<p>Looking for info on Ohio University in Athens? Any of your kids attend, or kids of friends? The Hillel sounds active: [Home</a> | Hillel at Ohio University :: 740-592-1173](<a href=“http://www.ohiohillel.org/]Home”>http://www.ohiohillel.org/)</p>
<p>Wondered about the quality of life? Trying to decide if we should keep appointment to visit on March 23, we’ll be coming from UPitt and seems silly not to go since we’ll be somewhat close. But just not feelin’ it and cheergirl doesn’t really care, not on her radar. Seems like it might be a safety school?</p>
<p>OU has long been known as a “B student” sort of school with a fairly active party reputation but also a number of truly excellent programs. The journalism school is top flight by any standard, and claims Matt Lauer as its current most famous alum. </p>
<p>There are about 20,000 undergrads on the main campus in Athens, the large majority of which are in-staters, but OU has always attracted quite a few East Coasters to add to its mix of Ohio suburban kids (mostly from Cleveland and Columbus) and kids from southeastern Ohio, many of whom are first-generation college students. </p>
<p>If you go, be aware that southeastern Ohio is basically northernmost Appalachia, and you’ll drive through a long stretch of impoverished rural coal and timber country before you get to Athens. Athens itself is a funky, little progressive bastion in the middle of that, and the campus was designed to look like Dartmouth’s. </p>
<p>Long story short: Ohio U is probably different from some of the other schools you are considering, but if you are as close as Pittsburgh, I’d take the drive and check it out. You might find it really interesting, or it might confirm some of your dislikes.</p>
<p>SomeOldGuy–Thanks so much for taking the time to share that thorough description! Today I’m leaning toward going on 3/23…tomorrow I might change my mind! I think every visit we can manage will be useful in some way, sometimes you need to find out what you DON’T want in order to figure what you DO want, right? I know that OU does have a football team (one of cheergirl’s criteria), do you happen to know if it’s a very spirited school?</p>
<p>Also…next school to research is Indiana University/Bloomington. I don’t see much chatter about it on this thread. Anyone have info to share? The Reform Judaism article from last fall lists it as #8/30 for undergrad Jewish population for public schools (14%).</p>
<p>Linymom, DD was accepted to Syracuse today! So she’s heard from all her schools and we’re moving on to the decision making process! It all seems to be happening so fast!</p>
<p>Jaynebe: Congratulations! Very happy for you and your DD. Did you see the new UD video? My DD posted on her FB and wrote “I love this school.” Here’s the link for anyone considering UD: </p>
<p>Congratulations everyone for the Brandeis acceptances. My nephew from California got in too and will be out right after Passover to see it again. He is very excited. Also looking at Northeastern, at which he was also accepted.</p>
<p>MY d is a frosh at Udel. She also fell in love Junior year, and knew right away she wanted it. She is so happy. Really loving her classes, and new sorority life. I can’t say enough.</p>
<p>If you are thinking about Ohio, might consider Miami of Ohio. Like Del., a beautiful campus. Stunning. in the middle of nowhere. In the end, not enough jewish kids for my daughter. From What I know, Ohio U is the distant third university in Ohio. OSU, and Miami seem to get the better students. I am afraid to say, the OU reputation is somewhat well deserved. Many native Ohio folks do not think highly of it. A real party school. I would say that it does not have the prestige of may other schools you mention.<br>
Indiana is a very good place for jewish kids. Lo’s of them. Beautiful campus. Bloomington is a great college town. Well worth a look. A bit easier to get into than Del…
I would personally put it much higher on a list than OU.<br>
Understand your love of Maryland. It is a beautiful campus. Good luck.</p>
<p>Cheermom,
