A few years ago an Israeli astronaut was going to be on the space station for passover. One of the rabbis from Melbourne sent a Passover kit with all the astronaut would need to celebrate. However, the rabbi did recommend he not open the door for Elijah.
Plenty of Jews in Melbourne. There is a temple right across the street from the school.
Yes, was commenting on the school. We looked for my son - liked the visit, especially the dining. What we didn’t like was it’s not a non-smoking campus. I don’t know if it’s changed.
You could only smoke in a certain area but they said it was because of the international population.
Nice school and it was on the list I laid out in message 8 - although at that time, I didn’t realize the importance of Jewish life to OP. Big difference of having a temple across the street vs. having an active student group.
Certainly if the school meets the needs of OP, she should investigate further. It’s small (area wise), quiet and could certainly be a good fit.
Just a heads up University of Alabama has a Jewish student body per Hillel of 700 from a total student body of 39,000 or 1.8%. May work for you or may not but those are the stats.
One of Bama’s most famous Jewish alums is Bernie Madoff who didn’t find it to be a good fit.
Great option for high stats kids with limited finances assuming the community environment works for you.
That’s for UA, not UAH. And Bernie was a little crazy. We have some mutuals 
Please do try and visit William & Mary - I think it would be a good fit. A friend’s son is graduating in May and astrophysics is his interest, too. He has been really happy with the physics department and how the relationships he has built and what he has been able to study.
I really found this informative and keep working hard for good grades hope you are doing well.
@lilyesh, suggest you check out some women’s colleges. They are heavily invested in women in STEM but also committed to liberal arts, and are among the most diverse and inclusive campuses. Examples: Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Wellesley.
Let me suggest three schools that no one else has mentioned for you:
Princeton (very well resourced for all your needs); Something to look at: DataSpace: Physics, 1936-2022
UChicago
Caltech (yes, not close to home).
They are small enough.
They will truly stretch your horizons.
And they are outstanding in your chosen area.
You will have outstanding peers.
What do you lose?
Back to this thread….we visited some schools this past week!
Specifically Vassar, RPI, Williams College, and Wesleyan.
We’ve established Amherst College is a must visit and already booked the tour etc.
We’ve also decided that small LAC is the way to go. I walked in thinking RPI was going to be the place for me, and walked out not liking it to the point where me and my mom both agreed it’s not even worth the application. It was way too big.
We both liked the other three. We both would put Williams at the top, as the campus culture and academics were exactly what I wanted. The vibes felt right too. It’s in the middle of nowhere, but I kinda liked that, as I love nature (will be going backpacking in the rockies off-grid for 2 wks this summer!). I also liked that there’s no Greek Life at all at Williams or Vassar, and at Wesleyan it didn’t seem like a big deal. The three all had amazing architecture and beautiful campuses. I liked the small student body of Williams, and I honestly think I cannot go to a school any bigger than 5,000. The community is really something I need. I liked that at Williams most kids did a sport, but were also involved in other things too. I liked the nerdy/quirkier vibe I got also.
So I guess from here I would ask if anyone has anymore suggestions. We want to stay within a 3ish hour radius of NYC. Nothing against the South, just New England is probably more my vibe. Definitely schools where Greek life doesn’t drive the social scene, not a big party school, COLLABORATIVE AND CHALLENGING work environment, smaller class sizes, tight knit community. We also liked that pretty much everybody lived on campus all 4 years.
My grades have gone up, so no B+’s this quarter and I’ll most likely land All A’s on my transcript for junior year. Also hoping for at least a 1500 or 34 ACT which is very doable and within my skill set.
I’ve been a little concerned about applications….I feel due to location and a very specific culture I’m looking for, I won’t be applying to many colleges and most will be reaches. We’ve been talking about doing a gap year or local for a year and then transferring. I don’t want to settle for a school if I don’t love it and don’t think I’d be happy there. That is my biggest thing. Me and my family agreed we have no doubt that I can handle course load. It’s the social aspect.
Thanks, all your help has been very useful.
Why settle?
The odds of Williams or Amherst or Vassar may not be great - but within 3 hours of NYC you have a lot of great schools.
You’d have to check for vibe, academics and all that - greek life and some of these won’t work but they’re some to look at.
You can’t get hooked on a - I must go here or else - I’ll take a gap year or transfer. You can be a success at so many schools - prestigious or not - and going somewhere to transfer means you won’t be happy most likely - you’ll have one foot out the door. And a gap year can be worthwhile for the right reason - which isn’t just so you can apply again. Often, that extra year won’t make your odds better.
Some of these aren’t completely rural but have aspects that you’d enjoy and all are fine names but with different levels of selectivity. And while mostly not New England, all are within range of NYC.
I believe you’re female - well hope I got that right.
Bard might be a good fit. I would add Sarah Lawrence but that might be too close…so while you’re worried about pedigree, there’s another seeking a top LAC that is leaning toward Sarah Lawrence over Grinnell, as an example…who journey is posted on here.
I could see the first two (Bard, Bennington as fine safeties and Mt. Holyoke a nice fit too.
