<p>Here in Texas, (not in a city) all of the Jewish people that I know have not converted with intermarriage, however most of the Jewish people I know, I know through temple, so it is a skewed sample. Many spouses have converted, many are interfaith couples. There are a couple of “ecumenical” temples that I am aware of and I don’t know if they are an answer for some to intermarriage or who is among their membership. The reality is that in these parts with such a small Jewish poplulation, intermarriage is no surprise.</p>
<p>Most of the intermarriages I know of around here the kids are being raised Jewish. I know one couple where the spouse converted to Judaism as well. My husband is the product of an intermarriage, his Mom was a Christian Scientist. Both his parents practiced their own religions (his Mom more than his Dad), but none of the children are religious at all.</p>
<p>mdcissp - I agree with you completely - I’m actually losing interest in James Madison as we speak. We’ll still go see it - and if he loves it we can really look hard at the majors and the options - but I am concerned. The College of Business (COB) requires that a student take 10 (which seems like a lot to me) math/statistics/economics/mgmt courses freshman and sophomore years and then you apply to gain admission to COB. The minimum GPA is a 2.8 - but even if you attain that you are not guaranteed admission. The other option is the sports mgmt program - which is actually a concentration - the major is in Kinesiology. That can be combined with a business minor. So, I don’t know - this might be a bit much for S2. But, we’ll still go and just see what he thinks overall - if he does not like JMU - I won’t have to worry about the major.</p>
<p>holliesue - that is such an upsetting story. I would be crushed if one of my sons married a non-Jew. The thought of them converting to Christianity would send me over the edge. I have 2 cousins in their 20s who were raised in a reform Jewish home - both had religious education and Bar Mitzvahs - one did Birthright to Israel. But, they both met/dated/became involved with Christian girls. One is married and they had a baby boy last month. No bris for the baby, and he will post on his Facebook page things like - we just came back from church. No question that baby will be raised Christian. The other one is engaged to a Christian girl - although he did recently bring her to a family Bat Mitzvah and he participated in the service so I can’t imagine him giving his Judaism up as quickly as his brother did. It saddens me tremendously - I know the mother of these 2 boys (my cousin) is distraught - but what can she do? She pretty much has to go with the flow or risk losing the relationship she has with her sons and her grandson.</p>
<p>Rockvillemom, my daughter has several good friends who attend JMU. Two of them really love it, but they enjoy partying. A third friend transferred to Maryland after Freshman year because she had a hard time finding friends who weren’t “religious Christians or hard partiers.” There is some Jewish life on campus, but I know that one of the girls chose to go to class instead of high holiday services. I think that is less likely at a school with a higher Jewish population.</p>
<p>Apparently most Juniors and Seniors move off campus to very nice, inexpensive garden apartments. I’m sure there is plenty of partying, but I think that is common on and off campus at most schools.</p>
<p>Re roommate conversion, one thing I did with Facebook class of 2014 pages was look at the posted responses to roommate surveys (schools do their own, but kids often post one on the page and then other kids respond). The surveys often ask what religion you are and whether you want a roomie of the same religion.</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: Did you consider GW? It is easy to go on the tour because it is local. If your son can get a scholarship, it might be worthwhile as there is a business program, many option and internships. There is a Hillel. I only hated the freshman dorm. I would seriously consider GW for our son except it is just too expensive for us.</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: Thanks for the info. about Gettysburg and JMU. They are off our list. Gettysburg is too small and too expensive. JMU-do not like the late application to Business school (what happens if you don’t get in?), the party atmosphere, etc. We are reconsidering Salisbury although the location and lack of Jewish life is bothersome. I thought the academics at Salisbury were excellent. They are now building a brand new large building for the new Business school. As I wrote before, the staff we met all appear to be very caring and supportive of students’ success. I really liked the staff at Salisbury and got the feeling of a small-medium size private university at an instate public price. I am getting anxious trying to figure out the best fit. Towson is probably the best fit, but it is very competitive to get in.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how accessible GW is to a B+ student but S has a friend who goes to school there and is very active with Hillel and loves it!</p>
<p>The main reasons I think Rockville Mom’s son would like GW: has a Business school with various areas of study, offers internships, has small classes, has a Hillel, has Jewish students,
and is not N. of DC (i.e. not the fierce cold winters). The only reasons I could think of why GW is not a fit: if her son wants a grassy campus (GW is urban-but a great location for DC),
expensive (but might get scholarships), and if her son wants to go further south of DC. Not sure if Rockville Mom will be happy with freshman dorm, but I heard the dorm situation gets better after freshman year.</p>
<p>Virginia Tech for Rockville Mom’s son?</p>
<p>I looked at the Virginia Tech website. It has a Business school with various areas of study,
a new Hillel, offers Judaic Studies major which suggests some Jewish students attend, and looks like it has a nice campus. Stats look like B plus and A minus kids. What do you think about Virginia Tech? Any comments? I think it would be a reach for my son.</p>
<p>mdcissp - That’s so funny that you just mentioned VA Tech. D got a postcard in the mail from them this past week. Last night I looked up some info on them, and just logged in to post a few questions, and saw that you had just brought up VA Tech.</p>
<p>In looking at Naviance from our high school, it seems that just about everyone with a wgpa of 3.5 and above got in. So seems like a very solid school for a B student. </p>
<p>They have a very good business school. Over the years I have worked with or met many people who have gone to VA Tech. However, not a single one of those people were Jewish. I actually worked with someone a few years after college who had gone to VA Tech and had never met a Jew before until she met me. Or at least wasn’t aware of having met one!</p>
