OP- hugs. YU is definitely a “fit” school and if you haven’t found your peeps yet, it’s likely not a fit.
I think some posters are describing out of date information. UMD (if affordable) is likely a terrific option for you, as is Rutgers and Binghamton. I don’t think the Jewish community at Stony will be as robust-- although you will never run out of math or physics there given how strong their grad programs are , but you’ll need to evaluate for yourself.
I suggest reaching out to the Hillel Director, JLI couple (these are sponsored by the OU, and are typically a young family specifically working to support the needs of observant kids on campus) and Chabad Rabbi. They can give you current, exact numbers on who shows up for minyan, how many, what the university resources are and what the external resources are. Every campus in the Northeast has had some tension since October 7th, but in many cases, the administration has been responsive, got law enforcement involved when or where appropriate, and things have calmed down this year. Many of the loudest agitators who showed up (Columbia’s encampment for example) were discovered to be 32 year old malcontents with no university affiliation at all. And some of them have moved on to other causes.
UMD- a heavy target school for every yeshiva high school in the US for the kids that don’t want or have ruled out YU for example. Don’t let out of date information scare you off.
As far as your transfer credits go- every college will evaluate your current transcript in a slightly different way, but that’s what the transfer admissions folks at these universities get paid to do. Don’t be shy about reaching out. Ditto on the costs-- an out of state flagship may or may not be affordable, but get information directly from the source, not third or fourth hand.
Brandeis is the best - my daughter is a sophomore there and loves it. It will meet all of your religious needs, and it’s so great that the Jewish students don’t have to be worried all the time like at other campuses. Another poster mentioned the steep price, but they are very generous with merit and financial aid. I know that Brandeis is looking to lure in transfers from other campuses more hostile to Jewish students, so they may be excited to have you and throw some merit money your way. Worth looking into.
Did you attend some seminary after HS? If you did, check will these credits transfer. Most likely schools like UMD will not give credits for them.
I would strongly suggest visiting before wasting a lot of your time on transferring process.
Do you have anybody from your community who attend these schools? Try to reach to them.
Idea to contact Chabad Rabbis on campus and reach students through them is great.
Another option is to attend one of the schools mentioned Brandeis, Ruttgers etc, live off campus and attend local Orthodox synagogue off campus.
Last but not least. Keep in mind that on this board there are many Jewish people but hardly any are religious Orthodox (some may have religious families and have some familiarity.) As a result, they have limited understanding of your needs. Only you can truly figure that out.
Note that both of these colleges are on the above list posted by momsearcheng, and they will be affordable.
Because you don’t qualify for need based aid, I doubt that Brandeis (also on that list) will be affordable, but you can still apply to see what type of merit they give you (usually less for transfers than incoming first years, but they’ve had some recent struggles.) Run their NPC and see what it estimates for COA. Net Price Calculator (I am not sure if their NPC is accurate for transfers, you might call and ask them.)
You have some research to do and calls to make. Good luck.
I would strongly suggest visiting before wasting a lot of your time on transferring process.
I definitely aould want to try to visit, but if I will be able to visit it won’t be until late March/April which I think will be after some/many of the applications would be due.
Another option is to attend one of the schools mentioned Brandeis, Ruttgers etc, live off campus and attend local Orthodox synagogue off campus.
I really would want to ideally live on campus but if I were to do off campus I’d need to be somewhere with either great public transportation or within walking distance of everything I would need (I do not have enough money for both rent and a car) which I don’t think would be the case in most schools.
Keep in mind that after freshman year many students live off campus (UMD), or some already committed for living/learning communities with required classes that may not be interesting for you (UMD again…).
Before diving into transfer look at required classes (especially general education ones.)
My DD was accepted to Honor College with Presidential scholarship as a freshman at UMD with some LLC that required some “great” but “useless” classes for her like “Women in revolutions” that year (classes change). We were instate. She decided not to attend…
Also think what you plan to do with Math and Physics. Very likely you will need Master’s degree.
FYI, UMD and Maryland in general are heavily left leaning while Orthodox community is usually right leaning. I mean not just politics but general views and values.
I think OP understands that you don’t think UMD is a good fit for him.
He can explore “do I need grad school?” and “is this U too left leaning” on his own. Presumably he’s already thought about that when he made his initial application list!
Honestly it sounds like Bing would be a great option for you, large Jewish (and orthodox) community, math and physics, on campus housing with kitchens and in your price range.
Thank you all so much for your help! I think you’ve all given me a lot to think about and research, so I’m going to do more of that over the next while and hopefully I will eventually figure out what I am doing!