Colleges for an Israeli student

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hey!</p>

<p>I'm an international prospective student from Israel.
I'm currently serving in the IDF and planning to study in the US when I'm discharged.
I'm a Mamram graduate (The IDF elite technological units' programming course).</p>

<p>I posted this thread on this forum coz I wanted an American parent's opinion...</p>

<p>You must have noticed that these days the situation in Israel is complicated.
I wanted to know how it would influence my applications as an Israeli prospective
student who's serving in the IDF...
Also, what are the best Ivy colleges for an Israeli student? Where would I fit in the most? Where there are more Jewish students? don't get me wrong I like diversity and I think it's very very important...the complicated situation is what bothers me.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>First of all, thanks for your service!
Do you know what you want to study?
Regarding Ivys, I would say that Dartmouth and Princeton have the fewest Jewish students, and the others all have at least 20 to 25%. I would recommend the University of Pennsylvania for a great Jewish community. Of course, Columbia has a lot of Jewish students, and also may have some of the “complications” that you refer to (if you mean anti-Zionist rhetoric on campus).
Of course, there are lots of non-Ivys that would also be great, so let us know what your interests are.</p>

3

<p>I want to major in Computer Science… I’m really into programming…:)</p>

<p>Thanks alot!</p>

4

<p>Hi DKDC!</p>

<p>Just wanted to say my son is second year student at American University in Washington DC–and one of his best friends is an Israeli who finished his service with IDF–I think he was a captain on a submarine.</p>

<p>Please tell us a little bit about yourself–what you are interested in studying, what kind of environment you are seeking, what your transcript and test scores are–and we will do what we can to help you find the right schools for you to apply to.</p>

5

<p>Some info about myself :)</p>

<p>Graduation Year: 2009
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Religious Affiliation:Jewish
First Language: Hebrew</p>

<p>Class Rank: 10
Class Size: 190
Rank (%): 5.26%
Unweighted GPA: 90 out of 100
Weighted GPA: 107 out of 120
SAT: 600 R 750 M 650 W
1350/ 2000</p>

<p>Extra-curricular activities:</p>

<p>I have to mention that the typical Israeli high school
has few clubs or has no clubs at all. </p>

<p>I hope these activities still interest the universities since I graduated in 2009…</p>

<p>Urban Squash Team - 9th grade</p>

<p>Class President - 9th grade</p>

<p>Ness Technologies CTM-Ed Program - 10th, 11th, 12th
A student in Ness Technologies’ “CTM-Ed” (Certification, Technology, and Management – Education) program. The purpose of the course is to educate future Technological Leaders and to achieve that goal the students learn and experience a wide range of topics from Leadership, Teamwork, Policies and Strategy through Singularity, Nanotechnology, Biotechnology and computer science to Knowledge management, Assertiveness and Research methods.</p>

<p>School Robotics Team - 10th, 11th, 12th
Participating in the international fire fighting robot contest at Trinity college (CT) after winning the national contest in Israel.</p>

<p>Community Service - 10th, 11th
Beit Chabad (Helping poor families with food and other basic needs).</p>

<p>Poland Delegation - 12th
Visiting the Holocaust memorial locations in Poland.</p>

<p>Staff In Training Program - 9th
Associated with Tel Aviv university’s summer camp in Israel.</p>

<p>Camp Chi, Wisconsin - 11th
Spending a month at this camp as a part of the Israeli delegation.
Camp Poyntelle Lewis Village, Pennsylvania - 10th
Spending a month at this camp as a part of the Israeli delegation.
I was also water skiing and wakeboarding everyday while I was at camp.</p>

<p>When I’m discharged I’ll have 4 years of programming experience…</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

6

<p>I’m looking for the best Computer Science programs…
A place with friendly people who doesn’t just come to get education but also friends…I really like California so I prefer to study there…
I don’t need financial aid…</p>

7

<p>Reaches: MIT or Cal Tech
Highly recommended for you: Carnegie Mellon University.
Also good for you: UC Berkeley, UCLA, University of Michigan (again, with “complications” at these)</p>

8

<p>I really don’t know about the computer science programs at the following schools but they are great schools with large Jewish populations. Good Luck to you and thank you for your service.</p>

<p>Brandeis
George Washington University
Washington University in St Louis
Emory</p>

9

<p>Do I really have a chance to get into MIT or CalTech??<br>
These are my dream colleges!!</p>

10

<p>MIT and Cal Tech are reaches for everyone, but I think that it is worth a shot. You would increase your chances by scoring really well on SAT subject tests in math II, and another subject. Also, your English must be great so score well on TOEFL if they want this test. Can you study on your own for an AP Calculus BC test and take it? If you do this and get a 5, send the college your score as part of the application. Otherwise, you do not have to send your score. Describe your robotics contest win in your application. If you have the opportunity to publish an article and/or win another contest of some sort, this would help also but you already have a major national contest win.
I think that you are very competetive for CMU and it would be fantastic for you.
I didn’t mention Stanford, but you could also look into it.</p>

11

<p>Do you want to move to the U.S.? Have you considered applying to the Technion and IDC?
If you really can afford expensive U.S. tuition (around $50,000 dollars per year more or less), I suggest applying to: University of Maryland, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana, Stanford, USC, UCLA, and MIT. If money is a concern, I suggest applying to Cal State Northridge as it is a less expensive school and many Israelis live near that school.</p>

12

<p>What do you mean by “complicated situation in Israel”? I would think you would be able to get a job very easily in high tech in Israel with your background and Computer Science experience from the IDF.</p>

13

<p>CMU is an excellent choice, and the surrounding community has a very strong Jewish presence. But it’s still a bit of a reach. Admission to the school of CS is substantially more competitive than the other science/engineering colleges.</p>

