<p>I believe that George Mason is still somewhat of a suburban commuter school. Last year when i took my D down to visit a close camp friend who lives in Fairfax, I suggested we visit but the friend stronglywarded her off from visiting. </p>
<p>CofC might be light on some of the big time college sports if your son likes those</p>
<p>I’ll be visiting JMU later this week but believe it’s pretty out of the way too.</p>
<p>Though I haven’t been to MU yet, don’t rule out rural, lots of kids here on LI who go into the City every weekend and who at first think they need that lifeline find that they just love the bubble of a school where there’s lots of spirit, lots to do and no need to leave except a few times a year.</p>
<p>What about Indiana? Seems to fit all the criteria.</p>
<p>rowirth: ditto Indiana plus I would add the possibility of Syracuse; please post what you mean about bad location (rural or just not close enough to home?)</p>
<p>also, alot of the schools you list are publics (and I’m assuming OOS)…UDenver is private (and expensive)…</p>
<p>a little more info: what is your son interested in studying?</p>
<p>I’d like to hear more from others about Clemson; I do not see it as a school for a Jewish student…</p>
<p>Re…Sarah Palin: She’s getting a lot of criticism for her “blood libel” comment.
She needs to really think about her choice of words.</p>
<p>Rowirth: Indiana might be perfect for your son.</p>
<p>Does he have 3.3 unweighted or 3.3. weighted? From what I hear, Clemson is not a shoe-in for the B student. S1 has many friends (nonjewish) that go there and love it but it’s very conservative, southern atmosphere but very rah-rah w/ sports and greek life.</p>
<p>James Madison might be good - it is in the middle of nowhere. Not a guarantee for the B student either. S1 knew quite a few B-B+ students getting deferred.</p>
<p>University of Central Florida seems like a very popular school for Jewish and nonJewish B students; not sure about their sports…</p>
<p>Based on your criteria - I like JMU, CofC and Towson. CofC does not have a football team - but fits otherwise. George Mason = Towson IMO - choose by state. Towson is nicer than you may think if you have not seen it yet - I was impressed.</p>
<p>Do you live in MD? VA? I would focus more on JMU and George Mason if you are in-state for VA; Towson if you are in-state for MD.</p>
<p>Clemson - not Jewish enough for me - very traditionally Southern “good ole boy”</p>
<p>I would agree to add Indiana - great safety school for a “B” student - most are admitted - rolling - so you could apply in Sept. and have an acceptance in October. My cousin graduated 4 years ago and loved it. S1 has at least 2 friends there now who like it very much.</p>
<p>one word of caution re: Indiana as of late; a number of OOS students we know over the past few years were deferred with under 1200 SAT m/v and were instructed to retake…</p>
<p>Clemson Hillel has a FB page - with 41 members. The Clemson Hillel website has very little on it - the pictures show a very small group.</p>
<p>Rodney - Indiana is the closest thing to a “done deal” that I have seen for a “B” student. But of course, the lower your stats within the broad category of “B” student - the more likely a deferral.</p>
<p>It’s been a while since I’ve posted. My son has been having some medical issues that hopefully will soon be under control.</p>
<p>Maybe Bradley Univ in Il would work for rowirth’s son. It is private and somewhat expensive, however, there is a cost estimator on their financial aid page to see if it would be worthwhile applying. To me Peoria is a big city but not huge and there seems to be fairly active Jewish student life on campus based on their student website.</p>
<p>I like the Bradley U recommendation. We had that school on our list, how ever it was on the back burner bc of distance from home. I don’t recall whether it high number of instate students, commuters, or some inconviences with travel, but it was for one of those reasons that I think we just crossed the school from a rather long list. I do recall liking a lot of what I read about it at the time that we were exploring schools.</p>
<p>Proudwismom, sending best wishes for your son’s recovery.</p>
<p>Indiana has become very popular. they used to accept applications until late spring, maybe even summer. but when they started receiving huge number of apps a couple of years ago they stopped accepting apps much earlier. so probably best to apply early, just to be safe.</p>
