<p>Isn’t FDU for non traditional students?</p>
<p>My D will be a Junior this coming year, but we are starting to put a list together of possible schools to look into/visit. I’m wondering if anyone here can shed some light on Jewish Life at Macalester? They don’t seem to have a Hillel, but have some sort of Jewish group on campus. It would be great if anyone here can share some more information. :)</p>
<p>My friend’s son is a junior there. He loves it and was a Florida kid. He is not overly active in the Jewish scene but works at sleepaway camp (teaching Jewish cooking) with vibrant jewish life. I will ask him.</p>
<p>MomofGrits, with a 3.89 GPA, you may want to consider test optional schools.</p>
<p>How much can you afford?</p>
<p>MomofGrits: My DD’s BFF (from her URJ camp - they grew up there and both still work there) goes to Rider in NJ and loves it. Not sure how active she is in Jewish life there although I know her Jewish identity is very important to her. From what her mom tells me, it’s a nice small school. Just one person’s opinion, but it’s all I’ve got on your list of schools!</p>
<p>To all my friends on this thread who I’ve “known” for a long time - tomorrow I am going dorm shopping with DS! And I had my first tears today about him leaving… in less than a month! We went to a “summer send-off” this past weekend and it was great. He met other students including one who will be living down the hall from him (and the parents were great too!). It is getting too real.</p>
<p>Momofgrits I think that with a little practice the ACT can be raised and her choices will increase considerably. I am from SFlorida and for someone with with a good GPA like her I would not recommend a second tier school like the ones in your list. Be patient, a few points more can make a big difference. Here in Florida if you study two year in a Community College you are guaranteed a spot at a state school for junior and senior year; that represents a considerable savings. Do they offer something like that in your state?</p>
<p>Hey everyone, hope its a good summer so far for all! </p>
<p>Haven’t posted in awhile. Trying to re-frame Cheergirl’s college list in terms of reaches, targets, and safeties now that some app deadlines are mere months away-YIKES! </p>
<p>As background: 3.7-UW and 4.4-W GPA. 27 ACT-super scored. 1720 SAT, re-taking both tests. Good EC’s.</p>
<p>“Dream school” is east coast, rigorous, strong (cultural) Jewish population, football and "rah-rah"culture, Greek system, close-ish to home, medium to large.</p>
<p>Highest on current list–UMD (our flagship, sadly a reach), UDel, Indiana. Also considering UMiami (FL), MiamiU (OH), Elon, Tulane, Syracuse, UConn, UMass-Amherst, and U-Wisconsin. Ruled out UPitt and JMU after visits. Major–Undecided. </p>
<p>Would greatly appreciate feedback on our list from veterans of this process! Also, are we missing any good fits? Whats the word on University of Alabama? Any significant Jewish population or trend in that direction?</p>
<p>Last but certainly not least, Cheergirl will need merit money or scholarships to go OOS. Thanks in advance for any and all guidance! :)</p>
<p>Shulamit - Which Haiku is your son’s? I followed the link and it looks like there are thousands!</p>
<p>You might want to consider Appalachian State University in NC and contact their Hillel for actual details about number of students and local Jewish community. It seems to have what your daughter is looking for in a school. Not sure about the scholarship aspect, but OOS tuition isn’t as high as some others.</p>
<p>Figured I would pop in and update you on some of the schools we are going to look at the week of Aug. 6th (some I have not heard mentioned here and others of course I have).
I will report on each when I return in case anyone wants some feedback. My son’s stats going into senior yr. 1980 SAT’s (took them twice and signed up to take them in October, would be nice to get 20 points higher and break that 2000 mark)? 3.6 GPA (honors AP and IB as well as CP classes), works, has his own business on top of his actual job:</p>
<p>We will be visiting:
BU (think this would be a great fit)
U Mass Amherst
Union College (interview)
Skidmore College (interview)
Syracuse U (don’t think it’s him, but everyone tells us we should see it and he is curious)</p>
<p>Possibly seeing:
Clark University
Connecticut College
Brandeis</p>
<ul>
<li>will apply to Quinnipiac but not seeing it, it’s a safety so will see it if needed</li>
<li>will apply to UVM but not seeing it and don’t think he will go there</li>
<li>Interview set up for Colorado College (his first choice) in the fall</li>
<li>I am still interested in Elon for him so will possibly visit there too or just apply and see what happens?
-Will see Tulane (2nd choice) in the fall
-will apply to U. of Miami but it’s a reach
-saw U. of Colorado in the spring and he loved it, I really want him to fall in love with an east coast school so he is closer to home</li>
</ul>
<p>Momofgrits- I second the sentiments of ddahwan- do these schools with merit aid offer the cost and quality of education available if you use the HOPE Scholarship at schools in GA?