14

<p>American Jew here. I’m not sure what complications you’re afraid of. From levirm’s Columbia suggestion, I see the potential complication as anti-Israel protests - so what - plenty of Jewish students there too. From the Michigan suggestion, I’m wondering if the complication is the density of Arab American students in Michigan. Again, no problem. We all mix here, especially in higher education. </p>

<p>I can tell you that Israelis are welcome on campuses. Even people who are against Israel often like Israelis. What’s not to like? If you really want to come here and get an education, meet Arabs as your peers and classmates. Embrace it. They’ll like you. You’ll like them. It might influence the way you think a little. Step out of your comfort zone. It won’t kill you.</p>

15

<p>Don’t limit yourself to the Northeast. University of Texas has a lot of Jewish students (3,700, see <a href=“http://reformjudaismmag.org/_kd/Items/actions.cfm?action=Show&item_id=1192&destination=ShowItem[/url]”>http://reformjudaismmag.org/_kd/Items/actions.cfm?action=Show&item_id=1192&destination=ShowItem&lt;/a&gt;) and great computer science (<a href=“http://www.cs.utexas.edu/[/url]”>Department of Computer Science), and Austin is a fun place to spend your undergraduate years.</p>

16

<p>“If you really want to come here and get an education, meet Arabs as your peers and classmates. Embrace it. They’ll like you. You’ll like them. It might influence the way you think a little. Step out of your comfort zone. It won’t kill you.”</p>

<p>I directed the OP to the parent’s forum because I thought he was stepping a bit too much out of his comfort zone. He was asking about his chances on the chance forum and kept asking about Pepperdine. I pointed out to him that it was a Churches of Christ school and he pointed out they have a History of Israel class. Um, yeah, they do, it is one of 3 required religion courses, the other two being The History and Religion of Early Christianity, and Christianity and Culture.</p>

<p>[Christian</a> Tradition | About Pepperdine | Pepperdine University](<a href=“http://www.pepperdine.edu/about/pepperdine/christiantradition/]Christian”>http://www.pepperdine.edu/about/pepperdine/christiantradition/)</p>

<p>Another requirement for pepperdine undergrads is they are “required to attend 14 programs in the Convocation Series, which are activities aimed at building Christian faith, affirming Christian values, or addressing ethical and moral issues within a Christian worldview posed by current events.” </p>

<p>[Convocation/Chapel</a> | Spiritual Activities | Student Life | Seaver College | Pepperdine University](<a href=“http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/studentlife/spiritual/convocation-chapel.htm]Convocation/Chapel”>http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/studentlife/spiritual/convocation-chapel.htm)</p>

<p>Like I told him, I raised my DD Christian and I wouldn’t send her to Pepperdine. I want my daughter to get a college education, not a religious indoctrination. Anyhow, I thought he was being a bit naive and pointed him to this forum.</p>

<p>“We all mix here, especially in higher education.”</p>

<p>Not trying to turn this thread political, but I think you are oversimplifying what happens in this country. The OP is going to come from an environment where his religion/culture is in the majority to one where he will be in the minority. He needs to think about that ahead of time and make sure he finds a place where he can feel comfortable and be happy. There is a whole thread on this forum where issues are being discussed for American jewish kids and those kids have grown up in this country.</p>

17

<p>I am not jewish or arab but I haven’t noticed any anti-israel sentiment at Michigan. I am currently taking a class on the history of the arab-israeli conflict, which has such an extremely high concentration of arab and jewish students that classes have been canceled for jewish and muslim holidays, and the discourse has been nothing but respectful-- tense at times, but respectful. I am not as in tune with these sort of issues obviously as someone who is jewish or arab so it’s possible I have missed something, but I wouldn’t have expected someone to be worried about that here. </p>

<p>Like I said, I am not arab or jewish so take my input with a grain of salt, but I know lots of happy jews here and haven’t witnessed any issues.</p>

18

<p>I never heard of Pepperdine being famous for Computer Science science. Also, it is located in Malibu–very expensive.</p>

19

<p>I was curious, so went to the Carnegie-Mellon site. The SCS 2010 admissions statistics (middle 50%) were SAT CR 670-750, M 750-800, W 670-760, avg GPA 3.79 (not sure if that’s weighted). So that’s going to put you under the 25th percentile, and it’s going to be a big reach unless there’s some kind of adjustment for English as a foreign language. If there’s a possibility for you to do some focused prep work and retake the SAT, you should consider it. CMU would be a great place for you.</p>

20

<p>“I never heard of Pepperdine being famous for Computer Science science. Also, it is located in Malibu–very expensive.”</p>

<p>I think we have to keep in mind that we are dealing with 18 yo’s here. The OP may be closer to 20 yo given his service in the IDF. But still, a young man. I think when the OP thinks pepperdine what he thinks is this:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.pepperdine.edu/virtualtour/pepinpics/malibu-campus/mc4.jpg[/url]”>http://www.pepperdine.edu/virtualtour/pepinpics/malibu-campus/mc4.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>and this</p>

<p><a href=“http://graphic.pepperdine.edu/images/ane/2005-03-31-beauty.jpg[/url]”>http://graphic.pepperdine.edu/images/ane/2005-03-31-beauty.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I just wanted to make sure he realized that at pepperdine he may be also seeing this </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.pepperdine.edu/provost/images/kstarr.jpg[/url]”>http://www.pepperdine.edu/provost/images/kstarr.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Anyhow, I don’t think he has concerns about Arabs. And if this turns into a discussion of Arab-Jewish relations in the US, I am sorry I directed him here. I was more trying to get him to realize that there are some US schools at which he may feel like a fish out of water. Not because of other minorities and issues stemming from his homeland, but because of the majority culture in the US. Especially if you attend a Christian school that wants to force feed you their religion.</p>