<p>Last night, my daughter and I attended an information session that was held jointly by B/C/L. We attended because my daughter has some interest in Case and figured she'd just sit through the presentations from the other two schools. To her surprise (and mine), Brandeis really captured her attention. She was quite impressed with the academic and social mission of the school and will be looking at it quite seriously. She recognizes that it is a definite reach for her...stat-wise and financially, but on paper, she likes what she sees so is interested in exploring it further. </p>
<p>I'll probably be working on a trip back East for her this summer, but in the meantime, does anyone have any insights to share about Brandeis? This is a school that most in this area haven't heard too much about, so there's a definite lack of anecdotal information. Can a midwestern, Christian, liberal girl with a passion for the arts and social justice find a home at Brandeis (adcoms notwithstanding!)?</p>
<p>mezzomom,
my son will be attending UChicago, but Brandeis was a close second on his accepted list. He's an agnostic, but the religous orientation of Brandeis was interesting, not overwhelming. It you visit, you will find a lot of intellectual liveliness on the campus - lots going on and being discusses. And if she has a passion for social justice, Brandeis might be just the ticket. </p>
<p>If you look on the Brandeis thread, you will she that the admissions this fall were not all stats-based. Clearly, the adcoms were looking at more than just numbers. I hope you can visit!</p>
<p>I attended Brandeis in the dark ages and had a great education. Quite a few of us made it from Brandeis to Harvard graduate school. It has some great profs; the math department is small but very good. Near Eastern Studies are excellent. Some great historians. </p>
<p>Brandeis has always tried hard to attract non Jews. For example, it has the three chapels to sere a range of denominations. There is one kosher cafeteria, though non-Jews have to put up with beef bacon! Brandeis has a special scholarship for international students, so the campus is quite diverse, apart from its strong outreach program to attract minorities.<br>
It was much less built up than it is now. The architecture is non-descript (the university was established in 1948), but the dorms were quite comfortable. I remember small classes, a nice little museum of modern art, some great musical performances. </p>
<p>Can a midwestern, Christian, liberal girl with a passion for the arts and social justice find a home at Brandeis (adcoms notwithstanding!)?</p>
<p>Mezzomom (don't know which of you is the mezzo]: Our S is a freshman at Brandeis and it has been wonderful for him in terms of "spreading his wings". Brandeis willingly accepts liberals, even midwesterners, and if social justice is one's thing, it is a basic part of their fabric.</p>
<p>Somewhat over 50% of the student body is said to be Jewish (though I never know how that figure is arrived at) but from what we have seen, the majority of the Jewish students are not "religious" even in the most liberal sense of the term. Jewish holidays are celebrated prominently on campus, but not in any intimidating way and anyway, anyone is welcome to attend and have fun.</p>
<p>The quality of education is excellent, including (from what I have heard) music; if your D is a serious student she would do well there, and also have fun. And there are lots of opportunities to go into Boston.</p>
<p>Can't speak of cost to you; however, Brandeis does offer about 200 merit scholarships per year to entering freshmen, based to a certain extent on stats. So if your D can get hers up into their range, that could be a possibility.</p>
<p>Brandeis this year started a program of what it called "blue ribbon" applications. On some basis (possibly showing of interest) it contacted a number of prospective students and offered the chance for an early non-binding decision. Got a lot of applications that way; I don't know if they plan to repeat it.</p>
<p>Don't know what the adcom did or said to give a negative impression, but if you'll mention it, we can try to respond.</p>
<p>Comment re architecture: since it is a "newer" (1948) school, there is none of the traditional architecture, but I still find it an attractive campus. Agree that a social justice bent would be a great fit there.</p>
<p>I'm a member of Brandeis '09. I applied ED. Brandeis was the only school that I applied to, as it was the only school that I could see myself attending. Brandeis was a perfect match for me because of its emphasis on social justice and using your education to make the world a better place. Brandeis students seem to have a different aura than most college students. They come to college to learn and to make the world a better place, not get high and drunk every night. (Although, certainly, if you want to party in moderation, you can do so.) Graduate Schools and many employers recognize that outstanding academics at Brandeis. That's why Brandeis has such a high percentage of students getting accepeted to med school or law school. The class sizes are very small. Only a handful of classes have discussion sections led by TAs. The faculty is top-notch and includes Robert Reich and Anita Hill. Many are published authors in their field.</p>
