<p>JZmom, Hi there. We visited the jewish center in Pittsburgh when we took dd to visit CMU and Pitt. (Congratulations on the CMU decision!) Anyway, we were really impressed. The building was nice, kids were friendly and staff interested. The center I believe, actually services all the Jewish kids in the colleges in the area, with the bulk from Pitt and then CMU. When we were there, there were kids from both Pitt and CMU working on staff and studying. Check it out, I hope your son likes it!</p>
<p>I have so much nervous energy tonight and can’t sleep…so what do I do? Go on cc, of course! ;)</p>
<p>JZmom: As phillyartmom said, we too visited CMU and the Hillel bldg. when S1 was looking at colleges! Loved the CMU campus and it’s proximity to Pitt and the Hillel Bldg. was gorgeous! Looked newly built and very well run. CMU was just a bit too Science orientated for S1 who ended up at Tufts. S2 is my Science kid. He’s a h.s. junior. Congrats on your ED admit! My S was admitted ED too.</p>
<p>Jozuko: Good luck to S starting a “real life” job on Tuesday!</p>
<p>Remember, the Hillel numbers may not be accurate. I know my school self reports that around 3% of the students are Jewish, but when I looked at the membership in the Jewish Student Union (our version of Hillel), and subtracted the non-Jews, I found the actual percentage to be about 5% of the student body self identifying as Jewish. Even this was a gross underestimate, since many cultural Jews never join the JSU.</p>
<p>I am at least a little hopeful that DS will get involved in Hillel because he recently said to me that he was worried about meeting Jewish girls because if he didn’t marry one “we wouldn’t pay for his wedding.” I jokingly replied, “Are you kidding? After we get done paying your tuition, what makes you think we’re paying (our share) for a wedding, no matter whom you marry?” We then discussed all the reasons I hoped he would have a Jewish spouse, not the least of which is that DH’s parents are both Holocaust survivors. (no offense meant to CCers in “mixed” marriages - intellectually I know it is the quality of a person’s heart that matters but still…)</p>
<p>Is anyone else having problems accessing this website? Since the beginning of January, I can only get on very late at night or very early AM. During the day, I get messages saying the server is not responding or is too busy.</p>
<p>Good morning all. Do you realize we are about to hit 1,000,000 views! What an accomplishment.</p>
<p>JZMOM2 - I have not experienced the website issues you describe.</p>
<p>I do agree with you on the Jewish involvement at college - leading to meeting and dating other Jews. From there, we will just have to wait and see what happens.</p>
<p>We have hit 1,000,000 views! Very cool.</p>
<p>Kudos to our fearless leader, rockvillemom, for starting this thread! You are always at the ready with information related to Hillel, Jewish life and college in general. Thank you!</p>
<p>Welcome and congratulations to JZMOM2. Your son must be awesome to have been admitted ED to the Computer Science program at CMU.</p>
<p>And, good luck to Jozuko’s S with the new job. So nice to hear that a recent grad is employed!</p>
<p>LINYMOM: would you be interested in contacting the organization on Long Island about the women’s trip? I think I might.</p>
<p>rodney, and anyone waiting to hear from Binghamton (my alma mater!), my neighbor’s son heard yesterday (accepted), so you should be hearing soon.</p>
<p>Ditto what Jozuko posted re Binghamton. My older son is a Freshman there and said that he knows he made the right choice in colleges. It has diversity, strong academics and a very large Jewish population. I know of no other school ( maybe Yeshiva) that has a one week vacation for the High Holy Days…or one that gets 1500 people for a Purim party…</p>
<p>Niece on Birthright - now her purse has been stolen! No details. Thankfully she has her passport. Between this and the luggage being lost for a week - I don’t think she enjoyed the trip. Her friend never got her luggage. Not really the “roughing it” types - I don’t think this was a great trip for them.</p>
<p>ok rockville. I can’t believe that! When does she come home? I bet that she had fun despite all the drama. And once again, she can add it to her story that she will tell for years to come. DS1 comes home tomorrow. I was worried that the rain, hail and snow would ruin the trip for him, but at last “report,” he is “good”.</p>
<p>kids are more resilient and girls share clothes all the time anyway. She may complain but it may just be a segment of a fun trip- at least I hope so!</p>
<p>college4three: I was at a meeting most of today; just catching up here now. i will check into the women’s “birthright” trip tomorrow (LI involvement).</p>
<p>1 million views! Wow! What I’d be interested in is how many DIFFERENT visitors… or are some of us here just a bit obsessive (raising my own hand here).</p>
<p>Niece on Birthright - well - it turns out that it was another girl in her group who stole the purse! She has it back, minus the cash. Not sure of any details. Niece returns tomorrow. Cant wait to hear more about the trip itself.</p>
<p>Jozuko: haha…not for me; for my students…one was accepted (first choice), other had an application issue…thanks though!</p>
<p>Wow, RVM, your niece has certainly had bad luck. Between the weather, lost luggage and theft, I guess this wasn’t the Birthright trip of her dreams. I hope she managed to have a good time anyway.</p>
<p>RVM- that’s especially disapointing that it was a girl on the trip. It’s one thing to be robbed by a stranger, but to have the trust violated in the group is another. Did she report it to the group leader or her parents?</p>
<p>She can’t prove the girl - one of her assigned roommates for the latter part of the trip - took it. She left the purse in the room and went for a meal - when she returned - it was gone. In the ensuing search for the purse - they found some of her clothes in this other girl’s suitcase! The other girl claimed to have no knowledge of how the clothes ended up there. Then - later - the purse suddenly reappeared - minus the cash. Niece was able to borrow cash from other group members so as to have cash to continue traveling home. Her parents had cancelled the credit cards after the purse was stolen - and now they can’t uncancel - so she is traveling back without a credit card - which makes checking luggage and so forth difficult. It has been such an ordeal on her parents as well - hours and hours tracking the delayed luggage - and now this.</p>
<p>RVM- That is such a disheartening story. Feel badly for all parties involved.</p>
<p>RVM,
So discouraging that your niece is having so much bad luck and was victimized by a fellow traveller! I guess we can all take a lesson from this for future trips about protecting our kids. This also relates to security in a dorm room. How do you all advise your sons/daughters to protect their valuables from their roommates and roommates’ guests? Our older son had a locked trunk under his bed. I am not sure if he kept his laptop in that though.</p>