I’ve never posted on this thread, but I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t agree more with SoCal dad. I am from Ohio and must say that OU has a very strong party reputation.(drugs) I don’t know if you have looked at Indiana but it is a beautiful campus. It looks like a park. The Greek system is very strong and the sorority houses are extremely nice. I know a TON of students that have gone there and they have all had a fantastic experience. Next year my nephew, cousin’s daughter and best friend’s daughter are all going to be freshman. They have a top rated business school and music/dance department. I’m not sure if your dd has applied yet but my daughter said the application was easier than ordering clothes on line. They don’t require teacher recommendations or an essay and she heard back within a couple of weeks. IU is supposed to be so much fun and have a close knit Jewish population. I hope this helps.</p>
<p>SoCalDad and Oliver17–WOW! I’m so grateful for this resource. OU does not sound like it would be the right fit for cheergirl! On the other hand, Indiana looks AMAZING! I’ve watched the slide show twice and the limestone buildings are unlike anything here in the Washington, DC area. The campus looks like a national park. And the facilities, sports, clubs and greek system…I want to enroll! </p>
<p>SoCalDad–Glad your daughter’s happy at UDel! Do you mind if I ask what other schools she considered? Right now, it’s unanimously #2 on our family list, right behind UMD, which had a spectacular basketball win tonight over those arrogant Dukies (sorry, couldn’t resist!). </p>
<p>LINYMOM–Loved the video! Watched it twice! I DO need to get a life.</p>
<p>Our weekend’s this spring are already full so I guess we’ll have to plan our IU visit for the fall, all the better to catch a Hoosier football game! I’m already afraid cheergirl will fall in love with IU, get accepted, and live the rest of her life in Indiana. OY! I need another glass of wine… :)</p>
<p>Shulamit and PDKof13–Congrats on Brandeis! and JayneBe–congrats on Syracuse! (Also on cheergirl’s list.) Have your kids decided yet?</p>
<p>Cheermom,
Forgot to mention- at IU for non residents automatic $11,000 per year scholarship for 3.8 GPA with 1350 SAT or 31 ACT and automatic $5,000/ year for 3.7GPA with 1250 SAT and 28 ACT. The weird thing is they don’t look at course load, upward trend or type of school. It’s all about the stats. Direct admit to the business school with either a 3.7 or 3.8, I can’t remember which. They also have a very good study abroad program. The best thing about Indiana is she can submit her app. in Augest and know she’s in by the middle of Sept. it’s such a relief getting that first acceptance letter. My middle daughter wants to go there to Indiana but she’s only a sophomore so we’ll see. She just likes to have fun. BTW, did you/she consider looking at OSU? Just curious. It’s really an up and coming school.</p>
<p>DS was redirected by Juniata. Still waiting on a few decisions, but I’m not too confident that he’ll get accepted at any of them. So his choices appear to be among Ursinus, Denver, Puget Sound, Goucher, OWU, Hofstra, Eckerd, Marlboro, and Adelphi. What do you all think of them? $ not really an issue (although most offered good merit). His interests are zoology/biological sciences and theatre. He’s a fairly quiet kid, indie, wry sense of humor, Dr. Who fan. Favorite food is my brisket (I guess I’ll have to figure out how to ship care packages).</p>
<p>Fun fact re Indiana University…does anyone remember the late 70’s movie Breaking Away? Indiana is the University and Bloomington is the college town it was filmed and takes place in.</p>
<p>pkdof13…another fun fact, not one to base a decision on, but when my S2 and I toured Goucher last Aug, it somehow came up that there’s a Dr Who club. It stuck w/ me because my S1 is a Dr. Who fan and a member of the Tardis Club at Michigan.</p>
<p>pkd, We were impressed with Hofstra. Our older son liked it and it was his second choice (he ended up at Binghamton.) It has a large Jewish population, is perfectly situated to be suburban but only a train ride away from NYC. The campus is beautiful and is strong in business and the arts with ideal location for internships…
In addition, they are very generous with merit scholarships even for those without stellar grades. Our son got offered $17K per year and he was a B student with 1900 SAT.
