Some thoughts:
Elon
Univ. of Richmond (not in city)
Bucknell (a little less than 5,000)
Indiana U. (big)
UVA (big)
UNC Chapel Hill (big)
UGA (big; nice Jewish population)
Clemson (big; maybe not so Jewish)
Michigan (bigger)
Ohio U. (Athens - honors; certain programs)
Dartmouth
I immediately thought of Elon from your combined wish list. Fits all of your criteria. Is he a âBâ student? Iâm thinking he might be more of an âAâ student if you have Cornell on the list. Wake Forest would be another possibility.
^ Elon was my first thought as well.
I second Wake Forest. maybe 'Emory
Does anyone have thoughts about Georgetown for jewish students? It is a great school, in a great city. I know it is a jesuit school, but somehow I suspect Jewish kids are present and thrivingâŠLooking for validation
Yes the Jewish community is nice but not huge. There is a very welcoming attitude on campus to other faiths but there are lots of crosses and other religious art. My daughter visited and was surprised by the number of priests walking around on campus. She has decided not to apply just because she already feels somewhat isolated in a school with a small amount of Jews and would prefer a more neutral environment.
Wake Forest has a pretty small Jewish population, IIRC, like maybe 3% for undergrad/grad combined.
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This thread was helpful in guiding our daughter on what schools to look at and apply to. I wanted to share with you our visits and where my daughter is ending up in the fall of 2016. I hope that this may help someone else as they venture into their college search. As a fyi, we are originally from the Northeast but now have been living in TX for 12 years. My husband went to the University of Hartford for engineering and I went to Syracuse. Needless to say, we were highly supportive of my daughter of her wanting to leave Texas to go to college either in Northeast or Midwest. She ultimately didnât apply to Boston University even though she was interested after our visit. She didnât think sheâd get in. She has a 4.5 weighted GPA and 1850 SAT score with mentorships already under her belt for junior and senior year. She did not apply to Syracuse because their Newhouse School of Communications stats seemed out of reach for her. She is in the top 20% of her class. In Texas, class ranking is the most important thing to get into a state school. For University of Texas Austin, auto admits have to be in the top 7% in their class and then occasionally there are some outliers who do get in based on a holistic approach. Their are many in the top 7% who are auto admit but donât get into their majors so they end up going elsewhere. I hate the class ranking requirement. My daughter wanted a large university and applied to all state schools ultimately.
Here is where she applied:
University of Missouri - Accepted - Never visited (safety school) but does have a small Jewish population
University of Oklahoma - Accepted - Small jewish population with a Hillel house
Michigan State - Accepted - Husband went with daughter and told me Hillel was beautiful; too cold for her
Indiana University - Accepted - Absolutely beautiful school with a nice Hillel and a large jewish population
Penn State - Accepted - Never visited and it would be too drastic of a weather change for her
University of Texas Austin - Accepted - Never visited campus before applying because we didnât think sheâd get in. The city of Austin is amazing with so many things to do and they are considered the best live music capital of the world. The dean met with us 3 weeks ago and told her that her class ranking and SATs did not get her into the school but her talent and entrepreneurship did. Large Jewish population and beautiful Hillel building
What she ultimately decided was to go to UT in the fall. Yes, she wanted to leave Texas and had decided on Indiana but she decided that UT is the best school in the US for her particular major. Canât say enough good things about Indiana. Itâs gorgeous and seems homey even though it is large.
Hope this helps someone. Now I have to start the whole process again this year with my youngest!
Thanks for the complete report. Very useful to other parents.
(just a note : Penn State and Indiana have similar weather. Michigan State would be much colder and windier.)
Congratulations on UT, itâs a FANTASTIC school and even if your daughter wanted out of Texas, Austin will help her feel she did, while keeping all the good things about the state (friendliness, diversityâŠ)
Side note : my only worry is the fact kids will be allowed to carry guns on campus and I shudder at the thought of an open lecture hall with even just 3 of those, or of a typical Saturday night⊠but, wellâŠ
Question to all on this thread: howâs Towson for a Jewish B student ? What about honors at Towson ?
Thatâs wonderful, @Goo1230! Not sure where you live in TX, but Austin is a special place. Good luck to your daughter!
Goo1230, congrats. I havenât been on this thread in a long time but good to see its still going strong. Just chiming in to tell you that my D is a freshman at UT-Austin and she loves it. She was/is an outstanding student and had some tremendous options (including WUSTL, Rice, BU and Emery) but fell in love with Austin and also with UTâs liberal arts honors program (called Plan II). UT is very strong in many, many departments. So far she hasnât taken advantage of Hillel but she has had no problems making friends and being accepted at UT. Hook em!
A lot of B students from my synagogue have gone to Towson and been happy with the Jewish community.
@Bigpapiof3: Our rabbi went to Georgetown!
Thanks!
@Goo1230 Thanks for the report. DS has been accepted to Indiana and we were out there last week- we were aware of the large Jewish population, but as we were there the day spring break started the Hillel house was already closed for the week. He has been accepted direct for Kelley and thinks it is a good option. I also thought it was beautiful but a little far from home (we are in SE PA)
As a thoroughly secular Jew, Iâm curious. What difference does it make that he is a âJewishâ B student?
People are drawn to this thread because they care about what it is like to be Jewish on a particular campus and are looking for schools that match their student academically. Not all Jews will care about Jewish life on campusâthe percent of a school that is Jewish or Jewish clubs, classes, resources etc., but some people do. For those, this is a valuable thread.
The thread welcomes allâJewish or notâthat want input on schools for B students.
@Goo1230 Shocking that a 4.5 weighted GPA doesnât make the top 7%! So much variability in what makes top percentages at different Texas schools. Congrats on all the success!
For me, it was also about finding an environment for my son where Jewish students are welcomed, rather than ostracized, and where Jewish students were plentiful in number, rather than an anomaly. Donât ever underestimate the presence of anti-Semitism on college campuses, it is alive and well. Itâs advantageous to have a Jewish population on campus - whether you or your teenager think it will be of interest or not.
Colleges that are welcoming to Jewish students are generally more diverse and LGBT friendly as well.
And you would be surprised - away from home - some Jewish students who have not been involved in Jewish high school programs do attend Hillel functions - even if it is simply a fun event with food. Some who dreaded Hebrew School find a Jewish Studies course of interest. You never know. But it has to be available on campus for that flicker of interest to come to life.
Itâs also about going somewhere where youâre not THE Jew. My friends daughter who grew up a secular Jew in a Jewish area thought that she didnât care if there were many other Jews where she went. Then she realized that she was thought of by many people on her campus as âoh yeah that Jewish girlâ. She just wasnât comfortable with that and transferred.
âColleges that are welcoming to Jewish students are generally more diverse and LGBT friendly as well.â
This is statement deserves it own thread. Quite possibly the most anti-Semitic places of all.