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

[lisztserve]

<p>Congratulations and good luck to all!! Thank you everyone for your feedback and support. S will attend Case Western and we all came around to believing it will be a great place for him. </p>

<p>No one from our community goes there, and it’s far, and he had several good options - plus other factors I have aired before; it was a big decision. Oddly enough, as I’ve shared our decision with local parents, the most common reaction has been some variant of - how did you know to apply there? it looked great but I was put off by Cleveland/reputation/unfamiliarity etc. He may be the first, but I’m guessing he won’t be the last!</p>

<p>I’m reading the prom posts with interest. Prom wasn’t a big thing when I was in HS, and I didn’t go, nor did most of my friends, so I have watched somewhat dispassionately as my kids attended theirs. But my current HS senior, who is primed for prom big time, doesn’t want to go to his graduation! (“seems like a waste of an afternoon.”) I don’t really expect anyone here to relate to this…</p>

[shawbridge]

<p>Congratulations to all of the acceptances. I’m feeling great I’m done with this (once with ShawSon and twice in 12 months with ShawD – initial acceptance and then transfer) until ShawSon does fellowships and grad school applications next fall. Just thinking about getting neuropsych tests renewed.</p>

<p>Both kids are home today. ShawD says she may join the board of her college Hillel even though she only attended a few events (she was busy finding out where her classes were, etc.) – they apparently like the fact that she was responsible for running 3 events per week at her private school.</p>

[fourkidsmom]

<p>add my D to the final decisions…I’m not going to worry over acceptances, that’s past and she wanted theater. she had such good choices academically that I would have chosen instead but I don’t have the passion for theater that she does. Instead, she picked schools to audition at that were academically strong and encouraged academics rather then an only theater training…
decision, NYU Tisch.</p>

[rockvillemom]

<p>All these wonderful decisions - mazel tov! And yes - it feels so good to be done with this process - although it is odd in the sense that now that I feel quite competent with the college visiting/applying/decision-making process - I am done with it! But it will be fun to watch the process for my friends and their kids next year.</p>

<p>S2 has requested classes for next year - next step is requesting housing preferences - it will be interesting to see the results in July and see how reality matches his requests. Being ED is supposed to bump him up the ladder - so we will see.</p>

<p>BBYO hosted a concert in our area last night - which was quite a success from what I hear. I love the fact that in our community - BBYO is cool!</p>

[LINYMOM]

<p>Our senior cut day is a day at the beach or Great Adventures (but the beach/ocean is only five minutes away). Since my DD graduated in 2010, they moved the senior prom to two days before graduation to eliminate the weekend/weeklong getaways that followed prom, which were a recipe for disaster.</p>

<p>My DS did not go to his junior prom last night (he said none of his friends went), but he was just asked to the junior prom at a high school in a neighboring district. He’s excited and I get to take pictures, so it’s a win-win :)</p>

<p>The drama of the senior prom with DD was ridiculous. The excitement leading up to it was way better than the prom itself (for her). However, since I didn’t go to mine (for many terrible reasons), I am thrilled that she got to go. Hoping DS goes to his next year too.</p>

<p>I’m thrilled for all of you for your kids’ college decisions! It’s an exciting time, albeit an emotional roller coaster for the whole family. Within the excitement, we were each stressed out in our own way, so there were many tense moments (days?) between spring of senior year and college drop off. Everything normalized right after that though. Just remember this when things start getting “tight” or when there are unexpected tears or blow-ups. Everyone’s in for a change. </p>

<p>Enjoy the end of high school festivities. And keep dark sunglasses nearby. I hid my tears behind mine more times than I care to count.</p>

[spectrum2]

<p>Liztserve: I was in a similar situation with my S1. He went to a school that is a 2 day drive from home and that no one heard and I’m sure he was the first from our HS. If it is right none of that matters. I still always answer the question of why there, but I don’t mind at all. Congratulations on the Case decision. </p>

<p>4kidsmom: Congratulations on Tisch. NYU is a wonderful combination for both theater and academics.
There is no real end in sight on the application front, just as we are in the home stretch of undergrad admissions I know this summer will involve a dive into the world of law school applications. This has a very different feel than undergrad.</p>

[rockvillemom]

<p>I seem to remember some brief discussion of Washington College in Maryland a few weeks ago - here’s two recent articles on the dedication of their Hillel House:</p>

<p>[Hillel</a> Dedication Ceremony Unites Community, Campus in Fellowship : The Elm](<a href=“http://elm.washcoll.edu/index.php/2012/04/hillel-dedication-ceremony-unites-community-campus-in-fellowship/]Hillel”>http://elm.washcoll.edu/index.php/2012/04/hillel-dedication-ceremony-unites-community-campus-in-fellowship/)</p>

<p>

In addition to a gathering place for WC’s Hillel community, the Hillel House will also be a place for Jewish students to have kosher food. According to Carol-Fingerhut, the only place to get kosher food on the Eastern Shore is the New York Kosher Style Deli on High Street in Chestertown. The fact that the Hillel House will offer kosher food will be, as Carol-Fingerhut puts it, “a huge deal, especially for those students who are straight kosher.”

