<p>I know other posters have mentioned and recommended Alabama numerous times - just wanted to add this article I spotted today.</p>
<p>"(JTA) – University of Alabama students and administrators celebrated the groundbreaking of a new Hillel House.</p>
<p>About 100 people attended the ceremony on the Tuscaloosa campus Sunday. The original Hillel site, which had served the campus Jewish community for more than 50 years, was sold in 2008 to the university at the university’s request. For the last two years, Jewish students have met in a building near campus.</p>
<p>The new campus Hillel building will be about 4,200 square feet, and will house a student lounge, multipurpose room, kitchen, library and courtyard.</p>
<p>The addition of a new home for Hillel is very important for the university, University of Alabama President Robert Witt said during the ceremony. We want all students to have the opportunity to grow in religion as they also grow intellectually and socially.</p>
<p>There are about 700 Jewish students at the university, a 50 percent increase over a few years ago, according to the Tuscaloosa News."</p>
<p>I would never have guessed that so many Jewish students attend Alabama.</p>
<p>Saw an article that there is a Reform synagogue on the campus of U. of Alabama. My guess is if Rockville’s son’s mom is Reform, then U. of Alabama is worth looking into. Hillel pictures look good. Also, if your son gets high test scores, might qualify for one of the out of state merit scholarships (see U. of Alabama web site). Housing looks very nice as well. I suggest considering U. of Alabama if your son’s GPA and test scores qualify for merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Also, Rockville Mom: I never hear of any Jewish kids going to Gettysburg or Susquehana. However, my circle of familiar Jewish kids is small, and may not be representative to be fair Most of the Jewish kids I know want U. Maryland College Park, a school in New York (NYU, etc.), or go to Israel.</p>
<p>Somehow - 700 Jewish students sounds like a lot more than 2.5%! Naviance shows undergraduates at 23,702 - and the website shows total student body at 28,807. I’m just mentioning the article because 700 Jewish students - even if small by percentage terms - is certainly enough students to have an active Hillel and an active Jewish social life. And I like the fact that the Jewish population is growing. Other posters have mentioned the guaranteed merit scholarships at Alabama - so in keeping with the spirit of this thread - I do think it is worth looking at if you are a B student seeking a large university experience. It never would have occurred to me to put Alabama on my son’s list - and while I think it is bigger than he wants - it will certainly fit on other Jewish B student’s lists.</p>
<p>mdcissp - I agree with you that the Jewish populations at Gettysburg and Susquehanna are small - about 160 Jewish students at Gettysburg and maybe 100 at Susquehanna. But, at least they do have a Hillel at each school and Susquehanna also has a Jewish studies minor. I’d be happy if Salisbury had at least as much! We will be visiting Susquehanna in early September and I will post after we return with our impressions.</p>
<p>I am wondering if Salisbury has at least 100 Jewish kids there. Perhaps a call to the local Conservative synagogue may yield some info. I heard this synagogue is a 6-10 block walk from the Salisbury campus.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind, if your son is the self starter, social type, he might be able to get a Jewish group going and be the leader/founder of the group. Employers look for leadership experience. What do you think Rockville Mom?</p>
<p>rockville mom, that still only comes to 2.9%, and the Bama Hillel site says 400- 600 Jewish students.</p>
<p>I wonder if sentiments have changed any lately: </p>
<p>According to University of Alabama records, the man charged with the largest ponzi scheme in history began his college career at the University of Alabama. Bernard Madoff was enrolled as a freshman for one semester in the fall 1956. While at the capstone, Madoff joined Sigma Alpha Mu. After 1956, he transferred to another university. Madoff trasferred after his freshman year. Salkin said he was “like a lot of Jewish young men from New York who headed to the South for an inexpensive education in the 1950s.”</p>
<p>Kind of adds a whole new meaning to “Crimson Tide”</p>
<p>CC’er Cicada recently toured Bama and thought: “Alabama-Beautiful campus, the best dorms anywhere, concerned about party school reputation and heavy Greek social scene. Didn’t get a good feel for the academics—the tour did not even take us into a classroom.” Seems like a fair summary of pros and cons. At our HS, 2 of the best known party kids are going there, both with C averages, so it is certainly a safety. And it has big time sports.</p>
<p>Paraphrasing what stillnadine said re C of C, I would not assume that a northeastern Jewish kid from a city or close suburb (especially one with liberal views) would relate better to deep southern Jewish kids better than northeastern nonJewish kids except on holidays.</p>
<p>Alabama might have “only” 2.9% Jewish students, but 400-600 Jewish students is a lot of kids. It’s an interesting tradeoff: would a Jewishly involved student rather be at a school where being Jewish isn’t an oddity, or at a school where there are more than 100 other Jewish students?</p>
<p>Slithey, that is a very good question. I think that is where the Hillel or similar group is key. You will not meet the other kids if they are 2% otherwise. That may be why Sigma Alpha Mu and ZBT were successful. </p>
<p>And MDcissp made a good point about leadership opportunities in small communities.</p>
<p>^^interesting question…but I would think the number would matter less if the non-Jewish students have been raised in geographic areas where Jewish kids are not a super minority…in other words, it depends…a school in PA (or anywhere else, for that matter) that has 100 Jewish students but draws a large majority of their kids from NY/NJ/Mass/MD will probably be a lot different than a school in Alabama that has only one major metro area that has any Jewish people at all in significant numbers (Birmingham)…and it is a public school to boot, which means that a large majority of ALL the students hail from a deep south state…jmo</p>
