Academics
“D.C. is the perfect area for a university,” and the students at Catholic University of America say “having a real campus just outside of Capitol Hill is fantastic,” offering “tremendous perks,” like “great access to internship and job opportunities.” Students lament that their “stellar school...often gets lost among the power players of Georgetown, GW, and American,” but they argue that the opportunities for “collaborations with other universities” and “the numerous cultural offerings of the city” more than make up for it. Students praise “the small class sizes and individualized support from academic advisors,” which “helps to foster a great working relationship” between students and faculty. These “world class researchers” “show a real interest in each student’s success.” “They are always willing to stay for a few minutes after class to talk” one student explains, “and are also always available at their office hours or via email and phone.” Some professors even go as far as “[requiring] some sort of meeting with them outside of class to discuss course work and our progress in class.” Attending a faith-based university where “Catholic Church teachings [are] ingrained throughout” is also important to some CUA students, who take pride in attending the “only school in the United States that is chartered by the Pope. Even so, “there is a wide variety of” religious sentiment at Catholic and “atheists...are tolerated quite well.” Overall, students feel that “Catholic really strives to make our education as personal as possible.”
Student Body
Catholic University students are “largely white and Catholic” and are often “socially conservative,” though there is “a small minority of liberal millennials.” While some point to a lack of diversity, others argue that Catholic has “a good number of minority students for the size of our school.” Most agree that the “student body seems to be very warm and welcoming.” Many students identify a “big divide between the God Squad and the extreme party goers,” but others say there is more overlap than meets the eye. “For example,” one student told us, “I volunteer at Masses but also occasionally go to parties with my friends and have a little fun.” “Certainly, some people are more religious than others,” and the average Catholic University student “has a good mix of friends and a good balance on going out and doing school work.”
Campus Life
Washington, D.C., provides Catholic University students with “a surplus of activities, ” and the school plans plenty of “events to keep students on campus entertained.” For the school’s “large athletic population,” CUA offers “varsity, club, and intramural sports teams.” As a “highly competitive Division III school” CUA sends many of its teams “to the final rounds of NCAA tournaments” and “even those who are not a part of athletics tend to attend the events.” Students say that belonging to a religious university means that community service “is more popular here than on other campuses,” but most find a balance between school work, service and fun. An on-campus metro-stop means that “downtown D.C. is extremely accessible.” This “wonderful city” “always offers new and exciting things to do. From going to the opera, ballet or symphony at the Kennedy Center, to a concert on U Street, to museums, to ice skating in the sculpture gardens,” students always have something to fill their free time. Catholic isn’t a dry campus and at some “events for upperclassmen (especially seniors), the university provides alcohol in moderation.” Opinions are divided on the prevalence of drinking. Students who say that “there is a drinking culture on campus,” also contend that they “don’t feel any pressure” to partake if they don’t want to. Others describe a student body where “a fair share enjoy some fun on the weekend, but it is not anything more than other colleges (in fact it is probably less).”
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