<p>Just adding a note re Elon - my older son is at Wake Forest. Very little off campus that is within walking distance - mostly a residential neighborhood right around campus - a little further out - big box stores, chain restaurants and so forth. I was surprised to see how often he and his friends leave campus - to go out to eat, to a movie, bowling, to a sporting event, to play golf, to a concert, etc. Even as a freshman - he quickly found many friends with cars. So - I guess I am also using that experience in my vision of what S2’s freshman year will be like - plenty to do on campus at Elon - but also plenty of flexibility to do things all over NC!</p>
<p>Eastcoast: RVM summed up the MD area schools very well. My nephew is a freshman at McDaniel and he is getting great academic support there for an additional fee. It seems like a very supportive environment with nice kids. My niece graduated from Goucher a few years ago. She loved it and flourished academically. Goucher has more of an artsy vibe, which you daughter may like. St. Mary’s has a reputation as a party school. It’s pretty small and isolated with a beautiful setting on the river, but nothing in walking distance.</p>
<p>ST: My D1 was reluctant to start visiting colleges junior year, but we finally just scheduled a few. She ended deciding to apply ED, and admitted that we were right to make her do some visits during junior year. Have you suggested visiting some nearby schools just to get the process started?</p>
<p>Starting visits Junior year really helped with the timing for us. If you wait until summer you are going to see a bunch of buildings and it will be hard to get the vibe. If you wait even further and visit fall of Senior year, it’s going to be a timing issue with visiting and trying to get in any early applications. We started with my son’s the end of summer right before Junior year and I felt like the kids still had a life. My older son had marching band commitments and my younger had an intense three month Robotics commitment. Any child that has anything like that and/or sports, performing arts, etc. will really have a hard time if they wait until after Junior year is over to visit colleges. </p>
<p>I just told my kids that we needed to start looking at colleges and did a bit of research and visited a couple of schools within an hour. Not a big deal and we did it kind of low key - information session, tour, meal on campus and home.</p>
<p>Elon and Wake Forest folks-- how do your students get back and forth to school? D is hoping for UNCSA (in Winston-Salem) and we’re near Boston…seems like Charlotte will be the best airport but…what has worked for you?</p>
<p>Roger Williams is near us-- I don’t know it well but know kids who love it and it’s in about the most beautiful spot any school could hope for.</p>
<p>Dwhite and Vitrac, everything I know about Elon comes from this thread but as described it the location of Elon sounds similar to that of my S1’s school. There is a small area of shops and some restaurants within walking distance but any real city life is a drive away. Most kids on that campus love it, probably because of the many things to do on campus and the very strong community vibe. I have however known of a very few students who seemed to really want to be in an urban setting who were not happy there. If the urban feel is what your student wants there probably is no substitute but if the concern is just that the school seems remote the best thing is an overnight and a visit that gives your student a chance to see the different facets of life on campus. If everything else seems right there is a chance that if your students get a chance to see what it is like to play on campus the remote aspect of it may seem like less of a problem.</p>
<p>On another note my S2 was just accepted into the Olim fellowship program with the URJ camps. It comes with a small boost in pay for students in the program and three excursions during the year for leadership training which are paid for. The program requires students to commit to being a counselor for 2 summers. It is a new URJ program as far as I can tell and the first Kallah is at the Eisner Camp in MA. I was wondering if any of you had heard about this program and if any of your kids are participating.</p>
<p>Had not heard of Olim, so I looked it up and it seems to involve only four URJ camps (not my daughter’s). </p>
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<p>There is a “fellowships” tab on the Staff page of her camp, but it’s blank.</p>
<p>She’d probably like participating…but I don’t know if she really can commit to two more summers after this one. The summer after sophomore year, maybe it’s time to be doing something more career-oriented? I think the Jewish Studies majors and education majors and the like are lucky that they can consider camp career-oriented!</p>
<p>Hi Spectrum and Deskpotato:</p>
<p>Being from New England, I have definitely heard of Camp Eisner & Crane Lake. We are Conservative, not Reform, so my kids have not been to these camps, but we know many people whose kids have gone to these camps and really had fabulous times.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about that particular program, but the camps are very well known in this neck of the woods and highly regarded.</p>
<p>Hi eastcoast,
My son was accepted to Roger Williams and McDaniel. We also looked at Hood and Goucher. I don’t think there is much of a Jewish presence at any of these schools except Goucher. We haven’t visited RWU yet but definitely will do so as the larger size is more to my son’s liking. </p>
