College of the Holy Cross Top Questions

Holy Cross is a small school, and Worcester leaves a lot to be desired. A lot. That said, there is plenty of fun to be had on campus and I love going to school here. The academics are very strong, the people (once you find your friends) are great, and it's a beautiful campus to live on (warning: it's freezing 4-6 months out of the school year - bring boots and coats!).

school is a great size. small community where almost every teacher will do everything they can to help you. Caring environment.

Holy Cross is a college that will make you successful. The buildings and athletic facilities make the campus one of the most beautiful in the country. The campus sits atop Mt. St. James, and overlooks the city of Worcester, where there are plenty of things you can find to do. The location is great, as it is a gated campus, separated from the outside world. But it is right next to a major city, allowing you to instantly find things to do. The size of the college is around 3,000 students. This allows for a close community atmosphere. The size of the campus is perfect: not too big where you will be lost in the shuffle, but not too small where you see all the same people every day. The class sizes are small, averaging less than 15 students per class. The faculty are always helpful, as they are always there for one in need. The school pride is second to none, as the athletic facilities get packed for any varsity game.

From a job application essay I wrote recently about school spirit: The most memorable experience of my Holy Cross career was accompanying the basketball teams to both NCAA Tournaments in 2007. As a member of the pep band, the NCAA flew me to Columbus, Ohio, to help cheer on the men's basketball team in the middle of last March. The trip was unbelievable. I was able to go for free to one of the biggest sporting events in the country where I had a courtside seat, and I had a chance to spend a weekend with my friends away from schoolwork. The best part of the weekend, and a memory I am sure will stay with me for ever, happened just before the game: the band walked into the packed stadium through the team entrance, and the Holy Cross students' section, which was immediately to our right, erupted. We were thirty band geeks with no athletic talent, but the Holy Cross fans were excited enough to see our purple and white shirts that they cheered far louder than the Illinois fans did when their team scored a three pointer less than a minute later. There were four schools playing in that stadium that evening, three large state universities, each with at least 15,000 undergraduates, and little Holy Cross, boasting a total student population of just about 2,800. In addition to being the smallest school there, Holy Cross was the one from which fans had to travel the furthest, almost twice as far as our nearest competitor. The Holy Cross seating section, however, was the loudest, most energetic, and the one with the highest percentage of students. Even though the Crusaders did not win the game, the fans were well behaved, and took the loss with respect. Holy Cross showed its best that day. The preparation for the game also showed me the greatness of the college. When I informed my professors that I would be missing several days' worth of classes, they did not worry about the notes or assignments I would miss. Knowing that most Holy Cross students are academically responsible, they were sure I would make up the work in a timely manner. That reaction did not surprise me, but their enthusiasm for the game did. Nothing sums up their excitement better than the math professor who told one of my friends, “I wish I could go. Give 'em hell.” Even alumni got in on the action; one anonymous alumni donated two buses to take the fans from Worcester to Columbus and back. It was a great weekend for the community, even though the team was unable to pull out a win. After the game in Columbus, several band members flew down to Raleigh, North Carolina, to play for the women's game on Sunday. Holy Cross was the lowest seed in that tournament after a series of miraculous upsets in the Patriot League Tournament, and were therefore playing Duke, the highest seed, a team that had lost only one game all season. The Holy Cross women were expected to lose by a great margin, and although they did lose, the team beat the spread, losing by fewer points than expected. The flight back to Worcester the next day was amazing, because we were on a small jet with the team, all of whom had so much energy from knowing they played a good game against a hard opponent the day before. After each game, the band members had a chance to talk with the teams and coaches as they returned to the hotels. Both men's coach Ralph Willard and women's coach Bill Gibbons talked about what great fans the band members were, and how “classy” (Gibbons's word) we were. I know that I will never forget that weekend, and I hope the team does well enough next year to give me and the new students a chance to experience the same thing I did, but I know I will support them even if they do not.