<p>Welcome to this thread, rowirth…so many great schools have been mentioned…can you tell us your S’s geographical preference? I see you have U of New Hampshire on your list…many positives have been also talked about the U of Vermont for the jewish “B” student…and one that also may work out is the U of Hartford. Large jewish population at Hartford, don’t know exact numbers for Vermont. Hartford undergrad @7,000 students, UVermont undergrad @10,000 students. Good luck, let us know your list!</p>
<p>RVM: Great news re: Wake Forest Rabbi, very cool! :)</p>
<p>Holliesue: Hope your Dad got through surgery okay!</p>
<p>proudwismom: Hope everything is good well for your S…I, too, have had several medical issues that I’ve had to deal with the last couple of years…I’m finally on the road to recovery…hope he is too! :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the good wishes for my son. He was diagnosed with a chronic condition back in October. The doctors have been trying to find the right medication and dosage to get it under control. We are waiting on preliminary blood tests to determine if he can start a new drug that has around an 80% success rate. I’m keeping my fingers crossed he’s in that 80%. He’s missed a lot of school and he knows the importance of his junior year grades so that has added to the stress.</p>
<p>We’ve had to rework the colleges he can consider now. He has to have a doctor practicing his specialty within the area so it has ruled out some of his choices. But on the bright side I think he still has some good options that he can be happy and successful at.</p>
<p>Regarding Bradley: there are around 5,000 students and I think around 13% are OOS.</p>
<p>rowirth38 - How about University of Delaware? It would be a reach, but in looking at our naviance it’s a possibility. How about Virginia Tech? It would be another reach, but they have the sports thing down!</p>
<p>proudwisom- sorry to hear about your son. Hopefully it will be under control soon. </p>
<p>Holliesue - hope all went well with your Dad today.</p>
<p>I met the director of Hillel at George Mason and thought he was very nice. However, I sense the active Jewish community at Mason is very small and could only suggest looking further at George Mason if this school has an outstanding academic program that you can’t find elsewhere. </p>
<p>After a thorough search on this wonderful thread, I think Towson is best for in state Maryland, and SUNY Binghamton best for in state New York if you want some Jewish life and a good number of Jewish kids on campus. U. Maryland College Park is also excellent, but a huge school and tough to get accepted to for the B student.</p>
<p>College of Charleston sounds lovely, but is more expensive.</p>
<p>U. of Alabama sounds like a good fit for a kid comfortable with Reform Judaism.</p>
<p>proudwisemom, best wishes to your son. As far as colleges where excellent medical care in just about any specialty is available, you really may want to consider Pitt.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion levirm. I am trying to keep him a little closer to home though he would love to be farther away. He will need regular blood tests and a physician to consult with while at school, however, I need him to be within reasonable driving distance so he can get any expensive procedure that may need to be done within our insurance network.</p>
<p>proudwismom – something to look into when the time comes – colleges generally offer relatively low cost insurance coverage for their students (over and above any campus health center services they otherwise provide) – if the student has other coverage, you can usually opt out of this to save the cost of the premium, BUT in the case of a student with ongoing medical needs and a parents’ insurance plan with restrictions, it may be worthwhile to pay for the college’s insurance coverage – it is my understanding that a student can be covered by both a college plan and their parents plan (of course this may depend on the terms of the specific plans). the cost could be worthwhile if it makes it easier for the student to get the health care services they need while at school.</p>
<p>pwm: I am really sorry that your son has to deal with this. I am glad for him that he has a supportive family.</p>
<p>welcome rowirth. I second the suggestion of UVM. great school for B students. Another to consider is Hofstra. If your son is interested in business, then Bryant is a good choice. Depending on the SAT’s I think that Northeastern is still viable for a B student who has taken challenging courses.</p>