<p>I recently have begun calling up many schools about the Jewish life at their respective schools in regards to Jews of the Modern Orthodox/Orthodox sect. I will update this page frequently, so be on the lookout.</p>
<p>EMORY-I was told that while there are manyJews on campus only 2(no typo) are observant of Sabbath/kashruth.</p>
<p>U. of MIAMI-Roughly 2,000 Jews, with about 15 observant ones. However, most of the religous Jews on campus happen to be commuting locals according to the director of the Hillel house there.</p>
<p>VANDERBILT-While Vandy is lacking in the amount of observant Jews(roughly 15), they realy excited me. They seem so eager to attract a more diverse group of Jewish people, which is clearly evident based on the fact that they just installed a kosher kitchen. I spoke to the head of the Hillel there for roughly half an hour, and he seemed do eager to improve the Jewish life there, leaving me intrigued with the thought of helping to build something there.</p>
<p>I will be looking at Tufts, Hamilton, Colgate, and Vassar in the near future.</p>
<p>P.S. FYI if any students want to know, the most observant campuses are Yeshiva University(obviously), SUNY Binghamton, Brandeis, U. Maryland-College Park, BU, and the Ivies.</p>
<p>I don't know how many Orthodox students attend UVA but they have a very active Chabad house less than 2 blocks from campus with weekly Shabbat dinners, monthly programs for Jewish and all interested students and observances of all the holidays for students that can't do home (like a brisket dinner for Erev Rosh Hashana). They will even deliver chicken soup to you in the dorm if you are sick!</p>
<p>glad you're looking at vandy. incoming class is 17% jewish and as you've noticed efforts are being made regularly to improve the jewish community (he did mention the schulman center?).</p>
<p>As I'm sure OP already knows, Jewish Theological Seminary = Theological seminary for Conservative Judaism does not = Orthodox judaism.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is indeed making huge strides to attract jewish students, with new facilities, etc. We have a (reform) family friend quite excited about attending in the Fall. I wonder how the alumni are viewing these changes on campus, which represent a rather striking change there. Still, with such a small orthodox community I would imagine there might be some issues.</p>
<p>ses, JTS is affiliated with the Reform omvement I believe, so hat wouldn't fit an orthodox student's criteria. I don't know much about UVA, and I honestly wasn't considering it based on one point; I've heard that getting into one of the "public Ivies" from out of state is nearly impossible(please correct me if I'm wrong). funployee, I might do a litlle research on NW so check back later. cherokeejew, if only I could get into there:(. Possible reach option just for fun. I don't feel that schools taht already have an established Jewish population need to be listed though, I'm looking at schools which aren't necessarily known for their Jewish population. briantheman, I was told briefly about the Schulman Center, along with Grins(pronounced Greens). The head of the Hillel there seems super-dedicated to expanding the Orthodox Jewish population. monydad, there will most likely be massive challenges for an orthodox student at Vandy, however the knowledge of having even a minute orthodox presence on campus can help make someone feel more at home.</p>
<p>huskem55, I hope that you are correct. Are you Jewish and in Tufts? And 45 percenter, it's not about the quantity of Jews, it's about their level of observance.</p>
<p>I know, but the law of large numbers would indicate that the larger the number, the greater chance of finding more obervant Jews. By the way, Penn has a wonderful new Hillel building (one of the largest in the country, I believe) that includes a Kosher dining hall.</p>
<p>I don't know about which branch of Judaism they follow, but observant family friend is happy sending her daughter to American U. Other daughter went to Binghamton. Another very observant family sent their daughter to Vassar FWIW.</p>
<p>45 percenter, thnaks for your help. If only everyone could get into PENN.... mythmom, I haven't really looked into American, but Vassar I will find out about soon. Binghamton though is a school that I have already established as my safety.</p>
<p>in general I would think schools in the northeast / mid-atlantic area would tend to have the highest concentration of Jeuish students ... and that this would be true at all levels of schools. I also agree with 45%er that schools with large Jewish populations are more likely to have lots of kids who observe similar to you ... I was an undergrad at Cornell and my Jewish friends all seemed to ba able to find a support system for however they approached their religion.</p>
<p>BoxingLeprechaun: I dont go to Tufts, but I am quite familiar with the school. I also know that the surrounding community has a very high concentration of observant Jews, so you will have plenty of options regarding kosher food, etc</p>
<p>BoxingLeprechaun, just as a point of information, since it won't really help you - JTS is affiliated with the Conservative, not Reform, movement.</p>