</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.stardem.com/article_cf5b9210-94f4-51f7-8002-9571331de4c1.html[/url]”>http://www.stardem.com/article_cf5b9210-94f4-51f7-8002-9571331de4c1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

“Enrollment at Washington College has dramatically increased over the past 50 years. But the proportion of Jewish students has failed to keep pace, until recently falling below critical 2 percent levels,” Ans said.</p>

<p>Ans said over the last decade, the college has worked to create a more welcoming and comfortable academic and social environment to attract more Jewish students. He said progress has been slow but steady.</p>

<p>“Now, thanks to many of you, Hillel House will ensure a relevant presence of Jewish students at Washington College. Hillel will also help its members establish their identities, helping them understand where they came from and how they can positively add to their present and future societies,” Ans said.

</p>

[LINYMOM]

<p>Ok - ACT scores are in and I am feeling better… DS is up from a 29 to a 31. Somehow, he went up in reading from 25 to 30! Thank you, RVM! Plus, the scores are more even (except for math which is still way up there). The Naviance scattergrams are more comforting - just wish I could be assured of merit aid at his #1 choice, Miami. I could push him to take it one more time and focus on the science section (which he could improve), but I don’t think he wants to do that… Someone on the Miami forum said they do superscore ACT - i will have to check that out. I really don’t want to stress him out any more than I already have.</p>

[rockvillemom]

<p>Yay - so happy for you. My suggestion - drop the topic of him retaking it for the time being. Just keep it in the back of your mind - and then bring it up again in the summer - see if he will sit for it one more time in Sept or October. This is the one thing that I did not do - we stopped after the second sitting when he had a 30 - not realizing that he would - in the end - miss the cutoff for merit aid at Elon by a very tiny amount. Most schools do superscore - that seems to be more and more prevalent - so a 3rd try - especially 5-6 months later - worth a try if he is willing. Would not do more than 3 times.</p>

[socaldad42]

<p>Great news Linymom… I agree with others hear. I would tutor him from now thru sept. and focus on Science. If he gets it up a little, it could mean a lot of money to you. invest now for the upside over four years. Science is all about reading the graphs, and knowing how to answer the questions. It is not really based on what they learned. you can improve scores hear with good tutoring. Go for it…</p>

[LuvMomN8ur]

<p>Talking about The Prom…</p>

<p>[Prom</a> Dress](<a href=“Texanna Edwards, Tennessee Teen, Wears Confederate Flag Prom Dress, Is Turned Away From Dance (VIDEO) | HuffPost Teen”>Texanna Edwards, Tennessee Teen, Wears Confederate Flag Prom Dress, Is Turned Away From Dance (VIDEO) | HuffPost Teen)</p>

<p>…just stirring the pot.</p>

[rodney]

<p>Someone should find out what UMiami is doing before subjecting LINYMOM son to another test though;
they do not have hard and fast cut offs for merit and were “weird” this year with handing out $$ (i.e. selective merit is the best way I can put it)…</p>

<p>LINYMOM: I know you already did this, but go back to the threads during EA acceptances and try to figure out what happened with ORM kids…and if a 32 would change things…</p>

[LINYMOM]

<p>Thanks everyone. I’m in touch with one of the UM “guru” parents about scores/merit aid. I will check with UM admissions later in the week and then see what DS wants to do. He loves science so not a problem to get him to self-study for this. He just never focused on it because I was pushing him on Eng/reading. He can do that after his APs this spring. Definitely doing either June or never. If they superscore, which I think they do, it may be worth it.</p>

[rodney]

<p>^^absolutely…</p>

[911C2S]

<p>Hey everyone!</p>

<p>Happy May 1st! We should have a final tally of where everyone’s D/S is off to come Fall, so it’s time to update our list. Anyone making decisions in the last couple of days needs to let us all know that happy news!</p>

