I was wondering if a minority religion (something other than Christianity) would benefit me getting into college.
I am Jewish but haven’t heard a lot about these things regarding college. I have discovered some scholarships such as one from USC where you can apply if you are Jewish and plan on participating in the Jewish community/groups/etc on a college campus, but not that many other ones.
So if I plan on being active in the Jewish community, not just stating it on my application, does this help me in anyway or is it just another personal statistic that means nothing to admission process
Not really if you mean flagship state universities or universities and LACs ranked in the top 25.
It may boost you a bit at Goucher, Muhlenberg, Dickinson, College of Charleston, because they’re well-known for their active Jewish communities and they care about keeping those going. At Brandeis, it gives you an obvious in.
If you apply to Mainstream Christian colleges (Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Quaker) you’d get a boost for diversity but you’d have to carefully check how the faith is reflected in classes and in behavior requirements - I’d think Notre Dame, Hope, Baylor, BYU, wouldn’t work, but Loyola-Maryland, Fordham, St Olaf, Illinois Wesleyan, Ohio Wesleyan, Whittier, Haverford… would all be relatively comfortable.
No, being Jewish is generally not considered a “hook” at most schools.
If you’re trying for a Jewish scholarship, you probably need to show that you’ve been active in leadership activities at your synagogue or in the Jewish community (i.e., not just hoping you’ll get one because you are Jewish and want to go to Shabbat dinners at Hillel).