<p>This is kind of cute/interesting if you have never seen it:</p>
<p>[About</a> | Schmooze Magazine](<a href=“Welcome to nginx!”>Welcome to nginx!)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>RVM, but the link doesn’t say where the magazine is available?</p>
<p>If someone is applying to FAU, should also check out Lynn U. While Lynn is a private, it does offer merit scholarships. </p>
<p>DS took classes at Davie and FAU, and was pleasantly surprised by the calibre of faculty.</p>
<p>kathiep: I have no experience with Elon but we were in a similar situation when S1 was applying to college although we had reasons that we could define about why our EFC was what we knew was absurdly high. I used the same argument at three schools. The first one was not receptive at all but gave us channels to follow that we didn’t because S decided he didn’t want to go there, the school that S is attending was immediately receptive and made a very significant adjustment that was tweaked a couple of times with a little discussion, (The EFC was still higher than what we thought we needed but they gave us some excellent opportunities to work around the difference.) The third was a public that gave us exactly what we thought would be fair but by the time we got the word S’s decision had been made and the change in the EFC would not have changed that decison. The point is it is well worth it to explain you situation. Some schools are more receptive than others and sometimes the first answer isn’t the final answer. As for study abroad, interestingly S’s school recently went to the policy of just charging standard rate for study abroad. Some people were not happy about this because some study abroad experiences were less expensive than the school actually is. If I were looking into Elon I would take into account how much less expensive it is than most privates and decide if I were coming out ahead or behind with the additional expense for study abroad. Of course sometimes a higher pricetag is justifiable, that’s a personal decision.</p>
<p>My impression was that Schmooze magazine was just on-line.</p>
<p>Back to Elon for a sec- I see in the Pendulum that they are revamping curriculum a bit - looks like they are basically going to require an arts and science minor now - which concerns me a bit as S2 was thinking about the sports mgmt major and a business minor - not sure now if that plan will work. Also increasing the foreign language requirement possibly. These changes are for Fall 2013.</p>
<p>[The</a> Pendulum - Proposed changes in general studies will expand required student experiences at Elon](<a href=“Informasi Seputar Pendidikan Dan Ilmu Pengetahuan”>Informasi Seputar Pendidikan Dan Ilmu Pengetahuan)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m sure we will learn more about these changes when we visit in April.</p>
<p>Rodney, not less than 20%??? That would knock out more than half of these schools:</p>
<p><a href=“http://reformjudaismmag.org/_kd/Items/actions.cfm?action=Show&item_id=1380&destination=ShowItem[/url]”>http://reformjudaismmag.org/_kd/Items/actions.cfm?action=Show&item_id=1380&destination=ShowItem</a></p>
<p>study abroad: re: Elon…kathiep: are you referring to winter term travel and lodging expenses or are you referring to semester programs?</p>
<p>It was our understanding that the winter term programs had charges that were primarily due to the costs of travel, not necessarily the actual tuition…they are structured differently than semester programs abroad where students live on their own and are not travelling as groups to historical locations and sites…</p>
<p>If you look on the abroad websites, the winter term travel programs are described in detail and (I think) are unique…</p>
<p>I think I would have a problem if the semester programs were not equal in price to Elon tuition (although at Syracuse, there is an additional program fee for many programs that includes a perdiem for housing…)</p>
<p>update:<a href=“http://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/academics/international_studies/studyabroad/Currentprogramslist.pdf[/url]”>http://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/academics/international_studies/studyabroad/Currentprogramslist.pdf</a></p>
<p>This chart has all the details and as expected: winter term and summer term have costs associated; semester it depends where you go; as with other schools, I imagine that the Elon sponsored semester programs pay tuition directly to Elon and, therefore, cost exactly the same…there is a short clarification in the box</p>
<p>mhc: um, yea…the person I was speaking to is choosing amongst some of the higher ones on the list…and some of the largest overall…I think they really have an issue with the sheer number (like TM describes) rather than the absolute %; they want their kid exclusively with Jewish kids…</p>
<p>to each his own…who knows? maybe they will consider their child’s opinion at some point…I will keep you posted</p>
<p>Obviously this is a personal topic for each family to evaluate - but requiring a college selection that is 20% or more Jewish is incredibly limiting IMO and not very realistic. Unless you plan to live your entire life in certain areas of NY, Baltimore of Philly…I’m just not sure that this approach prepares young adults for the diversity they will encounter in the real world.</p>
<p>mhc - look at the About page of the schmooze website - it lists the colleges where you can get a hard copy of the publication.</p>
<p>Geez, Rodney your rant is right on. Jewish identity is important to many and if the child wants to be with Jewish kids s/he will. On the other hand, the child can be in a school with a very high Jewish population and meet non Jews too. You are right, don’t apply and take a spot if it doesn’t meet your criteria in the first place.</p>
<p>rvm, very interested in the new requirements. I will ask at the college fair on April 6 and a few days later you will ask and we can compare notes. My S is interested in majoring in entrepreneurship with a minor in marketing. You see our kids may cross over again!! I am reading the article differently, the minor is one of several choices. OUr S’s could choose a second major or study abroad instead.</p>
