<p>Other considerations: University of Miami (Florida) and they give out a lot of scholarship money. Another place with a significant Jewish population and lots of Jewish people from MOCO – Indiana University. Sorry if these have already been mentioned.</p>
<p>I did a search and couldn’t find anything - Knox College - does anyone know if there’s any Jewish presence at all? It’s in Illinois about 200 miles from Chicago. My younger daughter isn’t particularly religious (although she did go to services with me today) but being from NY, she’s never really experienced being a serious minority before.</p>
<p>Hi Nisuslov - nice to see another Rockville person on the thread. Univ. of Miami has been on and off the list. I think it’s a little reachy for S2 - we’ll see how his ACT goes this weekend! It’s also further away than I would prefer. But I am keeping it in mind.</p>
<p>I know several people who are at Indiana or who have recently graduated - all seem to love it. It’s just further away and bigger than what S2 wants. Bit I agree that it is a good choice for a Jewish B student who wants a large university experience.</p>
<p>amtc - I know very little about Knox - it’s a CTCL school, right? I’ll see if I can find anything.</p>
<p>This link is to info on the “Hillel Club”. It might be a year or 2 old - bit it’s a start.</p>
<p>[Being_Jewish_at_Knox[/url</a>]</p>
<p>“On a recent survey of graduating seniors, 5% of the students identified themselves as Jewish. Using that figure for the student body as a whole would indicate about 70 Jewish students out of 1,350 total. There are usually about 40 or so students on the mailing list for the Hillel Club (most of whom are Jewish, but not all). In any year the number of students actively involved in club activities are lower than that–in a slow year maybe 3-4 and in a good year maybe 10-15. So, the numbers are small. The up side is that a student interested in pursuing Jewish activities via the club has an easy time having his or her voice heard and in initiating projects.”</p>
<p>This link looks more current. The contact person is Class of 2012.
<a href=“http://www.knox.edu/Student-Life/Organizations-and-Clubs/Hillel-Club.html[/url]”>http://www.knox.edu/Student-Life/Organizations-and-Clubs/Hillel-Club.html](<a href=“http://deptorg.knox.edu/hillel/Being_Jewish_at_Knox.html]Being_Jewish_at_Knox[/url”>http://deptorg.knox.edu/hillel/Being_Jewish_at_Knox.html)</a></p>
<p>Excerpt from undated article - maybe 2008.</p>
<p>"Jewish student life is reaching even the state’s more remote college campuses.</p>
<p>On campuses distant from Chicago’s large Jewish community, Jewish students are showing a commitment to their student communities’ development. At a meeting in Peoria, Ill., a number of Jewish students from various schools and their advisers recently connected and shared ideas.</p>
<p>The November meeting at Bradley University Hillel, orchestrated by Hillels of Illinois Executive Director Rabbi Paul Saiger, involved seven faculty advisers and nearly 20 students from Bradley, Northern Illinois University, Knox College, Lake Forest College, Southern Illinois University and Western Illinois University."</p>
<p><a href=“JUF News : JUF New(s)!”>JUF News : Jewish students network between remote campuses;
<p>From the schol newspaper - September 2009:</p>
<p>Hillel is Jewish group but is not limited to members of the Jewish faith.</p>
<p>“We aren’t a strictly religious campus group, but more a gathering of friends from similar backgrounds,” said Sandy Guttman, co-president of Hillel. They enjoy discussing political and social issues “related but not limited” to Judaism, and cooking and eating Jewish food.</p>
<p>Knox College’s Hillel provides rides to Temple Sholom on Friday nights and High Holy Day services. Hillel does not just attend Temple Sholom: they participate in many aspects of the temple. Some of the past events have been bagel brunches on Saturdays and Shabbat dinners where they light candles to welcome the Sabbath, I-Fair, and Latkepalooza. General meetings are to discuss and coordinate events, as well as talk about religion and spirituality.</p>
<p>Some activities to get excited about for this year are Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services, Latkepalooza, and a Passover seder. There might even be a Sukkah on campus for Sukkot. Guttman is especially looking forward to the Passover Seder at Temple Sholom and Latkepalooza.</p>
<p>“There will be plenty of potato pancakes to go around,” she said.</p>
<p>Guttman wants the campus to know that Hillel is not just for Jewish students. They want everyone to join them for their festivities.</p>
<p>Look for fliers around campus and contact <a href=“mailto:sguttman@knox.edu”>sguttman@knox.edu</a> for more information.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.theknoxstudent.com/newsroom/article/religious-diversity-prominent-campus/[/url]”>http://www.theknoxstudent.com/newsroom/article/religious-diversity-prominent-campus/</a></p>
<p>Why More Colleges Want Jewish Students
October 29, 2008</p>
<p>At Chicagoland Jewish High School, “What I’m seeing is, new names are popping up all the time,” says Bruce Scher, the academic dean and director of college counseling.</p>
