Colleges for the Jewish "B" student (Part 1)

Parents Forum
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<p>Spent the mornign at UNC Greensboro. This is a beautiful campus. It is quite small despite the fact there is 15,000 students. It is definitely a commuter campus and there were few students on campus even at noon. It does not feel like it is part of the city of Greensboro, but an independent campus. In fact our flight got in so late we didn’t even see the city. The UNC system is trying to attract more out of state students and are building more dorms. </p>

<p>We were led around by a Hillel student VP. She was really terrific in her enthusiasm and answering many questions. My S asked about so much and they chatted the whole two hours. After we had a half hour drive to get to where we are staying near Elon. I let S read and decompress. At lunch, I asked him what he thought. He agreed with beautiful campus, but said he could not picture himself there. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but knew it wasn’t for him. He did like it as a back up to his back up school!</p>

<p>there are 300 Jewish students and 50 very active in Hillel. It is an active and tight knit group and they do things with nc hillele across the state.</p>

<p>This would be a great school for somoene who is a c or b student that wants to come south. Worth looking at.</p>

<p>I hope sometime today, socal made it to indiana.</p>

<p>off to meet the aepi boys at elon for dinner. will try to check in later.</p>

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<p>My sister makes gefillte fish every year with her mother in law. I have never tasted it as she lives out of town, but she tells me it is fantastic. We grew up eating the jarred stuff…and I still like it! I have heard the frozen stuff is good, but I have never seen it around here.
Just made a huge batch of charoset. Every year that I make it I wonder why I don’t make it to eat year round. I love it!</p>

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<p>Hi again Holliesue, and C43:</p>

<p>I’m with Barbara960. I buy the frozen loaf of gefilte fish. So easy to make…medium boil with lid on pot for a couple of hours. I add carrots halfway through cooking time. Take it out, refrigerate it, cut the loaf into slices and eat, yum! Much better than jarred kind…C43, isn’t the canned and jarred kind the same?</p>

<p>Samtayla:</p>

<p>Glad you had a good visit to Greensboro. Good luck at Elon. </p>

<p>You can tell I had a quiet Sunday today…I’ve been on cc way more than usual! :)</p>

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<p>I am sitting in the coffee house at Elon. We went to dinner with 3 AEpi guys. S fit right in!! They invited him to go to their weekly meeting, so I am spending time hanging in the student center just like a coed!!</p>

<p>The campus is gorgeous-stunning. S was in love at first site. I am expecting tomorrow to go really well and will report back then.</p>

<p>Hope every has great visits tomorrow and a delicious seder.</p>

<p>ps. guys tonight told me that they are expanding dining at the student center and there are plans for kosher options.</p>

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<p>Samtalya- sounds wonderful!!!</p>

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<p>I used to like the jarred stuff until I was spoiled by not so difficult recipe for gifilte fish. Using a food processor makes all the difference. Tommorrow I will be having a cooking marathon. The chicken soup is already in the crock pot. Happy Seders y’all!</p>

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<p>Along with several others I see, D and I were travelling this week-end too. What a week-end to travel–I don’t think Ive ever seen such torrential rains! I’m glad everyone is safe! </p>

<p>D is deciding between Elon, Bucknell and USC and we flew via Chicago to Harrisburg. Flight to Harrisburg was cancelled so we had a very long layover only to arrive late Friday night in Harrisburg with no luggage! D was dressed very casually for the long travel day, including wearing a USC tshirt and UWashington sweatshirt! Drove the hour to the hotel and found a 24h Walmart so, at midnight, D did her best to pull together an outfit she could wear to Bucknell and then we bought all the toiletries and make up we needed. Very long and pretty stressful day!</p>

<p>Day at Bucknell was really well done and D told me how much she loved it. There were academic sessions in which you had the opportunity to attend up to 3 so we went to ones for physics, biology and engineering. They were all strong, every student we encountered was friendly and it was a great day, despite the rain.</p>

<p>That evening, back at the hotel, we turned on the TV to see the rough conditions in NC (we’d been at the Elon admitted students day a few weeks earlier) and then there was a message that there was a tornado warning in the larger Harrisburg area, instructing people to get into a basement or bathtub! Fortunately it petered out but, coming from an area in which we don’t have tornados, D and I were a little on edge. Weather-wise, USC definitely has the upper edge!!</p>

