<p>Hofstra University: Is this school appropriate for our discussion? I notice a large Hillel, has a Business school and easy to get to from NY city. Anyone know about Hofstra? Feedback is greatly appreciated. Do they give merit aid?</p>
<p>I know a bit about it. It has a good business program. Hofstra still has a lot of commuters, but also gets a fair number of kids from New England, in addition to New York, and New Jersey kids. They can offer some very good merit aid, although FA from what I have seen is not great. One of my sons got into their honor’s program and was offered enough merit aid to make it one of the best deals for freshman year. The problem was that they required a rising GPA to keep that award. I believe that by 3rd semester they wanted a 3.2 to keep merit aid. I knew that we would have sleepless nights worrying about our son keeping his merit aid. I would say that it is a school for the B student. This school, I believe has gotten stronger over time.</p>
<p>I live about half-hour from Hofstra. Lots of Jews, accessible for B students. Easy train ride to Manhattan (not sure where the train station is near the campus, but it can’t be too far). Yes, they give merit aid, but I don’t have personal experience so I don’t have details. It’s completely suburban – borders some really nice areas (Garden City) and some not so nice (Hempstead), like a lot of colleges. Across the street from the Nassau Coliseum (is that a plus or a minus? they have concerts and hockey games, if you can call the Isles hockey these days) and near a huge mall.</p>
<p>They just dropped their football team, I believe for financial reasons. Their B-school is well-known here on LI. I think they are going to be starting a medical school too.</p>
<p>The D of a friend of mine from NJ is starting there in the Fall (this month -eek!). Not everyone is from LI.</p>
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<p>mdcissp, I just PM’d you about Pittsburgh. For the others, I was discouraging about Robert Morris, but much more positive about Pitt, and I also suggested visits to Chatham (for a girl), Duquesne, Point Park, Washington and Jefferson, and Allegheny.
Good to hear that Santa Cruz is OK for B students; in my day it was for A students but it is in an absolutely gorgeous setting!
I was surprised at Brandeis’ SAT scores, so I included it as a possible reach for some of these students. Brandeis doesn’t require SAT subject tests anymore either. We did not have a particularly intellectual or overachieving tour guide at all there…in fact, my daughter thought that it did not seem intellectual enough! It just shows you how skewed a single visit can be. My impression is that Brandeis has a social justice orientation and that the admissions officers would value this highly in an applicant’s profile, possibly making up for lower grades or scores.</p>
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<p>So true, so true.</p>
<p>One more thing about Brandeis… someone asked our tour guide what he did NOT like about the college. His biggest problem was being a Republican there, particularly during the last presidential race. Defintely says something about the student body. It’s a plus or minus, depending on your S/D’s views…</p>
<p>Babson, Bentley and Suffolk are worth looking to into in Boston, especially for business majors. The first two are outside the city, with good access. Suffolk is downtown.</p>
<p>We definitely got an intellectual vibe from Brandeis, but I also agree there was that strong social-justice vibe too.</p>
<p>Also, mdcssp, are you from Maryland and do you have a car? If the answer is yes, it is much, much easier to drive to Pittsburgh than to fly. Driving only takes about 4 and a half hours and this is generally less time than the whole flying thing, including getting into Pittsburgh from the airport.</p>
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<p>I was just over on the Elon forum and someone posted that per the Elon Hillel website - the incoming freshman class is between 7 - 10% Jewish. That’s a nice increase from the previous statistic of 250 Jewish students total.</p>
<p>A short drive from Boston into RI to see URI or Bryant might be worth it.</p>
<p>Hofstra was on the short list for a safety. I am discouraged about the loss of the football team and high commuters? Wouldn’t Towson fit the same bill but with a better reputation?</p>
<p>If given no location or course of study restraints, schools like BU and Northeastern - what others have that same feeling for B, Jewish students, with merit?</p>
<p>Just saw this thread - sorry if its a re-post!</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/973425-boston-area-schools-b-plus-student.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/973425-boston-area-schools-b-plus-student.html</a></p>
<p>cherryhillmomto, does Boston U. have a football team? I know that it is big on Ice Hockey and Crew.</p>
<p>I don’t know 
sorry…</p>
<p>That’s okay. I was just wondering because you did not care for Hofstra bc of the commuters and lack of football. Then you named NEU and BU, so I just got curious.</p>
<p>I just looked at Suffolk’s website. This could be an interesting safety. Would it be safe to assume that Jewish students would join BU’s hillel? Suitcase school? and where would we find the retention rate? </p>
<p>Shout out to rockvillemom - you have me asking the important questions, now! Retention is very important to me!</p>
<p>cherryhill, is football a must have? Would your child consider a school like Clark?</p>
<p>Last time I looked at Suffolk, they had housing problems (meaning shortage in housing). Don’t know if that is the case currently.</p>
<p>I don’t think Clark is an option for us. I am quickly learning that a smaller school in a city would be at the minimum, looked at, but a small campus school is OUT! </p>
<p>Football can go either way. After further discussion, “football” means “athletic” games to watch! Who knew!</p>
<p>BU has a football stadium that you drive past on Storrow Drive so I assume that they have a football team (I think I’ve heard the play by play on the radio), but their strength is hockey. </p>
<p>Clark is probably an underrated school. But, Worcester is definitely nothing to write home about.</p>
<p>One of the articles that was part of the Reform Judaism magazines college spread was about women. I read it out loud to ShawD as it implied that going farther away from home was better for women’s self-confidence (and implicitly performance) and that Jewish women tended to go farther away from home (than Jewish men or non-Jewish women, not sure). I write this from a hotel in Halifax where ShawD and I saw Dalhousie and King’s today. ShawD’s mantra is that she doesn’t want to go either in the state of Massachusetts or anywhere ShawWife could drive for breakfast. So, she was pleased to hear the article validate her feelings. Thanks for posting this.</p>
<p>shawbridge, enjoy the rest of your trip. </p>
<p>I agree that Worcester is nothing to write home about. I don’t know how often a Clarkie (is that what a Clark student calls themselves?) gets into Boston. I assume one can do this on a weekend.</p>
<p>cherryhill, not in the city, but how would UCONN work for your family?</p>
<p>cherryhill, check out Pitt. It is in the city and has football, basketball and lots of other sports and a really nice Jewish University Center.</p>