<p>The University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, VA) might be a good safety. It has majors and/or minors in computer science, linguistics, and classics. At 4,000 students it’s a bit smaller than the target size, but there is a Hillel/Jewish Student Association. There are no graduate student TAs.</p>
<p>UNC-Asheville</p>
<p>^^^Tulane eliminated their computer science department after Katrina.</p>
<p>^I know they eliminated a lot of majors but computer science?! :eek:</p>
<p>[St</a>. Olaf College | Northfield, Minnesota, USA](<a href=“http://www.stolaf.edu/academics/departments.html]St”>http://www.stolaf.edu/academics/departments.html)</p>
<p>St. Olaf is 3000 and has classics, linguistics and computer science</p>
<p>oops, I missed the no religious affiliation. Sorry. Anyway, the class/department catalog is worth a look to compare to other school offerings even if it’s a no go for your kid.</p>
<p>^^ sorry, again for skimming and missing Jewish bit. I read the first page and skipped down to the end.</p>
<p>University of Denver, Skidmore, Wesleyan, Oberlin.<br>
Don’t know the exact number of students but all are over 2500 and relatively high Jewish population. (Oberlin over 25%, from my old notes).</p>
<p>saintfan–St. Olaf is a good school, probably not a good fit for a Jewish kid that is observant though.–which I see you noticed but just wanted to point out for the OP.</p>
<p>SUNY Geneseo is a great choice…</p>
<p>US News ranks Geneseo as the top “Up-and-Coming” and “Best Undergraduate Teaching” regional university in the north and also ranked Geneseo second in the “Best Public Schools” category in the north. </p>
<p>Kiplinger ranks Geneseo as the #2 Best Value for Out of State Students</p>
<p>[SUNY</a> Geneseo | SUNY Geneseo](<a href=“http://www.geneseo.edu%5DSUNY”>http://www.geneseo.edu)</p>
<p>If he’s serious about linguistics, that becomes the academic long pole in the tent. A small college may have some courses but very few of them will have a robust department. Classics, too, won’t necessarily be well represented at every otherwise good college. </p>
<p>Reed, Pomona, and Swarthmore may be among the exceptional LACs that can mount decent offerings in both linguistics and classics. More generally, I think you’re right to focus on somewhat larger schools like the Ivies or Stanford - but then, the “few ECs” may be a show-stopper.</p>
<p>Look at average class sizes if you’re concerned about possible lack of undergraduate focus. Especially consider the ratio of big classes (>50). This won’t be a factor for linguistics or classics but it will affect other courses.</p>
<p>The University of Chicago has strong linguistics and classics departments, and decent CS. It may be a little less selective than other top-20 schools with respect to ECs. Average class sizes are among the smallest anywhere (comparable to top LACs). It is very urban, although the campus itself forms its own community. Compared to Georgetown, the immediately surrounding urban environment is not nearly as nice … however, if he’s a nerdy dungeon master kinda guy, he’ll be more likely to find his tribe (and probably better academics in those fields) at Chicago.</p>
<p>Sadly, Geneseo, Chapman, Lehigh and Ithaca do not seem to have Classics programs. Geneseo, for instance, offers nothing beyond Intermediate Latin in the Language and Literatures Dept. Thus not a fit for DS. But I do hear great things about it, and thank you.</p>
<p>mommeleh, U of Denver only offers Latin as a minor (again, nothing beyond intermediate Latin), which is a shame because it’s the right size. Oberlin and Wesleyan are nice suggestions, though both are just about 2,600 undergrads; Skidmore looks a bit light both in the classics and the comp sci depts (though I claim very little understanding of the latter), but possibly worth a look.</p>
<p>Oberlin is actually an excellent LAC destination for a student who observes Judaism, because of its kosher eating co-op option, a Hebrew house (upperclass offcampus living option), vibrant Hillel that rotates service leadership among denominations (or did so several years ago, hope they still do). It has a very strong, historic department of Religion that, mid-20th century, provided the intellectual leadership that redefined the undergraduate academic study of Religion nationwide at top secular universities (It is intellectually deeper than just “Comparative Religions.”) I’m thinking he could find resonance between his coursework in the departments of Classics and Religion. (Full disclosure: my D majored in Religion with minor in Jewish studies, at Oberlin). </p>
<p>Re: number of enrolled students, at Oberlin and everywhere else you look, factor in how much the students remain on campus or depart for weekends. At Oberlin, they stay put as Cleveland doesn’t draw them away. LAC’s in the Northeast corridor have a bit more departure on weekends to the student-attractive cities of Boston and NYC. So if that number reflects a desire for more students as a social base, I think the weekending patterns of each school is a factor.</p>
