<p>Rockvillemom,
I’ll try to find out more from my neighbor. I know that her son was involved in sports and backstage theatre in HS and that he was not in the cool, partying crowd. A good number of kids from our area attend Salisbury and most seem very happy there. I’ve heard that there are nice off-campus apartment complexes nearby. My daughter prefers to apply to Towson over Salisbury because she has no interest in a rural location.</p>
<p>Is anyone familiar with the University of Colorado at Boulder? My daughter wants to apply, but I don’t like how far it is from home. I just checked the Hillel site and it is almost 10% Jewish will a full fledged Hillel.</p>
<p>My older s’s current roomate went there for undergrad (he just graduated) but he (the roommate) isn’t jewish. Younger s has a friend at Boulder now, but he too isn’t jewish. Boulder is known to be a bit on the lenient side when it comes to drugs/alcohol, IIRC.</p>
<p>UColorado, like Boulder itself, has long attracted kids from all over who love skiing, mountains and/or a quasi-hippie life–laid back, parties, dope, booze. Its sports program is recovering from a football scandal involving improper recruiting (wild nights out for recruits, etc). In a bizarre sequence about 20 years ago, they won the national football championship, the born again coach’s daughter revealed she was pregnant by his Samoan quarterback, and he left coaching to lead a men’s conciousness group that was briefly very prominent, called (I believe) the Promisekeepers.
Most of the school may be much more academic than its capsule rep.</p>
<p>momjr,
If you go to check out the University of Colorado, also check out the University of Denver while you are out there. University of Denver is 20-25% Jewish, has a lovely Hillel and also an active Chabad, which attracts both observant and nonobservant students. Also has a decent Jewish studies department. My middle son is a rising senior there (he goes back this weekend) and he has had a very good experience there.</p>
<p>boysx3, my daughter’s school guidance counsellor recommended UD. I have a question, (since I doubt we’ll go all the way out there unless she applies and is accepted), UD’s website makes it look very attractive but Fiske says DU’s campus in residential Denver is “pleasant but uninspiring”. What’s the campus like? Are most students in-state? Do students live on campus? And is it spread out on both sides of a large highway?</p>
<p>Boysx3: Thanks for the suggestion, but I’d prefer to have her stay on the East Coast, so I hesitate to suggest any additional Western schools. For some reason she’s enamored with Colorado, but she is more serious about some other schools. I seem to remember that you also have a son at AU. How has his experience been there? We visited last fall on a Friday afternoon, and my daughter thought the campus was too quiet. She wants to go back and look again. Can you recommend a good time?</p>
<p>mhc,
The DU campus is very pretty but not beautiful in the sense of the grand college campuses with lots of ivy. Most of the buildings are fairly pedestrian from the outside, some are very pretty, the library is ugly from the outside (and very, very nice inside). The old dorms are like older dorms anywhere; the new dorms are fabulous. However, the classrooms themselves are all cutting edge–DU has new buildings for business, education, liberal arts, science, and the hotel school, and the library has recently been remodeled. The music facilities are phenomenal–the practice rooms all have mountain views to inspire the students.</p>
<p>BUT the campus itself is very pretty–grassy quads, pretty trees and gardens, a waterlily garden in the middle of the quad with fountains/waterfalls,etc.</p>
<p>The campus is about 3 or 4 blocks long, about 2 blocks wide. There is only one street that runs throught the campus and there is a glass walkway over the street that the students use–the walkway is used by all sorts of student groups who set out tables with info on their programs, petitions, bake sales etc. The glass walkway links the two halves of the student center.</p>
<p>It is a definite enclosed campus–very similar to American University in DC, as compared to campuses like GW or NYU.</p>
<p>Students come from all over. We are from Ohio; my son’s first year roomie was from Minnesota, and his best friends are from Seattle, Long Beach, San Antonio, Boston, Chicago and Quebec. Two good friends are from Colorado, one from Boulder and one from Denver itself.</p>
<p>Just about everyone lives on campus or within a block or two off campus in apartments or houses when they are upperclassmen. Campus housing for after first year is very, very nice. I think students need to reside in campus housing for at least 2 years, so there is a lot of campus cohesion and always something going on.</p>