<p>Chardo’s S: U of Alabama (Honors College, full scholarship), Georgia Tech, RIT ($15K/yr scholarship)
Cherryhillmomto2’s S: Rutgers (attending)
Chocchip: S1 freshman at Tufts, class of '15, S2 h.s. soph, h.s. class of '14
DDMLE’s S: Muhlenberg (attending)
Fourkidsmom: D1Colgate '10, S1 Purdue (senior attending with a co-op), d2 academically accepted: Tulane (Prez scholarship) Indiana (honors) waiting for MT
Ittliz’s D: Universities of Kansas, Oregon, Indiana and Colorado - Boulder; Michigan State U
LINYMOM’s DD: Delaware '14
Mdmomfromli’s D: Cornell University (attending),Tulane, Indiana (Honors)
mhc48: D2, UDel '15 (D1, Colgate '09; S, UMich '12)
MoltoBene’s S: Michigan '15; D2:Rush Medical College '15, D1:Tulane '09
Momjr’s D2: Boston U '15, D1: U Penn '12
Mom2009’s S: Universities of Indiana and Vermont (scholarship), Qunnipiac (scholarship)
Orangemom12’s DD: UF '13, DS1: UF '13, DS2: Pittsburgh, UMN/Twin Cities, UCF
Pamom59’s D2: Drexel (attending, $12,000/yr scholarship), JMU, Penn State, Pitt, Delaware ($3,500 scholarswhip) Temple ($2,500 scholarship) (D1 Pitt ’15)
Phillyartmom: Ringling College of Art (attending, no awards yet given), Tyler @ Temple ($3,000/yr); MassArt ($8,000/yr), Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Rochester Institute of Technology (for Illustration)
PRJ’s D2: Tulane (D1: Brandeis '13)
Rockvillemom’s S: Elon (attending), Towson
Rodney: D2 : Elon 2015 D1 : Newhouse@Syracuse 2012
Samtalya’s S: Elon (Engagement scholarship) (attending)
Seiclan’s S: University of Central Florida Honors Program, FSU Honors, Emory U (attending)
Simpkin’s S: Albright, Lycoming, U of Kansas, McDaniel
Socaldad’s DELAWARE(Attending) College of Charleston; Universities of Pittsburgh, Colorado - Boulder, Kansas, Indiana; Michigan State U, Oregon, Alabama,. D1 U Texas 2013
Spectrum2’s S: UT - Austin: Texas A&M
Srandrew’s S: U of Vermont (scholarship); Quinnipiac
Sujormik’s D: Tulane, U of Pittsburgh, Drexel ($23K/yr scholarship)
Uskoolfish: D2: NYU '16 (Studio Art–ED–attending), Accepted Pratt ($14K merit award–withdrew), Accepted SUNY New Paltz (withdrew); D1 (NYU '12–Vocal Performance/MT)
Vitrac: D1 Tulane '14
911C2S’s S: Bucknell (attending), Universities of Pittsburgh, Tulsa ($16,000/yr scholarship), St. Louis ($12K/yr scholarship)</p>

[911C2S]

<p>I also want to acknowledge a really important milestone.</p>

<p>This time last year, I was busy lurking, occasionally posting, but mainly really looking forward to May 2012 when my S would know his options and have made a decision. I could hardly wait to worry over bedding and packing for college. The journey seemed so frought with frustration, anxiety, and uncertainty.</p>

<p>I truly thank you for all the wisdom imparted and the virtual hand-holding. I’ve learned so much and I know that my S and H are so grateful for how I helped S through this process. Little did they know that there was a whole village of parents behind him.</p>

<p>Congratulations to our children! Congratulations to each and every one of you!</p>

<p>:)</p>

[rockvillemom]

<p>What a wonderful post - a virtual toast to our village!</p>

[LuvMomN8ur]

<p>…and please, Village, stick around for Round II. The present parents of Jrs (lurkers and posters alike), fondly request and need you, too.</p>

[socaldad42]

<p>Since there are no weekly meetings of CCaholics anonymous in these parts, I am destined to be here til S1 goes off in many years. Can’t get over the addiction without help…</p>

[laplatinum]

<p>Prom Update: So my son saunters by on Sunday night, late, and says, “PJ is going to the prom, too, so I’m probably going.” Recall, this is the young man whose story began this amusing thread. While it appears his best friend was not the tipping point, friend #2, may be. Eyes popping, my jaw dropped, and I just as quickly shut it again and said nothing. He later told me that all the plans will be forthcoming by this Friday and my ONLY job is to secure the tuxedo appointment. It can still go up in smoke, but in preparation I did recharge my camera battery today–three weeks early. Meanwhile, on more mundane matters, he committed to Boston College, which I mentioned has this active Hillel and really greatly diverse group of kids on their accepted student FB page. Happy Eagle Mum.</p>