<p>I am looking for a college where the general student and faculty are socially and community minded. I also am looking for a college that has a really good study abroad program, and would prefer a college that has a large Jewish population (10% of enrollment). I am really involved at my school in initiatives regarding race, religion, gender, and orientation. </p>
<p>NOTE: I want to make a difference in my community, and am particularly interested in educational equality and poverty relief, and I would like a campus with that common interest.</p>
<p>I intend to enlist in the Peace Corps after I graduate.</p>
<p>The easiest way to do that is to go to the Hillel site and use their college guide. You can sort by Jewish percentage from high to low. You’ll need to calculate the Jewish percentage manually, but 10% is pretty easy to do. You should wind up with about !50 schools, but some will obviously not be acceptable, as they’re in Israel or are 100% Orthodox institutions, or they’re seminaries. Once you have that list, you can then start applying your other criteria.</p>
<p>I think the obvious school to start with is Brandeis.</p>
<p>Swarthmore’s whole institutional trademark is intellectualism and ethical justice. Philly’s a train ride away for community service.
Study abroad is available and is what you make of it, though over 40% of Swatties do study abroad. At least that’s what my information session guy said.
I know Swarthmore is one of the most diverse schools, don’t know if it has large Jewish presence. </p>
<p>I say all of this as a secondary (more like third, fourth, ninth…) source</p>
<p>Look at Oberlin. Study abroad programs tend to be open to students from any college, so that requirement isn’t hard, but Oberlin also interesting abroad programs in Asia that are exclusive to Obies. It also has a very activist student body and a lot of Jewish students.</p>
<p>MrMom, I’m not sure how accurate the Jewish enrollment numbers are on the Hillel website. In at least three instances, I’ve found errors with the reported numbers and the actual figures. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t necessarily discount colleges which enroll fewer than 10% Jewish students, especially if the schools are medium sized or larger. For instance, Jewish life at the University of Washington is outstanding but I don’t think more than 1/10 Huskies are Jewish. </p>
<p>What do you mean by educational equality? Do you want to be the one designing policies or the one actually implementing such equality? At many schools, there’s a heavy volunteering component with plentiful opportunities for civic engagement. Emory and Vanderbilt might be worth looking at since over 25% of Emory students are actively involved in Volunteer Emory, and Vanderbilt hosts a noted school of education which frequently brings in many education policy leaders (IIRC, Vanderbilt is also the home to Alternate Spring Break which has been adopted by many colleges).</p>
<p>Many public schools do more than give lip service to educational access and state flagships are often educational laboratories in which state ed. policy is crafted. I know at my school, we’ve had at least a few state legislators come to the educational department to find out about secondary and post secondary funding. These state schools often enroll a more truly economically diverse student body which might offer more interesting perspectives on educational equality than at a school which although civic minded, has only a token amount of economic diversity.</p>
<p>Swarthmore and Haverford both have significant Jewish populations, but they’re uber-selective. In addition to Oberlin and Brandeis, which are great suggestions, check out Muhlenberg and Bard.</p>
<p>The Hillel website is useful in a fashion, but the RJ magazine is going to serve you much better. Even looking at the ads is useful–tells you what schools are trying to appeal to Jewish students. But don’t limit yourself to the magazine lists. Come up with a list of schools that fit your other criteria, then investigate their Jewish communities. </p>
<p>One other thing to consider is that a smaller percentage of Jewish students at a really large school can mean a LOT of Jewish students. And you may also want to get a sense of what the degree of involvement is on campus. Take a look at the websites for the college Hillel or other Jewish organization. Are they up to date, or are you getting 404 errors?</p>
<p>Check out Macalester in Saint Paul. It has a very robust emphasis on internationalism and social justice. About 60% of Mac students study abroad; many take the less-traveled path and go to developing countries. Since the school is located in the twin cities, there are tons of opportunities to participate in internships and social service. Mac students are very involved in the community, and most volunteer at some time. While Mac attracts Jewish students, it is a secular school at which diversity is valued. [Study</a> Abroad - Macalester College](<a href=“http://www.macalester.edu/about/whymacalester/studyabroad/]Study”>Study Away - Life at Mac - Macalester College)</p>
<p>I actually have looked at Oberlin. I know they place a large stress on music as they have one of the best conservatories in the country. I am, however, talentless on the music stage (I haven’t picked up an instrument since 7th grade). Would my chances of being accepted be lowered due to this fact, and would I fit well on campus?
I’ve also really looked into Macalester College, but I am a little concerned that I may not get in because I have a 3.5 GPA and 29 ACT score.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t trust any figures that purport to show how large the Jewish population is. How in the world do they figure this out? Profile by last names? </p>
<p>Jewish life was one of the top concerns for my S, but he ended up not going to the schools with the largest populations – not even as measured by percentages but in total numbers of kids who attend programs (eg, Brandeis). He did make sure to go to a school that had a rabbi on staff (not all schools do, particularly LACs) and has found a warm, active, welcoming community.</p>
<p>The school he attends is Grinnell. They have a FABULOUS rabbi on staff, who also serves as the Social Justice coordinator, I believe. Friday night services are small but serious and the Shabbat table attendance is big! Other religious observances and activities throughout the year.</p>
<p>Grinnell is known for promoting social justice. </p>
<p>There have been many threads on CC over the years assessing top PC feeder schools. One thing to keep in mind is the feed rate per undergrad population. For instance, the 2013 #1 ranked large university was U Washington with 107 volunteers; On a per undergrad basis (the “concentration” if you will), with ~26,500 undergrads, that’s 4 volunteers per 1000 undergrads. Comparatively, Macalester, ranked #18 on the small college list with 15 volunteers, has a concentration of 7.5 volunteers per 1000 undergrads. I have observed over the years of looking at these data that many of the smaller schools have higher proportions of PC volunteers, albeit a lower actual volunteer count. Regardless, one could probably find a decent PC community on most (and more) of those listed as top feeders, so I offer this approach as a possible means to enable your college shopping. Good luck.</p>
<p>Having had kids at two other 5C colleges (as well as hiring a couple of Pitzer grads), I can definitely attest to the very strong social justice nature of the Pitzer culture.</p>
<p>Of the colleges I’ve looked at, I know that Santa Clara University and Earlham College both have a strong emphasis on social justice and are less selective than Swarthmore, Haverford, etc. Don’t know about the Jewish population (SCU is Jesuit, but I’m sure there are many options as far as religious life goes.)</p>
<p>When looking at Jewish community at Pitzer (or any of the 5Cs), remember that you’re really looking at the Jewish community for all of the 5Cs. There’s a small Hillel which waxes and wanes, but there’s enough of a Jewish community to support kosher for Passover dining on campus. D2 will be at Pitzer next year (so I’m biased :))–their admissions are very holistic and are really looking for fit.</p>
<p>Re SCU and other Jesuit schools…while they are Catholic in mission, one of the cornerstones of Jesuit spirituality is “inter-religious dialogue,” so students of other faiths often find Jesuit schools to be very welcoming and supportive of their faith life. Certainly more so than Catholic colleges that are operated by some of the other orders and definitely more so than CUA, in my personal experience.</p>
<p>This has been really helpful but I am most interested in social justice and international opportunities more so than a Jewish presence which has become a bit of a focus. So far, I have seen Oberlin, Grinnell, and Macalester. I’ve already looked at all of these. Any more suggestions? I would prefer a slightly larger school than these (5,000-15,000 maybe?).</p>