Brandeis or Hopkins or Rochester

College Search & Selection
1

Hello everyone, I’m a new member to this community, but I’ve read forums in the past, and they’ve been pretty helpful.
So here’s my situation. I am a senior in high school who has been accepted to several schools. The ones I am deciding between are Brandeis, Johns Hopkins, and U of Rochester. Rochester and Brandeis were matches; Hopkins was a reach that I was surprised (and quite excited) to be admitted to. I was also waitlisted from Tufts, and may go there if I get off the waitlist, but I can’t say for sure.

Some things I guess I should say:

-I go to a modern, religious Jewish private school. Having a strong Jewish presence on campus is important to me.

-I applied saying that I would major in either psychology or English (or at Hopkins, writing seminars). These are my passions now, although my school’s limited elective class choices meant that I wasn’t able to really explore my options. I am hoping to use college as a way to explore new fields, such as communication, business, and marketing. My current dreams involve writing in some way as a career. However, I am open to minoring in English and majoring in something else.

-Math and science (aside from psych) are really not for me. I want a school that is strong in liberal arts.

-I want to have fun at college, but probably won’t be joining Greek life. I don’t want a school dominated by Greek culture, although some of it is fine.

-Brandeis has offered me a merit scholarship.

-I will most likely be taking a gap year before attending college.

So if anyone has any advice for me, I would love to hear it! I just want to know what a general feel of the campuses are, which is best in terms of my academic interests, etc.

2

I am in the same boat- deciding between Brandeis and Cornell! You can’t really compete with Brandeis in terms of Jewish life- I spend a Shabbat there and it was incredible. Brandeis has a reputation for not really having much of a social life, but the Jewish life can probably cover some of that, at least for me. The students at Brandeis are really warm and helpful, which is one of the main reasons the decision is so hard for me. On a separate note a close friend of mine goes to Rochester and he says if you aren’t Greek the social life is pretty bad.

3

Rochester is a fine school that happens to be strong in academic areas as diverse as psychology, English, history, optics, music and business. From what you have written, it appears as if you would be satisfied with the fairly traditional college experience you’d find there. On various levels that could be important to you, there’s no doubt that Brandeis and JHU have their appealing aspects as well.

4

Thank you both for your input.
@mghnyh I just went to see Brandeis, and the friends I have there told me the Jewish life is unmatched almost anywhere else. It really does seem to be great there. Also, if you’re thinking about Cornell, I think their Jewish life is pretty good too (one of the only reasons I applied there). So in terms of religion, Brandeis wins, although Hopkins is said to be good as well. I still have to see it.
@merc81 , can you elaborate on how Rochester provides the traditional college experience? Do the others not?

5

You said that Brandeis offered you a merit scholarship. Does that make it significantly cheaper than Hopkins and Rochester?

Because you can explore your interests and get a world-class education at any of these universities. But given your interest in Jewish life at university, plus the merit scholarship, I can’t see why you wouldn’t choose Brandeis.

6

Johns Hopkins has a strong Jewish presence on campus that is very organized and well-funded (much by private donors). There is a beautiful Jewish “Student Union” of sorts across the street from campus located within a renovated house. There are many formal events hosted for Hanukkah, Passover, etc. as well as services at the Interfaith Center and a very accommodating food services that provides kosher options. I remember seeing Sukkot set up outside the cafeteria, etc. I’m not Jewish (meaning I wasn’t even looking for it), but I was impressed by the level of accommodation provided and the level of organization.

For more information: http://hopkinshillel.org/

7

@Shuester : URochester offers a classically arranged campus (in Greek revival architecture) on the edge of a medium-sized city – in proximity to natural areas – and has a wide-range of sports teams and facilities. UR also has a near even gender balance and a significant international presence (17%). This may imply a distinctive “collegiate appeal.” I wasn’t going as far as to make a direct comparison to your other choices, however.