<p>shawbridge - very good points about whether to pursue an undergraduate business degree or do more liberal arts and then get a MBA. My feeling - and the model that I followed and that S1 is also following - is to major in business at a liberal arts college so that you get 2 years of a wide variety of subject matter and then 2 years focusing on business-related coursework. I like this model - thinking you get the best of both worlds. S1 plans to go to law school - s2 - have no idea - my feeling is that his job prospects will be best with an undergraduate business major. </p>
<p>Rodney - how did we not know about York? Looks like it gives good merit money on top of a very affordable price tag. More research is needed!</p>
<p>mdmomfromli - thank for sharing so much of your background. As I posted earlier, we have had 3 cousins in their twenties marry or become engaged to non-Jews in the past year. One teachable moment took place when the non-Jewish wife of one of the cousins sent us a very religious Christmas card (knowing that we were Jewish of course). Not a generic happy holidays card even - but a very religious card from the âChristian collectionâ. I was really ticked off and shared the card and my feelings about it with my sons. I then called my cousin and told him how offended I was to receive this card. He was very apologetic - said he had no idea she had sent it out, etc. If you think I was upset you should have seen the reactions of a few other (older) relatives. Anyway, I hope this incident illustrated to my sons how difficult interfaith marriage can be. Not that there arenât success stories and non-Jews who convert, but I think, as you said, marriage is difficult enough when you have the shared background.</p>
<p>rockvillemom, I think you are partly correct and partly not. It depends upon the game S2 wants to play. Short-term employability is higher, but access to the top tier of jobs is probably greater following a liberal arts/MBA.</p>
<p>one thing that is occurring to me reading this thread is how things do change over time. i started the college search process with my older child about 7-8 years ago (yes, I was compulsive and we started way early) and then with the younger a few years later. both wanted active (religiously, as well as, socially) Jewish communities.</p>
<p>there are some schools we looked at for our oldest that seemed to have good ânumbersâ but just didnât offer the fullness of Jewish experience desired. when we again looked at some of those schools a few years later for #2, we found that at many, thereâd been an improvement â the numbers had encouraged more Jews to attend which in turn had increased the depth of the Jewish experience at the schools â for some it was enough of an improvement to put the school âon the list,â for others, not.</p>
<p>one issue both kids faced at such schools was whether they wanted to be part of an âup and comingâ Jewish community where they could take on leadership and see the community grow and develop while they were there, or whether they wanted more in place already. They both chose the latter (and also took on leadership roles at those schools).</p>
<p>From peopleâs comments here, I think I see continued evolution at some schools â some of the ones that didnât make my kidâs lists seems to be described as now offering even more than we found.</p>
<p>So especially for those of you who are starting early â with a few years before your kid would be a freshmen â keep in mind the issue of not only where the school is now, but where it looks likely to be headed in the two or three years until your child would be there. Ask the hillel what changes they see â how the numbers and interests of the freshmen seem different, if at all, from those of the upper classmen.</p>
<p>I think Shawbridge is right about entry level to top tier jobs. I think, however, there are many kids who, at this age, really do not like the prospect of graduate school. For those kids, an undergrad business degree, which lets them decide while an undergrad if business is the right path, get a real world job and then decide whether to pursue an MBA or law degree, may be the right choice.</p>
<p>I just wrote a LONG reply about York, but it didnât post, so Iâm going to be brief this time (sorry).</p>
<p>D is classic âBâ student
accepted to UTampa, Endicott, Susquehanna, Lock haven, many others
York won out for price, friendly kids, great faculty in Sport Mgmt
Sheâs been to symposium at princeton and networked with agents, has had sooo much practicum experience, loves the major
she thinks York has nothing to do off-campus (sheâs right)
really good choice for her. good mix of kids from all socio-economic backgrounds.</p>
<p>Thanks again, everyone, for posting on this excellent forum! The life stories and the opinions only add to the richness of the thread. I, too, wish that I could meet you all in person and talk! In fact, I think that I might suggest to a local Jewish organization that we arrange a discussion meeting for parents about some of these topics!
