<p>A LOT of kids from D’s school go to UVM–so many of the really bright, alive ones whose grades didn’t quite push over high enough but who have a great deal to offer. It’s not strong in theater, D’s prospective major-- but it is a great school, in a great college town, with some terrific professors and some wonderful students. Expensive for a state school, but definitely worth consideration.</p>
<p>Welcome to all of the new posters. We’re not cliquish at all here…the more the merrier.
@gailb: have you considered some SAT/ACT optional schools? It may take some of the pressure off with regard to future testing and provide some wiggle room for your D.</p>
<p>Another school that I don’t think has been mentioned here on this thread is UNC-Greensboro. I’ve never been, but from what I’ve heard, it’s a great place for a B student who wants a large campus with a lively student body. UNCG has a Jewish studies dept. and a Hillel. Many of you are familiar with the area (near Elon and Wake). I thought I’d put it out for discussion…</p>
<p>Thanks very much RVM for the info re: UVM
I’ve been to Burlington, VT before on our way to Montreal. The town of Burlington was really great…but it was several years ago before we were in the college mode–too bad!</p>
<p>Guess we’ll make another trek up there at some point. Nice Jewish population, surprising.</p>
<p>What exactly is naviance? I’ve read about it on this thread over & over again…you can pull up info. on each school as you did on UVM? It seems to me to be a much quicker way to have all the info. in one place instead of the hours of research I’ve put in for S1.</p>
<p>I’ve added UVM to my list of colleges to research in the future…up to 7 colleges to look at for S2 and he’s only a freshman! He would just roll his eyes if he knew :rolleyes:</p>
<p>choc: Naviance is great because it is specific to your high school (so you get the account through your high school - if your HS has Naviance). My favorite (and most useful) part is the Scattergrams - for each college it shows the stats of the kids who applied from your HS (GPA, ACT, SAT) and if they were accepted, deferred, denied, etc. This is what people are posting here - when they tell you the average GPA and SAT of those accepted. It is an excellent resource because it is specific to you school - much more accurate/useful than college board for this reason. The downside to the Scattergrams is that it does not provide a graph for a school if there weren’t a lot of applicants (for privacy protection). My DS was looking the other day and there was no info for Vanderbilt - not enough kids from our HS applied. It also plots your S/D on the chart - so he/she can where they fall – if most kids from your HS with the same GPA/SAT are accepted or not. My DS’s plot is based on his practice PSAT in Oct and his current GPA. So, for example, he sees that he needs to bring his test scores up!</p>
<p>Naviance also offers other features of college board, such as searching for a school that matches your interest.</p>
<p>Hi Linymom:</p>
<p>THANKS so much for the info, re: Naviance/scattergrams. I suppose if our h.s. had this feature, I would have known by now. I’ll check with them just to be sure.</p>
<p>Next question: I know I sound naive, but I’ve never used collegeboard to get any info. either! I did my research the “old fashioned” way, but going to each college website, and also googling for more in depth info. It’s amazing how much info is out there when you start digging! However, to have all this info in one or two main places sounds really great.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the explanation! :)</p>
<p>Its been a busy couple of days, thank you all for your good wishes for my S. All involved in the crash are doing fine. S is really frightened about driving again and we will work him back up to it slowly. That is, if we can afford to insure him when all the dust settles. There is nothing that cultivates a respect for what can happen on the road like the sound of crunching metal and the knowledge that your actions could have resulted in the death or injury of several people. One thing that I know everyone has heard at one time or another but I think is worth repeating. I am certain that I would be telling a very different story today if the boys and the other driver involved were not wearing seatbelts. This was a high impact collision but everyone stayed where they were supposed to be… I tend to be cautious to a fault so with both my kids I have gone a little out of my comfort zone in setting the parameter of where they could go. After this experience I would suggest knowing exactly where your kids are driving and to be sure they have practiced a few times in some of the more difficult areas. My S was not far from home but was crossing a highway with a median, no traffic light and many turning cars. He was going to McDonalds. (That’s really the only place around that he would go to that would have that combination of circumstances.) I have since learned that this intersection has produced multiple crashes. My S had no experience with checking for oncoming vehicles with cars obstructing his view in the turning lane. He didn’t recognize that he didn’t have an open view of the road and proceeded to cross 3 lanes when a car was coming. When I looked at all that was going on at that intersection I regretted not asking exactly where they were going to eat and not vetoing the route that he took. You know what they say about 20/20 hindsight.</p>
<p>As for that rendez vous in Philly, I am sure my family would be sure I upped and joined a cult if I told them I was going north to meet my CC buddies. Its doubtful that I could pull that one off but since my brother lives in PA and a friend from HS is in NJ I’ll hold onto the fantasy for a while. If not, I hope someone brings a computer, there is always Skype.</p>
<p>Choc:I’ve never used CB somehow with S1 I couldn’t narrow my field down enough to get a useful result. That may have just been my ignorance. My best resources were PR, Fiske’s, another book that was loaned to me, I don’t know the name but it listed schools and their average SAT scores… </p>
<p>The other day at work I thought of all of you. I work at different nursing homes all the time so the staff often doesn’t know me. Another PT was describing a resident I was going to see and she said, “she’s the typical demanding Jewish lady”. So there you go if you didn’t know it I guess we Jewish ladies are demanding…I paused and told her that I am a Jewish lady. The PT replied, so you will understand her, and back peddled a bit to tell me how much she liked the woman. I guess I did understand her, I asked her enough questions to lead her to figure out that I was Jewish, she asked if I was a member of the tribe. From there we had common ground to talk about and she did just fine.</p>