<p>I loved McDaniel – very nice campus, and the kids were friendly. Kids approached us during the tour to say how much they liked McDaniel. This was my son’s favorite of all the small LACs we visited. I liked Hood a lot too, but compared to McDaniel, it seemed a lot smaller and quieter. The buildings seemed well-maintained but not as spiffy as McDaniel’s. After he saw Hood, my son said he would apply, but then the next day we saw McDaniel and he lost interest in Hood. Hood is in a nice, walkable town, while McDaniel is in a more rural area. Goucher has an artsy/intellectual vibe; our tour guide was a gorgeous girl wearing a sort of apron over a black bra; my son was smitten with her and/or the gorgeous campus and said he would apply, but later decided that the school really was not for him.</p>
<p>Simpkin -</p>
<p>I was wondering about you and your son the other day. Wondered where you are in the process. In any event, for my 2 cents, I am a little surprised at the Goucher reaction. Good Jewish presence and nice towson vibe for those not wanting the small town life. I know we have discussed small college towns (i.e. westminster,etc). For someone wanting a bigger town/city life but a smaller college, Goucher is awesome. My DD’s only hesitation is that I work entirely too close to the college. </p>
<p>Anyway, glad to see you.</p>
<p>Deskpotato, I’m not positive but I think the program is just starting this year and may be limited to kids who are going to be first year counselors but I’ve only read the tidbits of information that came accross my email. My son completely blew it off until about a week or two ago when he completed and mailed in the application. The program is definitely not limited to those four camps because his camp is not one of those, we are in the Texas-Oklahoma region, Greene is the camp. I guess the weekend retreats are at those four but there are several kids involved from our region. </p>
<p>Chocchip: I’m glad to hear you are familiar with Eisner and have heard good things about it. I expected it would be a nice camp but I was a bit surprised to see the email today that said he is supposed to fly to MA at the end of March.</p>
<p>Hi momofa12! thanks for thinking of us! S got accepted by Plattsburgh last week but no other news. I thought Goucher looked fantastic but it didn’t seem like a fit for my kid. </p>
<p>The school year hit a low point but I think things are turning around – I found a fantastic math tutor so math is no longer a worry. Physics is the big problem now. It’s always something.</p>
<p>just got home. happy to see the outburst of new posts. The shakes have subsided, a certain calmness surrounds me. I am complete again. Welcome new posters. Hello to old friends. </p>
<p>Chapman College in southern ca. sounds perfect for East coast. A very hot school with a great arts program. Size is right for you ass well. Distance may be a problem</p>
<p>Deskpotato: olim fellows have been around for at least a few years. A lot of my DD’s friends did the program and they are now about to be third year counselors at Eisner. DD did not apply because she refused to write more essays. Her friends have loved it. DD did, however , get an email yesterday offering a job at camp this summer. I think she’s going to be an Olim counselor rather than tennis specialist this summer. Apparently, being an Olim counselor is a coveted role. She loves it there and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else this summer. Is your DS at Eisner or Crane Lake?</p>
<p>Sent from my ADR6300 using CC App</p>
<p>Hi Linymom,
From what I gather Deskpotato has a daughter. After DP mentioned Googling the program, and since the email just appeared in my inbox that S2 had been accepted I tried to do some reading as well. This will be the first year that our camp, Greene will be joining the program. That is why I thought the program was brand new, but it seems it is just new to us. I wonder if other camps around the country will also be joining. Our program is beginning with first year counselors and their first Kallah is at Eisner. Is there a difference between an Olim counselor and a regular counselor? Do you know much about the program? There really isn’t much information online that I could find.</p>
<p>Socaldad: So glad that you are doing better :)</p>
<p>simpkin: Congrats on Pitt acceptance!</p>
<p>Deskpotato: Sorry if I referred to DS rather than DD. I should be more awake when I respond here (and do it from my computer rather than my phone!).</p>
<p>Spectrum: Here’s what I know about Olim fellows. They make the two year commitment to work at camp. They go for kallah-type weekend leadership trainings (my DD’s friends went to Atlanta once for that). They get a higher pay scale as a counselor at camp, due to the extra leadership training they’ve had. It’s fun. Wish my DD had done it (I think, so does she). DD’s friends who were Olim counselors were in bunks of all ages (not the Olim unit because those counselors are more experienced).</p>
<p>For the past two summers, DD has been a tennis specialist at Eisner. So she’s been in a bunk (one year with 12 year olds, last year with 13 year olds), but spent most of her days at the courts. Third year counselors have an opportunity to be with the Olim unit (the oldest unit at camp - don’t think it’s related to Olim fellowship - I just don’t know what the Hebrew word “olim” means - although I should!). So for the Eisner girls, the counselor gets to live in an A-frame with 5 or 6 girls (going into soph year of HS). Olim always thinks they are the “cool” unit since they are the oldest. The A-frames are old and don’t have bathrooms (they use a building called “Noah’s Ark” that has bathrooms and showers) so I don’t see the attraction. But then again, I am old. LOL. Her first choice was to be an Olim counselor, but she told them that, if not, she would be tennis specialist again. She has not gotten official word on her position yet but, since she has an arrival date, she is thinking she got Olim - sports staff has to arrive a week early to get the sport facilities ready.</p>
