College of the Holy Cross

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Economics
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: White Straight Female

Summary

I’m on the women’s club lacrosse team and club basketball team. I volunteered with Working for Worcester and I was part of the Holy Cross Student Investment Fund.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Straight

High School Experience: Private school in Westchester County, NY with a graduating class of about 125 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Economics
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m on the women’s club lacrosse team and club basketball team. I volunteered with Working for Worcester and I was part of the Holy Cross Student Investment Fund.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience?
Playing club sports was really fun because I’ve always loved sports, but you don’t have the commitment of playing a Division I sport which is really helpful because it doesn’t hamper down on your other activities. Also, making friends while playing a sport is a great way to be involved in college.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
For most of the more financial Economics classes, you have a problem set every week and exams or short papers. Since Holy Cross is a liberal arts school and makes you take other classes to fulfill other requirements, I only took one to two Economics courses per semester, which I liked.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or especially poorly?
The department does a really good job of having professors have office hours and be super open to you whenever you need an appointment with them. The Economics professors at Holy Cross really want to help their students. I don’t think I’ve encountered an Economics or Accounting professor that wasn’t willing to make time for me.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s competitive or collaborative?
It is competitive in that everybody at Holy Cross is very smart, so it pushes you to be competitive because you’re trying to keep up with people. You want to do well for yourself, but also seeing how well other people do in difficult classes is motivating.
How has the HECCMA impacted your ?
I’m familiar with that program and was thinking about using it to take a certain finance class, but didn’t. I don’t think Holy Cross does a good job of advertising it. The time I think about it most is when I meet with my advisor because those are the people who will recommend using it if you bring up you want to take a certain class that isn’t offered at Holy Cross. If you bring it up with your advisor, they will guide you to do it.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your major choice?
I started off thinking I would do a 3-2 program in Physics or Chemistry, but I took an Economics class and, when compared to what I was doing in Chemistry, I learned that was the route I want to go down. I really like how the Economics major is so broad and offers such an awesome perspective on the entire world.

Reasons to Attend

1) People here are so outgoing and you will make some lifelong friends here.
2) Everyone at Holy Cross seems to be in it together. It’s a stressful environment, but the people make it a fun environment.
3) The Holy Cross curriculum is really insistent about you building out your people skills. I think it’s taught me to sept out of my comfort zone and talk to people and influence them.
4) We have highly ranked dining hall food.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If you’re trying to take specific finance classes, it’s difficult to find those classes here that will help you get a good background in investment banking or business management. I wish there were more opportunities down that path at Holy Cross.
2) I wish Holy Cross was more transparent in what they’re doing. They can sometimes send out cryptic emails about what they’re doing with construction or different events or problems on campus.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Brooks-Mulledy Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Clark Hall with one roommate
Junior: Alumni Hall with one roommate
Senior: Off-campus house with seven other girls
How was transitioning from your hometown to Worcester, MA in terms of location?
Coming from a more rural area, moving to Worcester was a change since it is more of a city. In Worcester, there are so many restaurants, clubs, and bars, all within a five to ten-minute drive.
Can you describe the level of safety you experienced on and around campus?
I think it’s very safe. Our public safety is roaming the campus constantly, and if you are off-campus, there is a service that can give you a ride home which is really awesome. Off-campus, sometimes public safety can be a bit slow, but it’s still pretty good. On campus is incredibly safe.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
There are a lot of things that my friends and I participate in. I’ll go see games for different sports teams both at day and at night. There are parties at off-campus houses that I like to go to. There are also karaoke nights on campus and pub nights where they allow students that are 21 and older to drink in this area on campus. There, they will have quiz nights and things like that, which are fun. Going out to the bars on Thursday nights is a big thing here, so I will go do that once or twice a month depending on how busy I am with work. Saturdays, I like to go to sports games during the day and then will go to a friend’s house to hang out at night.
What is the impact of sports teams on the weekend options at Holy Cross?
Holy Cross is funny because you kind of think half of the students are athletes and the other half are “non-athletic regular people.” Sports teams do play a large role in the weekend options and what’s going on during Saturdays. People like to go to their games, and because they make up such a large part of the school, they tend to do their own things at night and a lot of my friends and I will go hang out with them. [About 25% of students are athletes.]
What is an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a weekend option or a night out?
Holy Cross will host a lot of events. There’s an area called [Crossroads] where there is fast-food type food, like burgers and pizza, and we’ll go get food there sometimes. The Chaplains’ Office will have lots of different events, and one that is always fun is the Christmas Tree Lighting. That’s always a very homey environment. There’s definitely a ton to do on campus.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Holy Cross? Is there anything you would change if you could?
There’s nothing I would change. I’m really happy with how the school does it and the attitude that Holy Cross students have on Saturdays. Everybody’s willing to let Saturday be a day to relax, not think about work, and hang out.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
My first friend at Holy Cross was my roommate and she had a friend from home who was the year above us, and then I had a friend who also entered in my grade. It happened that my friend’s friend connected us to our group of friends. From there, my group of friends expanded just because a lot of us would go to the same parties or sporting events. We all started seeing each other and meshed friend groups and became our large group of like fifteen girls.
How would you describe the social scene at Holy Cross?
I would say Holy Cross is an incredibly social and fun school. There’s always something to do. Holy Cross is so insistent on making different events community-oriented, so it’s never just a one-person thing. They’re always trying to get larger groups of people to do things, which I think is so awesome. That also helps you make new friends. People at Holy Cross are super outgoing and willing to step out of their comfort zone and do things together. Holy Cross is such a community-focused school when it comes to social life.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
Nobody here is biased and nobody’s ever not willing to do something with someone else because of their identifiers. I do think that the way groups are formed, there are certain groups that hang out with certain people, but it’s not because we don’t want to hang out with each other. I think in that sense, Holy Cross is not divided, but kind of separated.
How strong is the Jesuit presence on campus? How has it impacted your experience?
The Jesuit presence is very strong. I feel like you bump into a Jesuit priest wherever you go. There are also lots of different talks the priests offer and it’s interesting to get their perspective.
How do you like the size of Holy Cross in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has that impacted your experience? [Holy Cross has about 3,100 students.]
One of the major reasons I picked Holy Cross was the size. I came from a small Catholic school and I was looking for the same environment just because I love the way you can build relationships with a smaller group of people. When you see someone on campus, you either know them, a friend knows them, or you’ve seen their face. I think it’s an awesome way to build a community because everybody knows each other and kind of knows where you’re at. I also love how small the classes are.

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
We have an awesome alumni network, which is also another factor for why I chose Holy Cross. The alumni are willing to help people get jobs and get familiar with different sectors of the work environment. Sometimes I’ll be on LinkedIn and see somebody who’s an alum that I want to speak with, so I’ll send them a quick message and they are always happy to speak. I’m excited to become an alum and help others in the future.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
Our career center is super helpful. You can go in and get a resume check, get your cover letter checked, and get help with interview prep.
Have you learned any computer programs or languages through your coursework that will be helpful to you professionally?
I’ve learned a lot of Excel through my Economics and Accounting classes. I’m also in a Computer Science class right now where we’re learning Python and how to use HTML to create websites. I like that class because it’s a Computer Science class that’s called “Survey of Computer Science,” that’s designed for students not intending to major in it.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy is the office to work with?
Yes, and they are usually pretty helpful. Every time I’ve had a question, I’ve just gone in and waited maybe five minutes to talk with somebody. They are also happy to speak over the phone with my parents.