<p>But in terms of UIUC as a Jewish friendly institution - the Hillel is very active & does some nice things like deliver bagel & cream cheese to new Freshman. They also offer free meals on Shabbat & many holidays and pluralistic services. There is also a Chabad group that is very active on campus. My oldest son will be a sophomore at UIUC (yes, in engineering) and a few of his friends have started going to something called JET (jewish education team) - don’t know much about it but my oldest is considering going some of their offerings this year.</p>
<p>I’m not surprised UIUC is a challenge. With your other son there, you know the schools that are strong in computer science. The balance is - when looking for merit aid- your son needs to be at the top of the application pool, but you still need a college with a reasonably strong comp sci department. </p>
<p>One college that comes to mind is Delaware. It’s been discussed on this board, and your son may qualify for some merit aid. It’s big enough, but not huge as far as state colleges go. It might be a good fit. </p>
<p>How about University of Maryland - College Park? Great computer science program and a possibility with your son’s stats.</p>
<p>UMD is known as a good computer science school . I’m not sure about merit aid there though, if this is an interest. It’s worth a try. For merit aid, one has to apply by the earliest deadline. </p>
<p>thanks for the UMD idea. I will have my son add it to the “list.” Merit aid is an issue depending on tuition/r&b/etc. plus we would have to add travel to Maryland. However, we are trying to be open. We are working on the common app essay right now. My goal is for him to have at least 75% of his applications complete by November 1st. Is that crazy? (we need to double check dates - I think there may be an October one on his list) I appreciate the input.</p>
<p>Closer to you is Michigan State which has computer science as a choice ( and also computer engineering). There may be the possibility of merit aid. </p>
<p>It’s not crazy to do applications early- for merit aid, the early deadlines are usually required.</p>
<p>@tootiredtocare I saw you are considering UConn (which my daughter is also 
) and I have a son attending Maryland. Both schools are OOS for me and I can tell you that Maryland is actually a little less expensive than UConn (only by a few thousand, so same general ball park). Both beautiful campuses! </p>
<p>FYI, CompSci is not in the engineering department and is really great at Maryland but I can tell you that for merit aid, it might be worth trying the ACT one more time to bump up a point or two if possible. No prob for admission, but for merit aid, the higher the better. Also important to know is that the only chance for merit aid is to apply by the Nov 1 “priority” deadline. It’s not a commitment, but it’s the only way to be considered for merit money and special programs. Something else to know about Maryland merit $ is that after you matriculate, more merit scholarship opportunities do become available…here is the link for all the scholarships available to students in CMNS (Computer,Math, Natural Science), which is the department CompSci falls under <a href=“http://advancement.umd.edu/celebration/listScholarships.php?div=44f40242abee44610ee834d770471bac4254c4a4”>http://advancement.umd.edu/celebration/listScholarships.php?div=44f40242abee44610ee834d770471bac4254c4a4</a></p>
<p>I realize I’m late in responding to tjdad2011 here, but I just wanted to throw in my two cents about Colgate. We had one child graduate from Colgate recently and another is currently attending. I think Hillel’s figures on Jewish attendance may be a little low (they list 10%); it seems to me it’s more around 15%. From your list of schools I assume you’re not looking for an orthodox, or kosher meal plan, component. There’s Colgate Jewish Union that’s housed in the Saperstein Jewish Center which is at one end of the campus, near one of the freshman dorms. The Union typically has Friday night services/dinner and for the dinner, the kids make the food themselves, so you’ll have a core component making the chicken, side dishes, salad, whatever. They have bagel brunches periodically. High Holiday services are held at the school, so kids don’t have to go off campus for that. They have a rabbi. There’s also a men’s social and philanthropic organization, that, while not a fraternity (Blue Diamond Society), is similar to one and they actually do a lot of charitable activities. Our kids had a Jewish Day School background and Colgate was definitely not culture shock, they felt/feel very comfortable there. For some more information, here’s a link <a href=“http://www.colgate.edu/campus-life/religious-life/jewish-life”>http://www.colgate.edu/campus-life/religious-life/jewish-life</a></p>
<p>thanks, maryversity. I tried to get my son to take the ACT again but he is not interested. we will definitely look at Maryland, too. Now we are trying to think of some midwestern options. </p>
<p>Thanks susanmw</p>
<p>Of all the schools we visited, Colgate was the most attractive visually. I know that shouldn’t influence the decision so much, but we are all only human.</p>
