<p>Re: Brandeis being too Jewish…it could be that some students have experienced hostility or exclusion from fellow Jews for being too secular, or not having the “right” ideas regarding Israel, etc. Perhaps they would find that they wouldn’t encounter this problem at Brandeis, but that reasonable concern might lie behind their discomfort with a school that’s “too Jewish.”</p>
<p>Yes, I’m describing my own experience. I was very surprised to find that I was comfortable at the Hillel at Harvard. Too often, secular Jews face judgment within Jewish organizations (ironically, this attitude often comes from Reform and Conservative Jews who are pots and kettles themselves when it comes to the law). It’s great to find a Hillel (or Chabad) where the community truly accepts everyone.</p>
<p>Incredible Hillel.
Own building. Shabbat services and meals. Many activities sponsored at Hillel and on campus by Hillel. They also deliver matzah ball soup to the sick. Hillel has their own website, as expected, but also a separate student and parent facebook page to learn what is going in. Building is open many hours during finals week for the kids to use as study space.</p>
<p>No cost to the kids. We support them every year by sending in a check or two (whenever the envelope comes in the mail.)</p>
<p>The school in general is great to and for the kids. This is one more thing to love about the U.</p>
<p>I saw that the Claremont schools were previously mentioned but Pitzer was the specific school suggested. Pamona and Scripps might also meet the OP’s criteria. All of the Claremont schools are small but they are basically on one campus. Hillel is a consortium organization and doesn’t belong to one school but it is an active organization. Students at any one school have the option of taking classes at and even majoring in a subject at another school. These may not be the strongest in any one of the criteria that you are looking for but they can meet each criteria and they are in CA. It is a really nice environment and worth checking into.</p>
<p>seems like a bump, but i had some more information on the muhlenberg hillel if anyone wanted any.</p>
<p>I am not a parent, but i visited the campus and my dad and we went into the hillel on a Friday afternoon. All of the students were unusually friendly, and asked us if we wanted to stay for shabbas dinner. Some of the students we met in the hillel weren’t even Jewish and they really look forward to the friday night dinners. They are also starting to build a brand new hillel which should be done in the next year or two.</p>
<p>I found that information on the Hillel national website is sometimes inaccurate.<br>
Susquehanna, with a small Jewish population, has hired a rabbi to both keep the Hillel energized and teach additional Jewish Studies courses.</p>
<p>Momonthehill - you might want to post this on the UNC-Chapel Hill forum, where you’re more likely to get a response. The Jewish student population at UNC is not very large but the Hillel is thriving, with lots of activity, enthusiasm, and a beautiful new building.</p>
<p>Cheers to you! My d was accepted ed and will enroll this fall. The only thing we have noticed is that people either have never heard of Brandeis or dont know how competitive it is. The rare few are impressed.</p>
<p>What has been your experience? What year is your child in-- are they happy?</p>
<p>wilners - I’m not sure who you are responding to, but welcome to the Brandeis family! my D is class of 13, accepted ED last year. she LOVES Brandeis - early in the semester her Facebook status was “Brandeis is paradeis!” we’ve had the same reaction - most people in our small Ohio community have not heard of Brandeis, but those who have (here and elsewhere) are impressed.</p>
<p>you might want to start a thread with your questions in the Brandeis forum - you’re likely to get more responses there.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback, skie. I did try a search for this topic on the UNC forum, where I came across one archived thread within the last year that didn’t seem to have much of a response, but I’ll probably try starting a new thread on it in a few weeks, once decisions come out.</p>
<p>I echo PRJ’s Brandeis welcome to wilners. My D is also a very happy first-year, admitted ED last year. She is very happy with the academic life and with the friends she has made there. I asked her specifically, and she says that her friends are also happy at Brandeis. She has had visits from out-of-town Brandeis friends over this long winter break, and they are all looking forward to getting back to school.</p>
<p>It is true that Brandeis is not as well-known or well-understood as it might be. We are in the NYC metro area, and many people haven’t heard of it, or think it’s a religious school. My daughter says that her friends report the same thing. Still, those who are familiar with it know that it’s an excellent, academically demanding school.</p>
