<p>For DD#2, who found her reach schools but only 1 safety and no match. Would appreciate some help. Her stats (incomplete, she hasn't taken ACT test yet, will in June): GPA 4.04 (weighted, academic) in an Honors-AP track; made Honors Wind Ensemble sophomore year (HS doesn't let freshmen even audition for this elite music group); natl. Italian honor soc.; Tri-M (natl. music honor soc); nominee for NHS and natl. honors math soc; pres-elect of Model UN; literary mag editor 2 years; works 12 hrs/wk at 2 jobs; teaches music in township summer enrichment program; qualified 2 yrs in a row for a special jazz workshop. Interested in majoring in history or creative writing while studying music (maybe as a minor but definitely more music). Wants to take req'd courses to apply for med school. Does not want to live in a co-ed dorm (segregated by floors OK); school must have active Orthodox Jewish student population (kosher dining with up to 21 meals/wk; daily prayer services; holiday services). Not large population, just active. Won't bore you with reaches; the 1 safety found is Montclair State (near our house; live at home). Other suggestions for safeties and matches, please? We know that Rutgers NB doesn't integrate advanced music offered at Mason-Gross with the other colleges, so Rutgers NB is out (D#1 graduates from Rutgers NB next week - been there already). Thanks.</p>
<p>Active Orthodox pop.? Dont know on that--I would guess Brandeis, Columbia, NYU and Yeshiva U do.</p>
<p>I know where i'm going--BU has a very large Jewish population and the nicest Hillel in the US. They do have kosher dining as well. Only problem is that it's bigger for a private school.</p>
<p>CUNYs (my orthodox cousin is going to Queen's), SUNYs....</p>
<p>Thanks, Loslobos. Brandeis, Columbia, NYU are on the reach list (according to her GC). No to YU; the woman's school Stern does not offer a full college curriculum (and no financial aid). Queen's has no dorms (commuter school) and a far commute (rabbi's daughter across the street is going there - 2 days a week only due to the long commute); thinking about Hunter instead among the CUNY's (easier commute). Also thinking about SUNY (spouse is a Stony Brook grad). Which one has good music though? If you hear of something, plmk.</p>
<p>Brandeis actually has one of the only fully "integrated" kosher dining facilities in the country - kids who keep kosher can eat along side kids who don't. And it has an excellent music program along with its science & premed programs.</p>
<p>If you go to hillel.org, you may be able to get a listing of colleges with kosher dining halls.</p>
<p>Chedva, I think the point is that if they're religious enough to keep Kosher, they would NEVER sit next to someone eating unkosher food.</p>
<p>Thanks Chedva, see the post I wrote while you were writing.
Went to Hillel's website. Doesn't tell you the ganze megillah.
E.g., Hillel lists The College of NJ as having kosher dining. We toured TCNJ and no one could show it to us. E-mailed their group asking - no reply. Oberlin College has kosher dining listed - it's a coop, kids preparing food, no mashgiach, no Shabbos oversight. We wouldn't eat at Oberlin (and we are somewhat lenient). Need more insider info.</p>
<p>UConn has a full kosher dining hall; University of Maryland, College Park does too. You'll probably need larger universities that could support a full kosher kitchen. (Apparently the kosher dining at Brandeis has been blessed by the orthodox rabbis in the Boston area, but if it's not good glatt enough, that's fine.)</p>
<p>Here's the list I got from Hillel (eliminating Oberlin & on my search, TCNJ didn't come up):
American University
Barnard College
Binghmton University
Boston University
Brandeis University
Brown University
California Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
Cornell U
Franklin & Marshall
Goucher College
Ithaca College
Johns Hopkins University
Macalester College
NYU
Ohio State
Princeton
Syracuse U
Stevens Institute of Technology
Towson U
SUNY Albany
U Florida
U Hartford
U Mass Amherst
U Michigan
U Pittsburgh
U Rochester
U Tulsa
UVA
Vanderbilt
Wesleyan
Williams
Yale</p>
<p>I don't vouch for any of them, but it might give you a place to start.</p>
<p>EDIT: I was also curious, since D is going to Rochester, so I took a look. Here's from Rochester's website:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Kosher Meals
To meet the needs of students who observe kosher dietary laws, Dining Services offers kosher meals. A Glatt Kosher deli, Nosh Deli, is located in the Douglass Dining Center. The Nosh Deli offers daily specials in addition to a large selection of made-to-order sandwiches and side dishes. Hillside Caf</p>
<p>Vassar College has a large Jewish population, I believe. Of course, I'm a bit biased because I'm going there next year, but it's a fantastic school. Also, it has one all-girls dorm on campus which your daughter could request to live in if she so chose. It would probably be a match to semi-reach school for her, depending on what her standardized testing scores are like.</p>
<p>Try out Counselor-o-Matic on princetonreview.com for a list of safeties, matches, and reaches. Of course, it won't be right all the time, or even most of the time, (it gave me Yale as a match, which is, of course, codswallop), but it'll give you a feel for where you stand.</p>
<p>University of Hartford has a very active Orthodox population- there are also several orthodox synagogues in the area which extends the community, and a kosher grocery store 10 minutes away from campus.