Bard
Bennington
Bryn Mawr (female)
Bucknell - likely too greek
Connecticut
Dickinson
Franklin & Marshall - maybe too greek
Haverford - ok, not in middle of nowhere
Lafayette
Mt. Holyoke (female)
Skidmore
Smith (female)
Ursinus
Wesleyan
Keep an open mind - and don’t forget, your safety, not your reach is the most important school on your list!! You’ve got a lot of reaches - but a 34 ACT (which you don’t yet have) and strong grades alone don’t necessarily get you into the schools you want. They may - but it’s not likely.
There are others you can and will love just as much!!
Best of luck.
I totally understand. I would love to apply to any higher admit schools if they were the right fit. Honestly a big part is that I don’t want to be the smartest kid or an academic standout. I almost want to be a more middle of the pack student, I’m female but not sure about all women’s colleges. Not my pick. I just feel like I’m looking for a very specific vibe and most of the schools that have it happen to be selective 
Trust me - you can go to name your less prestigious public or private -and you won’t be the “smartest” - well you may be smartest but you won’t be the academic superstar that you think.
There are superstars that likely go to every school - it may be based on cost or distance to home or size or special programs.
My kid goes to an average public school - as an example - yet she’s like you academically - and she excels vs. the average student - yet they have kids there who chose the school over Rice, Penn, Vandy and more.
Trust me - and not telling you to not be confident and I don’t know you - but I promise you at every school on the list above and that others will provide - you will be far from the only smart kid and you will not stand out.
Time for a reality check 
Keep an open mind about schools like Smith and Mount Holyoke. Both wonderful schools, and Mount Holyoke, at least, is very generous with merit aid (I don’t know about Smith). And because of the five-college consortium, you’ll still have a partly co-ed experience if you want it. Mount Holyoke describes itself as a gender-inclusive women’s college, which means they welcome a range of gender identities. Connecticut College should also be on your list as a target, along with others mentioned above.
Seconding Bard, Dickinson, Connecticut College.
Check out Hamilton.
Bryn Mawr might be a good choice - the tri-co arrangement softens the women’s college side.
You have a lot of other good suggestions.
Btw, if you like Bard, they have some interesting ways to apply and iirc, a couple will get you a decision earlier in the process.
It’s easy to identify reaches. It’s much harder to find solid matches and safeties, so really devote time to that. High grades and good scores will not propel you to the top of the heap – they just get you included in a big pool of applications to consider.
Amherst, UMass, Smith, Mt. Holyoke and Hampshire are all part of a consortium so you can take classes at any of the five from any of the schools.
I would consider Clark in Worcester. (Again, check out the website for Colleges that Change Lives.) I think you would really like Clark.
Not sure Bennington or Sarah Lawrence would be good fits.
By the way- your “hobbies” are very relevant, even if self-taught, Be sure to include those on your application one way or the other.
Yeah, I’m self taught in piano and I also do art. I’ve been working on some big pieces, looking to play Fantasie Impromptu soon. I’ve got a lot of hobbies I’d like to join clubs and become more serious about, just don’t have time.
Update on scores…Superscore
Composite: 35
Math: 35
English: 33
Reading: 35
Science: 35
I think this definitely puts me in the running at any school.
Thanks on the update! Your ACT score is definitely strong enough to be in consideration at any school.
What colleges are you now thinking about applying to? Do you have your list pretty well set, or are you still looking for possibilities? Did you end up visiting Amherst? What did you think about it?
I did visit Amherst. I loved it. I still like the small LAC “little Ivy” route. My first choice right now would be Williams, and I’m happy I can submit my score and feel confident about making the right choice. The score would be good enough that I could submit it to Ivies and the like, but I honestly don’t think it’s right for me. I don’t care about the name as much as fit. I am applying to Dartmouth however. Maybe I’ll visit more of the Harvard type Ivies just to see if I like it. My biggest issue with that is that I want to run track in college, and that’s only possible for me at a D3 school.
Congrats - you were a fine student before - even with how your PSAT translated.
But yes, a 35 will open up a few doors.
Because you want to study astrophysics, you might consider some of the larger schools like Arizona, Colorado and Illinois. Since you don’t have cost issues, these are some of the tops schools in the country - and will be a safety for you.
You’ll find them on myriad lists.
You might “reach” for Princeton and Johns Hopkins types. You might also look at RIT aas a very strong safety.
Since you prefer the East Coast (so much for the three publics I noted), you can look at offerings at some of the top schools but with a 3.8 UW and 35 - if iyou attend a normal high school, you’ll still have reaches and a school like W&M will be a low reach…maybe even a reach. My daughter was better GPA wise but a 34 and was WL. So the academics will count more than the test.
But you might check out RIT, Lehigh (too greek?) and RPI as stronger with Rochester and Brandeis as two others. Rochester might be a slight reach.
You mentioned Florida and U Miami is a possibility but may be more marine oriented.
I would tell you who I wouldn’t skip - and yes both were safeties before and now - would be Florida Tech - right near Cape Canaveral and heavily involved in Astrophysics. And to a lesser extent Embry Riddle.
The 35 is great - but it’s still a stretch to go to the top academic schools - but frankly, given the major, the top academic schools aren’t necessarily the strongest anyway.
Best of luck.
The 10 Best Astrophysics and Astronomy Schools in the US - collegegazette.com
