<p>Sat 1990/1380 (740 reading/640 writing/610 math) male,turn 20 on may 30 2013
Background-super orthodox Jewish family , we literately were not allowed to talk to girls.i was taught Non-Jews are ANIMALS /secular education is an obligation and frowned upon,the main focus of our education is Talmud.
9TH -12TH GRADE-struggle with doubting my faith throughout high school .Despite school hours being 7AM -11PM we only receive 3 hours of secular education daily ,and in 12th grade we receive no secular education at all.A+ student in Hebrew subjects Except a o B+ because of my growing atheistic tendency ,which i received at the end of 12th grade.Secular subjects are a joke and i am allowed to skip classes if i pass my regents,Something i did at the start of every year, allowing me to receive a passing grade and rarely attending class .</p>
<p>Like all boys in my culture i studied in a Jewish seminary for a year (beis medrash),and was expected do so for another 4 or 5 years .I however left and became and abandoned my faith at the end of slightly before the end of my first year.
I am now alienated and ostracized by my friends family and community ,i am an obligation ,a loved one now only worthy of pity and condescension .I spent this previous year at home doing nothing ,lamenting my alienation ,unsure how i am to enter secular society,scary and foreign as it is
Take sat and get 1990(2200 ON PRACTICE TESTS WAS NORM) .despite my complete absence of education i have done fairly well .
I DISCOVER BRANDEIS ,AFTER I AM TOLD IT WILL BE A ENVIRONMENT WELL SUITED FOR INTELLECTUAL INCLINATION .I FALL IN LOVE WITH IT.
I AM STARTING SUMMER CLASSES IN NYU IN 2 DAYS.</p>
<p>NOW I WILL LIST MY PROS AND CONS ,AND I HOPE YOU CAN ADVISE ME ON MID YEAR ADMISSION TO BRANDEIS .
PRO-
(1)1990 SAT AND 740 READING DESPITE HAVING MINIMAL SECULAR EDUCATION EXPOSURE
(2)FAMILY IS KNOWN TO GIVE MULTIMILLION DOLLAR ENDOWMENTS , ALTHOUGH I DOUBT THEY WOULD GIVE MONEY TO SECULAR INSTITUTION
(3)SKILLED AT REASONING FROM YEARS IN TALMUDIC SCHOOL ,WHERE I WAS THE NUMBER 1-2 GUY IN THE SCHOOL.BRIGHT ALL AROUND GUY.
(4) TEACHER WHO TRIED COAXING ME TO GO TO GOOD COLLEGE AND SKIP SEMINARY WILL GIVE AMAZING LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION
(5) COMPELLING LIFE STORY ,MUCH I HAVE SKIPPED FOR BREVITY
CONS
(1)SECULAR GPA OF 2.5
(2)MYOPIC ,SHELTERED LIFE
(3)MAJOR RISK
(4)WILL BE A JUNIOR AGED FRESHMAN</p>
<p>You are coming from a unique situation. I personally was raised Jewish and have friends who are Orthodox, but have never met somebody in that extreme of a situation. Realistically you will be able to get into college no problem with that SAT. The secular GPA will hurt you a bit, it might make Brandeis a bit unrealistic. Have you looked at any other colleges?</p>
<p>(yeah its funny how we alienate and demonize less religious sects ,you sure are lucky to be spared the burden)
No , but i would really appreciate some advice</p>
<p>Lol, not completely (I grew up conservative, but am atheist, not the greatest combo), but not to the extreme that you did. I am assuming you have not saved money for college/have limited financial resources. Because of this it might be best to go to community college first and get your basic credits out of the way, after that you could transfer to a four year college (perhaps Brandeis) and finish up your education there.</p>
<p>Wow tough combination .If you don’t mind my asking how did your conservative parents respond to (i can barely say it)your (oh the horror of it!) profession of atheism?</p>
<p>money is not a problem .I worry one day this will be used to manipulate me ,but i have no problem paying for college</p>
<p>Lol I haven’t officially come out to them. Various people in my local Jewish community know (either I told them or it got around to them), that is where the negative response came from. If my parents know they have not told me they know (it does not help that my mom works in the Jewish community), I plan to tell them when I leave for college.</p>
