<p>mdcissp - based on your son’s special needs - I would send in the housing deposit to Towson. Worst case scenario - you forfeit the $300 if he does decide to go to Salisbury. Since it sounds like it may take you a few months to revisit both and be 100% sure - I would send the housing deposit to Towson now to play it safe. Again, congratulations on having these options. I know my son will apply very early to Towson next year so as to have an acceptance before Thanksgiving - what a relief!</p>
<p>Incidentally - S2’s friend from BBYO who is a senior has been accepted at Towson, Salisbury and West Virginia and will be going to Towson next year. His older sister is already there and is very happy.</p>
<p>mdcissp - the convention was a success - thank you for asking. I agree that this is something he should highlight in his applications. Elon offers a major in sport and event mgmt - we are planning to revisit in the spring and learn more about this major as it does sound like something that would interest him.</p>
<p>md,
If Towson assigns housing according to date of receipt of the housing deposit (a lot of schools do), I would send it in immediately!!! While $300 is a lot of money, in the scheme of total college costs and your son’s success and happiness, it’s a drop in the proverbial bucket.</p>
<p>It was really important to my parents when we moved from a very Jewish area (New Haven, CT) to Syracuse when I was in 8th grade (1969) that they live in a town with a significant Jewish population. At the time there was only one suburb that fit the bill. They didn’t want us to feel out of place (even though we are Reform) or have people not understand that we wouldn’t go to school on the high holidays even if we didn’t go to Temple. </p>
<p>I think things have changed a lot since then but I was very glad when we adopted our son from Korea that there are many Asians in my community - most of whom are adopted like him. There is also a significant Jewish population here as well but my main concern was being in the best school district.</p>
<p>Meawhile, he is now at a Catholic prep school…</p>
<p>Ha! I doubt we have 40 non-white students in any of our schools. We are very un-diverse, semi-rural school district. I was going to agree with your assessment of NCLB (no child left untested) being alive and enforced in PA. The interpretations of these wonderful unfunded state mandates vary quite a bit. On the plus side, my kids have gotten a good education and I like the four years of the core courses requirement. No doors are shut and there are more options for colleges.</p>
<p>mdcissp, I can see your dilemma regarding the housing requirement. On the one hand, you want that single dorm room, but on the other, you’re not really sure if this is going to be THE college. I would look over the wording about depositing. A poster mentioned on another thread that she had sent in a housing deposit without hearing from two other colleges and I expressed concern that my understanding is that you can’t double deposit so if a student decides on another college you would have to back out of the agreement and lose the deposit on the first college.</p>
<p>Mdcissp: FWIW S1 was in a similar situation with UT Austin. We sent our admission and housing deposits in immediately. That was the policy at UT, I would call Towson and ask how soon you can send it and not waste any time. By the way when S made his final decision in late April we contacted UT and they sent us refunds for both deposits. As far as double depositing, you probably can. The only other school we put a deposit on was the one he is attending but we had no difficulty doing that even though he had already accepted UT. I think colleges expect some movement at least prior to May1. All may not be as generous as UT was.</p>
<p>Levirm: What a wonderful community you live in! We are reform, both H and I grew up in NYC so we were worried about our kids being the only Jewish kids and I think that brought us all closer to Judaism. Where I grew up you just had to look out window on the high holy days and know you were Jewish. I am sure that many of the kids mine have gone to school with would have never known a Jewish kid if not for mine. Its a little pressure to feel that another person’s entire view of the Jewish faith rested on how we presented ourselves. There are times when our kids were told they were going to hell and times that I found some people weren’t my friend just because of faith but mostly it has been a smooth ride with people appreciating the diversity. Both kids had their Bar Mitzvah’s and friends of all faiths attended. In elementary school I brought dreidles and developed a Chanukah program that was always well received, especially the food :). Somehow both my kids are very public about being Jewish esp. S2 who literally wears his Judiasm since his trip to Israel this summer. His only negative result of this oddly came from a coach, who was later put on probation for a totally unrelated incident. My younger S’s attendance at a URJ camp and my older S having 3 really good Jewish friends who didn’t live near us but who were team mates in Bar Mitzvah training, and amazing bar mitzvah coaches that both boys had made all the different in who they are and their love of Judiasm. I’m not sure what else to say. Did that answer your question?</p>
