<p>@Fretfulmother, I transferred to the University of Oklahoma from Oxford College of Emory (Emory doesn’t offer the major I switched into). I used the Oklahoma athletic logo as my avatar since this is a college admission forum. </p>
<p>Anyways, Hillel at Emory is amazing. The Marcus Hillel Center hosts events almost every day which range from lectures on international relations, to cookie making, to white water rafting, to a good old fashioned Sushi in the Sukkah. The DUC, Emory’s main dining hall, has a smaller Kosher section (also used for students who adhere to Halal customs), but it’s not nearly as extensive as the one at Brandeis. For the vocally gifted, Emory also offers an all Jewish acapella group called Chai Tunes which regularly performs at Hillel. </p>
<p>Since Emory has a large Jewish population as well as a popular Greek scene, some of the most competitive houses are Jewish fraternities, and they tend to throw pretty good parties which are usually open to everyone.</p>
<p>To add onto Lily’s post, the new Rabbi at Hillel is the son of a psychiatrist I’ve worked with for years. I’ve heard nothing but positives about this Rabbi, his wife with amazing voice, and the toddler.</p>
<p>Just to add onto the Chabad conversation… the Chabad rabbi at Delaware was a fraternity brother of my real brother (at Penn). My brother can attest to how much fun they had together. What happens at Penn…</p>
<p>At Delaware, apparently the Shabbat dinners are better at Chabad than Hillel.</p>
<p>As someone recently posted, there’s no telling if your DS/DD will click with the Jewish groups on campus. My DD (a Delaware senior) tried Chabad and Hillel (I can’t say to what extent she actually gave them a chance) and didn’t connect. Still, she’s a Jewish studies minor and currently doing an internship with a Jewish organization that she got through her department.</p>
<p>All we can do is help them find a university that has the options. Up to them what they participate in .</p>
<p>FYI - University of Miami Hillel now has a Latin Hillel group!</p>
<p>Latin Hillel group sounds very cool.
There is no telling if our kids will connect with Hillel ( as much as we wish they would) but it’s still good to know that there is a Jewish presence on campus. I think at some level, it gives them a sense of belonging to know that other Jewish students are there too, whether or not they choose to participate.</p>
<p>Silver lining to the trip to visiting colleges in Iowa being cancelled due to snow, we got to visit Goucher. That visit was cancelled last month due to snow.</p>
<p>DS and I really liked it, it’s the first safety he has visited that he liked. The campus was great (a bit too much ice on pathways), people diverse and friendly, Jewish population 35%. Required travel abroad built into the course work, very good food, nice area. First school we visited that didn’t show off a rock wall, but a pilates studio (son doesn’t care about either).</p>
<p>I am a little concerned about academic rigor, son will have to go back and attend some classes. The vibe and fit were surprisingly great. The tour guide was very good and said that he came to Baltimore to visit Hopkins and was looking at schools like Princeton and Stanford but Goucher slowly won his heart.</p>
<p>Shulamit, Another thing he liked was the video game housing. I liked that it was the only specialized housing that you had to be a sophmore and have a required GPA. </p>
<p>Mom24boys, I’ve mentioned before that my niece graduated from Goucher several years ago. She had a great experience there. I’m glad you had a good visit. </p>
<p>As I just said to DS-HS-'16 yesterday, discussing this thread, I feel like I currently live in “video game housing”. His response, “hey, a lot of the time I use deodorant”</p>
<p>Just wanted to share this recent update from Elon Hillel’s FB page:</p>
<p>We are delighted to report that the food at Green World (formerly 1889 Restaurant) in Colonnades is Kosher (though not under rabbinic supervision). Their pots and pans are only used for vegan and vegetarian food. Paper plates & disposable cutlery is available. Geoff Claussen and I met with Aramark staff and reviewed recipes, ingredients, and food preparation procedures. Please contact Nancy with any questions. Enjoy!</p>
<p>On a new topic, if you want to get very angry, take a look at the post today by Willster under Tulane in the topic “deciding between Tulane, TCU, and Alabama”:</p>
<p>“This will sound incredibly racist but I know people who went to Tulane and transferred immediately because most people attending were Jews (which is absolutely fine just a little out of their comfort zone) as for Alabama, you can feel like an outsider very very easily there and would not recommend i. Out of those three schools TCU is a no-brainer to me, I am a senior at TCU right now and everything and everybody I’ve met have been the nicest and most fun things in my life. I would strongly recommend Texas Christian University for it has everything you could want”</p>
<p>Just to be fair, one thoughtless student shouldn’t sway a decision … I don’t know any Jewish kids there but back on page 808 of this thread Mauiman and RVM discussed TCU a bit and it is all very positve…Okay, clearly it isn’t going to be a school that most people on this thread will be interested in but for some Jewish kids, especially in this part of the country it could have possibilities. </p>
For a school in the DFW metro area, that’s a pretty low number, although probably not surprising given that the school has the word Christian in the title. </p>
<p>It does seem that there are no real private options in Texas for Jewish B students who don’t want to drive down to the Dallas Hillel. Can’t really complain though, since such an arrangement is great for the University of Oklahoma. </p>
<p>A large envelope (not fat, but full letter-sized) arrived from Wooster yesterday.<br>
Perhaps not the most haymishe of schools, but there’s a synagogue within a mile of campus where my boy can get his daven on, should be be so inclined.
And its facilities are other-worldly.</p>
<p>lilly - Keep in mind when considering “A”-ish schools that your D does not have many AP classes (I forget if you said “no APs”?), nor honors classes, which these schools tend to want. So they may be “reach” schools for your D, as opposed to “match” schools. Maybe she can take APs next year, as she sounds like a good student, and I think this would def. help her chances at some of the schools on your list. </p>
His response, “hey, a lot of the time I use deodorant”</p>