<p>Mezzomom, my daughter looked at Brandeis (white Christian Southern) and saw lots of things to like, although she did not apply in the end. She got the feeling they might use merit aid to attract geographic diversity, something to keep in mind, and the merit aid is quite generous anyway. She was very interested in Swarthmore as well, and got some of the same "vibes". Brandeis was in the match/safety range for her, and is unusual in its intellectual bent, yet being not as selective - we (parents) actually were more negative, we wanted her back-up schools to be closer to home, which was a mistake on our part - Brandeis should have stayed on her list.</p>
<p>Thank you all; you are basically confirming the initial gut reaction that both my daughter and I had.</p>
<p>Dadofsam, I'm sorry if I conveyed the impression that we had any negative reactions. Just the opposite was true; it was only the second time I've seen my daughter respond with enthusiasm to a school (and the adcom). We were quite pleased with the interaction, and the adcom had answers that were "right" for us. To give you an example, with the Case adcom, we asked if he saw any problems/drawbacks with the fact that my daughter attends a new, charter performing arts school with little or no track record with colleges (the first graduating class is this year). He responded that it wouldn't be a problem per se, but the burden would be on us to ensure that information was effectively and thoroughly communicated. When asked the same thing, the Brandeis adcom was very enthusiastic...she felt it was a plus that my daughter had tried something a bit out of the ordinary (and risky) and stated that since Brandeis is relatively new, they appreciate and understand some of the issues associated with start-up schools. </p>
<p>We also felt that Brandeis really does look beyond just the stats and that the whole person is considered. After reading through the Brandeis board here on CC, I got that same sense...and in the case of my daughter, that would be a good thing. I don't think her test scores will be awful (by non-CC standards); I'm guessing that her SATs will be in the equivalent range of the old 1200-1300s and suspect her ACTs will be a bit better. While her scores won't distinguish her in any way, I do think some of her activities will. She does tend to reach for the stars; attempting activities/auditions that go well beyond the norm (in this area at least) and achieving a modicum of success. If she can communicate this part of her drive and personality, I got the distinct sense that the numbers may become less of an issue.</p>
<p>And as far as the finances go, like many parents on CC, it's likely to come down to seeing the financial aid package if she's accepted. But that's pretty much the case no matter what the school, and I've always told my daughter that I'll never tell her where she can or can't apply as long as she knows that $$$ is going to be a consideration for the final decision. </p>
<p>I'm just glad that there's finally another school that my daughter actually got excited about. And I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that when she does visit, the reality is even better.</p>
<p>Mezzomom, Brandeis was on the list my daughter's guidance counselor gave her, so we went to the joint Brandeis/Lehigh session in our area. (We never understood why it was just those two and not Case for that particular session.) Before we went, my D was not enthusiastic about Brandeis at all, even though--for many reasons--it would have been a good choice of school to have at her list. (Brandeis does tend to accept kids from her school every year.) Her enthusiasm level rose as the ad com gave his presentation. Of all the information sessions I have been to, his was by far the most enthusiastic and convincing. We visited Brandeis, and kept it on our list til D was accepted ED elsewhere. She had had the opposite twinges about Brandeis than you mentioned, though it comes down to the same issue--as a mid-Atlantic Jewish kid from a Jewish parochial school, she was concerned about there being enough diversity and little enough self-segregation to make her college experience different from her homogenenous high school experience. The adcom assuaged her fears on that score. </p>
<p>I know some people aren't wild about the architecture but I thought that much of it was quite cool, especially the Scottish castle.</p>