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College of the Holy Cross

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Holy Cross is a very hard school.Quite BrightHistory/Histories (art history/etc.)
Holy Cross is a very hard school. You work very hard and learn a lot. The professors are incredible. Every Professor I had was challenging, interesting, helpful and friendly. Political Science, History, Classics and Pre-med are very strong majors on campus. Many people complain about the "quality" of Worcester, but I think it is a decent college town. The poor quality of the area allows the local bars to disregard laws in general. Unfortunately, this means that most of the Holy Cross social life revolves around the bar. So if you don't have a poor quality fake id or are 21 plan on drinking yourself into a coma in your dorm room or in an off campus appartment doing a keg stand. Although some people complain about the alcohol policy at HC I think it is rather laid back. I have been to dozens of other schools and HC ranks about average in terms of what you can get away with. Socially, Holy Cross is not the easiest school for freshmen, but life gets better as you progress. Since there are no frats join a sports team or a sports club and the social scene will follow. The campus is beautiful, but the hills get to be a pain in the ass. The study abroad program is great. Two big problems with the place is the food and the athletic facilities. The food makes you feel like you have been sent up the hudson river, and the athletic facilities are just poor. Church is big here for some people and others just totally disregard it. A large percentage of the students here are into public welfare. Overall, it is a great academic school, with a above average social life (if by social life you mean partying), in a pardise (campus) surrounded by a bar town. The students are friendly, hard working (Sunday through Thursday), smart, and rich.
3rd Year Male -- Class 2006
Education Quality: A+, Social Life: B-
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Attending this institution was the biggest mistake ofOther
Attending this institution was the biggest mistake of my life. The school's reputation in the real world is not half what it's supposed to be. Even in the Worcester area there are people who have never heard of Holy Cross College. The bureaucracy is worse than I've seen at big universities. You're just a number on a curve. Grades tend to be low which might hurt your chances for admission to competitive grad schools. Maybe half of the students are alumni children who think they're Joe Cool because their families got them in, and there's a lot of trashing of people at other colleges or non-Catholics. There is a strong religious atmosphere which some might like but I felt that religious beliefs were being forced on me. The dining service is horrendous, and the social life is centered around sports and getting drunk. Because of the college's bad location there's nothing to do off campus as there is in the Boston area. Financial aid is stingy - there are almost no academic scholarships, but of course there's plenty of scholarship money for athletes. Do yourself a favor and go to a state institution instead and save a lot of money.
Alumnus Male -- Class 2000
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I would say that Holy Cross is dull,Quite BrightPolitical Science
I would say that Holy Cross is dull, closeminded, and conservative. The political science department hires by ideology, and this is from a history professor with whom I am friendly with. He has sat in upon interviews to hire faculties, and the conservative poli sci department refused to hire anyone who was liberal. Most professors remain very low key about their own political views, unless a.) they're conservative or b.) they know that you are liberal like them.

Political activism on campus is very 'tight-knit' - because the number of people who actually care is extremely small. Very few turned up to either the pro-war and the anti-war rallies around the Iraq War this past year. If you are a non-religious liberal, I would definately run away now. The college democrats barely exist and the greens are not even registered. The college republicans have control and a great deal of faculty support. They have outside funding from the inter-collegiate studies institute - so are capable of running their own newspaper and inviting their own speakers.

This past year, the school dis-invited three speakers -- one because she was pro-life, one because was very critical of Israel (and mind you, he was even a priest), and one because he is on Daniel Pipes black-list (and was in the Clinton administration). In fact, Daniel Pipes did make an appearance here on campus and delivered a long speech. The professor who invited him ended up making racist statements to Muslims from the Worcester area and was very demeaning -- the President of the college sent letters to those who complained apologizing... otherwise it is as if the situation never occured.

I could complain a lot... the only big pro is that the professors do get to know you very well if you speak up. If you're bright and do your work, they'll love you (since many here are not bright nor do they do their work).As a student survey has remarked for a number of years on the Princeton Review website, Holy Cross is like a Ambercrombie and Fitch catalogue.

1st Year Male -- Class 2006
Faculty Accessibility: A, Innovation: F
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