<p>I confess one of the great things about this thread is that y’all are my readily present Jewish community since getting to the most local community takes a bit of a drive. Thanks to all and especially our “mayor” RVM!</p>
<p>Levrim: Your community sounds like a wonderful place to raise a Jewish family. I grew up in a heavily Jewish area in Baltimore, but my husband and I moved about 30 minutes away when our first child was young. I actually prefer the diversity of our current commmunity. Luckily, we chose a neighborhood that has many other Jewish families, so we we are not alone celebrating the Jewish holidays. My daughters found a core of Jewish friends through pre-school, Hebrew school and overnight camp. They also have close friends from other backgrounds, and have grown up in a atmosphere of respect for different cultures. </p>
<p>Mdcissp: You’ve gotten good advice about the Towson housing deposit. I think it’s worth risking the $300 if that will increase your son’s chances for a single room. I also recommend getting a letter from his doctor to help increase his chances for a single. It’s a reasonable request and will increase his chances for success in college.</p>
<p>mostly lurker here - but thought this was the proper venue to report: I bought bags of blue- and silver-wrapped Hershey kisses in the Hanukkah section at Target today. maybe this is standard where some of you live, but here in central Ohio, it’s news ;)</p>
<p>I think of it as not being a “lurker” which sounds ominous–but “listener” or “reader”.<br>
Happy Thanksgiving to all. Root for good weather, as I will be a clown in the Macy’s parade, rather than on this thread.</p>
<p>The REAL Macy’s parade in NYC? Awesome! Will you be part of a float? How to look for you? :)</p>
<p>Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday, probably something to do with the never ending eating and the football games…but I’m not hosting this year! So no leftovers for our family :(</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. The clowns are never on TV, to my mom’s chargrin and my kids’ delight (they think it is horribly embarassing). Rumor has it it will be the Corny’s Cornucopia float, with Betty Buckley singing and the clowns in pilgrim costume. I will be next to the barricades, entertaining kids.</p>
<p>Go yabeyabe! Do you clown for other events also?</p>
<p>Spectrum2, it sounds like you have done such an outstanding job instilling a strong Jewish identity in your kids, raising them in an area with few Jews! </p>
<p>momjr, our community is diverse, too. The neighborhood is probably 50% Jewish, and our high school is about 30% Jewish, 38% African American, with some ESL classes (mostly refugees, lots of head scarves), the rest are white Christian, and a few south Asian and east Asian and Hispanic kids. This creates a very high achieving urban school that hasn’t conquered the achievement gap yet, but is making progress. I agree that it is great for the kids to be able to appreciate different cultures and to be sensitive to cultural practices. It is unique to live in a mid-sized city where the Jewish community has not moved to the burbs. Of course, some Jewish families have moved but the heart of the community remains within city limits, in a neighborhood adjacent to the larger universities.</p>
<p>I just received a “Save the Date” for one of the great JUC/Hillel fundraising events that is supported by the entire community. It is “Campus Superstar”, an American Idol-styled contest where audience members see the 10 finalists perform and then vote for a winner - April 3 in Pittsburgh if anyone is interested. The judges, who are musicians or music critics, only say nice things about each performer, though. Students from any Pittsburgh campus can compete (they don’t have to be Jewish and don’t have to be affiliated with Hillel) and then 10 finalists are selected. The students are really, really talented! Of course CMU and Point Park have musical theater programs, Duquesne and CMU have opera programs, and Pitt has a jazz program, so there are professionally trained students, but some talented students are just off the street! It is a great event that makes a lot of money for Hillel because the community comes out for it in sponsorship, program ads, and paid attendance. Students can attend, too, for something like one dollar. Another great fundraiser that Hillel gets a lot of community support for is a silent art auction. Again, there are sponsorships and paid attendance, donated art and purchases, so the event does really well. The vast majority of the community members who attend these have no students at Hillel at all, they just support it because they support local Jewish organizations and want to promote the mission of Hillel. I have to give credit to the staffers at Hillel and to the local volunteer Board that make the organization run so well.</p>