<p>“Outside of the stereotypical or the standard colleges that already have strong Jewish populations, we’re seeing a lot of other schools recognize the value and recognize the contribution that these students are making to a college campus,” says Scher, who’s also co-chair of the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s special interest group for Jewish students. “Even schools like Knox [College], you know, in central Illinois, they absolutely are connecting to Jewish students.”</p>
<p>My conclusion - it’s pretty small - but there are signs of life!</p>
<p>There’s another thread on CC about what has your college kid done that has made your jaw drop - and today I have one - but it’s more relevant here.</p>
<p>My older son - who has not set foot in Temple since his Bar Mitzvah other than to attend 2-3 other family Bar Mitzvahs - apparently went to Rosh Hashana services today. At a Temple in Winston-Salem. With his Jewish friends.</p>
<p>I didn’t know he even had any Jewish friends! (At Wake Forest - there’s like 60 Jewish kids tops).</p>
<p>Jaw is literally on the floor. I’d be less shocked if he went to the moon for the day.</p>
<p>Rockvillemom-Thank you for my biggest laugh of the day! That was hysterical! When I asked my d if she were going to do anything today, she said yeah, i’ll probably go to Hillel or Chabad. I told her Hillel may be better suited for her. Naturally she went to Chabad and (jaw drop) she said it was really fun.</p>
<p>amtc - great timing on the Knox question. We had lunch today with Jewish friends whose D is a freshman at Knox. She completely surprised her parents by attending a dinner and services at the local shul - to which we all said “there’s a shul in Galesburg?! who knew?” ;)</p>
<p>so yes there is Jewish life at Knox. feel free to PM me if you have specific questions and I’ll see what I can find out.</p>
<p>Just toured Knox this summer (still have to write that up for the vibe!) and although we didn’t do a major focus on Jewish Life (D is so not interested right now), I really got the impression of a very accepting community.</p>
<p>RM:</p>
<p>I’m sure you must have looked into Stevenson U in Maryland…3,000 kids, business program, honors college…any Jewish kids there? Did you already rule that school out?</p>
<p>Stevenson is actually a little lower than I feel I need to look for my son in terms of stats. Very few kids from our hs have applied - but those accepted typically had a 2.5 - 3.0 WGPA and about an 1100 SAT. The Naviance website shows that nationwide - the average accepted SAT is 1010 and the average accepted ACT is a composite of 20. So, not really considering this school - more for a B- or C student.</p>
<p>I did a quick search and looked at the club and activities section of the website and came up empty as far as Hillel or any Jewish group.</p>
<p>Thanks all! Looks like Knox will stay on our preliminary list!</p>
<p>RM: perfect story of why it sometimes does not matter what the “number” of Jewish students on campus is…</p>
<p>L’Shana Tova to all; suffice it to say that it has been an “interesting” New Year so far…hope all enjoyed!!</p>
<p>and a special memorial message to those who lost loved ones and friends 9yrs ago today…I’m thinking of you always…</p>
<p>So S2 took the ACT today for the first time. He seems to think he did pretty well - said the actual test was easier than all of the practice tests I made him do this summer. We’ll see…</p>
<p>RM: It’s great that your son feels good about the ACT. You were very smart to have him practice over the summer so you’ll have a good idea of his score early in the year. We visited some schools last spring that my daughter is not applying to because her June ACT scores gave her better choices. It’s also really nice for a kid to be finished with testing by the end of Junior year. Most of my daughter’s friends are still retaking at least one test this fall. It’s a lot to deal with while starting the applications.</p>
<p>momjr - I agree completely about the benefits of finishing testing during junior year. That way - you know what you have to work with and can finalize your list of colleges and start your applications during the summer knowing that you are done with testing. What I saw with some of my older son’s friends was that they were still trying to raise their scores in the fall. This impacted their applications - they held off applying to a rolling school as they were waiting for a higher score - or they decided against applying EA because they were trying to raise their scores. The irony is that of the 3 kids in this situation that I am aware of - 2 of the 3 did not benefit from taking the tests again in the fall of senior year. Whether it was due to stress - too much pressure - or other factors - their scores did not improve and all they accomplished was wasting time and delaying sending out their applications.</p>
<p>So, with S2, I am firmly committed to being done by June. Whatever he has by then, that’s what he has to work with.</p>
<p>But I have to admit, I am really nervous about his scores.</p>