It’s funny how sometimes, it’s the little things that have an affect on you. We went up on a Sunday and they had the names of all 20 prospective students on a large board greeting them when you entered the hall. The woman running the event was an alumna, one year out of Hofstra. For whatever reason, there were technical difficulties and the PowerPoint presentation didn’t work. She didn’t miss a beat and proceeded to give the 30 minute presentation off the top of her head without the visual aides. It left everyone more impressed than it would have been had it worked!!!</p>
<p>@pkdof13
My DD has some overlaps with your DS, and we recently went to the accepted student weekend at Eckerd. It was our first visit, and she decided that she “wasn’t feeling it” there. She’s interested in humanities/writing/psych majors. If your son is a possible marine science major, the facilities and course offerings in that area (and of course the location, right on Boca Ciega Bay) seemed awesome. The cons were that the school was not at all diverse, and the gender imbalance gave the impression that the female student body was noticeably more academic than the male (I noticed lots of skateboarder guys, and my DD said many of the guys seemed to be “semi-slackers”). Also, we were surprised by a prayer offered up by the college’s Presbyterian chaplain during dinner. My DD was sitting with a Jewish prospie who said it felt awkward, and the current students said prayer was typical at Eckerd. They do have an active Hillel, however, and at least claim to be open to all religious affiliations. For my DH, the prayer in front of a “captive audience” was the deciding negative factor.</p>
<p>Public prayer is a cultural difference. For most Jews that I know, we consider that to be a private matter, and in public, it makes us feel uncomfortable. Yet, in some areas, its very common to have a public blessing, or grace before meals. I don’t think it’s meant to be instrusive in circumstances where all religions are welcome, just something that is probably tradtitionally done. I’ve been at many events where this is done, especially in the south there it’s common to use a church hall for a public meeting room.
I agree that we have the right to choose which college and situation we feel the most comfortable in. In some cases, it may feel intrusive. In other cases though, it’s part of the area culture and custom. If Eckerd feels right otherwise, then it’s up to the applicant to decide about this. I think it’s good that it was presented this way in accordance with the school tradition, so a prospective student gets an idea of the cuture of the school.</p>
<p>As you asked, my d applied to Del., Pitt, IU, Michigan State, College of Charleston, Oregon, Colorado, Alabama, and Kansas.
Kansas And Alabama were early safeties. Got in to both in late Ausgust. Took Pressure off. Alabama was not a serious consideration. More whimsical. Kansas has a good college town. Similar but smaller than bloomington. Shockingly large jewish population, and nice campus…Oregon was never really strongly considered. Boulder is breathtaking, but she had too many kid go there from our town, and ruled it out for that reason. CofC is a very interessting choice for the right kid. A real up and comer. Growing Jewish population. Charleston is a special city and would be a great place to go. Her real legit. finalists were Pitt, IU, and Del. Pitt is great. More of a city school. But un ilike BU and GW, it has real school spirit. She really liked it. I loved IU for her. While she could see herself there, in the end she was a bit overwhelmed with it’ large size. But if you love the size of Maryland, then it will not detract for you. As I stated in earlier post, she knew right away that Udel would be her place if she got in. It was a reach for her. She really worked it. Flew across country twice to meet with her admission rep. They really connected. The demonstrated interest and personal connection really helped her get in And she is thriving. I had concerns that she might struggle academically. Not the case. While she is working hard, her grades are very good for her. As I said many times, it all works out the way it is supposed to. Enjoy this process.</p>
<p>Socaldad: I’m glad to hear how well things are working out for your D at Delaware. </p>
<p>JayneB: Congrats on the Syracuse acceptance. Now the fun begins.</p>
<p>Cheermom: It sounds like OU is not worth a visit. I think others have mentioned JMU. It’s similar to Delaware and has a big cross-over in applications. It might be worth a visit. </p>
<p>PDK: Your son has a lot of great choices. I’ve mentioned before that my niece graduated from Goucher a few years ago. She had loved the small classes and
attention from profs. The male/female ratio is pretty unbalanced. I’m not sure how that would affect a male student. I guess your best strategy would be to narrow down the list and re-visit the top choices if you can.</p>