Its also extremely well known for Hartt school of Music, and very generous with merit aid</p>
<p>My friend (who's not exactly a super student) just got like $25K a year to UHartford. He's going. Indeed very generous.</p>
<p>Thanks for the long list, we've got homework. We are looking for matches/safeties here, not reaches (reaches we found: JHU, Barnard, Brandeis, URochester, Northwestern).
Vassar may have kosher dining but the services aren't Orthodox.
Two friends' daughters left UHartford due to lack of Jewish life. Yes there was kosher dining but nothing else for the observant.
URochester look like it has a great Chabad too.
Will check out the Princeton Review's counselor-o-matic, thanks.</p>
<p>If you're still looking in the Boston area, you may want to contact Rabbi Joseph Polak at BU's Hillel (even if you consider BU a reach). BU does in fact have full kosher dining, and Rabbi Polak is Lubavitch personally, although he does run the Conservative services as well as the Orthodox. He is an amazing font of knowledge about what's going on in the college communities and he may even know about schools outside the Boston area that might meet your observant daughter's needs.</p>
<p>Here's the website:
<a href="http://www.bu.edu/dbin/hillel/%5B/url%5D">http://www.bu.edu/dbin/hillel/</a>
His e-mail is <a href="mailto:rjp@bu.edu">rjp@bu.edu</a>
Hillel's phone number is 617-353-7200.</p>
<p>And Rabbi Polak is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Friendly, helpful, non-judgmental (he didn't care that I am Reform/non-observant), incredibly learned and a wonderful teacher.</p>
<p>Without daughter's test scores it is hard to know for sure, but from the list provided above I think I may be able to help you in the right direction:</p>
<p>Probable matches (conservative):</p>
<p>American
Florida
Ithaca
Binghamton
Syracuse
Pitt
Ohio State</p>
<p>Safeties:</p>
<p>U Albany
Towson
UMass</p>
<p>Of course they may be some significant blurring of these lines, but I bet these characterizations are at least roughly accurate.</p>
<p>What about UConn? They have a Chabad house on campus, kosher dining hall, daily services, and overall a very prominent Jewish population.</p>
<p>Yale and UPenn have very active orthodox communities. Try Barnard as well (both Barnard and Columbia also have strong orthodox populations)</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you're still looking in the Boston area, you may want to contact Rabbi Joseph Polak at BU's Hillel (even if you consider BU a reach). BU does in fact have full kosher dining, and Rabbi Polak is Lubavitch personally, although he does run the Conservative services as well as the Orthodox. He is an amazing font of knowledge about what's going on in the college communities and he may even know about schools outside the Boston area that might meet your observant daughter's needs.</p>
<p>Here's the website:
<a href="http://www.bu.edu/dbin/hillel/%5B/url%5D">http://www.bu.edu/dbin/hillel/</a>
His e-mail is <a href="mailto:rjp@bu.edu">rjp@bu.edu</a>
Hillel's phone number is 617-353-7200.</p>
<p>And Rabbi Polak is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Friendly, helpful, non-judgmental (he didn't care that I am Reform/non-observant), incredibly learned and a wonderful teacher.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Echo that. We have easily the nicest and most equipped Hillel in the world. I've personally never met Rabbi Polak (yet), but my whole family knows the Edu. Director--Rabbi Heller personally and all have great things to say about him. I've heard nothing but amazing things about our Hillel and the Jewish community at school.</p>
<p>Goucher has a kosher kitchen and the food is very good there. They have a woman who comes in and cooks. The school is about 30% Jewish and the Hillel is very active. My son was very happy there.</p>
<p>I would definately look at Pitt. The nearby neighborhood of Squirrel Hill has a very large Jewish population with a ton of stuff always going on. And Pitt's Hillel group is very active-- they recently brought in Elliot Yamin from American Idol to perform.</p>
<p>Although you mentioned large universities weren't a good option...I'd recommend Michigan State. My cousin keeps kosher. She isn't orthodox but attended the hillel every week for shabbat services at MSU. She really enjoyed the atmosphere there. She got both her undergrad and master's there, now is 27.</p>