<p>@Naggymom congratulations on your son’s acceptance. My DS is, as LINYMOM has mention, a freshman at the School of Engineering ( Computer Eng) and my DD will start the Pre-Health program this Fall. I live in Miami and while my DS knew he will end up at UM he never thought he would like it as much as he does. I do not think he can imagine himself anywhere else now. He has made so many new friends and EVEN attended most of the football games. I do not have a lot of experience with the learning disabities department but I’ve heard in one of their presentations that they will help students with any type of learning disability/ ADD/ADHD. I do know for a fact that they do help students with organizational problems. The best way to know if UM is the right place for your student is to call and try to get a individualized visit to the campus. While the accepted students day is great, it is also very hectic. BTW, they have the best parent’s group around 
P.S. Do not get fooled by the palm trees: UM is NOT an easy school.</p>
<p>Congrats to all on the college acceptances :)</p>
<p>Congrats on the latest acceptances!</p>
<p>Hi everyone, I need some serious help. I couldn’t decide if I should start a new thread or continue on this one. My dd is a junior in high school. She has very good grades and stats ( 3.8 unweighted GPA (Her school does not weight) and a 32 ACT) Here’s the catch- she likes to get good grades but doesn’t love school or to study. I am trying to respect who she is and find a balance for her college options. She has not had any AP’s and only a few honors so that really limits her choices. Her top priority is having fun.( While maintaining good grades of course) There also needs to be a good Jewish population at the school. (Not sure how involved she’ll be but I want her to be around Jewish students) She likes nice kids ( really has an aversion to snobby kids.) She loves Tulane but her sister goes there and REALLY does not want my middle to join her. She also liked U of Miami but does not do well in the heat…(she likes how much there is to do in both of the cities.)I am kind of at a loss for the mid size, fun, strong academic schools with a decent population. My searches have led me to SMU, Villanova, Texas Christian etc…which are not an option. I don’t think she can get into USC although she’ll try. I think Emory, Rochester and Brandeis are all too “brainy”. Elon is on the list thanks to this site but I don’t know anything about it. She is also looking at bigger schools in the next couple of weeks just to get a feel ( U of Texas, Maryland, Delaware, Penn State, U of Georgia and Wisconsin in April.) She already looked at Indiana and although she liked the Greek life, she didn’t like that it was in the middle of nowhere. We’ll look at U of Michigan but I don’t think she’ll get in due to her classes. She does have a medium strong course load- pre calc, 3 years of a language, bio, Physics etc…just not the most challenging. She goes to a strong college prep private school. Any suggestions? I have been researching and am at a loss!! Thank you</p>
<p>Maybe UIUC? But I would also tell the oldest that it is not remotely up to her to exclude her sister from Tulane (!) if that is a good match.</p>
<p>Syracuse comes to mind.</p>
<p>Loyola Marymount (diverse school, decent Jewish life, in LA, pretty good parties)
Emory (not as brainy as you think, although more so than Tulane)
CU Boulder
University of Washington
University of Vermont</p>
<p>Would Boston U be too big?</p>
<p>University of Georgia might also be a consideration. GW? Lehigh? </p>
<p>Wow! I can’t believe the responses already. Thank you!
Fretful mother- A lot can change in a year and a half but I do feel bad for my older one. She is doing great away from her younger sister. Everything comes easier to my middle one and my older one has always kind of been in her shadow! But, I did put Illinois on my list. I never really considered it, not sure why. Is the town decent? She thought Bloomington was in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>dadinator- We have considered Syracuse- on paper it looks perfect. (Fun, jewish community good school) my concerns (and maybe you can speak to them) It is so hard to get to, there is little sunshine a lot of the year, so much snow AND I’m worried about the students. She is very much a midwesterner- is it a tough crowd? </p>
<p>Whenhen- Loyola looks good but it’s only 5% Jewish (250 Jewish undergrads. I’m hoping for a little more. We’ll look at Emory. I always heard it was very “brainy” and not that fun. We are going to Atlanta in 3 weeks anyway for UGA and my sister lives in Atlanta! Boulder is on my B list just because it’s so far and other schools that are as good academically are closer. I’ll look into Vermont and Washington, but again, we are so far being in the midwest. </p>
<p>Naggymom- We have discussed BU at great length. Boston is such a great city but there’s no campus. She really wants a defined campus. (She thinks it’s more of a college experience and easier to meet people when there is a campus. )</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all the ideas. If anyone has any others PLEASE let me know. ( Especially the 6,000-10,000 undergrad enrollment)</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>I agree with the posters who say not to let her sister interfere with her college choices. If she loves Tulane, she should apply. If she ends up going there, the two sisters can have different social circles and interests. Colleges are big enough for both of them.
