<p>Bloomsburg IS part of the PA state system. That pretty much exhausts what I know about it. No idea whether there is a Hillel, or indeed any Jewish students. (Yes, the place name sounds Jewish, but it’s Pennsylvania Dutch.) There is a great old-fashioned amusement park nearby called Knoebel’s Grove.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is a reach for anyone - up there with Duke and Georgetown as far as selectivity - waaaay out of S2’s reach - but a great option for a high stat Jewish kid. I have a higher regard for UMBC than Towson - but see it as focusing on science/technology - would not be a fit academically and I know S2 does want some sports, etc. Right now - looking forward to our Gettysburg and James Madison visits over the next week and that should give me a little insight into what appeals to S2.</p>
<p>Just remember that a safety school is not always SAFE! S1 applied to Towson, which we thought would be a safety (as did his guidance counselor). He applied early and was rejected. To put it in perspective, he was accepted at James Madison, U of Colorado, UVM, Tulane, Miami U, Indiana and a few others. Go figure! Make sure you have multiple safeties on your list!</p>
<p>Mom2009 - that is really bizarre - makes no sense to me. Accepted at Tulane and rejected at Towson - one of the strangest ones I have ever heard! And yes, I agree with you completely - which is why I have College of Charleston, York College of PA, Eckerd College in Florida and Susquehanna University on the list. I see these as reasonably safe schools for my son. I’m thinking James Madison, Elon, Muhlenberg and Gettysburg are more in the match category. Not planning to put any reaches on the list for now. </p>
<p>Where did your son decide to go? Nice list of acceptances - all have good reputations and decent Jewish populations. Obviously you had no geographic restrictions!</p>
<p>Our high school is a diverse urban school, and I believe it is about 30% Jewish. We do not have Naviance (you who have it are very fortunate!). From my anecdotal information, this is where many students who fit these profiles go:
B minus students go to West Virginia University, Arizona State, Temple, Ohio University, George Mason, Kent State, or community college.
B or B plus students go to Pitt, Indiana, Penn State, Ohio State, Miami of Ohio, University of Maryland College Park (traditionally easier to get into OOS than Penn State Main Campus in state, but that may have changed), University of Vermont, University of Florida, Florida State, University of Miami, University of Colorado. (These schools also draw some very high B and A students.) A few who want a smaller setting might go to Ithaca, Clark, Goucher, Earlham, Hobart William-Smith, and there is new interest in Muhlenberg because students have a major incentive to stay in PA (scholarships!).
A counselor believes that the only State System of Higher Ed of PA school that fits Jewish students is West Chester. I have occasionally heard of a Jewish student going to Indiana of PA, especially if that student had special needs.
Another counselor really encourages the SUNY schools for Jewish students.
B plus students with very high SAT scores might go to Franklin and Marshall, Lehigh, Bucknell, Brandeis, Rochester, RIT, Worcester Polytech, Tulane, Wisconsin, Kenyon, Oberlin, Toronto, McGill, Boston University, and many others.
Many more of our African American B students go south than our Jewish B students do.
I’ll probably think of more later, but this is just off the top of my head. Maybe some of you with Naviance can be more helpful.</p>
<p>Rockvillemom - S1 just finished his freshman year at UVM. He absolutely loved it! Couldn’t be happier! It wasn’t my first choice for him, but he knew it was where he wanted to be. A great fit! He’s a bright kid, but was a pretty unmotivated high school student. Had mediocre grades, but good SATs. At UVM, he has really applied himself, and has done quite well so far! Now it’s time to start thinking about S2!</p>
<p>levirm - Thanks for that list - lots of good options on there. I’m going to take a look at West Chester - thanks for mentioning that one - I’m not familiar with it. I have heard of all of the others - some I feel are a little too far, some a little too big, etc. I had Ithaca on the list for a while - but S2 would prefer to head south or no further north than central PA.</p>
<p>Mom2009 - that’s wonderful! I have heard great things about UVM - I like the size and I hear Burlington is gorgeous - just a little too far and too far north for us.</p>
<p>Took a quick look - 400 Jewish students out of 9500 undergrads per the Philly Hillel website - see link. Total undergrads 11,900. 60% female and 40% male. Most students from PA, MD, NJ.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://phillyhillel.org/campuses]CAMPUSES[/url”>http://phillyhillel.org/campuses]CAMPUSES[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Our large public hs Naviance shows that only 4 students applied in the past few years - all 4 were accepted. They were A and B students - kind of a wide range between the 4 kids. Rolling admissions.</p>
<p>Tuition, room & board for OOS about $22,000.</p>
<p>College of Business and Public Affairs offers a business mgmt major and a marketing major. Wide range of majors overall between several colleges within the university.</p>
<p>Anyone more familiar with this school?</p>
<p>^ I thought I had mentioned West Chester in the past. Anyway, I think it’s a great school. Last year one of the Presidential debates was held there, and the kids seemed like a very enthusiastic group. It used to be a teacher’s college, but has expanded over the years. I like that it is near Philly, but still suburban.