<p>For that reason alone, I had thought that VA Tech did not have many Jewish students. When looking at the hillel site, it lists about 2,000 Jewish students. So things may have changed over the years as far as Jews going to VA Tech? Also, it is in the middle of nowhere, if I remember, but I looked and there is a bus that comes to N. Va. during holidays, etc. </p>
<p>They actually have both programs D is looking for and if I can get a better feel for Jewish life, we may add it to the list as a safety. </p>
<p>From the people I do know who went there, there is tons of school spirit (Hokies!) and Greek life is very big.</p>
<p>Anyone know any more about VA Tech’s Jewish life?</p>
<p>at least one kid from my shul goes there, off the top of my head. Its on the short list for any NoVa kid with an interest in engineering, and on the somewhat longer list for most everyone else. I’ve always assumed it had a big enough Jewish community, mostly instate kids of course. </p>
<p>I also some years ago knew the hillel rabbi there, who lived in columbia and went down on weekends (not all weekends, she was also the rabbi of our tiny shul in baltimore). I wasnt thinking colleges then, and never really asked about VTech.</p>
<p>Swing for the fence and apply to Emory.</p>
<p>We went to George Mason today and met the Hillel director. He was very nice and said the following: they have about 40-60 students attending Shabbat dinner once every 2 weeks, no Hillel building but they find rooms on campus for their events, etc. However, there are concerns at GMU. I thought there were too many required classes before starting an accounting major, had to have a 3.0 and apply to the major after starting GMU, guaranteed housing only for incoming freshmen, serious parking problem despite having plenty of parking spaces–we were ticketed $75. for parking in the wrong lot-signs were confusing and no sign said “visitors” parking. We did not park in a lot marked “reserved, for students, for staff, handicapped, etc.”. I never want to go back to GMU.</p>
<p>Well, we are back from our JMU trip. Just as the campus is divided into 2 sections by Rt 81 - our family left with very divided opinions on this school. I did not like it - DH and S2 did - here’s some info. </p>
<p>We attended the typical info presentation - which was nicely done - followed by a 1.5 hour walking tour - somewhat exhausting. We really did not go into many buildings - just walked outside mostly and saw them. The campus is (to me) suburban sprawl. The oldest area of campus - called Bluestone - is lovely - buildings grouped around a traditional grassy quad - thai makes sense to me. This area was the original Madison College back when it was an all girls school. There is also now the Village area and the Lake area and then yet another area across the highway. I found it too big and oddly laid out. There is a very nice rec center, more dorms and another library on the other side of Rt 81. There is shuttle bus service, a pedestrian overpass and a short tunnel under the highway.</p>
<p>Freshman live on campus - you can prioritize the areas of campus you prefer to live in but not the actual dorm. About 50% of sophomores live on campus. All juniors and seniors live off campus - there are many townhouses and low-rise condos within a 5-10 minute walk from campus. They are not university owned - but are apparently inhabited primarily by JMU students. There is bus service from the campus to these off campus areas.</p>
<p>DH liked the scenery - there are very nice mountain views all around the campus. We did not go into downtown Harrisonburg, but it looked like there were plenty of stores, restaurants, etc. and there is free bus service. S2 was not overwhelmed by the size of the campus - he liked the emphasis on sports, clubs and school spirit that he saw.</p>
<p>I still have grave reservations about the College of Business - and we were not able to meet up with anyone from Hillel today. So, if S2 is still into JMU in the spring - after seeing the rest of the schools on the list - we’ll go back a second time and specifically focus on Hillel and the business program.</p>
<p>Hi - I’m not thinking either GW or Virginia Tech at this point. GW is one of the most expensive schools on the nation - plus I think S2 is looking for a more sports-oriented school - GW is great for kids into DC/politics/urban life - not really his thing. Virginia Tech - I’m thinking too big. I think the things that I didn’t care for at JMU will be even more so at Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>We are planning to see Susquehanna, Muhlenberg and Elon in the fall - followed by College of Charleston in the spring - hoping S2 likes all of those - I am so not into JMU.</p>
<p>I have not read this whole thread, actually, just the topic, but since you use the term “B student”, I really want to encourage you to apply to Tulane and University of Miami. I live in New Orleans, and my husband attended Tulane. We recently toured Tulane’s open house. My sister works at Tulane’s library and I frequently visit her there. Although Tulane is viewed as very selective nowadays, I want to encourage you to not let that scare you off. I can assure you, there are a lot of just regular kids there. And there are lots of OOS kids there. And yes, there are a lot of Jewish kids there. But there are also a lot of Asian kids, African American kids, and yes, even regular Catholic white kids. But there is a very active Hillel there and a synagogue very close to campus. I would highly recommend that your child apply there. Don’t be scared off!</p>
<p>I notice the mention of College of Charleston as I scan this thread. We have many kids from our city attend there, and they absolutely love it. They say the city of Charleston is very much like the nicer parts of New Orleans.</p>
<p>montegut: actually, we have been scared off…mostly by the fact that alot of kids get significant merit there (and therefore, have very high stats)…my daughter visited NOLA in the spring and absolutely LOVED Tulane…but does not want to attend a “reach” school where the avg stats would be significantly higher than her profile on this thread…even if she was admitted…I love Tulane; for the right type of student…</p>
<p>RM; had a feeling you would get that impression of JMU; onward and upward…</p>
<p>Just adding to my comment, I did happen upon a reply where you mentioned you considered Tulane but were concerned about the distance. Are you from the Maryland area? Southwest flies nonstop to BWI, so it is not a hard trip. And Tulane makes it very easy for the students to get around. Nice large coach buses take the kids to Walmart on the weekend. And the streetcar is right next to campus. Good luck!</p>