Notre Dame

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My high school senior has been accepted into the school of engineering at Notre Dame.
He has also been accepted into other secular, higher ranked engineering schools.

My question is, what is the current Catholic climate like on campus?
Would his faith life likely be strengthened or diminished by his surroundings?
Is the college trending heterodox?
 
Like all institutions of higher learning, there will be great instructors, and those not so great.
The Catholic presence there is VERY strong.
It’s an excellent school, and no, they don’t teach against the faith, but again, they do expose people to all kinds of thought, so a good practicing Catholic can best discern how to combat non-believers in debate on such matters.

Congratulations on his acceptance.
I happen to know that Georgia Tech also has a really fine campus ministry and a wonderful priest assigned there.
 
If you select Notre Dame, I would just be proactive with regard to the selection of teachers in required religion, theology, and philosophy classes…do some research on who are the faithful Catholic professors in those classes…don’t leave it to chance. My two cents.
 
I can’t speak to the climate on campus now. I graduated in ten years ago and found that it was definitely conducive to my faith journey. If a student does not wish to attend Mass or practice their faith, they won’t. But if a student is inclined to attend Mass, receive the sacraments, and meet like-minded friends, the school makes it very easy to do so. There is confession every day, Mass every day (multiple times a day), a faculty that is, on the whole, very supportive of students’ faith, opportunities for retreats, a strong religious presence on campus, etc.

In any school, I would think that the faith/ religious tolerance level of the faculty would not be as much of an issue in the math and sciences. Do the other secular engineering schools have requirements for philosophy or theology, etc? This is where I think it can be beneficial to be in a Catholic school. Not only is the faculty more likely to be sympathetic to the Catholic faith (or at least not openly hostile to it), but the students in the class will be far more likely to share your son’s faith.

He must have worked hard in high school and you’re now reaping the rewards. Congrats!
 
Congratulations, great school with strong high standard academics. Religiously invironmental.
 
I_trust said:
My high school senior has been accepted into the school of engineering at Notre Dame.
He has also been accepted into other secular, higher ranked engineering schools.

My question is, what is the current Catholic climate like on campus?
Would his faith life likely be strengthened or diminished by his surroundings?
Is the college trending heterodox?
Click to expand...
Congratulations to you and your son! 😃 How exciting!

I can’t speak first hand for Notre Dame, but my friend’s son just started there and they are pleased with it.

My own son chose another engineering school and I have been very impressed with it. Although a very liberal school, they embrace diversity and do have a priest who is stationed there and what seems to be a very active ministry.

I think when it comes to colleges it can vary more by the student than the institution. (My oldest had a great faith experience at a Lutheran campus with a fabulous Newman center, while my next oldest found the Catholic climate lacking at the local Catholic College she attended.)
 
My impression: Notre Dame has a very active Catholic ministry. Many priests on campus. Chapels and Mass in the dorms. A majority of students seem to be active Catholics. A beautiful Basilica in the center of campus.

Downsides: Many of the administration are liberal and heterodox. Tuition and fees are staggering.
 
Congratulations on his acceptance.

I have a freshman at Ole Miss. Their campus minitry is awesome! She has gone on 2 retreats so far. Loves going to mass (ad orientum). I believe they have an awesome engineering program as well.
 
I_trust said:
My high school senior has been accepted into the school of engineering at Notre Dame.
He has also been accepted into other secular, higher ranked engineering schools.

My question is, what is the current Catholic climate like on campus?
Would his faith life likely be strengthened or diminished by his surroundings?
Is the college trending heterodox?
Click to expand...
This is tough. Notre dame is a great school and is catholic. However, I would say that it may have turned away from the faith. But the thing is that to turn back, it needs strong Catholic students.
Just not my kids…
 
I_trust said:
My high school senior has been accepted into the school of engineering at Notre Dame.
He has also been accepted into other secular, higher ranked engineering schools.

My question is, what is the current Catholic climate like on campus?
Would his faith life likely be strengthened or diminished by his surroundings?
Is the college trending heterodox?
Click to expand...
Which other engineering schools do you mean? I thought the Newman Center at Berkeley was good, for instance, but the campus as a whole is not a hotbed of Christianity and certainly not traditional forms of Christianity. Most of the Christianity that is there, including the Catholicism, is decidedly progressive. It is a big campus, though, so it would be wrong to make one blanket statement. There are campuses and college towns that are very friendly towards devout Christians and then there are campuses and college towns that are essentially hostile to religion, period.

I trust you’ve visited South Bend. That’s a huge contrast to say, Oakland or Pasadena. I do not just mean that there is Mass offered every Sunday in every dorm. I mean that on some campuses you’ll be treated as less odd if you sprout a horn from your forehead than if you open your mouth and let on that you belong to Our Lord and try to form your every thought and action accordingly.
 
Congrats on your son’s acceptance. I am a '90 grad, and it has certainly strengthened my faith life. I like that they still have single sex dorms and curfews as to when guys/girls need to leave.

Notre Dame has made its mistakes, but here are some of the amazing things that have done. They built a crisis pregnancy center right next to an abortion clinic. Then, they were successful in having the abortion clinic closed. 1 in 8 students attended the March for Life.

I believe that much of the good they do in the South Bend community is squashed by some of their past mistakes. Daily mass and confession is always offered, and I like the fact that they invited +Chaput to give a lecture on ethics (where is effectively scolded them).

Please feel free to PM me. I will say that there is no stronger alumni association than Notre Dame’s. Also, my son also hopes to attend…but on the seminary track.

God bless.
 
Please feel free to message me about Notre Dame. I saw some disturbing remarks on Twitter by fellow alumni when VP Pence was announced as the graduation speaker. However, these remarks were by recent grads. I was unsettled and now question if I even want my son to attend seminary there.

I will always love Notre Dame for not treating me like a number when I enrolled. I loved the single sex dorms and the Sunday night masses offered in the dorms. As I was a sacristan for my dorm, I also attended daily mass. But, I am reading some not-so-nice comments on Twitter. It really makes me wonder what the heck is going on in South Bend!
 
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