It doesn’t have my D’s major, otherwise we would have strongly considered applying.</p>
<p>I inadvertently left out American, another popular school for the B to B plus students.</p>
<p>West Chester, like Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg, used to have “Teacher’s” in its name. These, like some SUNYs and many other non-flagship state schools (Montclair in NJ), are solid schools, with nice campuses, heavily weighted towards in state kids and with significant commuter and part-time populations, so check for suitcase issues and numbers of kids transferring out (often to flagships).
In the current economy, with states having budget issues, watch out for the impact of budget cuts on class sizes, etc.</p>
<p>Levrim,
Thanks for sharing that list. One thing that I thought was interesting: Students from our Maryland high school have an easier time getting into Penn State main campus than UMDCP for fall admission.</p>
<p>I would not recommend Indiana University of Pennsylvania for a Jewish student. A bright, talented popular girl from my neighborhood left and transferred to community college after one semester because she faced some anti-semitism there.</p>
<p>rm: yes, Susquehanna is on my list of schools I have a question about; along with York, Miami of Ohio and West Chester…I’ll report back later tonight or tomorrow at some point…</p>
<p>fwiw, i just looked at the 2010 matriculation list from my daughter’s school; very weird; I know that there are kids at the bottom of any class, but there are not many schools on the list that take “C” students…interesting; definitely a topic that I will bring up with our school’s GC in the fall…</p>
<p>most SUNY’s do not have “suitcase” issues. (exception may be stony brook). As many of the colleges have a good mix of upstate and downstate kids at schools like oswego, cortland, oneonta, UB. Bing- there is alot of distance for kids to cover for a week-end trip home.
I think that was one of the MAIN considerations my kid had- and why she did decide to go SUNY!!
she felt there was too much of a suitcase reputation at alot of the OOS publics- and she didn’t want to choose her friends based on which kids stay on campus on the
week-ends. She ruled out GMU based on that concern.
But as far as I know, most SUNY’s do not have suitcase reputations.</p>
<p>RE: Our discussion awhile back about lower than desirable graduation rates at some schools. </p>
<p>A bunch of my s’s friends were over the other evening, 1 to 3 year out of HS, some A students in HS and some HS B students, most of whom “went away” for college. Lots of talk about who is doing what.</p>
<p>The A students, who attend highly selective LACs and universities (Reed, Harvard, Vandy, Furman, Davidson, flagship honors colleges, etc) are all going back and report that very few peers drop out or change schools. It’s a mixed lot for the HS B students – some are returning, some have “flunked out,” some are changing schools. Lots of reasons – not doing well enough to justify the cost, want to study something not offered, didn’t have or develop the study habits needed for college, partied too hard, etc. </p>
<p>From these stories, my guess is that colleges that primarily accept top students have higher grad rates because those students have great study skills, are self-disciplined and have a clearer idea of what they they want from college. Colleges with lots of B students have a more mixed bag – late bloomers, kids not focused on what they want to study or who never developed good study skills, kids who are more “fun” oriented, etc. The ones that stay to graduate are probably doing very well (very true for my s who is now an HONOR student. How did that happen???) </p>
<p>By the way, the kids who went the CC route have mostly dropped out or are taking or 2 classes at a time and are working, even the ones who planned to go one or two years and then transfer.</p>
<p>Marny, I agree that the SUNYs, other than Stony Brook, have fewer suitcase issues than many other states’ regional colleges. In nY, I think the CCNYs have the role of the regional state colleges in other states-the colleges located near the major population centers, which facilitiates going home on weekends.</p>
<p>Stillnadine raises an important point–it is much more important with B students than A students to focus on colleges’ graduation rates, because B students are less likely to be as intensely driven–and B colleges’ rates vary much more than A colleges.</p>
<p>One more thing about UMBC - it has a great chess team. I believe they are the national champions.</p>
<p>momjr, I agree with you about Indiana University of PA. I know one Jewish student there who was a recruited athlete and a couple of others with special needs (apparently they specialize in this at IUP) but that is it. I agree with our counselor that the only State System of Higher Ed school for Jewish students to consider would be West Chester.
Penn State: easier to get in if you indicate willingness to start in the summer.</p>
<p>I think another reason that B students schools have much more mixed graduation rates is that it is much harder to research them in depth if they are OOS before your child enrolls. Many GCs know very little about them–always ask for the basis of your GC’s view, which may be based on 1 child’s report, or not being in Colleges That Change Lives, or in confusing George Mason with James Madison. They are also not discussed as often in Guidebooks, have fewer kids from your HS who have gone there and fewer posts on CC (which is why this thread is so helpful).</p>
<p>Y2 – So true. Our GC know very little about OOS schools and most cannot imagine why you’d ever what to leave the state.</p>
<p>I think one reason my s is an “honor” student at a college that attracts B students is because he is no longer competing with driven, “get an A or parish” students, which was true for his very competitive high school. Being surrounded by peers has given him the chance to feel smart and comfortable in a school environment. It think this maybe what we mean by “fit.”</p>