RVM, hello. My third child is now a junior. We are about to begin the college visit process. First step, a southern swing. We plan on looking at his dream reaches, and his mid range. Vanderbilt and Duke are out there, and Emory and Wake Forest are more realistic. In recent months, Wake seems to be emerging as a real option. I like to think of it as the poor man’s Duke or Vandy. Similar size, big time sports, good academics, and even a business school. I know your oldest went there, and you are real big on Elon. We may stop by Elon as well. Wondering what you might share about Wake. Is it getting more notice by Jewish kids? Is it a difficult fit? Thanks so much.
Hi BigPapi:
I just thought I’d make another southern suggestion. Did you consider The Univ. of Richmond? It does have a size able Jewish population and a well regarded business school. An “A/A-” school, but perhaps easier to get into than Duke or Vandy too.
Wake is working at a larger Jewish presence - but I still believe it is quite small. My son graduated two years ago and was not active in Hillel. I do not recall him having any Jewish friends at Wake. Elon has a much greater Jewish population and a much more active Jewish community. Elon is about 10% Jewish presently. My older son was more concerned with the academic reputation and sports - so Wake was a good fit for him. He was also an “A” student. Elon is a better fit in terms of Jewish life. Elon has a bit of a different overall philosophy - with the emphasis on engaged learning - internships, study abroad, student research and community service. Wake is a tough workload, leaving less time for other pursuits.
Visit both, and let us know what you think! I also second the suggestion of the University of Richmond.
@BigPapiofthree - this webpage did not even exist when my son was there:
http://jewishlife.wfu.edu/hillel/
There is a Hillel and a Jewish fraternity. You should try to connect with a representative from both.
I agree that Richmond is a very good school. He wants the sports, and a great academic environment. Elon doesn’t offer it either. Though, I will drive by it, and check it out. He has a Jewish friend that goes to Wake. He is a freshman. They will hang out one night. Let’s see how he feels about the school. My S is a definite A student. Just took SAT. He needs another 100 points overall, and he will be very competitive for Duke or Vandy. If not, Emory and Wake should be doable. Need to find some more like those. Michigan, Berkeley will be looked at. Maybe Tulane…Indiana (Kelly) will be his safety…This is my first real A student…a whole new world…
Wake still “feels” very "Christian even though it’s not.
Have you run the NPCs’? Michigan and UCB will be in the 55K/year with no financial aid and no merit aid.
Be careful, even A students need colleges with 30-40% admission rates and 40-50% admission rates. Make sure he has 2 affordable safeties he likes (he’ll have trouble wrapping his head around the idea he needs safeties but having two will give him a choice if the worst happens and he doesn’t get into his matches.)
Elon is not quite at Richmond’s level but it’s a very good school. Not as academic, rather preprofessional - good if he wants to work after college/get into law school/med school, less so if his goal is a PHD. For a PHD he can look at LACs with good sports, like Bucknell and Lafayette.
my son was accepted at University of Alabama. Anybody with any thoughts on Jewish life on campus? Jewish fraternities? More cultural then religious.
Hello and welcome. I am not familiar with the University of Alabama. Hoping others will chime in.
@NJhockeydad - my son was “recruited” by U-Alabama but decided not to apply there because the Hillel wouldn’t work for an Observant kid (no kosher food, only occasional religious services). However, I believe that the cultural picture is very different in terms of Greek life etc. I hope we hear from others!
While we wait for a current parent of an Alabama student to chime in, here’s an interesting link:
Interestingly enough, there was a whole thread on CC about Jewish life at Alabama back in 2012. A bit old, but you may see some useful comments and some of the posters who are/were Alabama parents may still be on CC if you want to contact.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1429030-being-jewish-p1.html
I appreciate the comments. Yes, I am concerned with OOS cost of Michigan. While i normally agree about the three safety rule, he is an auto admit with his current gpa and SAT for Kelly. As a matter of fact, speaking of Bama, he will be eligible for full tuition scholarship. I know they are being aggressive to attract top students, and themerit money is working. A 3.8 GPA and 1400 SAT qualifies for four years tuition free.I don’t know any jewish kids who go there, but I have read all the articles. I will follow the feedback here.
