Financial Safety School for a Jewish Student - 2nd try (successful)

Paying for College
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<p>I'm actually not sure whether this thread belongs here or in College Search, but it concerns financial aid so here goes:</p>

<p>I'm taking to heart the advice about safety schools - that you should choose your 'safeties' with as much care as other possibilities, because there is a decent chance that your child will wind up there. I'm also taking to heart the advice that a true safety has three qualities - guaranteed admission, guaranteed affordability, and your child actually wants to attend the school (this is from another CC thread).</p>

<p>I'm also taking seriously the advice that having an acceptance from at least one safety early in the process will cut down a lot of stress, and that applying non-binding early admission is a good way to do this (I realize we won't die from stress, but it would be great to know fairly early on that there's at least one option that's affordable and that my child likes).</p>

<p>My question concerns the financial aspect of a safety school. My DD (junior in a large public suburban high school) is an excellent student:</p>

<p>3.8-3.9 unweighted GPA (depending on how it's calculated, her h.s. doesn't include 9th grade)
4.7 weighted GPA
2200 SATs (and will re-take them in October)
will probably be a National Merit Scholarship contender, although we won't know for sure until next year
Strong EC's - is completing a 4-year after-school course for high school students at a local Jewish university, lots of weekend courses in the sciences at local colleges, Mock Trial Team, badminton, works part-time, etc.</p>

<p>My understanding though is that most colleges usually don't give financial aid notifications (either need or merit) until around March, which is several months after she begins applying. So I've been looking at colleges which would grant her an automatic merit scholarship (tuition or full-ride) based on her stats. Our family isn't particularly affluent, so financial aid is a must wherever she goes.</p>

<p>BobWallace started some great threads with information about merit aid, and there are a couple of schools with automatic merit awards she's looking at (Honors programs at U. of Alabama and Auburn). There are also schools she's interested in that would probably also grant her merit aid - for example Guilford College and Earlham College (we live in the northeast but she'd like to go to school in warmer weather, though this isn't an absolute requirement).</p>

<p>All of this felt good until it occurred to me to look up the number of Jewish students on campus for the 'safety'-type schools she's interested in. All have a percentage of Jewish students ranging from 0% to 3%. </p>

<p>Most of them have a Hillel, which is certainly a help, but neither my husband nor I are thrilled about her going to a university with such a tiny percentage of Jewish students. Both we and my child have friends of all religions and ethnicities, but I know from experience that being one of a handful of minority students/employees/whatever can be difficult. I'm also concerned about dating as well as her overall social life. </p>

<p>I realize that other minority groups face the same issue and I'm certainly not asking for a pity party - she's likely to get an affordable package somewhere. But as there are many here who know more about scholarships, financial aid, award notifications, etc. than I do (though I'm doing my best to catch up), perhaps there are possibilities we haven't thought of.</p>

<p>In terms of either 'guaranteed' merit aid or early-notification awards, based either entirely on stats or that require applications, are there any from schools that have more than a handful of Jewish students? I've looked extensively and haven't found any (Elon College would be a possibility, but they don't give notification of award packages until March or later). Or is this a case of 'life isn't perfect, deal with it'? If there are no options then we'll just have to deal with the anxiety/ suspense, but if there are options I'm not aware of I definitely would like to hear them!</p>

<p>Sorry for the length...</p>

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<p>Have you considered Temple University in Philadelphia? The Hillel website reports about 7% Jewish undergrad, but freshman year in the dorm may seem a little higher since my guess is many commuters are not Jewish. I’m a Catholic and I’m sorry I don’t know much more about it, except that some of my Jewish neighbors’ kids attend. They are Reformed and most of them are not particularly religious other than Hebrew school for a few years followed by really awesome Bar/Bat Mitzvah parties. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>edited to add that none of the Jewish families I know who go to Temple keep kosher kitchens. I’m not sure about kosher dining options. One of my friends did tell me that Temple felt smaller to her son joined after he joined the Hillel at Temple.</p>

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<p>It may help if you specified your price limit, and whether you expect expensive schools with good need-based financial aid to produce a net price within your price limit (check their net price calculators).</p>

