wrathofgod64

no, i objectively believe Indians are the smartest group of people

semiserious

Wow, Yale is 40% Jewish?

gianscolere1

Brandeis 57% Jewish? hmmm.. maybe I should add it to my list.

unbelievablem

The shear percentage of Jewish students tells you very little about the Jewish life on campus.
To find out about Jewish life on campus, you have to ask a lot of questions. We found that for many schools, their Hillel often made Jewish life sound much more vibrant than it was - always ask - "and how many students typically attend that activity?" when you are told about some wonderful programming by a school's Hillel.
The percentage of Jewish students who become actively engaged in Jewish life on-campus will vary among schools - and it may surprise you as to how low it can be.
Each student has to decide what about Jewish life on campus is important to him/her - eg, on-campus services, kosher food, holiday activities, Israel programming, a chance to socialize with other Jewish students, social action programming, etc. And then ask a ton of questions to see if any given school meets those needs.

Oh and as for those stats - I am having trouble believing Yeshiva University supposedly has 31% non-Jews!! -- unless they are including grad programs like Einstein Medical School -- in which case it just goes to show you how misleading those stats can be.

habdragon08

I objectively beleieve Jews> Asains > everyone else in smarts

collegehelp

unbelievablem-
The book I have was published 1997 and may be outdated, as others have pointed out. But the 69% Jewish number is what the book said (7000 total, 4800 Jewish). Einstein Med School was not included. Included were Yeshiva U, Stern Women's College, Sy Syms Business College.

collegehelp

Habdragon08-
You are referring to your belief about average intelligence. There is great diversity among all ethnic groups in intelligence. The danger in using averages is that people might erroneously conclude that the differences are completely innate, which they are not. Family dynamics also affect the intellectual development of children. Furthermore, the very concept of "intelligence" is more nebulous than most people realize. Intelligence is much more than a score on a test. Members of every ethnic/religious/racial group have achieved great things. Conversely, great achievements are not an inevitable product of intelligent minds. Great intelligence can be found in the way some parents teach their children but it may go unrecognized by society.

dudedad

Wow Sy Syms biz college -- Lord have marcy!!!!

audiophile

Here's some food for thought: http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/...features/1478/

Are Jews Smarter?
Did Jewish intelligence evolve in tandem with Jewish diseases as a result of discrimination in the ghettos of medieval Europe? That’s the premise of a controversial new study that has some preening and others plotzing. What genetic science can tell us—and what it can’t.

Here's my favorite quote in the article: “I’d actually call the study bull*****,” says Sander Gilman, a historian at Emory University, “if I didn’t feel its idea were so insulting.”

unbelievablem

collegehelp - ok now think about this - who else do you think is attending Yeshiva University!!!!
The book you are looking at is not going to help you, especially if you are willing to rely on numbers such at this. Go to Hillel.org and look at their on-line guide to campus life (which is updated yearly) AND THEN - don't believe everything there - its just a starting point to talk to the individual school's Hillels. And by the way, the current hillel.org listing has YU with about 2800 Jewish undergrads and approx 3200 Jewish grad students - it doesn't even bother listing any other enrollment figuress.

iamtheshoshie

I can vouch that the stat for Brandeis is pretty accurate-- about 50-60%. However, the level of Jewish life at a campus is way more important than the sheer population. You can have a school with a massive Jewish population that has very few observant students, and therefore a very poor community and vice versa.

pyewacket

shoshie--what percent of Brandeis kids do you think are observant Jews?

tsdad

So Iamtheshosie what you are saying is that only observant Jews make for a vibrant Jewish community? Assumedly you also mean only observant Orthdox Jews? Is that what you mean? Just wondering.

hellloooo

in addition to looking into percentage of the jewish population factor in how active the jews are...look into active hillel's and such since many jews are not as observant as what your son would want

unbelievablem

tsdad -- one of the biggest misconceptions is that only Orthodox Jews can be observant and active. The terms Orthodox and Observant are not synonomous.

However, I will note that there was a recent study I read about that said that Reform students are less likely to participate in on-campus Jewish activities because often those activities involve things that the students have not been exposed to growing up (not meaning to sound critical of Reform Judaism - this is something I read -- http://my.brandeis.edu/news/item?new...ease%5fdate=1). On the other hand I also just read an article that Hillel in general is looking into changing their approach to address the needs of "Millenia" students -ie the current generation of Jewish students. (http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/ne...keyword=hillel)

Bottomline - each student has to decide for his/herself what makes for the type of vibrant Jewish community they want -- Some will find what they want at a school that offers few if any on campus services but offers a lot of other programming.