<p>Students tend to range from the serious (my son) to the very serious, to the not so serious–and the not so serious generally either wake up or flunk out. A lot of students seem to pick DU for the winter sports and other outdoor opportunities, and then get there and discover they don’t indulge as often as they had thought they would–too much else going on, too time consuming, too expensive–</p>
<p>My son was somewhat of a late bloomer and has found DU to be the right place for him–a lot of the students were maybe not straight A students in high school, with lower than desirable freshman and sophomore grades in high school–but in college are very, very motivated. DU required individual personal interviews when my son applied–the admissions office set up interview opportunities all over the country–but I am not sure it requires them now.</p>
<p>One thing that sets DU apart is its Cherrington Scholars study abroad program. More than 70% of DU students take at least one significant (one quarter or longer) study abroad experience.</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: Could you add Jewish experiences to Salisbury? For example, the Jewish National Fund has winter and/or spring break volunteer trips to Israel, Operation Birthright 10 day trip to Israel, etc.</p>
<p>If anyone here likes Salisbury, think it is possible to start a new HIllel or Chabad?</p>
<p>I will be forthright – I have not read all 146 pages of this thread, BUT, I wanted to be sure to point out if it hasn’t been already that Hillel has a searchable database of its chapters with information (provided by the Hillel or local group) estimating Jewish population on campus.</p>
<p>You can find the searchable database at [Hillel’s</a> Guide to Jewish Life on Campus](<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Search.aspx]Hillel’s”>http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Search.aspx). </p>
<p>Some Jewish population info for several schools mentioned on this thread:</p>
<p>Univ. of Texas @ Dallas (estimated 0.6% Jewish population; no campus Hillel; affiliated with Dallas Hillel) [University</a> of Texas, Dallas](<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17931]University”>http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17931)</p>
<p>Salisbury University (no estimated population information available; no campus Hillel; affiliated with Greater Baltimore Hillels) [Salisbury</a> State University](<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17688]Salisbury”>http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17688)</p>
<p>Univ. of Alabama (estimated 1.8% Jewish; on campus Hillel with website) [University</a> of Alabama](<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17808]University”>http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17808)</p>
<p>Univ. of Missouri, Columbia (estimated 2.9% Jewish; on campus Hillel with website)
[University</a> of Missouri, Columbia](<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17876]University”>http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17876)</p>
<p>Hi justmytwo - I think we are all pretty aware of the Hillel database - but it is also pretty out-of-date. I think those of us who post here are looking for more current info as well as first-hand accounts of Jewish life and life in general at various colleges that would fit a “B” student. But, thanks for the thought.</p>
<p>mdcissp - I think I am having a harder time pinnning down my thoughts on Salisbury than any other school! I do put a lot of stock in Fiske and Princeton Review - and the fact that it is listed in both makes me think we should consider it. But the lack of Jewish life and party rep bother me - so the jury is still out on this one. Maybe we’ll get there in the spring. Maybe he’ll just stick with Towson for a safety school - not sure yet.</p>
<p>momjr,</p>
<p>You’re right, my youngest is a sophomore at AU. He loves it! For the most part he has loved his classes and professors and he is very excited about all his options in the areas he wants to study.</p>
<p>It’s a very social campus…the students seem to be busy all the time. If you were there on a Friday afternoon, I’m betting the students were either in class or taking naps in anticipation of a good Friday night! Classes generally meet twice a week for two hours on a Monday-Thursday or Tuesday- Friday schedule, with Wednesdays reserved for labs and internships.</p>
<p>My son’s weekend activities vary–sometimes a party ( he is in a fraternity and I’m not sure I want to know all the details of their parties), sometimes hanging with friends to watch a movie, sometimes out and about in DC (this Friday he is going to the Kennedy Center free concerts to hear some salsa/samba musicians?).</p>