<p>For example, if your price limit is $35,000, you may have a lot more choices at schools even with little or no scholarships and financial aid than if your price limit is $20,000. Similarly, if need-based financial aid typically brings expensive schools into your price limit, you may have a lot more choices than if need-based financial aid typically does not.</p>

<p>Also, state of residency matters in terms of the public universities’ admission policies and costs. For example, New Jersey residents may find Rutgers to be affordable even at list price (and even better if the student gets an in-state full ride that is sometimes offered to high stats students).</p>

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<p>Keep in mind that 3% Jewish population at, say, Bama is a very different thing than 3% at a small LAC. As the “Jewish B” thread talks about, it’s not just about the raw numbers, it’s also about the feel of the community. There are some schools which Hillel dubs “small and mighty”, meaning that their Jewish communities don’t have a lot of members but the kids who show up are committed, or at least active. </p>

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<p>The following have NMF scholarships…</p>

<p>What about Northeastern? does it have a good Jewish population?</p>

<p>USC in Calif has good Jewish numbers and a half tuition scholarship.</p>

<p>Although Fordham is Catholic, I think it does have good Jewish numbers…have you checked? SLU may also have good Jewish numbers. These are Jesuit schools and they dont care what religion people are.</p>

<p>Tulane and SLU dont have NMF scholarships but they do award for your child’s stats. </p>

<p>I know that Bama’s reported Jewish student population isn’t very high, but the Hillel is very active and there is new temple right on campus property… Sometime it’s hard to get good reported numbers because kids don’t alway declare a religion on their school papers. </p>

<p>I am Catholic so my info is mostly limited to what I’ve learned from my Jewish relatives. Their kids go or have gone to Wash U, the UCs, or Brandeis, but merit can’t be counted on.</p>

<p>You may want to visit the Bama forum here on CC. There are some Jewish parents who post there. They may be able to give you some more insight.
<a href=“University of Alabama - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I think an academic safety school will be her financial safety as well. The wisdom says to go where you are one of the top applicants or special in some way. This strategy paid off with my son and his friend. Most selective schools gave acceptance with no money, target schools gave some merit money 10-15K but not enough to attend, and safety schools with honors college made it affordable. He applied only regular decision.</p>

<p>Would your daughter consider a state school? You can check Jewish life on Hillel website. Does she need kosher food? Then your options are more limited. Brandeis University has a significant Jewish population but don’t count on merit aid. </p>

<p>No matter what the school Jewish population is, south is culturally different. My son went to Virginia and saw confederate flags on their lawns, after that he would not consider any southern schools.</p>

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<p>My NY son can vouch for the Jewish community at Bama. So can his girlfriend (a very observant Jew from Las Vegas), who he met at Bama Hillel high holidays dinner. Let me know if you have questions.</p>

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<p>I’m a secular Jew (very involved with Jewish life although not religious) who transferred from Emory, an extremely Jewish school, to the University of Oklahoma, a school in the “buckle of the bible belt”. IME absolute numbers of involved Jews and the activities the Hillel, AEPi, SDT, etc sponsors are far more important than the percentages of Jews. Sure it’s nice to have most everyone at the school understand what Yom Kippur is, and why the student is taking a day off, but it’s not essential. </p>

<p>There’s also a thread on the Parent’s Forum entitled Colleges for the Jewish B Student. I encourage you to post there regarding your concerns. Since the forum is targeted towards B students, many of the schools most familiar to posters will likely award your daughter a preferential financial aid package. </p>

<p>Fwiw, I don’t think Earlham, Fordham, or St. Louis University have a large enough Jewish population although Fordham’s NYC location could easily make up for this. </p>

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<p>What is CR+M SAT score?</p>

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<p>OP, you are in good hands here!</p>

<p>We just visited the University of Alabama with our son and were very impressed with pretty much everything. We are nonobservant Jews, so even though my son had no idea why I was taking a bunch of photos of the brand new (and beautiful) Hillel building in the center of campus, it was very important to me to see that there would be some multicultural representation on campus–and there was.</p>

<p>Re the South and Jews, specifically in Alabama, here’s a good article that you may find of interest. (Just don’t read the comments, many of which are horrid!)</p>

