I ran a quick search on College 411 with the only restrictions being 5000-10,000 and ‘very difficult’ as the admission difficulty level.
As I suspected, several catholic schools popped up, as the size seems to be common in the catholic school groups - Fordham, Villanova, U of San Diego, Santa Clara, Boston College. Others are the same schools that have come up on this thread: American, Case Western, SUNY Oneonta or New Paltz, College of NJ, Tulane. Two that haven’t been mentioned are Chapman and Marist (no longer catholic affiliated).
If the search is changed to ‘most difficult’ for admissions up come the Ivies in that size range (Brown Harvard Penn), Emory, Duke, Notre Dame, Lehigh, U Chicago, Northwestern, Wash U, Stanford, Tufts, William and Mary.
Are either of these groups what she is looking for? If not, she needs to decide what factor(s) should be changed. Smaller/bigger size, region of the country, difficulty of admissions?
Lots of good advice here. I’m wary of the the bit about a school “ranked in the low 30s or better” because those rankings are nuts. And I would suggest taking her to see some safeties that are maybe a little TOO safe. That will make everything else look better by contrast.
I still think that the OP ( and daughter?) has too many “things” and this is trickling down to her daughter, who seems to be rejecting all suggestions. The student should be the driving force once a budget is firmly established. A budget that goes up and down depending on ranking is too confusing and not a good way to choose a school, especially because a higher ranking does not equal fit.
If money is no object, the student can apply to Emory ED. Her chance may be higher. I would add Michigan as another reach however mom will not allow this. Many of the other reaches are too reachy, in my opinion. Cornell ED may work as well depending on the major…but it is still a reach.
There were quite a few match schools mentioned but they all (?) seem to be nixed by either the OP or her daughter, with the exception of Lehigh, Binghamton and Rochester (?).
Personally, I think Delaware fits this students criteria. My friends daughter had a 31 ACT and a 4.0. She was in the honors program and loved it. The size is perfect for this student and there is a great town right there. I think I have said everything that I need to say…
I second the motion for College of Charleston. The school is great, and they have a vibrant Jewish community. Charleston is a terrific small city.
In addition, the school has a great honors college that provides some good perks for students. Your daughter might get a great merit award there as well. Cost isn’t exhorbitant anyway.
And Charleston would not, IMO, be considered the “deep south”, which the OP had on the “rule out” list. Agree that the OP’s daughter should keep an open mind about schools south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Weighing in on CofC , especially Honors College. Great program, strong Jewish community on campus, kosher dining hall and lots of students from NJ. Also close to an international airport . Just under 11,000 students .
Just so you know for future reference, while it is within Orleans Parish, it is on the edge of it and has a much more suburban than urban feel. If you have ever seen WUSTL, it is a very similar situation. Other than being outside the geography specified by the OP, Tulane would be a good fit.
New Orleans,Charleston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, and probably to a lesser degree cities like Charlotte, Dallas, Jacksonville, etc, are in the South but shouldnt be considered the “deep south”. Not a big fan of stereotypes.
Thank you for all the responses. I really do appreciate the thoughtful replies and I have gotten some good ideas. We will be in the DC area in a few weeks and you guys have saved me looking at GW and will take her to American instead since she is more likely to like it and we will not have a lot of time as we are going to a family event.
I have carefully read each and every response. Will be off looking at colleges and visiting (preplanned) starting in the morning, seriously
As the parent of a white jewish girl from Los Angeles I feel your pain. My Daughter is freshman at Tulane and while it is not even close to the region you wanted to stay within, I can tell you that there is an active and involved Jewish presence (Hillel and Chabad) and none of the political nonsense found in many other schools.
When we were searching last year we did a driving tour of theLehigh valley and say many fantastic schools.Have yo looked at Franklin and Marshal in Lancaster, PA? My husband and I loved it and they have a brand new Hillel building and a kosher kitchen built right into the main dining facility allowing for those who want to keep kosher to eat with all the rest of their schoolmates. Lehigh seemed to have a significantly active Jewish organization. My daughter loved Lafayette but could see that while there was Hillel, the number of kids that attended was minimal.
As we toured I actively enquired about a BDS, etc presence on each school campus. I asked students as ell as Administrators. I was please to find that at the smaller colleges and Universities there was not too much of that. Good luck in your search.
^^ Jewish daughter is a freshman at Lafayette. Last weekend was family weekend and we all enjoyed a bagel brunch at Hillel, along with at least 50 people. Apparently their monthly bagel brunch attracts a wide variety of Jewish and none Jewish each month. Daughter also goes to Friday night dinner and services with Jewish friends, often bringing her non Jewish friends along as well. 10-12% Jewish population so while not huge, Jewish kids definitely aren’t unusual.
What is wrong with UMiami? It has a number of boxes checked that your daughter wants (suburban, large Jewish population (within a very interesting diverse mix of US and international kids), large school feel (football team, frats/sororities, wide variety of schools/majors) easy transport from NYC and strong academics with lots of smart kids on merit scholarships which your daughter would easily qualify for (it is no longer Suntan U). Since your thread is looking for match schools, Miami should be a low match/match.
I second American U as well as a good choice given your daughter’s severe constraints.