Back to the subject at hand, though, has anyone heard anything about Jewish life at the âback doorâ to Emory, Oxford College of Emory? This is a two year program, which is part of Emory but is some miles away on a separate campus, and is much easier to get into than the rest of Emory. It is a small, cohesive campus. At the end of the two years, almost all of the students transfer to Emory and then get an Emory degree.</p>
<p>Great job in presenting this thread, rockvillemom. Did you know it would âexplodeâ with so much information for you and so many âhitsâ? Itâs a topic many of us think about and itâs great to hear everyoneâs suggestions. Hope you feel like you have more choices now.</p>
<p>chocchip - I would say the thread is doing well beyond my wildest expectations. I had mentioned my hope of starting a thread that would continue indefinetly - like the 3.0 - 3.3 thread - but tailored to Jewish parents - to Rodney - and we both had concerns about getting a lot of negative posts - along the lines of why is this thread even necessary - which I have seen many other times on CC when a parent identifies themselves as Jewish and writes from that perspective. I think you have to BE a Jewish parent to understand our unique perspective and concerns. I also find that within your own clique of friends/neighbors - sometimes there is a little bit of competition/concern - as your kids might be applying to the same schools with differing results and it can get awkward. Here in the relative anonymity of CC - seems to be less of an issue and people seem to genuinely want to help one another. So, Iâm just thrilled. I have rcvd some good ideas for S2 - schools that were not at all on my radar. And having gone through this process with S1, Iâm happy to share what I have learned. And itâs just nice to be able to talk so freely with other Jewish parents. So, I hope this thread keeps going and going and goingâŠ</p>
<p>^just call it the âenergizer bunnyâ thread.</p>
<p>Just to post more on the really huge flagships like Arizona, Maryland, Florida, Penn State etc. They are so huge and have so many people that by sheer numbers there is a huge number of Jews there. The problem is (even if your child likes the size) that as a percentage the Jews tend to be small (relatively) and a child really has to join Jewish organizations on campus to feel their presence. I guess it is another thing to consider as it depends on the individual child.</p>
<p>Queenâs Mom: Good point, but at least there are Jewish kids there to seek out at those big schools. My Dâs HS does not have this- just a few Jews and probably less than a handful who even care. As a result we switched temples to one that is 20 min away so she could be part of a community hebrew hs program (one night a week) and she joined a youth group at yet another temple - even further away - so she can get in on NFTY events. The fact that there WILL be other Jews at her college is a real plus for her (and me!). (We live in the town where I grew up and the Jewish population has dwindled drastically since then⊠didnât see the implications when we bought the house 19 years agoâŠ)</p>
<p>levirm: re: OxfordâŠthis is from 2008 so it may have changed, but back then, Oxford was very highly populated with kids from GeorgiaâŠit is small as well, so it wasnât a fit for my older daughter who had applied to EmoryâŠthat may have changed since thenâŠ
I do believe that the opportunity offered by the 2+2 is one that should be explored if Oxford itself is a fitâŠI do not know, however, if Oxford is a âBâ student school anymore; I remember seeing stats this year much higher; more like kids who really should have been accepted to Emory itselfâŠand I donât recall seeing stats on Hillel that break out OxfordâŠ</p>
<p>LINYMOM: south or north shore?..Long Island has changed soooo much in the last 20 years hasnât it?</p>
<p>We live on South Shore (Suffolk County); new temple is North Shore (Suffolk County); youth group is North Shore (Nassau County). Due to various reasons, including D graduating, we will be coming back to our South Shore Suffolk County temple, but will have S join the North Shore Nassau County youth group so he can get involved in NFTY.</p>
<p>Everyone thinks there are so many Jews on Long Island - NOT SO! Really depends where you are!</p>
<p>I have a friend (Jewish) in Dix Hills⊠her daughter didnât want to go to a school where the population is a repeat of HS. I told her that my daughter wants a college that has as many Jews as Dix Hills! (Turns out her D is going to go to a large state school with a significant number of Jews anyway! One that has been mentioned on this thread!)</p>
<p>âEveryone thinks there are so many Jews on Long Island - NOT SO! Really depends where you are!ââŠI think that has been the biggest change; when I grew up there (south shore, Nassau), every town had a reform and conservative synagogueâŠI think the reason everyone thinks there are âso manyâ Jews is because, now, it seems that consolidation has occured and the towns that are really Jewish are REALLY Jewish; rather than maybe a 20% Jewish population among alot of places, a few places are more like 50%âŠwonder if anyone has done a demographic study to figure out why this has happened from the last generation to this oneâŠ</p>
<p>sorry to hijack threadâŠback to our regularly scheduled programâŠ</p>
<p>btw, levirm: if you do organize that seminar, let us all know where it will be; maybe weâll all show upâŠ</p>
<p>When my son was considering colleges in 2003, USC, where he wound up, was actively recruiting Jewish applicants. The had a dedicated position in their admissions office responsible for this.</p>
<p>I usually donât chime into these discussions as d # 2 went through the admission process a few years back and she just graduated this week-end from SUNY Cortland as a Sport Management major. As she was also the typical B student, we looked at a few of the schools that were mentioned above like York and Tampa also other NE public Uâs like Towson, George Mason, Temple and a few others.
We werent overly concerned about the Jewish environment but we always did check to see if there was a Hillel or other active Jewish life. (like major or minor in Jewish studies program).
D really didnât like the city of York Pa. so I donât think she even applied there. Not that Cortland is a thriving metropolis- but it is an easy drive (under 45 minutes) TO SYRACUSE, ITHACA AND Binghamton. As a Long Island kid, she had plenty of friends in all those locations- so she was able to get around and get outside of Cortland. Cortland is now also the summer training camp of the NY Jets- so there is alot of internships available. My kid decided to stay in cortland through this summer (while she sends out resumes) so she can continue working for the baseball team where she interned.</p>
<p>as sport management has been mentioned, I will only add that I suggest you find a program that combines SM and business. I was pretty impressed with the cortland cirriculum, as all majors had to take a number of courses in accounting, economics, finance to supplement the SM background. It was also mandatory to do an Internship. She just completed interning for a Minor league baseball and will stay on through the season. Sheâs looking for a job- like most 2010 college grads- wheter she is in any worse shape than other 2010 grads- I donât know. But she loved the major- and my kid would never have taken any business courses if she wasnât forced to if she went the liberal arts route. So personally, I think the sport management major helped her have a bit more business focus.</p>
<p>As syracuse and alfred were also mentioned- just some info from a NYS parent, there are SUNY/NYS programs at those schools that make it more affordable</p>
<p>If your kid is interested in environmental science or related area, check out ESF SUNY housed at Syracuse U. [SUNY-ESF</a>, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry](<a href=âhttp://www.esf.edu%5DSUNY-ESFâ>http://www.esf.edu)</p>
<p>I never quite understood the program at Alfred- but it is through the NYS school of ceramics. But that also includes some engineering programs. I never fully understood the website- but itâs worth checking out if you are interested in Alfred and kids interested in ceramics/art/engineering.</p>