<p>For most of the campuses we visited, we tried to talk with a Hillel representative (although at Binghampton it was Chabad). When we knocked on the door of the Saperstein center, no one was around.</p>
<p>My daughter is not looking for an orthodox environment, but she is looking for a school with a lot of Jewish life. The existence of a kosher meal plan and having at least a Jewish studies minor are two markers for having a large Jewish component and that is very important to her. The 30% Jewish feature of Muhlenberg was definitely a plus.</p>
<p>For people who don’t need a ton of Orthodox life but want kosher food, Jewish presence, and the midwest - UIUC is a possibility. I grew up in UC and was eager to move out, but the college works great for people who didn’t spend their childhoods in Urbana to start with 
(and actually, a lot who did, now that I think about it! Just not me.).</p>
<p>tjdad2011: my co-worker’s son attend Colgate and loves it. He has taken several Jewish studies classes that he has not only enjoyed but many of us in the office have enjoyed vicariously as we read along with him! He grew up in a very Jewish community but said he has learned more about Judaism at Colgate. </p>
<p>My oldest son attends UIUC and I agree with fretfulmother about the Champaign-Urbana community. I think it is much more international now than when I attended many moons ago. My son has friends from all over the world (maybe that is an engineering thing, not sure) but he has had ample opportunity that he has not taken to go to Jewish events. The Hillel is very active on campus.</p>
<p>@shawbridge - it looks like SUNY Geneso just got Kosher dining: <a href=“http://www.geneseo.edu/cas/kosher-dining”>http://www.geneseo.edu/cas/kosher-dining</a></p>
<p>As a long time sideline reader, I miss the old group. Valuable discussion and support is fading. I hope the nicest forum on this site gets a breath of fresh air. RVM, and the rest, we need you all to return. </p>
<p>Hi - still here! But time does fly, and S2, whose college search process inspired this thread several years ago is now a very happy college junior at Elon! Very involved with his Jewish fraternity and somewhat involved with Hilel - so it really did work out just fine.</p>
<p>I always like to see evidence of Jewish life thriving at campuses that had previously been less active, so here’s an article on Texas A&M:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.hillel.org/about/news-views/news-views---blog/news-and-views/2014/08/19/renewing-jewish-life-on-campus-at-texas-a-m”>http://www.hillel.org/about/news-views/news-views---blog/news-and-views/2014/08/19/renewing-jewish-life-on-campus-at-texas-a-m</a></p>
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<p>Susquehanna University in PA was one of the pleasant surprises of our college visits a few years back. It doesn’t have the name recognition of some of the other small PA colleges - but worth considering for a “B” student. Beautiful campus and lots of personal attention. </p>
<p>Hillel is small, but steadily growing:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.susqu.edu/studentlife/35313.asp”>http://www.susqu.edu/studentlife/35313.asp</a></p>
<p>There is a Hillel House on campus and services are held there.</p>
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<p>Article about Spring 2014 Passover Seder:</p>
<p><a href=“http://thesucrusader.com/?p=2476”>http://thesucrusader.com/?p=2476</a></p>
<p>(Yes, I know the newspaper is called The Crusader!)</p>
<p>One of my concerns, and a reason why I am a strong proponent of identifying colleges with strong Jewish life, is the rise in anti-Israel sentiment and anti-Semitism in general. Recent events have only served to highlight the issue.</p>
<p>Parents - are your college students reporting more anti-Israel events on campus this fall? How has the college responded officially? What is the general mood on campus regarding this issue?</p>
<p>Here are some examples:</p>
<p><a href=“http://m.jewishexponent.com/jexponent/db_347076/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=FKKCt1lW”>http://m.jewishexponent.com/jexponent/db_347076/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=FKKCt1lW</a></p>
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<p>Another article on the Temple University incident and the pro-Palestinian group SJP:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/18969-pro-palestine-activist-attacks-jewish-college-student-calls-him-kike”>http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/18969-pro-palestine-activist-attacks-jewish-college-student-calls-him-kike</a></p>
<p>Texas A&M can thank Spectrum for leading the charge. I think her son was the first one here who went there. Who knew she was starting a trend…</p>
<p>Absolutely! </p>
<p>Just checking in, grateful to RVM, Spectrum and so many others for helping me thru the past 2 stressful years! Happy to report that S1 has had a great first week at Elon! One of his suitemates is also Jewish, and his parents–who I think were relieved that their son was not the only Jewish one in the suite, dragged them both to the Hillel their first night. My son never would have gone otherwise, but he said “it wasn’t too bad” :)</p>
<p>S2 is entering freshman year of High School, so I’ll be hanging around…</p>