<p>RVM,
thanks for posting…I always enjoyed that issue but don’t receive it any more as we now belong to a Conservative synagogue.</p>
<p>I wish they had the same kind of guide to young professional Jewish life in cities around the US…it would really help our kids on the next big phase of their lives.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for sharing the information about schools, we are planning a trip to VA later this month to visit JMU, GMU and UMW. Also planned a whole bunch of school visits in September-October, many of these schools have fall open houses so it works out. </p>
<p>Pennylane2011, I also believe that my daughter would be academically better off in a smaller school and she actually doesn’t disagree but feels that overall she would fit better at a larger school. Fortunately, she doesn’t refuse to apply “if we think she should”. For now, we are focusing on building her list of medium-large schools because this is what she is interested in and then will definitely look at a few more smaller ones including the CTCL colleges. </p>
<p>I would love to know the opinion of this group about how many schools she should keep on her list. I know the general school of thought is to apply to 8-9 with 2-3 reach schools and the rest of them “safeties” and “matches”. However, for a student with a 3.2 GPA, there are very few schools where their GPA is in the mid-50 range, most would be reach schools even if they are safety for a lot of others. </p>
<p>So how do you narrow it down? Should they simply send more applications or do the admissions look at it as an indication that the student doesn’t really know where they want to go? </p>
<p>For those with kids already passed that point, how many schools did they ended up applying to?</p>
<p>^^^both my kids were in a different place when they applied to college but based on all of the CC hours that I have logged it seems to me that it really doesn’t matter to the other schools how many you apply to. Some will ask where else you have applied some won’t. If you apply to 15 schools I don’t think you are obligated to list every one. You have not necessarily applied to all of them at the time you submit that particular school’s application. The most important thing is to show interest to the top choices. There are a lot of reasons to narrow down a list but I don’t think fear of not being taken seriously by the colleges you apply to would be one of them. How do you narrow it down?..I think others can probably help with that more than I can but the three things that come to mind are:
1-Get rid of any schools that your daughter doesn’t want to go to.
2-If distance, size nature of life on campus are factors narrow those down.
3-With the stats you are working with I’m sure you can identify safety schools that she is happy with. Once you identify two or three of these, don’t apply to any school that your daughter likes less than her safeties.</p>
<p>From what you are saying it does seem to make good sense to cast a wide net and there isn’t anything wrong with that if it doesn’t make you and your daughter crazy!</p>
<p>I agree with Spectrum’s suggestions above. It’s fine to cast a wide net, but it’s a waste of time (and money) to have her apply to schools she doesn’t want to attend</p>
<p>Agreeing with above advice, but also adding that you should make a list of application due dates and focus first on those with rolling admissions or early action.</p>
<p>For example, let’s say there are 4 safety schools with various dates. It is possible that you could have an acceptance in hand by Nov or Dec, and would then choose not to apply to the last safety school on the list as it was no longer necessary.</p>
<p>The list does not have to be set in stone in August. Having 8-9 at this point is fine, but you may find as you move into the fall that one drops off or one moves up.</p>
<p>Also wanted to add that it is not any college’s business where else your student is applying. Yes, I know some applications ask. I would respond with only 1-2 school names and I would make name comparable schools - not higher. You don’t want any college to perceive that they are just a safety school on your list.</p>
<p>Woohoo! DD has her common app essay done! Now if her school would just send out the recs and transcripts. GC said not until mid-Sept. 
Still have 14 schools on list but I’m guessing 2 to 4 will come off as she realizes how hard it will be to get supplemental essays and gen apps done once school starts. 2 safeties, 2-4 reaches and the rest seem to be eye-level. Thanks to whomever posted recent lists of Jewish student percentages. Most of her schools are on the lists.</p>
<p>Guessing many on this thread are “on vacation” as postings have been sparse as of late. 
I posted this in the Common App forum but no one has definitively answered there so I am asking here as well. Hope that is ok. D submitted her common apps, hit the submit button, paid the application fees but the yellow dot never turned to green to register that they were submitted. Anyone have any ideas? I’m losing sleep over it! LOL Things that aren’t done yet are the school did not send transcripts or LORs yet, but do those need to be done in order for the yellow dot to turn green? The way things are written on the website, it doesn’t seem so. Appreciate anyone’s input! Thanks. Enjoy the rest of summer! We are off to Bama and Tulane this week for visits. :)</p>
<p>Do any parents have recommendations for when the best time to go on Birthright is? I’m a sophomore in college and would love to take advantage of the trip before I graduate. </p>
<p>As a side note, one of the directors of my school’s Hillel is from the University of Kansas which was previously mentioned on this thread for its engaged Jewish population, and he raved about KU’s program. My new school’s Hillel, located in the “buckle of the Bible Belt” is surprisingly active and I’ve been extremely impressed both by the number and quality of programs it puts on as well as the high participation rate among members. Oddly enough, out of the seven professors I’ve had at OU, three are Jewish, although one is no longer practicing. (I’m not taking any Judaic studies/ religion courses this semester).</p>
<p>If anyone is looking for a big DI flagship in the Midwest, I’d encourage them to check out the University of Oklahoma. It’s pretty much guaranteed admission for B students who get above a 24 on the ACT, and its president is one of the best out there. Plus OOS costs are actually slightly less than those at the UCs, at least for the first year.</p>
<p>Hi NYMom3Kids,
I believe there is a way to submit a question to the Common App and they will respond to D. I did it with my S when he was trying to do something with the app and it wouldn’t let him. He got an email response.