<p>I think I am getting an understanding of what S is looking for. He wants to go to a largish school, (probably about 10,000 minimum) with good sports, intamurals a strong sense of community, warm climate and a good business school he can get into.(Of course an opportunity to find a Jewish community is understood on this forum.) He doesn’t know for sure what division of business he wants. From my perspective the closer to Texas the better but once you leave Texas everyplace is far, this state is soooo big! So we’d be willing to go in any warm direction. For some reason it has seemed on paper that aside from the actual cost and admissions requirements that USC would be a great fit for him. I"m just mention it to give you an idea of what seems right. He’s still loving TAMU, I’m just trying to come up with a couple of options for him. When he ruled out smaller schools that changed things in terms of schools I though were strong possibilities for him.</p>
<p>Spectrum: Once again, I’m so glad that your son is okay. That sounds like a very difficult intersection for a new driver to navigate. I’ve always stressed the importance of wearing seat belts to my daughters also.</p>
<p>I just looked at the map, and you’re right, Texas is huge. Is your son interested in any of the state schools other tham TAMU? I can see why staying in-state makes a lot of sense. Some other options that might meet your parameters are UCLA, Vanderbilt, Miami and Arizona depending on his stats. People on CC also love Alabama, but I’m not sure about Jewish life.</p>
<p>choc - Naviance is very helpful if your school subscribes to it. I find each school’s Common Data Set (which you can find by googling) to be very helpful. But if you want one site to find a lot of info, I recommend [College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]College”>http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/)</p>
<p>Great website. I didn’t know about that one. More information to digest (rather, yet another format in which to digest info). Thanks.</p>
<p>I can’t take credit for this, but someone posted this on the UAlabama website…for the ZBT (Jewish) fraternity…interesting for people looking to see if there is Jewish life there…</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - ZBTPsiAlabama’s Channel](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/user/ZBTPsiAlabama#p/a/u/2/rHTUgzdy41c]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/user/ZBTPsiAlabama#p/a/u/2/rHTUgzdy41c)</p>
<p>Hi everyone- I am the poster who started the thread on a Jewish student at a Jesuit university. I am 99.9% sure she will end up on the west coast so I have not ventured much on this thread.
Yesterday my D said I need to start a list. She said she wanted to put Univ of Vermont on the list. And this morning I look and you are talking about UVM. I can’t imagine her going so far from home.I can’t imagine how many plane flights that journey would be. She said UVM has many things she thinks she wants. Snowboarding nearby, equestrian, animal science if she decides to go that route. Not huge.</p>
<p>mom60: given her list, I would also look at Colorado schools; UDenver, Ucolorado at Bolder and Colorado State (especially the last one I am told…)…she doesn’t need to trek all the way to Vermont to get what she is looking for…</p>
<p>CSU in Fort Collins is apparently amazing for equestrians…a young woman here turned down alot of other schools to attend…and we know of other kids there given their unique majors…</p>
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<p>Thanks very much, Cltdad! Lots of great info. I’ll try it out and see what happens.</p>
<p>Mom60: Welcome! Are you & your D the ones that wanted to consider a Jesuit school? I think I remember from your thread, your H is against it? Are you still considering Jesuit schools? You may find that posting your D’s interests on this thread like you did that a poster will be able to help you guys come up with colleges you may not have thought about! :)</p>
<p>I think there are a few west coasters among us that may be more knowledgeable about possible choices…does she want equestrian right at the school, or in the surrounding area?</p>
<p>Even for the really huge schools, people say that you form a group of friends to hang out with and that in itself makes the campus seem smaller…good luck, hope this thread can help you guys find some viable choices!</p>
<p>Btw, Spectrum:</p>
<p>Thanks so much for giving us a summary of what happened. Oy…he’ll surely be careful in the months to come. Hope you all aren’t shaken up too much. Wish him good luck from us.</p>
<p>I just watched the link that was posted by Rodney. I love the “accents” at the U of Alabama!</p>
<p>[Voices</a> of moderationJewish-Muslim duo aims to bring tempered talk of Middle East to college campus - Washington Jewish Week - Online Edition - Rockville, MD](<a href=“http://washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=14221&TM=62631.98]Voices”>http://washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=14221&TM=62631.98)</p>
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<p>What a great idea - maybe this will spread and calm down the anti-Israel sentiment that has ben growing on some campuses.</p>
<p>[Cleveland</a> Jewish News > Archives > News > Local > Hillel comes to Hiram College](<a href=“Hillel comes to Hiram College”>Hillel comes to Hiram College)</p>
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<p>Interesting article - we have discussed the pros and cons of choosing colleges with active Hillels vs. choosing a college with little in the way of Jewish life and being the leader to make it happen. This article is a good example of the latter.</p>
<p>^^I called to see how many Jewish students were on campus last year. I was told that 4 students identified themselves as Jewish at Hiram College.</p>
<p>Well - I guess they have only one direction to go then! I just liked the idea that one dedicated Jewish student with leadership experience in Jewish organizations on the high school level could take on this as a project. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets much traction.</p>
<p><a href=“http://hiramhillel.org/about.html[/url]”>http://hiramhillel.org/about.html</a></p>
<p>It may be small - but Hillel does now seem to have some presence on this campus. I think this is a pretty cool accomplishment initiated by one student in a short period of time.</p>
<p>I was told that they once had a pretty active Hillel. The chaplain told me that it is cyclical. Assuming that this is the case, Hillel could gain some traction. I guess more Jewish students need to decide to matriculate there first.</p>
<p>Just clicked your link. I was told that last year a few Jewish students were going to Dean Torsney’s home. I was told that there wasn’t a Hillel there. As I said, last year I was told that only 4 students identified themselves as Jewish. </p>
<p>Editing: hmmm, I am wondering if the 4 students were the number of students in the freshman class (not the whole student body) that identified as Jewish? Still, it is a very small population.</p>