BigPapio, we did the A search a while ago and my best suggestion is cast a wide net for those Uber competitive schools. We did the same thing as you with safeties, our auto admit school was UT Austin so every school considered was put to the “do you like it better than UT test”…It occurs to me that UT Austin might be a school that could be of interest to you but I don’t know about the OOS tuition or scholarships. I have heard from a poster on this thread, a while ago, that after the first year it is not difficult to get instate residency and therefore tuition.
Spectrum2, You are correct. UT is a good idea. getting instate tuition after one year is still very easy to get. 20 hours of weekly employment or a house purchase is required. Texas offers the rah rah, quality ed, and cool city. They also have an active jewish student community. My S would like a business education, and I understand McCombs for OOS students is nearly impossible. He would have to be an econ major. He is willing to do econ at his dream schools(Duke, Vandy), but wants business if he goes elsewhere. Of course, all this is subject to change. I think Texas is a good idea for a mid.safety. Thanks.
Ok, parent of Alabama student here. Hillel is pretty active, lots of events drawing decent crowds, high holidays and seder are packed. As far as Jewish life, I would say for an observant kid (kosher, shabbat, etc) it might not be the best choice. For those who find that stuff less important, they will still be able to find their people and do whatever they desire.
@bigpapiofthree your son sounds similar to mine- good stats (3.9uw/1510), interested in business and a rah-rah type school. (DH and I also want a somewhat strong Jewish community). He has been accepted to IU- Kelley, and is also looking at a few other OOS state schools. Money is also an issue and I know many of the schools he is looking at give little. Currently also accepted to Temple- they also have a guaranteed merit money program for top students- he should qualify for full tuition. You should look into it. Phila. is a great college town, lots to do and with Temple’s current 7-0 football team I am hoping enough going on for my DS to consider.
I was hoping @Chardo would chime in.
I just want to add that, in addition to Hillel, Bama does have a chapter of ZBT, the traditionally Jewish fraternity, although I’m not sure how many members of Bama’s chapter are actually Jewish.
https://ofsl.sa.ua.edu/chapters/zeta-beta-tau/
Definitely, for you parents of high-stats students, add Temple and Bama to your lists for consideration if you’re looking for solid safeties. Both schools have good business schools for those looking for that and nice perks for top students.
Tons of Jewish kids at Temple. I don’t know that their Hillel is as active as, say, Penn’s, but you’re going to find lots of Jewish students in Philadelphia, with varying degrees of observance.
Re Bama, this is purely my anecdotal observation (and I’m a parent of a nonobservant kid), but in their efforts to recruit strong OOS students, Bama seems to be attracting a number of Jewish kids. I know of one particular observant family from CA who have a freshman son there to study engineering. He joined the engineering fraternity and met a nice Jewish girl through Hillel. Mama is kvelling. 
McCombs is super competitive for instate students as well. Instate students get automatic admission to UT but not to their choice of major. While instate students have a leg up with UT admission I don’t know if they do with admission to highly competitive majors such as business. My understanding is that all of those admission are by review. I however never had a reason to research OOS admission.
1S1Dforcollege, may I ask if your S qualified for merit money from IU? From their web page, it would appear that he would get merit. I was curious how generous are they with merit for high GPA and SAT?
Lucie, I heard that Temple is generous. I will research. I have been told it is much more of a city/commuter school. That might be an issue for my S.
Spectrum, I need to learn more about McCombs and OOS…Thanks.
Chardo, what part of country are you from? If not the south, how did your son find the cultural differences?
DS got 11K/year to IU- that is a help but not really enough. Hoping for some other acceptances with some additional merit. Temple is also a possibility- it is hard to turn that scholarship down.