<p>Some thought on McDaniel: I have visted the campus for Ravens training camp, but haven’t taken a tour. The campus is small but pretty, with lots of grass and trees. The school is located in Westminster, which is about 45 minutes north of Baltimore. The area is mostly surburban with a small historic downtown area. I remember seeing a pizza place in walking distance of campus. There are a lot of chain restaurants nearby, but you would need a car. My impression is that this is a good school for students who need small classes and a lot of academic support. I believe that they have good services for kids with LD. There are Jewish students, but not much organized Jewish programming. The school is far from most Baltimore area colleges.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any feedback on Ithaca College? I am starting to think about potential schools for my junior S. Doesn’t know what he wants to major in. Maybe business?? Something sports related?? Thinks he wants a medium sized school with a college town, but not in a city. Any thoughts would be appreciated!</p>
<p>^^Mom2009: my daughter is applying to Ithaca for this admissions cycle…have visited twice (three years apart)…do you have specific questions?</p>
<p>Mom2009 - I know this thread is long - but we have definitely discussed Ithaca in the past. Suggest you use the search feature at the top of the screen within the blue bar - also look at the Ithaca forum in the college section.</p>
<p>Mom2009–Ithaca is popular at our HS. Excellent communications program; I was not wowed by the business offerings. The presence of Cornell means lots of things to do. Intense winters, but very pretty in good weather; active drug scene. I am confident it has a lot of Jewish students.</p>
<p>Ithaca does not have the reputation of being a very Jewish school. Cornell, yes…Ithaca, no.</p>
<p>D’s old BF (Jewish) goes to Ithaca. He seems to be liking it, from what I hear. My sister went for a couple of semesters too (many moons ago) - very gray. Or should I say VERY GRAY.</p>
<p>Very good music school, which has attracted kids from our HS.</p>
<p>It fit our criteria for Jewish population, but the location was the killer. If it weren’t in upstate NY, D might have considered it.</p>
<p>The sometimes accurate Hillel.org website says it has 700 Jewish undergrads out of 6000. And I have also heard it is strong in music.</p>
<p>Anywhere in upstate NY is going to have a long cold winter but the town of Ithaca is the quintessential college town so I think that gives it some bonus points.</p>
<p>confuzd: for animal behavior, check out UC Davis (not sure if B student can get in, but with specific interest and experience, maybe) and University of Washington, although I don’t know if Washington’s program is more focused on graduate students.</p>
<p>EmmyBet: regarding Meor, it is kind of like Chabad but don’t panic; they are super-nice, kids tend to be from non-observant or Reform backgrounds, they study texts in a very intellectual and interesting manner, they often pay the students to participate in the courses, and they may offer your daughter a chance to go to Israel for a greatly reduced price. Like Chabad, they recruit very charismatic and funny rabbis to work with the students. I think that your daughter will enjoy it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the Ithaca responses! Sounds like it may be worth a trip to check it out. Might be good to see Syracuse at the same time. S is not concerned about the weather. Both Elon and C of C sound like great places for S as well, however, not sure we will get there unless he applies and ends up getting accepted. Pretty far from NJ. Elon sounds like a bit of a reach though. He hasn’t taken SATs yet, but I don’t anticipate stellar results.</p>
<p>Also curious if you Junior kids are really into this process yet. My S listens to my thoughts, but hasn’t engaged on his own at all. I’m thinking that taking him to look at a couple of colleges this Fall, might motivate him. He gets B’s with minimal effort and that seems to be good enough for him. Wish he would give his future a little thought!</p>
<p>We went up and visited Ithaca in the Spring and both my daughter and I were very favorably impressed. It looks like a very interesting and vibrant place to be. That’s probably helped with the Music school, theatre majors and the Park school of Communications students there. One thing (and I don’t unfortunately remember the details) we both liked was that if you go to the Liberal Arts school and don’t know what major you want, you can enroll in the Exploratory Program for up to four semesters, which lets you take courses in a variety of fields, not only in the liberal arts but in the professional schools or the arts, to encourage you to find out what you’d like to study and with special advisors. Here’s a link: </p>
<p>[Exploratory</a> - Exploratory Program - School of Humanities and Sciences - Ithaca College](<a href=“Exploratory Program | Ithaca College”>Exploratory Program | Ithaca College)</p>
<p>I have a number of friends who live in Ithaca and yes, it is a cold snowy place in the winter, but that’ s also part of the beauty there. Plus it is, as someone mentioned, a quintessential college town.</p>
