College of St. Catherine Review

Overall 5.00 of 5 view all 2 reviews

crabbyowl
Saint Paul, MN

Wouldn't trade my time at St. Kate's for anything.

a serious student, public school grad, not rich, a feminist, a college grad, a woman

Pros

Professors easily accessible, Good food in dining hall

Cons

Expensive, Can be a bit too radical in its ideas

DEC

2008

The College of St. Catherine is the largest Catholic women's college in the nation, offering associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees. Beginning in the 2009-2010 academic year it will become St. Catherine University. It is affiliated with four other Twin Cities colleges through the ACTC, and students at St. Kate's can take classes at any of these colleges and even declare a major offered at one of them but not at St. Kate's.

When I was looking to apply to colleges in the 2000-2001 academic year I initially only considered St. Kate's because my aunt had completed her master's degree there and recommended it to me, but after visiting the campus only once I knew I could be happy as a student there. The admissions representative I met with was much more welcoming than those I had met from other colleges, and everyone I came into contact with was friendly and open. I also liked the fact that it is a women's college (although men are admitted into associate's and graduate programs), since quite frankly I was sick of putting up with high school and college-age men and thought I would do better without the distraction. :-)

I did become a student at St. Kate's, and absolutely loved my time there. The professors are wonderful and easily accessible when you have questions or just need to talk; I only had one I didn't like. Being in an environment where all the other students are women did help me focus better on academics and helped me build more self-confidence (I'm quite shy). I lived on campus for all but one semester when I was there, and while not luxurious the dorm rooms are perfectly sufficient. The single rooms are a bit small, but still comfortable. The food in the dining hall is quite good, and they always have at least one vegetarian or vegan option. As far as contact with male students goes, there are plenty of things going on in the ACTC colleges at which to meet them; St. Kate's may be a Catholic women's college, but it isn't a cloister!

There are some negatives. The major one is the cost - as a private college it naturally costs more than going to a public college. In my mind it's worth the additional cost, but it may be difficult for some to take on more student loan debt to attend a private college. The second negative point will be irrelevant for those who aren't Catholic, but the Catholicism practiced on campus is too liberal for my liking. I'm not conservative, but the services there have the unfortunate tendency of liberal religion to be more of an entertainment than a worship service. Fortunately, there's a more traditional and moderate Catholic church a 10-minute walk away (Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church), but when the weather is bad this really isn't an option.

In summary, I would recommend at least considering St. Kate's to anyone due to how positive my experience as a student there was.

NOTE: the reviewer indicated that they are affiliated with College of St. Catherine