<p>I agree with getting the testing out of the way Junior year. Everyone I know who has older kids has suggested that. D is taking the SAT on October 9th. This gives us plenty of time to decide if she needs to take it again (knowing her she will want to, whatever her score is), or if it’s not as good as we hope, she can start studying for the ACT.</p>
<p>I am trying to set up some fall visits to colleges and it is frustrating. Rockvillemom - how long did it take with UDel to get everything set up? I just requested the id and the email said that it will be set up shortly. Of course my idea of shortly and theirs may be very different!</p>
<p>I have to say Udel seems like a walk in the park compared to trying to set up an information session at Carnegie Mellon. First of all, I think their website is horrible! Just keeps taking you in circles. Then I clicked on the link to schedule a group information session or interview, well it only lists interview times! Not interested in an interview right now. I have emailed the admissions office, saying since she is a Junior we don’t want to take an interview slot from a senior, how do we go about signing up for the info. session. Hopefully, I will hear back from them tomorrow and can get that set up. She got their postcard for their local info session next weekend and we will try to make that, but I think she should see the campus in person since it’s an easy enough drive.</p>
<p>I wish she would spend more time looking at the college websites, but she doesn’t want to. She just wants to go on the visits. We have jointly put the list together based on all of her criteria. I also think we may have made a mistake. We looked at the “dream” school over the summer, and I think everything else pales in comparison. She knows her chances of getting in are slim, but I think it’s preventing her from focusing on other schools.</p>
<p>I think when to test depends on the kid. A fall test senior year can be a good thing if their maturity level has changed significantly (or just plain motivation level), or if the subject matter, like math, has come together in a positive way.</p>
<p>Both of my kids did April and June ACTs but have chosen one more senior year in the fall. Both of them - very different kids - have felt they want one more stab at it, not just because of applications but also to satisfy their curiosity. My D1 wanted to nail one particular section, mostly out of pride. D2 has 2 very similar scores, and improved a couple of sections the second time, but sadly lost 1 point in her composite, so I can see why she wants one more chance.</p>
<p>What neither of my kids wanted to do was take it too early. But many kids want to - as a starting point. Mine did PLAN and also PSAT, both of which were helpful in showing that ACT is the right test for both of them.</p>
<p>mdmom - we did finally get both the user ID from Delaware and the link to set the password - it probably took 2-3 days total. Of course now that we have it and can schedule the visit, S2 has decided to wait until the spring to visit!</p>
<p>And don’t worry - you’re not the only one whose kids won’t look at the websites. I’ve actually had better luck with printed material. Before we visit a school, I bring out the folder that has all of the mail from that school and try to go over it with S2 and DH. With mixed results. I am actually puzzled that they don’t enjoy researching colleges and reading about them s much as I do! :)</p>
<p>EmmyBet - it absolutely does depend on the kid. I just hate seeing kids still stressing over testing prior to senior year when their focus should be on apps and essays. But, I’m the kind of person that likes to have everything done ahead of time. I’m sure there are kids that get their best test results in the fall of senior year and are glad they tested one more time - but I would also venture to say that for every success story there is another student whose final attempt senior year was not their best result.</p>
<p>There’s another advantage to trying get all the testing done by the end of junior year. You child might have a conflict with the first fall test date. My older daughter didn’t want to take her SAT subject tests in June and decided to wait until the Fall. We later realized that the October test date was the same day as her cousin’s Bat Mitzvah, so she had to wait until November and rush them to her ED school without seeing the scores. It was very stressful. </p>
<p>Mdmom: It’s always hard when they love one of the first schools you visit, especially if it’s a reach. Have you tried to get her to identify what she loves about her “dream school” to try to find some similar schools to visit.</p>
<p>I suspect a large % of kids on this thread will spend hours on websites looking for video game cheats or funny videos, but not for colleges. No tto mention on Facebook for anything except looking at colleges’ pages.</p>
<p>That is part of why I think many kids on this thread are much better off in small schools, where they are less able to coast and receive more coaching.</p>
<p>In fairness to the kids, however, all the websites and brochures do seem very similar.</p>