<p>My D, who did not use any Jewish criteria in her choices but selected schools based on their theater programs, also wants to be near NYC. She does not want to be in the city, so the outskirts were her main focus.</p>
<p>She is a B+, high-20s ACT student, and she’s definitely applying to SUNY New Paltz - nice campus, nice town, nice programs. She was turned off by Purchase’s campus, but mostly by the details of its theater department. She liked the looks of Hofstra, but is choosing to apply to Adelphi instead because of program specifics. She also found Drew to be too preppy. She really liked the looks of Montclair State, and has liked what she’s read on its website, although it’s not as high on her list as New Paltz or Adelphi because its academic stats are considerably lower.</p>
<p>We visited Wagner College on Staten Island, which has terrific connections with the city. She wasn’t happy with their theater dept, but otherwise it seemed like a very nice overall school and definitely good for a B student.</p>
<p>I have a D at Baruch and can confirm it is not too Jewish. It has all of the feel of NYU at a fraction of the price. Some of the classes are big, but not all. The student population there is very international, sophisticated and inclusive.</p>
<p>@emmybet: I am familiar with Adelphi, hofstra and wagner. you can pm me with questions if you’d like.</p>
<p>Yabeyabe2: Thanks for the suggestions, but I think we’ve considered all the possible urban schools on the east coast. Drexel actually sent my daughter a free priority application, but she’s not interested. She really doesn’t like the quarter schedule or the campus. My husband will not let her consider Temple based on the location. Has the surrounding area improved in the last 30 years? She would actually love to be in Philly, but we haven’t found any good options there.</p>
<p>I have not been to a Temple in a while, but am told the campus itself has improved substantially in the past 30 years–check out the Campusvibe reports. Also, a frequent poster, Diontechristmas, is a student there and can be PM’d. </p>
<p>Some previous posters thought Fordham had a surprisingly large Jewish population. Pace has both Manhattan and White plains campuses.</p>
<p>mdcissp - re acceptance rates at UMBC and Salisbury - I think I can explain this. UMBC is a self-selecting population. The school attracts kind of nerdy students - very driven - very strong in sciences. It would not attract students wanting football games/Greek life/attractive campus with a green quad. So, the population that applies to UMBC tends to be qualified, high-achieving students. So, the acceptance rate is fairly high.</p>
<p>Salisbury gets B and C students as applicants - and some A students who want an in-state safety or who are cost conscious. It gets a much wider range of applicants in terms of their stats. The lower acceptance percentage at Salisbury does not really mean it is more selective - it should be an easy admit for an A or B student. But I’m sure they get plenty of C student applicants as well - and that’s why you see the lower acceptance rate.</p>
<p>Rutgers (New Brunswick) is 41 miles from NYC. Hofstra is about 25 miles east of NYC. The train ride is about 40 minutes, then a 5 minute taxi ride to campus (if the shuttle isn’t running.)</p>
<p>I would consider Hofstra closer and more connected to the city with a shorter commute.</p>
<p>Although I am grateful for your pointing out that Hofstra is closer to NYC than I remembered, I am not not sure why you believe Hofstra is a shorter commute to Manhattan. Having now done a superficial check (which I should have instead of relying on memory), I see that, for example, the 817 train from New Brunswick arrives at Penn Station at 906 (49 minutes); the 820 from Hempstead at 911 (51 minutes) and the 753 Amtrak from NB at 838 (45 minutes), so I would now think of them as equivalent. In each instance, there will be some trains which may take less time by skipping one or more stops. When I traveled to Hempstead, I had to change trains midway, which may have subsequently been eliminated.</p>
<p>Although you refer to NB being 41 miles from NYC, others list it at 31, although such calculations always very depending on the precise measuring points, especially where, as here, they are on opposite sides of the city.</p>
<p>I believe Hofstra has more commuters and Rutgers being much more sports oriented, Hofstra having dropped football for low attendance. Rutgers has a very low OOS population for a Midatlantic flagship, but would be an easy drive from Maryland.</p>
<p>I do not have particular feelings one way or the other for Hofstra, but I just wanted to point out that it was not farther than New Brunswick. The train time difference is pretty inconsequential, especially since the trains tend to be a bit off.</p>
<p>Psychmom may also want to look into Pace University (downtown–good business/ accounting connections in NYC.)</p>
<p>Also CWPost/ Long Island University with 2 campuses–one a true campus in Brookville–on Long Island–again about 40 to 45 minutes by train. The other is a more urban campus (with dorms) in downtown Broooklyn (near where a new stadium is being built and close to Brownstone Brooklyn.)</p>