For instance Rider University has a 72% admission rate, and tution is $35K a year. Geogia Southern has a 52% admission rate and tuition is $7 K a year. You would have to get over $30K in merit aid to make the costs the same.
I wonder if there are any schools in GA that could work as far as enough of a Jewish population?</p>
<p>Hi momentscaught,</p>
<p>I have one D at Tulane and D2 will be a freshman at Miami. Tulane is actually more selective than Miami - 27% vs 40% admission rate though the median SAT ranges are very similar. Good luck with your search. D1 loves Tulane and there is a huge jewish presence on campus. I hope D2 will be just as happy at Miami!</p>
<p>Another UMiami freshman here. My niece is a junior at the Business School and loves it. I am from Miami so I do know a lot of people that go the U. My son is not yet in so I cannot tell you all about the school but two things I can say: they are have great staff. I have called so many times for so many reasons and have always had my questions answered and my calls returned (and felt welcomed). Second and probably the most important reason is that all the students that I’ve met speak highly about the school and that is very important to me. This year my daughter will try out for a spot. Her ACT is still at 28 so we hope by September she can raise it to be at a more comfortable position.</p>
<p>We were just in NC and saw Ap State. It is a gorgeous campus and there is a Temple in Boone. Boone is a cute town. We have a friend whose child goes there and adores it.</p>
<p>Momofgrits, Some of the schools on the list you posted are very expensive (Lynn, for example). How much merit will you need to make this work?</p>
<p>cheermom: I have a DD who will be a senior at Delaware - very happy there although didn’t get involved very much in organized Jewish activities (only a little). What questions can I answer for you about UD? My DS will be a freshman at Miami in just a few weeks! I’ve also had very good experiences with interactions with the school, including engineering and housing. I can tell you more as the school year starts. I can tell you, though, that your DD won’t get merit aid with an ACT of 27 at Miami. That would need to go up! (My DD, who also had a 27, only got merit at URI.) What was her M/CR on the SATs? That’s what most colleges look at. Also - the DS of one of my close friends (also Jewish) goes to Alabama - he transferred there from Temple. Loves it. I know he’s not involved in Jewish life there. I looked into it and it wasn’t enough for us, although I know they are building up. Wasn’t worth it to us to look at Alabama.</p>
<p>Re Macalester, seems like there were a lot of Jewish students. No Hillel because of having to take a position on Israel, but an active Jewish group, and Minnesota’s oldest congregation (reform) is less than a mile away. My D felt very at home there, although it ultimately lost out because she felt its academic offerings were limited in her areas of interest.</p>
<p>Hi cheermom,</p>
<p>Here’s the link, thanks!</p>
<p>[Going</a> to Mars » Entry](<a href=“Going to Mars campaign - MAVEN”>Going to Mars campaign - MAVEN)</p>
<p>Pkdof13 – thanks so much for the info on Macalester. It looks good on paper so far but I don’t think we will get a chance to visit since it’s far for us. Glad to hear they do have a Jewish group at least. I didn’t really understand the part about Israel but I’m new to all of this.</p>
<p>Hi Liny, no matter how experienced we are and how many times we do it those sentimental moments still hit us. Enjoy the preparation for college and the send off. I think we all know that as sad as it is to see them go we are thrilled that they are able to move on with their lives. Good luck to all the 2013 freshmen and parents.</p>
<p>Shulamit: Hadn’t gotten around to posting for a while but I put my vote in way back when you first mentioned it and I enjoyed the haiku.</p>
<p>ORNCKG: I can only guess that you haven’t followed this thread enough to get the gist of it. But if you stick around for a while you will see that the parents on this thread are really searching for schools that will be a good fit. I’m not sure if you are a parent or student but many students in high school really don’t know where to begin and that is a big part of what we as parents are trying to help our students with and a big part of what we as a forum have worked together to help our kids accomplish. That is finding a school that they can get into, afford and that will fit what they are looking for so they are in a place that supports their growth and wellbeing. You won’t find any push going on regarding status and rankings. If you go back to Rockville mom’s first post she pretty much laid the ground but this thread has grown to be so much more. It has become a community that people come to and stick with for a variety of reasons but has always been supportive and communal. I have been visiting this forum from the beginning and I can tell you that you will be hard pressed to find the competitive spirit that is present in so many forums on CC. As RVM said in her first post if it is helpful for you or if you can offer suggestions then by all means stick around. If it is not helpful for you no need to be here. This is one of the longest ongoing threads on CC so there are obviously lots of folks who have found it valuable. I would expect that it is often a springboard for those conversations that you are advocating. It provides us with substance to share with out kids. If both the kids and the parents don’t know much about what is out there it is very hard to have that conversation.</p>
<p>Thank you spectrum2!</p>