<p>If money is no problem apply to Brandeis, but make sure you have a backup.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help its hard to get people to comment so your advice is a breath of warm summer air as i sit here waiting for response.lets just hope your parents don’t take it the wrong way , i think a lot of the time people wait until mom and dad pay for college until they"come out of the closet" .For better or worse i still identify as a Jew for some reason it still feels like(and as i imagine u likely do as well) that I’m part of a special club or something</p>
<p>I am paying for college myself so that is not the issue, it is more that I don’t want to be living at home. Yes, I still identify as Jewish, the longer you are with more open-minded people the more you will find atheist Jews (several of my good friends are).</p>
<p>Just asking, how are you paying for college? You have to report your parents’ income on the FAFSA to get federal loans, and colleges require it to give need based aid. Will they help you with this? You can’t borrow all you need for college (and shouldn’t), and your parents or some other adult will have to co-sign for loans over a certain amount.</p>
<p>Here is another thread you might find interesting:</p>
<p>It has sort of turned into a “monster” thread (very long), but I think the first part of it probably has good suggestions (I haven’t looked at it in ages, no idea what they are still talking about 16,000 posts later!). But it might have more college ideas for you.</p>
<p>Does Brandeis even do mid-year admissions? Most of the stronger colleges don’t these days, but you can look at their admissions website for information.</p>
<p>the way i see it your right. for some reason their is some kind of gravitational pull that brings jews together. I realized in the middle of the thread that you were not in college yet,for some reason i assumed you were a Brandeis student.</p>
<p>thanks i will check hat out for sure. Yes my parents will pay for me to go to college so i am OK in that department. i did not realize schools frown upon mid year acceptance ,so thanks for bringing so vital a point to my attention.</p>
<p>It isn’t that they frown on mid-year acceptance, they just really don’t have a process at many colleges to even apply for mid-year acceptance. I know some schools will offer a January start to some students who apply for the fall. I think this is because more students study abroad in spring than in fall so they have housing openings to fill starting in January. But an awful lot of colleges do have a spot on their applications to ask if you plan to enter for the second semester or term – they assume everyone is applying for fall. You can tell by looking at the college admission website, and if they have a paper application in .pdf format you can look at that and see if there is even a place to do that.</p>
<p>Are you sure your parents are ready to pay for an expensive college? Colleges have a “net price calculator” on their admissions or financial aid websites where you can plug in information on your family’s income and assets to try to figure out what your costs will be. You should have your parents help you with this.</p>
<p>Also, you need to consider how summer classes at NYU would be considered. You could end up with transfer student standing instead of freshman standing, which can affect merit aid if you are eligible (less merit aid for transfer students). The transfer application process is different, too (different application, different timetable). You could probably get some information on this from a college’s website, but you might need to call admissions or email with them as well.</p>
<p>ah ha i see ,unfortunately i do not qualify for any aid ,and my parents will have to pay full tuition ,thankfully they are willing . i guess its a different perspective since in my culture high school costs a lot , mine was 30 grand per year</p>
<p>I appreciate the concern ,nice of you to look out for me.I was not clear ,my parents understand college and grad school will cost almost $500,000 ,and are ok with thati am fortunate enough to have parents who care about my future independence and will take care of my financial needs</p>
<p>Just wondering, are you drawn to Brandeis because of its relatively large Jewish population? Is it the only college you’re considering?
