Colleges for the Jewish "B" student - Page 4

LINYMOM · 05-20-2010, 08:38 PM

Try some of the SUNY schools - Albany, for sure, for a B student (30% Jewish); also give Binghamton a shot. If you are in-state, you can't get in to Bing with a B, but they are hungry for OOS. Great school, 30% Jewish also. Everyone from here who goes to Albany loves it. Less competitive, but also with a good amount of Jews, is Oneonta. I'm sure there are others also in the SUNY system also that would meet this requirement.

My D is going to University of Delaware in the Fall. We spent a Shabbat at Hillel (dinner and services) and she fit in perfectly. She is not in the honors program there and I really don't think a B student would qualify for honors at UD. For comparison, my D, who has a 3.6 WGPA, got accepted to American and deferred to spring admit at UMD. While she theoretically loved the idea of Brandeis (and we toured it), it is way too cerebral for her. Even if she somehow got in, it would be so hard for her to keep up there.

I would also recommend taking a look at UHartford. D didn't apply, but we had some Hillel students give us a tour because were were there on a day that admissions didn't give tours. From what I've heard, the school is generous with merit aid (at lower thresholds than a Delaware or Maryland).

D liked Towson and got in - seems to have a good Jewish population. The Nordstrom down the block didn't hurt.

Also, you asked about Muhlenberg. D has Jewish friends who are very happy there.

Glad to provide whatever input I can because this was very important to my D also. I found the Hillel website helpful and referred to that a lot. The URJ magazine was helpful too.

mdcissp · 05-20-2010, 08:56 PM

The OP said her son is possibly interested in majoring in Business. Therefore, make sure the school has a strong Business program. Many schools being mentioned may not have good Business programs. For example, UMBC does not have an undergrad major in Business, you have to apply to the Smith Business school (impacted program and competitive) at UMCP. Goucher does not have a Business program. Towson is not really a safety anymore unless you have high SAT scores as well. I actually like Salisbury-they are building a new Business school and there are a variety of excellent programs, but has little to offer Jewish students. I really don't understand paying OOS tuition for a state university.
However, SUNY schools are around $5,000. more than UMCP per year.

MidwestMom2Kids_ · 05-20-2010, 09:29 PM

I was going to put in a good word for Allegheny as a place where a B+ student would thrive, but it's an LAC; no business major.

rockvillemom · 05-20-2010, 09:37 PM

I'm thrilled with these responses and ideas. Will definitely look into Delaware and possibly Hartford - had not really considered either one.

Part of my "issue" is that the college process did not go smoothly for S1. Oh, it had a happy ending - he loves his college - had a great freshman year - but getting there - let's just say his senior year - up until April 1 - was one of the worst, most stressful experiences of my entire life. We made a lot of mistakes and I really blame myself for not doing more research and asking for suggestions.

So, for S2, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. I'm a little obsessed - I just want to be sure we have plenty of options and that our back-up plans have back-up plans, if you know what I mean. So, thanks for the ideas and I would still appreciate more info - anecdotal or otherwise - about any schools we should consider or eliminate.

rodney · 05-20-2010, 09:38 PM

"Heading south, I know that Jewish kids have gone from here to Elon, but I don't know how they liked it, and they were closer to 2.5 than 3.5 students. I would think about Tulane and Emory (the latter being something of a reach). I have fairly observant relatives who moved to South Carolina a few years ago. Their B-student youngest child applied to College of Charleston, but ultimately decided she would rather not go to college than go there -- I'm not sure why. (Rochester took her off the waiting list, so her resolve was never tested. She really liked Rochester.)"

A couple of observations and questions to JHS: when is this post referring to?

a 2.5 into Elon ain't happening in 2011 unless a building is being renamed.

and how does a B- student get accepted to Rochester? is there a hook there that needs to be revealed? (unless that was a number of years ago )

rockvillemom · 05-20-2010, 09:56 PM

pumpkin65 - thanks for posting about Delaware - particularly the Freshman Fest program. I found a link for it on the Delaware forum and it looked awesome - this is exactly the type of info I'm looking for - I had no idea that Delaware had so many Jewish students and such an active Hillel. It's a little bigger than I had in mind - but I'm absolutely keeping it on the list. Thank you!

mdcissp · 05-20-2010, 09:57 PM

Perhaps the OP should look into universities with rolling admissions (ex. Univ. of Michigan) and schools which are much easier to get into that you hear a response quickly. Having an acceptance in hand early in the process makes senior year less stressful, even if the acceptance is not your first choice.

mdcissp · 05-20-2010, 10:02 PM

Is U. of Delaware easy to get to from Washington D.C.?

rockvillemom · 05-20-2010, 10:09 PM

Yes - Delaware is pretty easy for us - maybe a 2 hour drive up 95. The funny thing about Delaware is that we visited it 2 years ago with S1 and were not blown away. It was ok - but nothing amazing is how I remember it. But S1 had little interest in Hillel, so we didn't look into that at all. It might be a much better fit for S2. The size still concerns me - but I think it is worth another look.

rockvillemom · 05-20-2010, 10:12 PM

Agree completely about the EA and rolling admissions idea - that is the first piece of advice I would give to anyone starting this process. I would rather have 4 or 5 acceptances in hand come December or January, even if they are safety schools that you ultimately don't attend, than be sweating til April 1. Believe me - been there - done that - and it ain't fun!

CountingDown · 05-20-2010, 10:20 PM

Towson's 75th %tile SAT is a 1750 and a 21-24 ACT. It would be a fairly likely admit for rockvillemom's S, quite possibly with merit if he has a few APs. We know students in our neighborhood who have been admitted with scores in the 1500s and a lower GPA.

Can't get into Elon these days with a 2.5, though a 3.5 with some APs and a 27-29 ACT has a shot.

OP, has your S taken the PSAT, and is that why you are thinking the ACT may be a better fit for his abilities?

EricLG · 05-21-2010, 01:11 AM

ok, help me out here.
What is 'jewish life' ?

Something other than marrying a jew ? My wife might know, but this thread reads like a code.

SlitheyTove · 05-21-2010, 01:56 AM

Quote:

What is 'jewish life' ?

Something other than marrying a jew ?

Yes. It means different things to many people, but at a collegiate level it means that there is some form of Jewish community. That can mean a Hillel or Jewish Student Organization, a Judaic Studies program, people to have Shabbat dinner with, or just people whose plans for the evening of December 24th include Chinese food and a movie.

As far as a code--according to Dan Brown, that's another religion entirely.

MarinMom · 05-21-2010, 02:20 AM

I'm so sorry that you're not looking at the west coast, as my son's best hs bud has had a fabulous experience at Chapman U this year. He's gotten very involved with Hillel and has developed a great core group of friends through it.

EricLG · 05-21-2010, 02:30 AM

^^ Yet no one has bothered to clarify what form of 'jewish life' each post is referencing, or what OP is looking for. Even Hillel club sounds vague.

Quote:

or just people whose plans for the evening of December 24th include Chinese food and a movie.

In that case -- most schools in the country.