College of the Holy Cross

Holy Cross is one of the top academic colleges in the Boston area as rated by the Princeton Review an unbiased well regarded source:

School Princeton Review Academic Rating
Harvard 99
College of the Holy Cross 98
Boston College 87
Tufts 89
Brandeis 88
MIT 97
Boston Univ 84
Source(s): http://www.princetonreview.com/It also was ranked 8th in the country by Kiplinger's for Best Values in National Private Colleges. The campus is spectacularly beautiful and the classes are small and the professors all have PhD and it is strictly undergraduate. It has great division 1 sports and the basketball team often goes to the NCAAs and the football team won the Patriot League championship this year. 25% of students are varsity athletes. It is an amazing college and less than an hour to Boston and borders a medium size city with lots to do.

3rd Year Male -- Class 2010

Faculty Accessibility: A+, Surrounding City: B-

I love it here, but that's cause its an environment conducive to working really hard and playing even harder. if you can't keep up, you'll be lost academically and socially. everyone works super hard, and the classes are very challenging. i dont think people realize how hard we work here. a 3.6 at holy cross is worth a 4.0 at harvard. the students are kind of competitive...no one really tolerates slacking off. all of my professors have been amazing, they really make the effort to know who you are, even on a personal level. the education is very much for learning, but also to prepare you for the world beyond college. spud is a huge thing on campus...everyone volunteers. everyone is a really good person, very friendly and open to meeting new people. people party a lot, but work always comes first...so if i have a test first thing monday morning, i might not go out on saturday but rather study instead. there is not much of a dating scene...more casual hook ups. people who want to be in a relationship can usually find one. this is the best school in the nation. we work harder and play harder than anyone else!

3rd Year Female -- Class 2010

Education Quality: A+, Useful Schoolwork: A-

While the academics are challenging, I find them manageable, especially with small classes, accesible professors, and only four courses per semester. I take social science classes though; my friends who are natural science and pre-medical students have more work than me. While there are many stereotypical Holy Cross students on campus, over the years I have found students who have other interests, styles, and personalities. Holy Cross has a liberal arts curriculum where students take some general requirements, major courses, and have the freedom in their curriculum to take other courses that interest them. I've really enjoyed the majority of my classes and find them relevant to each other, my own life and current events. I know that I've learned so much since coming to Holy Cross. While there is substantial work, I would recommend choosing classes based on your interests and skills, and that will make it easier. Almost all Holy Cross students are friendly, involved in many organizations on campus, and serious about academics. One group of students are preppy, rich, from private high schools, and always socializing. Their weekends tend to be consumed by parties which they talk about at the dining hall and coffee shop on Sunday and before Monday classes. This is the stereotypical Holy Cross student, but there are other types of students as well. Many others dress more casually, are more down to earth, and spend their free time working on campus, participating in student organizations and watching movies/playing board games on weekend nights. I would not consider the school a cliquey one; while students have their respective groups of friends, these are permeable groups. Even the two Holy Cross subcultures associate with one another based on common classes and dorms

3rd Year Male -- Class 2010

Education Quality: A+, Social Life: A-