Emory - My son likes it but we're in NY - comparable schools in the North East?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>My high school son is looking for a college that fits these needs:</p>

<p>Has a pre-med program
Campus-like setting
Not IN a city but near it
Not too big (<6000 or so?)
A good % of Jewish population on campus
He originally said he didn't want to have to fly / wanted to be within 4 hours of home
His first SAT scores came in at 2050 total, he's been taking AP level classes, and overall, not looking to coast / wants to be challenged and I think has the aptitude to handle a tough school.</p>

<p>We have looked at Northeastern (in Boston, so that's no good), Brandeis (he didn't care for it), Muhlenberg (liked it), Tufts (liked it the most so far), Lehigh (no).</p>

<p>We are going to Washington DC to see Georgetown, John Hopkins and a couple other schools down there in a month.</p>

<p>We are here in Westchester County (near NY city). A friend's daughter is at Emory now, likes it and my wife and son went down there this weekend. The friend's daughter lined our son with a guy also at Emory that he stayed in the dorm with a couple nights, went to classes, went to parties / Hillel / events for a couple days. </p>

<p>My wife is telling me how he really likes it - lots of new buildings, nice campus, friendly people, new Hillel building, Emory Hospital is on campus - easier to do reasearch / work in hospital because it's right there.... </p>

<p>I'm the perpetual pessimist so I wonder if it's the college experience he likes, not so much Emory itself (which is a good school, no doubt). I don't want him flying back and forth when there's comparable schools up here - it was just that he had an opportunity to be a student there for a couple days. And I think of the cost of getting to / from there for 4+ years. Flying back and forth will add a fair amount to the already large college bill. And while I'll deal with that later, if she's willing to fly or even just to cut costs, does anyone have recommendations on an Emory type of school but farther north? Or again, if she's willing to fly, are there other schools she should look at</p>

2

<p>A few I think you should look into:</p>

<p>Syracuse
University of Rochester
Boston College (I know it’s Catholic, but it’s an accepting place and nothing is forced on you, religiously)</p>

3

<p>I’ll second URochester.</p>

4

<p>U Rochester. Bates College. Harvard.</p>

5

<p>American University. His scores are a good match, the size is just at the edge of your range (~6000 undergraduates), and the location is closer to home than Emory. I believe it is just inside the Washington DC city limits but in an affluent residential area (not too far, though, from busier Wisconsin Avenue shopping, restaurants, movie theaters etc.) Add a stop to your Georgetown visit.</p>

<p>When you visit Hopkins, another school you might want to check is Loyola University Maryland. It’s a Jesuit school, like Georgetown (but smaller and less selective). Again, it is inside the Baltimore city limits but in an affluent residential area. P’ton Review rates it #2 for “Dorms Like Palaces” and #10 for athletic facilities. Academics at Jesuit schools generally are respected, too.</p>

6

<p>Clark as a safety/safe match. ~20% of undergrads are Jewish.</p>

<p>[Clark</a> University](<a href=“http://www.clarku.edu/]Clark”>http://www.clarku.edu/)</p>

<p>[Colleges</a> That Change Lives: Clark University](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/clarku]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/clarku)</p>

<p>An interesting thing about Clark is that you can get a BA/MA in 5 years, and the 5th year is free.</p>

7

<p>

</p>

<p>Right now, AirTran between LaGuardia and Atlanta takes 2 hours and 20 minutes, and is $94 each way. If you get an AirTran Visa card, you earn a free one-way trip with each $8,000 charged (in addition to whatever miles you accumulate through their frequent flyer program). Our daughters from Georgia go to college in Boston and fly back and forth on AirTran. It’s not that big a deal for them or financially for us.</p>

<p>My suggestion on a northern Emory counterpart would be JHU, to which you’re already headed. How about Carnegie Mellon as well?</p>

8

<p>I’m a physician and a Clark University alum. My D got accepted to Clark ED for the class of 2014. We’re very pleased. She plans to major in psychology–it has one of the best undergraduate psychology departments in the country. Clark has a very good pre-med program and certainly meets the criteria he has outlined. You didn’t note your son’s GPA but his SAT scores are in the top 25 percent of kids accepted to Clark, so I would assume it to be a nice match for him. I would definitely encourage a campus vist.</p>

9

<p>I think American fits most of your criteria and is probably quite a bit easier to get into than Hopkins or Tufts.</p>

<p>My daughter is also interested in “Campus-like setting, Not IN a city but near it, Not too big (<6000 or so?), A good % of Jewish population on campus,” and not too far from home, and the list we came up with for her included Brandeis, Tufts, JHU, Emory, and American.</p>

10

<p>What about Brown? Providence is a city albeit a small manageable one and close to Boston.
Vassar? Agree with Rochester and American.</p>

11

<p>I would encourage Emory if it were my kid. I think it is good to get away from home and Atlanta wouldn’t be the kind of culture shock some northeasterners are reporting from southern schools. Emory has enough of a Jewish population and certainly enough New Yorkers. Flights are easy and inexpensive. Go for it.</p>

12

<p>Nthing URochester. It’s really the ideal not-extremely-selective small university in the Northeast, somewhat similar to Tufts but less selective. I think it is in the city, BUT I visited and felt comfortable on the campus–and I am vehemently anti-urban.</p>

13

<p>If you are into the Jewish scene, then I would stay away from BC, Loyola. Emory has a long history of admitting Jewish students. I knew a Jewish kid who went there and loved it. Also went to Emory Law. </p>

<p>Atlanta has a sizeable Jewish population. He may want Emory because its NOT Northeastern…something different.</p>

<p>Tufts would be a good fit. American, George Washington (Lots of Jewish students there). </p>

<p>Fordham has a decent number of Jewish kids, but its a Jesuit college like BC and Georgetown and I dont know how he/you would react to that. </p>

<p>Rochester is a very selective school, just not as selective as the Ivy League and some uber selective LAC’s, but who cares? Its the faculty that matters most …</p>

14

<p>Emory is a fine school, but not really getting away from the NE as much as taking it with you–very large NE population, similar to Tulane. Muhlenberg is very friendly but much smaller than 6000, as is American. Similar schools would be Haverford, Wesleyan, Franklin & Marshall, Colgate, Hamilton, Bucknell, Ursinus, Marist and Connecticut College. Most are not near cities, however, just as JHU and Carnegie are great schools, but in cities. Perhaps Michigan; Case Western or Washington/St Louis.</p>