I went to a private Jewish school K-8 with 3 hours of secular subjects a day, and despite doing well in the environment and loving my religion I have no interest in applying to Brandeis (much to my parents dismay) because I don’t want to be in a place where the majority of the population is any one thing, even if that one thing is something I’m part of.</p>
<p>May I recommend Binghamton University? We have a lot of Orthodox students. It’s extremely easy to keep kosher, daven, be shomer shabbos, even dip your silverware in the mikvah if you want. Our Chabad House is really really active. We have 400+ students attend every Shabbat dinner, and a significant amount come to lunch the next day and seudah shlisheet then havdalah. There’s a decent amount of students who daven daily and there’s always a ton of stuff going on during the holidays. It’s not unusual to see people walking around campus with tzitzit. I think it’s a really comfortable environment for Jews of all levels of observance and it might be a good transition into the “secular world” because we tend to lean Modern Orthodox rather than ultra. </p>
<p>With your grades, you could probably get in. I think it’s worth looking into. Let me know if you have any questions! Here’s some more info: [Chabad</a> Center for Jewish Student Life @ Binghamton University](<a href=“http://www.chabadofbinghamton.com/]Chabad”>http://www.chabadofbinghamton.com/)</p>
<p>Baruch… CUNY tuition. Good school in NYC. Many Jewish kids, Hillel, etc…
Brandies (as you already know) possibly Boston U as well as many NE schools have a secular, non-religious Jewish population where you can become active in Hillel, etc and meet some great kids and bring your experience and knowledge. BF’s daughter is at BU and very involved in Hillel and Israel. Doing study abroad in Israel right now. She’s not Jewish, yet… her father recently converted to Judaism) but has found ways to do good things on campus and become involved. Jewish population at BU but also a diverse one where you can meet lots of students.
YOur story will make a great essay! Be sure to proofread it for grammer.</p>
<p>I am Jewish and have have known many Orthodox Jews and I have NEVER heard them refer ( privately or publicly) to any non- Jew as animals. I do not want you leave the impression that all Jews share your parents fellings.</p>
<p>Baruch Ha-bah, welcome to CC. The most important advice to every applicant is to make a list of schools that are safety, match and reach, relative to your own scores. Write an essay that knocks it out of the park, that is truly you, and have others read it for grammar check and clarity so “any” reader can follow your thinking and narrative story. Keep your own writer’s voice but show it to others whom you trust before submitting. Listen to their critiques, and if you find them valid, you make adjustments. For example, if someone says the tone is frantic or sarcastic, take them seriously and make adjustments. (I’m not saying that is anything of what you’ve written, I just pulled those out of the air as excamples.) When you are in an isolated situation such as you are currently, you are wise to reach out for feedback on the search as well as the application you will write.</p>
<p>Please look at 5 or 6 schools total, up and down the scale of SAT averages. You can apply to several and choose from among who accepts you. My brother and nephew liked Brandeis very much. Others discover large percentages of students with orthodox, conservative, reform, reconstructionist and secular backgrouns to the tune of 30 percent in “secular” universities, both public and private. </p>
<p>You can make this journey. The critical thinking from a Yeshiva education can be applied but I hope it might be a process of building upon (not rejecting) your core and background. I was very moved once by my nephew who went from mainstream orthodox day schooling into Columbia U. He said that they were able to build upon who he was, and as he said it (if you can imagine this) he put his own hands to his head and widened them. He became who he was and more, through the intellectual development at Columbia… but he said they did not make him reject who he was. He built upon that core. Today he’s a successful doctor with a fine wife (nurse), three kids, a good life. He struggled in some situations when the academic learnning negated things he held dear, but he didn’t let it undo him either. Just something to consider. </p>
<p>Good luck to you. For percentages of Jewish students on a wide range of campuses, please google the Reform Judaism link on that subject; sorry I’m in a hurry typing so can’t summon the title right this second. They give some estimate of
percentages of Jewish students on many campuses, including such places as State Universities in NY State, as well as private schools that are Liberal Arts Colleges or Universities.</p>
<p>Of spare-time interest perhaps: have you read a recdent book called “Unorthodox” about a girl raised among the Satmars who broke rank and enrolled in Sarah Lawrence to major in writing. You might enjoy reading about her experiences.</p>