<p>holliesue - but even if Jewish life is not strong on the campuses - I am sure you have the sense that a Jewish student would be comfortable there - would not be harassed or ostracized in any manner - and that’s the most important thing.</p>
<p>rvm- that is definitely true!!! they all have Hillels, just small ones!</p>
<p>Congrats on those acceptances! and I think the $36 donation. when lunch is set up, is a wonderful gesture.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the good wishes and cogratulations to Holliesue. I’m having the same issue with application stress eating. I’ll hit the gym tomorrow morning.</p>
<p>Sorry, … but part of being a Jewish parent is searching for continuity for one’s child. This is an important tradition, and if the parent doesn’t convey its importance, well, the chain is broken. This is a great thread for all of us who care, and are looking for a place where our child can be comfortable, and continue our traditions…</p>
<p>Mazel Tov to momjr and holliesue!</p>
<p>I’m back from our whirlwind 4 day weekend to visit my mom, who unfortunately is in a nursing home near my sister in Miami after having suffered a devastating stroke in February. </p>
<p>Congratulations to Momjr., to HollieSue, UMich, and anyone else I may have missed who have received acceptances to a college, yay! Very exciting, can’t wait for it to be our turn too.</p>
<p>Seiclan: you asked me a question the other day, but I’ve been in transit: Yes, my nephew really enjoyed his 4 years at Vanderbilt, did well, and is now applying to Law Schools. I have no idea how their pre-med area is, but it’s really a fine school and he’s been very happy there. Did you say your S will have 12 ap’s? That’s a lot! Certainly talk it over with your h.s. counselor, but 12 sounds like plenty, especially if he got mostly A’s… Good luck…</p>
<p>Momjr: We visited CMU last summer for S1 and saw glimpses of Pitt…we didn’t really concentrate on that school, but that area of Pittsburgh is lovely. I believe it’s more in the city than CMU is, even though they are very close to each other. We did go to the Hillel building, which both schools share and I was very impressed. Big, roomy, upstairs and downstairs, tv’s, pool table (I think, I’m trying to remember) Congrats to your D. CMU is still on my son’s list, so he could end up in Pittsburgh too! It seemed to be a nice, relatively clean city.</p>
<p>Holliesue, congratulations!</p>
<p>I think an important part of being a Jewish parent is not judging other Jewish parents by whether they try to pursue Jewish continuity exactly the way you would. You have raised a child with strong moral values, a clear sense of self and an ability to make her own decisions. Whether she chooses to be a Hillel leader, a Hillel participant or a Jewish student who fulills her Jewish identity in her own way, I am sure she will have a happy and successful college life.</p>
<p>bicoastal - first - welcome - I enjoy seeing new posters join our thread.
I do want to say to you, however, that we have really tried to make the spirit of this thread friendly and non-judgmental. This is a place where Jewish parents can find support and advice - share good news - and kvetch a bit too. Obviously there will be differences of opinion - but the fact that we are posting on a thread dedicated to Jewish parents means that Judaism does have some role in our lives and in our childrens’ lives. Families will have different goals as far as how Jewish a campus needs to be and how actively Jewish their teenage and young adult children are going to be.</p>
<p>Just as you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink, you can push a student towards a college campus with Hillel or Chabad - but you can’t make them attend. I would never criticize someone who puts a lower priority on an active Jewish community at college - that is their choice. My older son attends a university with very few Jewish students and has not participated in Hillel. That is his choice and I respect it. I know from my own experiences growing up that having Judaism shoved down your throat by well-meaning parents is not a good thing.</p>
<p>So, again - welcome - but please be tolerant and respectful of the diversity of views expressed here.</p>
<p>rockville - couldn’t have said it better, thank you.</p>
<p>My D1 went last week on a Jewish learning trip, and couldn’t have felt more like Judaism was being shoved down her throat. She can’t understand how it was supposed to encourage her to be more observant - which she is happy to be, in her own way - and definitely felt it would turn off anyone who was on the fence. It’s a shame when such a heavy-handed approach backfires that way. It could easily have been done so much better.</p>