<p>I would imagine that those 400-600 students probably all know each other…seriously, from the neighborhoods in Alabama that are Jewish…</p>
<p>UKansas presents with a similar profile, actually…1000 Jewish kids but they probably all hail from the Jewish area outside of Kansas City, Kansas (Overland Park)</p>
<p>rodney - I think you have made a key point re schools like Gettysburg and Susquehanna - even if the number of Jewish students is fairly small - hopefully the non-Jewish students have grown up having some Jewish friends and won’t view them as an oddity.</p>
<p>Again - I can’t imagine my son at Alabama - but the $30,000 OOS price tag is reasonable - and then you look at the guaranteed merit scholarships - it might be worth investigating if you are looking at large universities.</p>
<p>Regarding Alabama, it looks like they are making an effort to recruit Jewish students. In the RJ Insider’s Guide to College Life, they placed a nice size add. That and the amount of posts here on CC had me looking into it a little bit more. With the amount of money offered to OSS students, it could become a real financial safety for us. They offer the programs my D wants and she should get a nice amount of $$'s from them. She is so set against College Park (and any MD schools) that I really have to make sure we have some good financial safeties for her.</p>
<p>I would like a higher % of Jewish students, but it does look like the number is climbing every year.</p>
<p>A friend was just down in Alabama and said the campus was very nice and so was the surrounding area.</p>
<p>As far as the statement from the poster who said the tour didn’t take them into a classroom and inferred from that the school didn’t care about academics, I will just say that we toured Cornell this summer and they didn’t take us into a classroomm either! LOL! </p>
<p>Also, Alabama has an honors college that is supposed to offer more opportunities for the kids in the honors college. </p>
<p>Based on the amount of merit aid available, I am keeping it on the list for now!</p>
<p>Here’s another thing to chew on: how many of those Jewish students are in the Alabama Honors college? Wikipedia says that about 1 in 5 Alabama freshmen are in the honors college, a little over 1000 of the freshman class. It’s one thing to think about finding other Jewish students when they’re less than 3% of the university as a whole. But if we were to assume that there are only 400 Jewish students total, and half of them are in the honors college, that’s 200 kids out of a population of 4000 (for all four years), which is a 5% Jewish population for the honors college.</p>
<p>cross-posted with mdmomfromli about the honors college. Alabama would be a huge bargain for D1 (National Merit), but it’s not the first school that would come to mind for her as a good fit. ;)</p>
<p>I think what is really important is to evaluate if you think your child will like the Jewish activities available as well as the leadership of Hillel or other Jewish group. My point is to look beyond the numbers, both large and small, to see where you think the best fit is for your child.</p>
<p>Excellent point by Rodney about the likelihood at some schools of all the local Jewish kids knowing each other. I wonder if this is an issue at C of C (although their OOS population may be large enough to negate it)? </p>
<p>For kids who want to avoid UMCP or other home state flagships, although they might not qualify as financial safeties, I hear excellent reports about Penn State, UConn and UDel. Nonetheless, I believe most B students will do better at small schools with small classes.</p>
<p>Re Bama, they are also doing a lot of advertising on CC, although their tagline “One of the top 50 public colleges in the nation” (I may be slightly off), struck me as surprisingly modest. In terms of how different political attitudes may be, there are significant differences among Southern states, as this list shows: State<br>
Obama Share White Vote %<br>
Alabama<br>
10
Arkansas<br>
30<br>
Florida<br>
42
Georgia<br>
23<br>
Kentucky<br>
36<br>
Louisiana<br>
14<br>
Mississippi<br>
11
North Carolina<br>
35
South Carolina<br>
26
Tennessee<br>
34
Texas<br>
26
Virginia<br>
39</p>
<p>Rodney, KU draws from Texas, oklahoma, Ga, and MO from what my friends tell me. It has an active Hillel and both a Jewish Frat and Sorority ( though I think they are not exclusive),
It is another great choice for students who want the big school experience. Kids may know each other but that comes from knowing each other from BBYO/Young Judeah/TYG/USY</p>
<p>Salisbury: I spoke to my Jewish neighbor whose son attends Salisbury. She said that he knows a good number of Jewish students there, but that there is no organized Jewish life. He loves the school and has not met with any anti-semitism. There is a synaguoge nearby that welcomes students for holiday services, but he did not go last year. It sounds like the campus is ripe for an energetic student to organize a Jewish group.</p>
<p>Texasmom, for some reason, the Big 12 conference schools, such as Kansas and Missouri, do not draw much attention in the northeast, despite being fine schools with great sports–I think it must be the lack of warm weather. Missouri, given the sizable Jewish population in St Louis and its toprated Journalism program, would seem to be a hidden gem in this category.</p>
<p>Momjr, your helpful info about Salisbury I think puts parents, especially those in MD, in a familiar position for B student parents–if Salisbury has a nice campus, very low tuition and a convenient location, is the lack of an active Hillel a dealbreaker–especially if your child does not care?</p>
<p>Momjr - I would love to hear more from your neighbor. What does her son like and dislike about Salisbury? What is his major? What types of things does he do for fun - clubs - sports, etc.? How is the housing - is he living on or off campus?</p>
<p>Yabeyabe - this one is tough. I think we will visit in the spring to get a better feel for it. I hate to eliminate it as an academic and financial safety based solely on the absence of a Hillel. Every other aspect that I am aware of sounds reasonably good. The in-state price is amazing - business program is well-regarded - new buildings under construction look amazing. I just wish they had some organized events for Jewish students - even if it was pretty modest.</p>