<p><a href=“Southern Jewish Communities Recruit Newcomers, Offer Incentives As Populations Dwindle | HuffPost Religion”>HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost;

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<p>I’m not sure how you’d check, but it can help a college’s culture be supportive of Jewish students if there are college administrators and faculty who are Jewish. However, a student who seeks to observe religious holidays or Shabbat might need to work very closely with his/her course instructors to ensure he’s/she’s not docked for missing a class meeting or outside assignment. It can be somewhat exhausting to be observant while staying in sync with a school’s schedule. Student should be very careful about picking class days and times. Just FYI. </p>

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<p>^^</p>

<p>except at maybe bible schools, arent there a good number of Jewish profs at every school? at bama, my kids had a good number of Jewish profs. </p>

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<p>And this is one of the reasons why folks look for schools that have an active Jewish community. If students have to fight in order to get some leeway on due dates for assignments because of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, or Passover, that’s pretty telling about the school’s culture. Just having lots of Jewish professors isn’t enough to guarantee that students won’t run into this kind of issue.</p>

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<p>I just realized last night that the University of Alabama system has three campuses (don’t know how I missed that, but I did). My understanding is that " 'Bama" refers to the main campus at Tuscaloosa and that this campus is what most responders are referring to - is that correct? I took a look online at all three campuses, the Birmingham campus has some nice aspects but I’m pretty sure my DD would prefer the main one if she attends.</p>

<p>I certainly hear you about checking out schools carefully, dyiu13. Other Jewish students and I had a real problem with holiday observance at - believe it or not - Harvard University, at the Kennedy School of Government, which has an extremely diverse student body from both around the world and around the nation. (The diverse student body wasn’t the problem - it was administrative lack of attention and a couple of individual students - but we learned first hand what it’s like to belong to a very small minority group, which most of us, who were either Israeli or from places with relatively large Jewish populations, had not experienced). </p>

<p>It would take to long to go into detail, but over the course of a year there were issues with T.A.'s refusing to record classes held over the High Holidays, students who didn’t want to re-schedule a student government election planned for Yom Kippur, a nationwide competition held on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, etc. There was no overt anti-semitism, but some students did feel that accommodations which may have been gladly made for, say, Hindu or Muslim students were not as gladly made for Jewish students because were weren’t ‘minority’ enough (although there were at least as many Hindu, Muslim, or Buddhist students as Jewish students). That may not have been the case though, as the few people who caused these problems were all caucasian Americans.</p>

<p>Anyway, although in general I loved my year at the Kennedy School, the religious accommodation issues were something I would rather not have either me or my children repeat. </p>

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<p>Yes, Tuscaloosa is the Alabama people referred to in this thread. </p>

<p>The Huntsville and Birmingham campuses were historically extension/outreach/commuter schools, but they are trying hard to shed that heritage. UAB also houses the medical school so it is strong in fields related to that. UAH is well-connected to research activities and does a very large amount of research for a non-flagship public school, and consequently it is strong in engineering and science.</p>

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<p>Franklin & Marshall meets 100% need. Maybe Muhlenberg and Lehigh. I have no idea if these colleges offer non-binding early admission, but they came to mind.</p>

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<p>My rabbi friend adored Earlham. They offered my daughter with similar stats a $17,500 merit scholarship and it is among the most affordable of her admissions. It is a very kind, diverse school with a strong reputation for excellence in teaching. You are wise to focus on those safeties! Instead of “safety school” they should call it “school you want to kiss on both cheeks” when they come through with that admission letter/merit offer in January. If you want to PM I can share more about our adventures this year :)</p>

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<p>Thank you so much to everyone who responded! I truly appreciate all of the insights and shares experiences, they helped a lot in dispelling some of the nervousness involved in sending her to what could almost be, in some ways, a foreign country (I grew up in the New York City area but lived in California for five years; I loved it there but the culture and lifestyle was so different that I did feel at times that except for the language, I was in an entirely different nation). Demeron2, I will PM you. For all readers, let me know if you have any questions about life in the greater Boston area. I’m also open to further suggestions on this subject. Best regards, DragonBoatGirl </p>