<p>I didn’t post after our USC visit but, while there were a few high points of the day, I was surprised at how poorly the day was planned. It didn’t deter us, in terms of D considering attending but it felt like it was set up with little thought to the needs or convenience of the attendees. (We didn’t feel that way when we toured the school when D was a junior.)</p>

<p>D has still not decided…there are things she really likes and doesn’t like as much about each of the three schools. I can’t wait until she decides!</p>

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<p>I just read on the Williams College forum that it has scheduled Preview Days for new admits for tonight and tomorrow! How appalling! (I know this isn’t a school for B students, but this seemed like a good place to vent – which I did already on the Williams forum; I will probably contact the school as well, as it’s my alma mater.)</p>

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<p>Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Chag Kasher v Sameach!</p>

<p>A sweet Pesach to all…now off to start the cooking.</p>

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<p>All of your passover wanderings reminds me that D came back from the Bahamas last night and tonite at seder I’ll find out if she’s decided where to enroll, or wants to take one more quick trip this week out to Oxford to visit Miami.</p>

<p>Every year at our Passover table we try to incorporate or draw out something from the Passover story of meaning to current events or our present day lives. The Haggadah nevers mentions what happens after we left Mitzriam (the narrow place): the 40 years of wandering in the desert, the wrong turns, the places that seemed at first to be a good place to settle, but which we passed up. I think this year my metaphor will be dividing each of those 40 years by 365 and then how much the story of walking through the desert resembles our last 40 days search for a college.</p>

<p>Maybe I’ll start it with, “Why is this college different from every other college?” And end up with:</p>

<p>Next year in Elon! (or is it Delaware? Miami?)</p>

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<p>It’s so great to hear everyone having a wonderful time and great experiences at so
many colleges.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Passover.</p>

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<p>Samtalya: I’m glad that the visits are going well. It sounds like your son is very invested in the process.</p>

<p>Collage1: What a miserable weekend for a college visit. Fotunately, that weather was pretty unusual for the mid-atlantic. My daughters would not have been pleased with the missing luggage and trip to Wal-Mart for clothes. I’m glad that the visit to Bucknell went well despite the weather. I’ve seen the campus in the sunshine and it is beautiful.</p>

<p>MCH: I loved “Why is this college different from all other colleges?” I hope she makes a decision soon. She has great choices.</p>

<p>My mother and Aunt used to make gefite fish from scratch, but I buy it from a local gourmet store. Happy cooking to all!</p>

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<p>Just back from our info session/tour/lunch on campus. S2 was in a good mood -relaxed and interested - so that was encouraging. It was crowded, of course, but it is spring break. Very nicely done info session - every student received a CofC “cinch bag” - like a small backpack - which S2 loved. He needed something like that - so it was a hit. I wanted to note that there is a lot more housing than I thought - including several new dorms - most are suite style. You actually can live in campus housing all 4 years - if you want to. Our tour was nice - beautiful day - interesting mix of old and new buildings. Not much green space and you are constantly crossing fairly busy streets. Our tour guide was frequently drowned out by traffic. We ate on campus after the tour - nice facility - many options. So - final verdict from S2 was that he did not love it - too urban - but willing to keep it on list as a safety school. We did pass an AEPi table in a common area - selling tickets to an event - I would have loved to stop and chat - but S2 was not ready to do so.</p>

<p>One interesting thing he mentioned is that friends of his - seniors who have been accepted to a few schools - are visiting this month - comparing again between options. And this gave me some insight into his thought process when he described it to me - he sees this as preliminary screening - pass/fail only. He clearly wants to go through the process of applying to several schools and then visiting again as an accepted student. So - now that I understand his framework - I am not pushing at all - we do whatever amount he wants to do - and that’s it.</p>

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<p>I think a lot of kids (who don’t have a school they’ve always wanted to go to) view this as a two step process. First deciding where to apply and getting in, and only then seeing if they really imagine themselves being there. For some (like my D) it was a way to decide but insulate herself from liking some place and then possibly not getting in. For others it’s a learning and narrowing process. In a way too, it’s like… well, for me wines and teas: what you like and are looking for grows and sharpens over second or third tastings. (lol, the third tasting only goes for wine and tea!!)</p>

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<p>Yeah Rockville! A successful family outing. Academically speaking how did you feel about CofC?</p>

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<p>Elon Day one</p>

<p>I am sure all of you are still eating your matzah balls, but we are back from the Elon seder and I want to report while everything is still fresh.</p>