I agree with the state school choices for Greek life and fun ( but the option to be serious about college). Although she is not enamored with studying, there is no school that she won’t have to work hard at to succeed. College is a step up from high school but she will figure that out. Of the schools I am familiar with, Delaware, UGA and Elon seem to have many down to earth kids (This doesn’t mean that others do not). They are worth a visit.
What is your state of residency? </p>
<p>College is a big place. My nieces never see my son and they all go to U of Miami. Do not discard Tulane. Kids are very possessive about their choices “their school”, but it so half the battle if the kid really wants to go there. There are other advantages to you as a parent to have both kids at the same location. With time the oldest will learn to be a mentor to the youngest. Other options: University of Maryland, Northeastern U in Boston, and believe it or not University of Alabama (great merit and Jewish life). I still think that the heat of New Orleans is similar to Miami and the city is a lot nicer ( sorry Nola). I would not eliminate it from your short list quite yet.</p>
<p>All good suggestions, and ddahwan mentioned Alabama, which I will second from experience. If you’re looking for fun, not too brainy, nice kids, you won’t find many schools better than Bama. Even the large honors college is filled with smart kids that happen to be down to earth, fun, and unfathomably nice. I’m from NY, and for me it’s strange how polite and friendly everyone is at Bama. As for Jewish life, there are over 700 Jewish undergrads, rapidly growing. New Hillel center (donated and regularly attended by a lovely NJ-raised woman) is very active. My son met his girlfriend there at high holidays, a Jewish pre-med from Las Vegas. Go figure, Jewish kids from NY and Vegas go all the way to Alabama to find each other. Not sure if it’s important to you, but with a 3.8 and 32 ACT, she would be guaranteed a full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>I’m glad you’re getting such good advice! Re. UIUC, it’s in Champaign-Urbana. I am from CU and so therefore I detest it. 
However, lots and lots of people love it for college because it’s really a quintessential college town that has a lot of the characteristics it seems your DD might enjoy. @Chardo - question re University of Alabama, is the Hillel really active? Is there daily minyan and/or kosher food etc.? My son would be looking for those if possible. (He says he doesn’t plan to <em>attend</em> the minyan, but its existence will be the sign of enough potential Ms. Right candidates attending…)</p>
<p>lilly-As long as you’re considering larger schools, take a look at the University of Kansas. It has good academics, great school spirit, thriving Jewish life and Lawrence is a great college town. College of Charleston might also be a nice mid-sized option.</p>
<p>Lilly17: I transferred to OU from Emory’s two year LAC, and have a good deal of familiarity with the main campus. Though Emory isn’t a party school, there are parties Thurs-Sat, and many of them are open to everyone. Greek life, though it’s different than Greek life at UGA is still a significant part of campus life and a higher percentage of students participate than at IU (also GLOs at Emory are much more diverse than at almost any other school). </p>
<p>Plenty of Emory students aren’t extremely intellectual and most still love the school. It’s not a UChicago by any means, although the average student is “nerdier” than the average UGA undergrad. I will say that many of my friends found it very liberating to be in an environment where most students were intelligent, valued education for the sake of education, and were interested in the material. </p>
<p>^ As far as I know, there is no daily minyan. It’s not “that” active. They have weekly shabbat dinners and bagel brunches, and other non-religious activities (tailgate parties, bowling, etc.) that are well attended. Don’t know for sure about kosher food, but I doubt there is much available. There are few if any students who keep kosher. If that’s important to you, might be better to look elsewhere. Though, I will say that DS’s girlfriend grew up kosher, and eats kosher-style at Bama (no meat with dairy, no pork, etc.). </p>
<p>GWU was mentioned upthread for Lilly’s D. Why not American U? Defined campus and a little more relaxed than GW.</p>
<p>Fretfulmother, if your son does not require strictly Kosher dining on campus or a daily minion through Hillel, colleges with a Chabad might be able to meet his needs. Attendance and activity vary between campuses, so you would need to look at each one.
As to meeting potential Ms. Right, we parents have threatened to start a shidduch thread in about 5 years. </p>
<p>@Pennylane, thank you! I think Chabad is not really what DS would be looking for (considering that he wears his kippa all the time but a Tshirt that says, “this is what a feminist looks like” a good 90% of the time). More like a traditional egal minyan available would be ideal. Kosher 3meals/day isn’t necessary, but I would say kosher daily dinners are a strong positive for a college. And, count us in for the shidduch thread!</p>