I love Holy Cross so much. There is tons of school pride, everyone loves the Saders. You never feel lost or alone because you always recognize a friendly face. We are all very driven, but love to have fun, as well. A large amount of our population volunteers, which I think creates a great atmosphere on campus. Holy Cross has an excellent reputation across the country, and there is a certain level of prestige in attending such a school. The professors are very willing to help their students and we don't have many, if any TA's on campus.

Holy Cross is amazing! The best thing about it is the sense of community. People hold doors for each other, and they smile as you walk by. It's small things like this that matter. I've known all the girls on my floor every year, and I've gotten to know a lot of the people in my building. It's the perfect size- not too small, not too big. There's always a sporting event to go to, student concerts, the Tuesday night 10 spot, hanging out in friends' rooms, or playing frisbee on a nice day.

The best thing about Holy Cross is the people. Obviously your getting a great education, and the teachers are all really nice, but without the kids around you, the experience means nothing. Holy Cross is full of all walks of life, but what seems to be a constant is that they are all good kids who want to succeed, but who also want to meet new people and have fun. The kids here are all great kids. One thing I would change would be the size of the school. I like the small classes and all, but sometimes this school gets a little too small. It's just under 3000 people so you run into the same people all the time and rarely see a new face. It would be nice if there were a few more people up here to meet. I'd say I spend most of my time on campus either in Kimball Dining Hall or in Dinand Library. The dining hall is not so bad, its all you can eat, and they usually have some sort of selection that will fit your fancy. I eat a lot, so its nice to know that I always have a place to appease my rumbling stomach. As for the library, I spend time in there not by choice, but rather out of neccessity. I get more work than you could even imagine, and need a nice quiet place to study, and the library serves that purpose rather well.

There are many reasons why I chose Holy Cross. The size and location were some of the most important qualities that I looked for in a school. We are only one hour outside of Boston and a little over an hour away from Providence. There are a lot of activities in Worcester and in the general area. Most importantly the school has many activities on campus during the weekends, such as well-known comedians, up and coming musicians and our ever famous spring weekend with a spring concert by a very well known performer. Unfortunately, when I first tell people I go to Holy Cross many people from New York either do not know of the school or joke that it is a school for men and women to become priests. Being that the school is small and in Massachusetts not that many people know about the college that well. However, those that know of smaller, higher academic institutions know of the college and always begin speaking of how academically difficult the school is.

One thing I love about Holy Cross is it's size. The campus is small enough so that when I'm walking to class I don't feel like a foreigner - I am always seeing people I know. It is also not so small that you feel like you are still in high school, or being suffocated. Holy Cross is like a mini community and everyone is very friendly.

The Holy Cross mission statement is "men and women for others" and I think Holy Cross really educates a student to do just that. We are given countless opportunities to volunteer and many of the students do through the Chaplain's office or with the program called SPUD. A good portion of the school takes part in the Appalachia program of spending a spring break week in impoverished parts of the country to try and give back to that community and spread hope. I'm only a Sophomore and I already have a different outlook on the world, I think the school does a great job of educating all of us about many aspects in the classroom and then challenges us to explore in the real world as well.

Holy Cross has one of the best campus' I've seen. There is a strong sense of student body and HC does their job to get people involved. Since it is a small school you really get to know your teachers and peers. I like the size of the school because it's really nice to walk around and always see familiar faces (which you don't get when you go to a huge university). There is not a lot of diversity and I think Holy Cross actually initiates segregation rather than diminish it (they have an orientation just for minorities and then a separate orientation for "everyone else" - they should just have one orientation for everyone since most students join together in these first few weeks of school). I find that most people find a real sense of belonging here since it is a small school.