<p>At the same time, the student body seems to be a little more focused than some on other campuses. I think that might be because of the DC environment. Professors are very accessible and willing to mentor students as they figure out where they want to go academically and in life. Two professors are helping my son create his own major because AU does not offer precisely what he wants to do.</p>
<p>My son was very active in a youth group in high school but just hasn’t had time to be very active in the AU Hillel. He is pursuing a double major, plays on the club soccer team, sings in an a capella group, and is in a fraternity …He is lucky that his grades improve when he is busy…otherwise he procrastinates.</p>
<p>I am somewhat surprised that he did not become active in Hillel. We talked about it once, but he said he doesn’t feel that he misses structured doing-Jewish activities because a good number of his friends on campus are Jewish, although certainly not all of them. Last year he and the other Jewish pledges in his fraternity made their own seder, and invited all the non Jewish members to attend.</p>
<p>He isin the right place for him.</p>
<p>boysx3 - that really sounds wonderful - we are looking forward to visiting later this month. What do you think of the whole “wonk” marketing/branding campaign though? I read a few articles about it - and frankly - I thought it was kind of a turn-off. Not that it would be a deciding factor one way or another - but it sounds kind of dumb.</p>
<p>"After two years of research and discussion of what makes AU unique and reputable among hundreds of colleges and universities, a team of AU faculty, staff and students released a catch phrase today that will now serve as the rebranding statement to describe AU – “American Wonk.”</p>
<p>Students have expressed mixed feelings about the new campaign and some say they feel students should have been consulted more throughout the creation of the new brand."</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: I suggest you consider having your son apply to both Towson and Salisbury as in state safety schools. Your son should be able to get into Towson, but I think having the extra safety is a good idea. My only concern about Towson is that it is popular with both OOS and in state kids. I think a lot of Maryland kids will apply to Towson because of the down economy and harder to get into U MD College Park.</p>
<p>I am not sure Salisbury is a party school. Its new Business building looks great! Towson Business school building is very old.</p>
<p>Boysx3: Thanks for the information on AU. I doubt that my daughter would get actively involved in Hillel, so I prefer a school with a large enough Jewish percentage for her to have some Jewish friends. When we visited AU, I was impressed with the class sizes and access to professors. We’re planning to go back this fall. My daughter attended a summer program at BU and loved it, but she’s questioning whether she wants to go that far from home. I think she’s having cold feet because she’s hearing about kids from her HS who are unhappy at college.</p>
<p>Rockvillemom, Why don’t you have your son check out the Salisbury web site and visit if he finds it appealing? My instinct is that Towson would be preferable for a Jewish kid, but it can’t hurt to visit. Once you know his test scores and his end of Junior year GPA, you can decide if he needs to apply to both. Both schools should be safeties for a B+ student as long as his test scores are decent. By the way, Salisbury is test-optional for students with GPAs above 3.5.</p>
<p>momjr, if it helps, a friend’s son just started at BU and is having a great time (although BU is a reach even at B+), although the parents note it is only for kids who can thrive in a very urban and non-nurturing environment</p>
<p>boysx3, thanks for all the detailed info on DU, makes it sound quite appealing.</p>
<p>[Hillel</a> students and professionals gear up to face anti-Israel campus activism | JTA - Jewish & Israel News](<a href=“http://jta.org/news/article/2010/08/16/2740498/hillel-students-professionals-gear-up-to-face-anti-israel-campus-activism]Hillel”>http://jta.org/news/article/2010/08/16/2740498/hillel-students-professionals-gear-up-to-face-anti-israel-campus-activism)</p>
<p>From the article:
“This summer, a number of national Jewish organizations, including Hillel, held training sessions to help their students and staff prepare for what is expected to be an even more targeted anti-Israel campaign this coming year.”</p>
<p>Sounds like this is an issue at many campuses.</p>