<p>Mom2009 - what you are describing is 100% typical for a junior boy! We have visited 5 colleges so far - for exactly the reason you mentioned - to start S2 thinking about the process and to inspire him to work a little harder in school. And it has worked well! Sometimes I don’t think he is paying much attention during an info session - but then he’ll mention something during the car ride home that tells me he was listening after all. He enjoys the tours - I think it makes the unknown that is “college” seem more real. My son has also been very content with B’s - and many times they are very low B’s - although his transcript will not reflect that, luckily. But, something seems to have kicked in - for at the moment - he has A’s in all but one class. It will be interesting to see where he is at the end of the quarter.</p>
<p>Incidentally - I have every college guide under the sun - Fiske, PR, etc. I keep them in his room. He has never opened them that I know of. Physically taking him to see schools has pretty much been the only way to get him engaged in the process.</p>
<p>Also - have your son take the ACT as well as the SAT. My older son is a much stronger student - did very well on the SAT - but did even better on the ACT. Younger son’s PSAT scores were dismal, PLAN was much better - so he took the ACT for the first time on 9/11 - scores will be out 9/27 - so I’m hoping for decent results.</p>
<p>We are visiting Elon in a few weeks - we already love the school (from older son’s experience) so hoping S2 loves it. Planning to see College of Charleston in April.</p>
<p>Mom2009: It sounds like it would be a good idea to take your son on a college visit. You can start with a nearby school. I think it helps for kids to hear about grades, test scores, ECs and rigor from an admissions counselor. Maybe it will help motivate your son. My daughter always got good grades, but preferred steered clear of AP courses because honors and regular courses were easy for her. This fall (senior year) she agreed to take 3 APs because every school we visited stressed that they look at the rigor of your schedule. She was a little stressed at first, but has gotten into a groove and is doing fine. She now realizes that she can handle these courses and that they will help prepare her for college.</p>
<p>I also second RM’s suggestion about trying the ACT.</p>
<p>We visited Ithaca on Israel Independence Day! My son is on a regional NFTY Board and has several friends from NFTY who go to Ithaca. He really liked it and found it mildly ironic that while the Hillel was hosting an Israel party on the Quad there was a nearby “Pro Palestine” rally consisting of about 10 kids. He remarked that all the protesters appeared to be of Irish decent! It led to a great conversation about college life and the right to protest anything you want!! He is going to apply to Ithaca and is going up to visit again in a few weeks. He like sthe cold so no issues there!</p>
<p>^ Mom2009</p>
<p>“Also curious if you Junior kids are really into this process yet. My S listens to my thoughts, but hasn’t engaged on his own at all. I’m thinking that taking him to look at a couple of colleges this Fall, might motivate him. He gets B’s with minimal effort and that seems to be good enough for him. Wish he would give his future a little thought!”</p>
<p>Yes - I think it’s very important to let your S/D visit campuses of a few really good colleges (ideally before now) so that they can “see themselves” as a student and experience what a good school has to offer. I think knowing why your working so hard makes all the difference… My Son’s “I want to be here school” was Elon</p>
<p>Vitrac: Thank you very much for taking the time to provide info. about the upcoming Shabbat at the College of Charleston. I thought it was very nice of you. The program sounds excellent.</p>
<p>Ithaca has a pretty good Jewish population. I am not Jewish but I see a lot of Jewish activities going on on campus. One of the dining halls has a kosher kitchen and a whole floor of the dining hall is dedicated to only people who are kosher. I am Catholic and I see more participation in the Jewish activities then in the Catholic ones. </p>
<p>[IC</a> Hillel Celebrates Sukkot | The Ithacan](<a href=“http://theithacan.org/3360]IC”>http://theithacan.org/3360)
The article talks about the holiday of Sukkot being practiced. </p>
<p>PM me if you have any specific questions about the school or any of the programs. We have top notch Communications, Theater/MT (8th in the nation for Theater), PT/OT, and Music programs. I am in Communications too. Someone mentioned the Business program which is growing and become better year by year. Ithaca was named the Best College in the nation and in the Top 5 for Foodies.</p>
<p>S has been to several college campuses, but has not yet sat in on any info sessions or gone on any official tours. Has been to several schools for soccer related events. My older S is at UVM, and younger S has visited and spent the night. Junior S would be very happy to attend UVM as well. He can totally see himself there. However, he has not heard the admission counselor talk about what it takes to get in. You’re right, that might help to motivate him. Will definitely plan a visit to a few schools.</p>
<p>Rockvillemom - Regarding Elon, do you have a sense of the difficulty of admissions for a B student? It reallys sounds like a fabulous school, but I got the impression that it would be out of reach for a B student, unless there were other hooks (great SATs, exceptional ECs, etc.). Thx!</p>
<p>Mom2009 - regarding Elon - that is our dilemma. If S2 loves it - we will encourage him to apply ED to have a much better chance of admission (last year they took 80% of ED applicants). If he decides not to apply ED, he will apply EA - and it really could go either way. Looking at our large public hs Naviance - a B+ student with at least a 28 ACT has a good chance of admission. For a B student with 27 or less - very iffy.</p>