The best thing about Holy Cross is the feeling of community. No matter who are you, you feel like you belong. The students and faculty make you feel at home. The only thing that is not the best is the city, however after being here for 4 years, there are so many great places that we have discovered. Worcester has some of the best restaurants. When people here that I go to HC, they are very impressed. Its a great school, and people acknowledge that. One of the best parts of HC are the alumni connections. People who went here are proud of the school, and will do anything to help fellow crusaders. Even when you leave the school, you are always apart of the community. I spend a lot of time at the student center on campus. It is always busy, and you always run into your friends. Also, the library is a great place to do work. It's beautiful, quiet, and comfortable. The administration here at the school really cares about the well being of the students. If you ever need anything, someone is here to help you. There is a lot of school pride here, especially when it comes to sports. People go crazy at the games, decked out in purple. We are very proud of our basketball team! I like going to a smaller school with good sports teams. You know all the players personally, so cheering them on during the games is so much fun. My absolute favorite part of my college career was my experience abroad. The study abroad program at HC is one of the best. I went to Galway, Ireland, and HC set up my housing, tuition, and an advisor. Our adviser helped us so much. The program was a year long, and although I missed Holy Cross, and my friends, being there a year made me really experience the culture, and made me feel like I really lived there. Other schools only have semester long programs, which cuts off you experience. Everyone I was with abroad that had to go home after one semester from other schools really hated it. I made amazing friends at Holy Cross, and consider them my family.

Holy Cross is really the perfect size. Even in my biggest science classes, my professors know my name. You see familiar faces on campus, but there are always new people around campus. There isn't too much in Worcester, but there are some AWESOME restaurants nearby. Plus, Boston is really accessible. It's a lot of work, but the weekends make up for it. Everyone is truly nice and always willing to help. Just watch how long someone will hold the door for you- its amazing. The administration is great and always looking for more student input. They always make sure to celebrate holidays or cmpus events at every opportunity.

The best thing about Holy Cross is the feeling of community that constantly surrounds you. Holy Cross is the perfect size, not small enough that you get bored, but not to big that you become overwhelmed. It is easy to learn everyone's name, but not so easy to know everyone's business. People know Holy Cross to be an academically rigorous school- and this is true. Holy Cross has one of the hardest work loads in the country and you should take that into consideration when deciding whether or not to come here. That being said, if you do decide to come here, you will get one of the best possible educations. Everyone who comes to Holy Cross is has school pride, in fact, one of the most common lines you will hear during freshmen orientation is that, by the time you graduate you will be "bleeding purple!"

if I could change one thing it mgiht be to have better housing. there is a lack of a college town

I enjoy that the campus is pretty. Worcester is okay

I really love the classes that are offered at Holy Cross and the majority of professors that I have encountered have been very interesting and informative. I think that in general Holy Cross is a little too small. I went to a very small high school and I thought that Holy Cross would be different because it was significantly larger than my high school but it still seems very small. I spend most of my time on campus in my dorm room, and I frequently go off of campus into the city of Boston.

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.

The school's size is perfect--just under 3,000 students means that you know many people, enough that you recognize most people walking around campus though you probably don't know their names. There's a huge comfort factor in that. Also, the fact that the school is exclusively undergraduate means class sizes are pretty small and access to professors is incredible, especially in the natural sciences. One problem with Holy Cross is that its name recognition doesn't often go far beyond Massachusetts. Although it is certainly highly reputable around the state and some parts of New England, many people outside the region don't know what an academically rigorous school it is. The college's alumni, however, know exactly what a Holy Cross degree means and take care of recent graduates. Holy Cross is an ostensibly Catholic institution. The administration is far too concerned with being politically correct and often restricts Catholic voice and opinion on campus in favor of minorities in order to appear more "inclusive." For example, the Knights of Columbus chapter is prevented from being a recognized student organization because membership is limited to men; however, a sister group exists for women, which also is prevented from being recognized because it doesn't admit men. Despite all this, the school is a Jesuit institution, and the Jesuit order is obviously all-male and all-Catholic.

Holy Cross is a small liberal arts school located in Worcester, MA. People in the New England area most likely have heard of it, but often ask, 'oh yeah, where is that?'. Worcester is not the best of college towns, although it does offer some night life and Holy Cross is a bit isolated from it because we are a gated campus on a hill overlooking the city. Holy Cross is a small school with just under 3,000 students. I often can not leave my dorm without seeing someone I know, which I enjoy. Basketball is definitely the biggest thing on campus, and there is a lot of school spirit here.