<p>We had a phenomenal day. We started with the official tour. We were with 4 other families with students all interested in business. We were led by a business accounting student who is also the treasurer of Hillel. She led a great tour and we spent time talking with her after.</p>

<p>The campus is in full bloom and is simply stunning. We walked around for a while, hit the new local yoghurt place, and laid down in the sun in front of the student center. S met with the Director of the Doherty center for entrepreneurship. The Prof also had one of the Doherty scholars in the meeting. I sat in the biz school and watched the students. They met for an hour and then the student took S to meet the pres of the Doherty Center. At that point a marketing prof walked in and S got introduced, and then another prof, and when they found out we were from Jersey, they called in another prof from Jersey!! S was so impressed at how accessible the profs are and that they stopped to meet him. At this point S is on cloud nine. He is beaming and can’t stop saying I’m going to Elon!!</p>

<p>We went to lunch and then walked around the lake and watched the students. S kept saying he could see himself here and would be happy!</p>

<p>He spent a couple of hours with the HIllel board helping to set up for the seder. This was great, because he met so many more students. He sat with a table of Hillel kids and I got placed at a table with Dr. Lambert, the President of Elon!! Wow what conversation we had. He is a really good guy and very supportive of Nancy and Hillel. He talked about taking the college to a whole new level of national recognition. There is a buzz all over campus about this. Seniors don’t want to graduate saying that there is so many exciting things going on they don’t want to miss.</p>

<p>The seder was wonderful. Short and sweet. Very good food. Texasmother, your daughter read beautifully! I have a delightful pic of her coming your way when I get home this weeekend.</p>

<p>I can’t say enough of our visit; it has exceeded our expectations. This is coming from S, not just the mom. It is only half over. We are on campus tomorrow also.</p>

<p>I hope everyone enjoyed their seders and those of you visiting, I can’t wait to hear about your journeys. RVM, glad your visit at coc went well and your S is communicating. I am excited to hear of the next schools. Interesting discovery about the 2nd visit for the acceptance weekends.</p>

<p>Will try to check in tomorrow eve, but we are driving south and not sure when we will get to a computer.</p>

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<p>We finally made it to Bloomington after 17 hours of waiting, flying, and driving. </p>

<p>We spent much of sunday walking, and driving the town and campus. Sunday night dinner in town, great cookies at baked, and a of sleep. Today we had breakfast with student from our town, and did the official tour. My d had a meeting with the director of Admissions.
I think the campus is great. Lots of space, interesting architecture,beautiful woods and running creeks. I thought the town had enough going on, with food, bars, and other stuff. My daughter, much to my chagrin, thought that the campus wasn’t as nice as Delaware, and that it was much to big. She loved u del so much, that this seemed to big. She was bummed, as she thought that IU would be her perfect school. I still think it would be good for her, as she is a big city girl, and I think it has more to offer. I think that if she had experienced the social life, she would habe felt differently.<br>
Her admissions meeting with the director did not go as well as she had hoped. They are much more focused on sat/act scoresvand gpa. Her 3.3 gpa is close enough. She has to get her test numbers up. They do not take a holistic approach. She was encouraged to take the test more, and was told to stay in touch with the director. I do not think she found her angel. It will take a miracle to get in. She is ok. She did not love it enoughvto be discouraged.
We agreed that she would apply,and if by chance she got in, she will visit again.<br>
I think slightly smaller, might be her thing.<br>
The process continues. If you have a child who likes big state u, check out Indiana.</p>

<p>Next. Miami,Ohio.</p>

<p>Report to come</p>

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<p>Samtalya- It’s hard to imagine anyplace else living up to Elon for you. Hope today goes as well.</p>

<p>socaldad- If your D liked UDel, she will probably like Miami too. They are very similar looking but the Miami campus is more spacious. The town, “Uptown” as they call it is less stretched out than Delaware, has a few less places to eat but I think a a bit more quaint.</p>

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<p>SoCal, it is wonderful that your daughter was such a fine advocate for herself. That quality may not help her at IU or on the SAT, but it certainly will in life. </p>

<p>Collage, as you enjoyed Bucknell, I would not be worried about tornados–as a native Pennsylvanian, I can tell you neither my parents nor I ever encountered one. The Tea Party may be rooting for a tornado to hit Harrisburg (the state capitol), but it is exceedingly unlikely.</p>

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<p>^^^Actually they can hit central PA, but are rare. One notable one hit in the area close to Bucknell about 20 years ago.</p>