<p>RVM,yabeyabe2, Emmybet…thanks :)</p>
<p>CCC: Thanks for sharing your impressions on Pitt. We had planned to visit last spring, but had to cancel. My daughter is very excited about the school, and we will visit if she doesn’t get accepted to her ED school. It’s really wonderful to get the first acceptance. For those of you with juniors and underclassmen, I highly recommend having your kid apply to a least one rolling admission safety school.</p>
<p>Holliesue: Congratulations to your daughter on her acceptances! Thanks for being honest with us about her choices. I agree with RVM and the other posters that this thread is a place for support and understanding.</p>
<p>glad RVM was tactful enough in her post; I was in no mood to respond…and would not have been as gracious…thank you!!</p>
<p>momjr: not sure if I missed it (or if like me you haven’t revealed to CC), but ED school? no biggie, you can PM me if you don’t want to post…Dec 15th notification I’m assuming?</p>
<p>while we are on the subject, any other ED’s on here…?</p>
<p>Congrats to all the parents and kids who got accepted this week!</p>
<p>^^^^^Ditto! Its wonderful that so many of you are getting great news so early in the year! Best wishes to the rest of you still waiting.</p>
<p>Hi Rodney:</p>
<p>There are a few more of us ED people out there, but ED is for my S1, who is a h.s. senior and applying to schools in the A/A- category. My S2, who is a h.s. freshman, is more in line with this thread for B/B+ kids. Yeah, waiting until Dec. 15th is torture. He had 2 EA’s but we’ll be hearing from them after the ED school. No rollings.</p>
<p>Rodney:
My daughter applied to Boston University ED. It’s been her top choice since we started looking at colleges. She spent two weeks there last July in the Summer Challenge program
and wanted to stay and start college immediately. It’s a mixed blessing when your child has a true first choice. As CCC said, it’s tough waiting for mid-December. The Pitt acceptance took some of the pressure off, and I’m hoping she will hear from at least one more school before the ED decision.</p>
<p>^^momjr: good luck with the BU-ED!! not sure which school at BU but it sounds like she really knew she wanted to be there!..</p>
<p>I am so incredibly frustrated with my youngest and middle school. I received a call from the nurse that my son is always tired in class and the note from the teacher says its an ongoing problem. This is the first I am hearing about the “ongoing” problem. Am I wrong in thinking that the teacher should have contacted me first?</p>
<p>The nurse said she had to talk to him about drug use, etc. and to rule out all potential problems. Really? Drugs? and the teacher has never called or emailed about this. I am so upset right now.</p>
<p>How dare this woman label him like this? She removed him from class (missed learning) without ever contacting me about prior “drowsy” moments. What do you say, what should I say that would effectively get my point across that I am really upset with her.</p>
<p>As we talked about failing grades, electronic grade-books, I am very aware that not all students are going to Harvard. This forum has allowed me to accept that while my youngest is not the typical student, he certainly is no a drug addict. I was already incredibly concerned over his self esteem (maybe that’s why he is not a great student) but now to have him labeled as a student who does drugs! </p>
<p>I need an intervention, I just want to cry.</p>
<p>Wow, cherryhillmomto2, are you sure that the teacher asked your child about drugs and not the school nurse? Also, when they say drugs, could they be inquiring also about a prescription medication (one meant for your son)? Frankly, if the teacher suspected an addiction, I wonder how many “addicts” or kids starting to use meds not prescribed for them are going to say, “Yes, Mrs. Jones, I took my mother’s RX this morning, or I have a little vodka in the sport’s bottle sitting on my desk”…errr, not too many is my guess on that one!</p>
<p>On a personal note, my oldest son fell asleep a 2-3 times in class while in elementary school. Each time it was when he was getting sick (ie: twice I recall he was diagnosed with strep throat within 48 hours). Never did the teacher let me know that he fell asleep in class! I found out each time from my son’s friends or from my son.</p>
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