NJ Mom of 2

My D is applying to Brandeis and has just learned that at least 3 others from her HS are also applying. They are all excellent students. I was wondering:
1. Is there an advantage to being Jewish? She is very competitive with the other 3, but she is the only one who is Jewish.
2. Does Brandeis accept only a certain number of students from any particular HS?

Thanks!

brandeismom

Brandeis is a secular school that values diversity. Due to the nature of its student body and historic support from the American Jewish community, it generally has no shortage of Jewish applicants. Why would you think it would offer an admissions advantage? see also Brandeis' common data set item C7 -- religious affiliation is marked as "not considered." http://www.brandeis.edu/institutiona...S2008_2009.pdf

In fact, the percentage of Jewish students in the student body has been declining over the last several years.

Brandeis seems to want students who want to be there. Your d would be best served by going to interview and being prepared to show them why she wants to be at Brandeis and simply "I'm Jewish" would probably not be the best reason to offer.

I am not suggesting that students for whom the unique quality and nature of the Jewish community at Brandeis is an important factor in determining "fit" try to ignore this fact in an interview, but I think it can be a mistake to think that it is all one has to present.

NJ Mom of 2

Please don't misunderstand me. My question is, all things being equal, i.e. desire to attend, similiar SATs and GPAs, as 3 others from the same HS, would THEN being Jewish be an advantage? More importantly my question is - does Brandeis only accept a certain number from any particular HS?

brandeismom

You have repeated the same question. I don't understand why you would expect a different answer. Their common data set clearly states that religious affiliation is not considered. What more information would you really expect on this?

yabeyabe2

The part of the question regarding whether Brandeis has a limit on acceptances form a particular school is valid, but only they would know. In general, colleges do have certain schools they repeatedly take good sized groups of kids from and 4 would not be an outlandish number of strong applicants from a strong school (especially since, unless this is ED, probably 1 or more would enroll elsewhere).
I would be surprised if the Jewish student was given an edge over an equal applicant, as Brandeis has an easier time attracting Jewish students than nonJewish students, although the % of Jewish students keeps dropping. Good luck.

NJ Mom of 2

Thank you yabeyabe2 for your logical and understanding response! I believe that the 4 applicants from D's high school will all be RD. We'll just have to wait until April to find out for sure.