<p>A friends’ D graduated from Brandeis and now is working for a hotshot firm on Wall Street. She loved her Brandeis experience and said it was “like summer camp with classes!” </p>
<p>Well, that’s what she said 1st semester freshman year. But she did love it!</p>
<p>Momonthehill -
I know a few Jewish students who have transferred from UNC. The Jewish population is pretty small. A Jewish freshman that I know is very happy, but she did mention that she was suprised at the number of religious Christians she has met. No anti-semitism, but some people who never met a Jew before. Depending on your child’s background, he or she could be in for a bit of culture shock.</p>
<p>Pomona/Pitzer/Claremont Colleges: We visited during Passover. Hillel for the Claremont consortium shares building space with other student religious organizations. The Hillel office is downstairs. When we wandered in, two students asked if they could help D1, and reacted with great delight on hearing that she was touring. They were “planning April” (or maybe May? I was skulking out of sight), and were very enthused about upcoming activities. The students were using Hebrew terms, then paused to explain in English, but D1 said she understood, saying she’s active in USY. That led to a protracted round of Jewish Geography to find out who knew who’s friends, then sending text messages to all and sundry to say OMG I just met so-and-so, she’s SO great!!! </p>
<p>The internationally-themed house on Pomona’s campus had a kashered-for-Passover kitchen for meals during the holiday. Hillel offered kosher for pesach snacks.</p>
<p>D1 noted that the Hillel student leadership was sophomores, not upperclass(wo)men, saying that sophomores would never have the opportunity to have that type of leadership role at many larger campuses. Which could be a bad thing or a good thing, depending on the type of student (wants to walk into something developed vs. willing to work to create something).</p>
<p>With much of my family in the Bible Belt, yes Southern Christianity takes some getting used to. You don’t run into much prejudice in daily life but you will get weird questions. My mother was once asked, in all seriousness, “Where are your horns?” The worst part for me has been when someone wants to read you Bible verses because they want to protect you in case the world ends. In other words, more weird than threatening. It really helps if you actually know about Judaism because then you can answer questions instead of deflecting them and feeling bad about that. </p>
<p>If a Jewish kid is going to the South from the North for school, I recommend reading a little about the history because it explains a lot. There are a number of books, from the recollections of a kid who grew up in Jackson during the Civil Rights era to histories of how Jewish peddlers became merchants all over the South. </p>
<p>I had no idea people think Brandeis is religious. Very Jewish yes. But Jewish in the sense that kids around Boston say BC is Catholic. BC is of course an actual Catholic school but kids around here think of it as having a lot of Catholics, not as a religious school.</p>
<p>Knowing that we would be away for Passover, we initially called Brandeis and asked if we could attend a seder there, not realizing campus itself was closed. They recommended us to Tufts. </p>
<p>There were several options at Tufts - a more traditional one, a liberal / reform one, and a social justice one stand out in my mind. We chose the liberal / reform one, bought tickets (went very smoothly) – picked up the tickets literally as the girl at the Hillel was emailing us – and attended the seder. It was nicely done and my kids really enjoyed meeting the students. It felt just traditional enough but recognized that, well, those of us from Reform backgrounds aren’t exactly the strictest of the strict and we’re ok with doing some things symbolically :-).</p>
<p>I say this as a Northerner – I don’t know why I’d really want to “answer questions” of someone who is so clueless as to be reading me Bible verses because they want to protect me in case the world ends. I think the best thing is the “uh, no thanks, we’re just fine here” with raised eyebrows if need be, and then just get the heck away. I don’t need to justify any beliefs I have or don’t have to anyone, much less people who intend to “save” me.</p>
<p>Did you know Tufts has the top ranked Hillel in the country ? It is absolutely gorgeous inside ! We had Shabbat dinner there ,and they were all very nice and welcoming to my son .There is a Conservative as well as Reform service . Yale is nice as well .</p>
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