<p>I live very near CW Post and my office is close to Hofstra. Both are really more suburban commuter schools. Of the two, Post has a much nicer campus and in a much nicer part of Long Island. It also has the Tiles Center with excellent concerts. But LI pretty much closes down at night when most college students are just getting ready to go out. Whenever my kids come back home from school, they almost always head out to the City for fun and entertainment. In fact over the summers, both of the older two got jobs and apartments in the City (or summer dorms at NYU or the New School) so they wouldn’t have to be stuck “at home” where there was “nothing to do”. Though NYC is only a half hour to 45 min LIRR train ride away from either school, you have to get a ride or cab to the station 'cause parking is problematic.</p>
<p>^^I agree, but the poster was looking for schools within a good commuting distance from NYC. I believe that during the school year there may be shuttle service to the LIRR train station, and in general, trains run frequently into the city weekend nights because many of the kids (and grown- ups!) on Long Island frequent the city. </p>
<p>None of the schools mentioned (within a close proximity to Manhattan) including Purchase, New Paltz, Rutgers, Wagner etc. will be anything like the experience of living in Manhattan. All of them will have commuters. </p>
<p>D attends NYU and survived the summer at home on Long Island, commuting back into the city for internships and social plans. The Friday and Saturday night trains were packed back to LI well into the night.</p>
<p>You have to remember, though, that even schools in the city have commuters. By junior/ senior year many of the students move out of on-campus housing and into their own apartments scattered all over the city including Brooklyn and Queens.</p>
<p>Going to school in NYC is a different experience. You either love it or hate it. D is staying in NYU housing because you can’t beat the location of her dorm (right by Soho/ Little Italy/ Chinatown–Nolita.)</p>
<p>The charts of # local kids applied and accepted at long lists of colleges in this months Bethesda magazine is interesting. I thought Salisbury attracted a good number of applicants. Binhamton had few applicants and all were accepted. I think this article is a good read to sense which schools have high vs. low acceptance rates. Of course, Stanford and IVYs have low acceptance rates (and not relevant to this thread of B plus students).</p>
<p>Thank you Rockville Mom for explaining the lower acceptance rate at Salisbury. Although I thought UMBC was also considered a safety school and was surprised by its high acceptance rate. Some of the schools on this thread were also competitive for acceptance.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your thoughts regarding NYC vs. the burbs. It seems S really wants to be in the city; his sister goes to a campus-y college and he feels that it’s just not for him, no matter how close to NYC. He’ll have to apply to a # of schools, but clearly his preference is being in the city. I have to say I am not entirely thrilled by that, but that’s another matter.
I will look into Pace…and any other ideas are very much appreciated.</p>
<p>uskoolfish, I admit to sometimes getting lost in this thread as to who the “poster” was who started us meandering off in a (slightly)different direction, or what the original query was, that started it and so tend to post about the schools or places I know. That said I’m not sure why anyone would want to know about a good school within “commuting” distance of NYC unless they lived in a suburb of NYC and their child wanted to commute to a nearby school in the City. I can possibly see coming from somewhere else and wanting a school close enough to be able to make trips in easily from time to time, but why commuting distance? Any of the schools mentioned are close enough to hop into NYC over the weekend, but if your child is going to be doing that all the time, doesn’t that negate the whole purpose of going to a particular school?</p>
<p>I sometimes think that a lot of us tend to perhaps unfairly denigrate the local schools nearby us and can’t imagine why anyone would want to come from someplace else to go to a school we know near us. Certainly in my case (and for my kids and their friends), that is how we feel. Unless actually going to one of the many good schools in the City (and I count a number of the honors programs at CUNY schools or specialized schools like Cooper Union, FIT or SVA), I don’t think any of them would want to be within commuting distance of the city, or go to any of the suburban schools “within commuting distance” if they could possibly get in anywhere else. </p>
<p>I think we can agreee that going to school anywhere but NYC is nothing like actually going to school in NYC. It’s the 24 hr pace, the convenience of stores and restaurants and bars and concerts nearby or a cab or train ride away; the vibrancy of life, the ability to walk everywhere and find that every block is different or holds some new discovery. The huge variety of cultures and cultural experiences available to sample or fall into. I went to NYU (a long long time ago). Even though I came from L.I. I might as well have been in Istanbul for all the times my parents saw me or knew what I was doing.</p>
<p>good luck with the search, psychmom. Let us know your thoughts on Baruch and Pace maybe after you’ve had a chance to tour them! Hopefully it is what your S is looking for. Or, if he’s set on NYU, then hopefully he’ll get in! Hope it works out.</p>