@jenallev1 as you said your DD is sophomore, you may want your DD to tryout for senior next March/April in Skyliners as they accept HS kids for senior, this may give your kid an estimate on where she stands, obviously there is no guarantee that if they accept her this year and they will accept her two years later…as it depends on the need of a team…and as I said, sometimes it is not the skating skills alone and there is no shortage of amazing skaters…many of them are triple gold.
Just an fyi from a former grad student there: New Hampshire (UNH) is more like 75-90 minutes to Boston, door to door. The bus in Portsmouth is good but it is at least an hour + to get to Boston on that. // The student to faculty ration there is about 20:1, as I recall. I could be wrong, but the point is on target. // The state funding is, I believe, the worst of any state. Hard to believe, for a New England state, but again, the point is right, I am sure. The average debt after graduation is also among the highest. // There are lots of wonderful people at UNH and many excellent programs. I’m just ranting a bit about what is problematic. Good luck.
Definitely something to consider. Going to these teams is a dream…we are prepared to be very realistic about options when the time comes.
It’s NEVER too early to start. My daughter is starting her senior year and we did several college tours in Boston during spring break.
Not knowing what she wants to major in, I would suggest looking at the smaller private schools. There are two in Newton that my daughter likes, LaSell & Mount Ida (they are sister schools). Newton is somewhat of a Jewish community to my understanding. There is a wicked awesome Jewish owned bakery there called Blacker’s Bakeshop.
Someone earlier suggested Brandies and that is a great school. My husband graduated from there in 2000. They recognize all Jewish holidays, but it can be competitive. The campus is beautiful & a great combination of city yet small town. It’s easy to get to the T to go into the city.
Other schools we looked at but were not the right fit for her were Fisher College, Newbury College, Framingham State University.
I wish you luck in your college search. Boston is a great college town so I know you’ll find one.
Brandeis may seem like an obvious choice for a Jewish student who wants to be near Boston, but it’s a seriously academic school and not for someone who would have to rely primarily on athletics to get in. Why put yourself in a situation where you are being asked to perform at an academic level you’re not accustomed to at the same time as you’re pushing yourself to excel at your sport? Brandeis isn’t the kind of place where athletes are given free passes on academics.
https://excelsynchro.org/teams/senior/meet-the-team/team-roster-2013-2014
Excel’s 2015-16 Senior team roster (the link is actually to 15-16) had kids who attend BU (2), Wheaton (2), BC, Endicott and Lasell Colleges. These would all be good schools to look at, although BC may be more Catholic than you’d like. Be aware that Wheaton College in Norton, MA is NOT the Christian college of the same name. That one’s in Illinois.
I would definitely look into Wheaton. It’s small and not particularly well known but it’s a very solid school with a good reputation among those who know it and it’s test optional. They have a figure skating club, although it’s new so your daughter may only want to use it as a way to get guaranteed ice time on campus. I don’t know how active their Hillel is but it sounds reasonably so. A friend’s [Jewish] kid attends and likes it very much.
https://thelink.wheatoncollege.edu/organization/hillel
Add Northeastern, Suffolk and Simmons among the Metroettes (Hayden’s College team).
http://haydensynchroteams.com/web/pages/index.php?pid=3
If she’s open to an all women’s college I would look at Simmons. It’s in downtown Boston, near the Fenway.
Framingham State has been mentioned several times. This is not a good choice. It is in a Boston suburb, a commuter school, and not at all convenient to the city or the Boston student experience your daughter is seeking.
Wheaton College isn’t near Boston - it is probably an hour away though traffic can make a big difference in timing. I doubt there is public transportation from there to Boston but there might be greyhound.
Newton area should still be considered a big Jewish area. Brookline is also known as a big Jewish area.
My daughter glanced online at Brandeis and saw that they are looking at mostly 1400s and higher SAT scores so if the OP doesn’t have decent SAT scores it may be a reach. It also depends on what academic major the op’s daughter considers. Interestingly my daughter’s friend who went to an Orthodox Jewish day school seems to strongly dislike Brandeis but she could never tell me why. My guess is her SAT scores were way too low (under 1000) so she knew she could not get in. She is deferring at Clark but she mostly got college rejections.
Suffolk only has housing for two years but by then it may be easy to get a student off campus apartment.
Northeastern is a coop school and is much harder to get into than it was years ago so it may also depend on SAT scores and gpa.
Agreed. She’d love to consider Brandeis, but I think it’s a very big reach. It’s a terrific school.
Lesley University in Cambridge has an active Hillel and it seems that if her grades stay around where they are, academically it would be a match. It is a smaller school with limited majors but worth looking in to.