<p>“Changes proposed to the General studies program include redefining the distribution of core classes as well as requiring students to complete coursework beyond a single major. The qualifying second academic experience must be a second major, a full semester abroad, a minor in the College of Arts and Sciences or a pathway.” the pathways are four integrated course.</p>
<p>So if our S’s study abroad then can they minor in what they are planning?</p>
<p>Can’t wait to hear the answers on this.</p>
<p>PS. My S loves history and gov so he will be happy to take other courses, just not so many that it becomes a minor. Pathways option might be getter. Study abroad is a must.</p>
<p>This all got me thinking… What would be the equivalent of UC Santa Cruz on the east coast (or should I say eastern shore)? A school that has that sort of reputation – dream school – every cool young person’s dream?</p>
<p>And another question from years ago re east coast/west coast difference. Imagine you were going to go to a large informal gathering at a park (lots of kids, bring your own food), maybe 100 people, some of whom you would know, some you wouldn’t. Nonsectarian homeschool gathering actually (I realize this part is going to be a real stretch for many, lol!). Would you worry much about what you were going to wear? How important would dress be? Out here on the west coast, I’d say don’t even think twice. Casual. Jeans. Would love to hear east coast input! Yeah, off topic I know, I’m the worst about that.</p>
<p>Deborah: the reason that most of us drool about UCSC is because there IS no school on the east coast that is equivalent…nor any area that is equivalent to the coastal highway the those on the west coast enjoy…like no other place in the world…</p>
<p>and, yes, jeans…absolutely…in my area with kids, can’t imagine anything but jeans…</p>
<p>I’m updating! So my son has a 3.4W GPA, a heavy senior schedule and a 25 ACT- so a true Jewish B student! Here are his results so far:</p>
<p>Denied:
Tulane
UCSC
SDSU
SLO (cal poly san luis obispo for all the east coasters!)</p>
<p>Accepted:
University of Redlands ($18000/yr scholarship)
University of Tampa ($8000/yr scholarship)
CSUF
UC Boulder
Colorado State Fort Collins
University of Oregon
Elon (I only had him apply to this school because of you guys!)
University of Puget Sound ($5000/yr scholarship)</p>
<p>Waitlisted:
University of Denver</p>
<p>Waiting:
Chapman
Lewis & Clark
SMU
UCSB</p>
<p>On the accepted list, we loved UPS during our visit so that’s my top pick. Boulder sends its acceptance in a certificate that is suitable for framing- talk about marketing. S would love to go to Boulder but I don’t think he has the self control to graduate from a school that has so many distractions. I think we need to look at Elon. I really like everything I read/hear about it including their proposed changes to the curriculum. But it’s pretty far and I not easy for us to get to and that sort of concerns me. In any event it’s nice that he has choices because when we started this process I had my doubts!</p>
<p>Regarding the UCSC anti semitism news- that school has about a 30% jewish population, so I doubt that this is a big issue there. If you were going to UCI I’d say otherwise. That’s a local school to us and the word on the street there is that the Jewish kids feel very uncomfortable there.</p>
<p>Lots of good news 2flipper2. My nephew went to boulder and LOVED it! Of course it is one of the coolest towns.
Have fun visiting and making decisions.</p>
<p>2flipper2 - congrats on those great acceptances.</p>
<p>samtalya - re Elon - I guess I honed in on the arts & sciences minor because I don’t see my son double-majoring and I don’t see him going abroad for a full semester - the option to do short trips in January is more appealing. But a “pathway” of 4 courses in a subject might be fine too. And I wonder if this will apply to our sons anyway - if it starts Fall 2013?</p>
<p>rvm- That is the first question to ask, does it apply for 2012? Even so, it appears that there are options, that have different appeals. The pathway options is multidisciplinary, so if your son is majoring in sports management, maybe he can count a course in a recreational sport or biology towards it. Sounds like they are leaving a lot of room for flexibility.</p>
<p>Let’s compare notes after our meetings and visits.</p>
<p>ps. unless something changes, we will be going to JMU next weekend.</p>
<p>2flipper2, I want to hear which one he chooses! Interesting! What does he want to study? Does he know yet? If you already posted that information, my apologies. It’s a long thread. ;-)</p>
<p>2flipper2: Congratulations on all of your son’s choices. I think that you’re right to be concerned about the travel issues with Elon. We know several kids who transferred because it was too difficult to get home from the schools they picked.</p>
<p>I agree that requiring a Jewish percentage of at least 20% really limits your choices. My daughter said that some of her friends at Penn only want to have Jewish friends. She enjoyed growing up in a diverse area and hates that attitude. She enjoys the Jewish life at Penn, but she wishes that things weren’t so segregated socially. I grew up in a primarily Jewish area in Baltimore, and I much prefer living in my current community.</p>
<p>DeborahT: The hip East coast school dream school for cool kids that comes to mind is NYU. I visited with my daughter, and it didn’t really appeal to me (but I am certainly not a cool teenager).</p>
1 Like
<p>Regarding Elon’s study abroad costs. My SIL asked the admissions person about abroads (NOT J term or summer travel) and he said that they were an additional cost. Look here - [Funding</a> for Study Abroad](<a href=“Elon University / Isabella Cannon Global Education Center”>Elon University / Isabella Cannon Global Education Center) At my older kids colleges it was an even swap with your financial aid traveling with you, and that’s how it is at both Hartwick and Arcadia. All three of these colleges make a big deal about having a global approach to learning and how a huge percentage of their students study abroad. All three also have reasonable sticker prices. So far Arcadia and Hartwick have come through with very good merit aid, with minimal gpa requirements to keep it. I’m really hoping that Elon does the same. As far as appealing financial aid, we’ll do that once we have the rest of the offers and see where son REALLY wants to go!</p>