Also look to see if there is a hotline. Finally, D could phone one of the colleges to see if it was received. Sometimes the colleges even send an email to applicants saying, we’ve received your app, still waiting on XYZ.</p>
<p>We dropped DS at Goucher. Move in was a hectic day b/c we had to go to BBB to pick up the pack n ship order and aso to Target to get toiletries/food but because we got stufff there, we were able to get everything else from home into our car without a problem.
Goucher is doing a great orientation. Everyone is so friendly. DS has gone to Shabbat dinner and services, a dance, a BBQ at the college president’s house,an Oriole’s game. There have been orientation group meetings about safety, advising, academic areas. Today, an author (Colum McCann/Let the Great World Spin) is speaking to the students; they were all required to read his book over the summer. Classes start on Monday.</p>
<p>Thanks Shulamit. Will have D look for that today before we leave on college trip! So frustrating! Good luck to your son at Goucher!</p>
<p>Shulamit: Glad to hear that move in went well and your son is off to a good start at Goucher. That orientation sounds great.</p>
<p>Whenhen: I don’t think there’s a bad time for a birthright trip. Both of my D’s went in the summer, and enjoyed the warm weather and opportunities to swim in the Mediterranean and Dead Sea. If you don’t like hot weather, you might prefer going on a winter trip. I would consider going on a trip organized by your school’s Hillel, if they offer one. That way you will meet other Jewish students from your school. On the other hand, my D went on a trip with a friend from home and met kids from all over the country. Sometimes it takes more than one try to get placed on a trip, so it’s worth applying for a trip as soon as you can fit it in.</p>
<p>Thank you NYMom3kids and Momjr. NYMom3kids, good luck with the visits!</p>
<p>DD finishing orientation at Dickinson. She attended a brunch at Hillel, and said she met a number of nice students. The entire school seems to embrace a warm and nurturing environment.</p>
<p>So wonderful to hear about the good orientations. As far as Birthright is concerned there are different opinions. </p>
<p>S1 went sophomore year of college and enjoyed it.</p>
<p>S2 just went with a group of young professionals and i think he actually had a better experience. There’s not as heavy a hand on the participants and there is much more mixing within the group.</p>
<p>My S just finished the Freshman Fest at U of Delaware. It was a great opportunity to move in a couple of days early and meet some nice kids. He has a group from Hillel that he is hanging out with. He said that the actual program was not well organized but he was glad that he went so that he met people.</p>
<p>Tigerm: I’ve heard the same thing from other students regarding Freshman Fest at Delaware. The program was nothing special, but they did enjoy moving in early and meeting other Jewish students.</p>
<p>Best of luck to all the Freshmen starting out this fall.</p>
<p>whenhen:
There is no good time. That’s a dangerious part of the world and I would recommend that you stay away (full disclosure: My S went last year, against my strong objections).</p>
<p>It’s a very big world, go somewhere safer.</p>
<p>P.S. The folks who run Birthright could not have been ruder and more condecending when I voiced my concerns about his safety.</p>
<p>I haven’t posted on this thread in a really long time. I also don’t look at the thread as often as I used to. But I happen to look at it now and I see this post from soze.</p>
<p>soze: you are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I actually think that you are safer in Israel than you are in many other parts of the world. My S1 did Birthright during his Dec/Jan break this past year, as a sophomore. He loved it. He was there when there was snow in Jerusalem and in the desert for the first time in 30 years! In fact, he loved being there so much, he went back this summer and worked for 2 months doing an unpaid college internship, fully funded.</p>
<p>I cannot imagine a more safe place to be. There are soldiers everywhere, even where you don’t see them. He felt safe everyday riding the buses to and from work. He went to the gym and went out to eat everyday and lived the life of an Israeli for 2 months. </p>
<p>Again, imo it is a very safe place to be. Maybe the folks at Birthright were just trying to reassure you that your S would be ok? Or maybe they get that question a lot and felt over burdened by answering the question over & over? Don’t know…but just this year alone we personally knew of at least 5 or 6 kids going and not one person had any safety concerns or issues…did your S enjoy his trip? Was he safe?</p>