adoration as well as does Mary the Mother of Wisdom student chapel. And not to mention the minor Basilica. It is all offered, but no one, Catholic or not, is forced or obligated to observe anything. The choice is left to the student to grow at their own pace. The academics are excellent and graduating student find jobs in short order. I also believe financial aid is offered to all freshman students.

The student body is composed of Roman Catholic student as the majority denomination, but over 50% of the student body is non-catholic, at least that’s what I have been told. It is a liberating atmosphere of good academics and freedom to grow and learn at one’s own pace.

I know this sounds like a sales job for SVC, and Pennsylvania is quite a distance from your home. I offer this post to you in hopes you will investigate Catholic colleges that are accessible to you but not on the ultra orthodox list. In reality there are probably many Catholic affiliated colleges that offer much the same academic and spiritual atmosphere.
They are just not strictly orthodox.

Good luck in your search.

Shalom

 

[Bookcat]

Franciscan University of Steubenville

(Alma Mater)

 

[YEARNING4TRUTH]

Hi,

You should make college visits and see what the daily routine/culture is like at each campus. Ask students attending this college questions about their lifestyle there. That will give you a basic understanding of what you’ll be doing for 4+ years.

Next, you should see if the college you are attending is good for the major you want. If you are planning on attending a very orthodox/devout Catholic college, you probably won’t have to worry too much about the orthodoxy of what’s being taught. Some of these colleges I know off the bat are Christendom, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ave Maria. But make sure you also won’t spend thousands of dollars in tuition, and not be able to find a good career. The point of the Catholic college isn’t merely to preserve the faith/sanctification of a student attending, but to make sure the education they receive will land them a stable job.

May I ask what career you’d like to get into with a major in Psychology and a minor in intercultural studies? I’m not too familiar with those majors too much, and am interested what you’d like to do.

Well, I want to become a school counselor/career counselor, an LMFT, or a professor in a Catholic College. I don’t know if it would be possible to do all of them, probably not all at the same time, but it would be nice to be able to do so.

 

[signit]

But make sure you also won’t spend thousands of dollars in tuition, and not be able to find a good career. The point of the Catholic college isn’t merely to preserve the faith/sanctification of a student attending, but to make sure the education they receive will land them a stable job.

Absolutely agree.

Take it from someone who’s been unemployed and eaten a lot of ramen.

Absolutely, be a smart shopper. Find out about the track record of people who went there. Also don’t just take their word for it. Every college is going to tell you how great it is. Go to neutral sources (people in the community, people in the field, etc.).

 

[PraiseChrist]

Hi, what kind of questions should I be asking myself and people from the admissions office etc. when I’m trying to look for a good Catholic college? I want to major in Psychology and minor in something like intercultural studies, so if you guys also think up of any good questions in regards to my major please let me know.

Good luck on your search!

 

[Ryan_Star_Mayor]

I don’t know of what to look for in general, but Creighton University is a good Jesuit college I would recommend looking into.