<p>There are also Cornerstone Fellows, and DD talked about applying for that, but I don’t know if she did or not.</p>
<p>Incidentally, in her current business communications class (which she is taking while in Italy), she had to give a three minute speech on any topic and, as I expected, she wrote about the impact of the URJ camp experience on her Jewish identity. Interesting how she doesn’t talk about it, but she writes eloquently about it. Going to be a part of her forever.</p>
<p>Back to DS (HS junior) who I’ve been laying off of re: college testing because he has midterms next week. He does have to pick classes soon for senior year, and he’s informed me he wants to take AP Calc, AP Physics C and AP Chem. I respect his ambition. Need to talk to some of the teachers to get a read on whether he is capable. GC will of course encourage this. She just wants to see rigor. He’ll balance this with honors (not AP) English and Govt/Econ (and no language since he’s taking college Spanish now). I just don’t know…</p>
<p>congrats simkim.</p>
<p>fairfax, it would seem that usair from boston to charlotte is your most direct to nc. american may go direct from raleigh to bton. the closest airport to elon is greensboro and then raleigh, both with good transport options to the school.</p>
<p>eisner-was asst program director a million years ago!!! great area to have fun as a counselor on days off. oh stories i could tell. liny, ask your daughter if there are still lobsters in the lake!!</p>
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<p>Thanks but it’s SUNY Plattsburgh, not Pitt. I would be thrilled if Pitt was an option for him, sigh. I know we are not supposed to care about U.S. News but I was a bit taken aback by how far down Plattsburgh is in their rankings. The graduation rate is quite low as well. I’ve heard good things about it, but I’m starting to talk myself out of making the 6+ hour drive to visit.</p>
<p>This coming summer will be D1’s 4th year on staff at a URJ camp ( she is currently a college junior). I’ve never heard of the Olim program - am I understanding correctly that only some URJ camps participate? So either her camp doesn’t, or she never mentioned it because she knew I would push her to apply!</p>
<p>I grew up going to church camp for, at most, 2 weeks every summer. The whole month-long Jewish summer camp thing was completely foreign to me. We let D go for 2 weeks when she was 8 - the last summer the shorter session was available. She was a shy kid and I thought she would hate it. Hah! It. changed. her. life. She has life-long camp friends, is a more committed Jew, an accomplished leader, and has more confidence than I ever did at her age, and I give camp credit for most of that. I am a believer. Okay, end of endorsement. Back to the college conversation… ;)</p>
<p>simpkin: OMG. Congrats on Plattsburgh! I know a happy freshman there (Jewish).</p>
<p>Think I’m going to stay off for the rest of the day - too many mistakes!</p>
<p>Wow - y’all move fast! Lots of good stuff posted in the last day.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the feedback on Elon. I realized a couple of things about our visit after I posted yesterday. First, we visited early on a Saturday morning - Homecoming. We were on Fall Break then and toured schools in the VA/NC area. I really thought the campus would have a great vibe then, but it was super quiet. No students anywhere. I think they were all still asleep! So, from a prospective student standpoint, it was probably pretty dull. </p>
<p>My daughter spends her summers at a wonderful (secular) camp in the mountains of western NC. She’s an avid paddler and really wants to continue that in college. I think Elon felt a bit suburban to her. She has leaned more towards schools attached to “villages” than “towns” if that makes sense…by which I mean that some campuses were within walking distance of the local eateries/shops/nightlife. </p>
<p>I still think Elon would be a good fit for her, though, and am encouraging her to apply. She wants a contained campus - and it does seem to fit that bill. She has corresponded with the Hillel director (who has been great). </p>
<p>rockvillemom: Wake is also on her radar (she’s actually an A- student – don’t boot me! this is such a great thread!). Our Fall Break visit coincided with their Fall Break (lousy planning on my part). Same deal as Elon. Dead campus. But, we’ve heard wonderful things about Wake. Our tour guide was actually Jewish, which really surprised us both. Nice kid - very encouraging. He said that the Jewish presence was small but enthusiastically reported Wake’s commitment to improving that. She’s corresponded with him once or twice since. </p>
<p>We visited Richmond on that trip as well (in full force!) and both loved it. I thought it had a great atmosphere. There was a sukkah in the middle of campus - and the guide actually referenced it in the tour. I’m unaware of Richmond having a heavier than normal drinking environment. Seems that ALL the schools we’ve looked at have that reputation. That’s one reason why my Husband and I prefer smaller to mid-sized contained campuses - less need for cars.</p>
<p>Last thing! A shout out to URJ camps! Younger daughter (15) attends one in Utica, Mississippi (yes! Mississippi!). Fabulous camp. Has absolutely changed her life for the better. She’s on her way there now to kallah for the weekend. I’m jealous!</p>