<p>If, however, the number of students represents a basis for providing more courses and fewer sabbatical leaves affecting course offerings, then I think Oberlin like all LAC’s has that dilemma as compared to universities.</p>
<p>My only concern from the student you describe is that the gaming seems to be dominant, where you say “no strong EC’s.” He’ll find an active gaming culture at Oberlin, too, where many students “embrace their inner geek” (D’s phrase) and continue gaming heavily throughout college. (ETA: but they do other things, too). Maybe this is just an area I don’t understand, but to me it seems a waste of brain. Of course, my parents’ generation trivialized rock music back in the day, without understanding it as social glue for us.</p>
<p>[The</a> Newberger Hillel Center at the University of Chicago](<a href=“http://www.uchicagohillel.org/Hillel_Website/Welcome.html]The”>http://www.uchicagohillel.org/Hillel_Website/Welcome.html)</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.uchicagohillel.org/JewChicago/JewChicago.html]JewChicago[/url”>http://www.uchicagohillel.org/JewChicago/JewChicago.html]JewChicago[/url</a>]</p>
<p>^Right!! Did OP consider UChicago? And other schools with UG curricula founded on Great Books or other classical foundations.</p>
<p>"The answer is quite simple (because we are Jewish), but I have no wish to derail this thread into the merits or wisdom of these parameters. Just like some kids won’t go where there is snow, my kid has no wish to spend four years below VA. "</p>
<p>He should look at Vanderbilt. My step-nephew is a student there and they have been heavily recruiting Jewish kids for several years now and have been very successful. To get them they have been giving lots of money. My step-nephew got $38K in first year and $40K his 2nd year (and his parents make well north of $300K/year.) I don’t know what they gave him this year as my sister didn’t mention it but I assume around the same amount. </p>
<p>He is very very happy there - he’s in a frat (I assume the “Jewish” one but don’t know for sure.)</p>
<p>I believe the enrollment is approx 6000. </p>
<p>And as another poster mentioned - Emory. Zillion of Jewish kids there.</p>
<p>^ Those are very high amounts, so your step-nephew is fortunate. The average merit scholarship at Vanderbilt is about $25K/year. Vanderbilt awards merit aid to approximately 9% of incoming freshmen (139 of 1600 for 2011-12). The total amount of merit aid they award must be one of the highest among top 20 national universities. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt does not have a linguistics department. They offer a few related courses under anthropology and other departments.</p>
<p>^ Those are very high amounts, so your step-nephew is fortunate. The average merit scholarship at Vanderbilt is about $25K/year. Vanderbilt awards merit aid to approximately 9% of incoming freshmen (139 of 1600 for 2011-12). The total amount of merit aid they award must be one of the highest among top 20 national universities.</p>
<p>It wasn’t merit aid.</p>
<p>^ emilybee, I assumed since you were talking about using money to attract a certain kind of student, you meant merit aid. If not merit aid, and presumably you don’t mean need-based either for a family making $300K+, then what kind of grant are you talking about? A special endowed scholarship only for Jewish applicants? Do you know about how many of these are available and in what average amounts?</p>
<p><a href=“Campus & Community Archives | New Voices”>Explaining the Boom | New Voices;
<p>^ emilybee, I assumed since you were talking about using money to attract a certain kind of student, you meant merit aid. If not merit aid, and presumably you don’t mean need-based either for a family making $300K+, then what kind of grant are you talking about? A special endowed scholarship only for Jewish applicants? Do you know about how many of these are available and in what average amounts?</p>
<p>Nope, Vanderbilt considers what he got need based aid. Private colleges can pretty much do anything they want and they do just that when they want certain students to attend. </p>
<p>My kid is at a small top 25 LAC which gives no merit aid at all and he got way more FA then our EFC would have suggested. I believe he got what he did because he is a URM at that school and they wanted him badly enough to throw lots of money at him. </p>
<p>In both my son’s case and my stepson’s case all the money is coming from the respective schools, no federal $$$ (although my son was also offered work study.)</p>
<p>This is why I always recommend to put down on the apps that they need FA regardless of what one’s income/assets are.</p>
<p>Emilybee - Wow - Vandy is giving “need-based” aid to families making over 300K?? I guess our full pay, big FAT tuition payment to Vandy is helping make that possible! Who knew??</p>