<p>Thanks, Soozievt, we also know students at Emory and Tulane. She is not interested in Tulane and Emory doesn't have an elementary ed major. Her favorite schools so far are Elon and College of Charleston. Vanderbilt would be a possibly, but it would be a reach.</p>
<p>Thought I would post again. It is frustrating trying to find some more schools. It seems that once you leave the first tier of schools and big universities, it is hard to find smaller schools in the South with a big enough Jewish presence. I have even contacted Rabbis at local Temples. Is 25 Jewish students enough? College of Charleston seems to have good numbers and organizations, but it is over 10,000 students. Elon is still my daughter's first choice and it seems to have a thriving Jewish group, but not large numbers. U of Tampa is a consideration, but have heard negatives on this site. School must have an elementary school major, so that also limits our choices. Any more suggestion for schools in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina?</p>
<p>Does anyone have any knowledge of Jewish involvement at Elon? My daughter has contacted the school about the education department and the school sounds like a great fit. But I am worried about the small amount of Jewish students.</p>
<p>candace -- your best bet is for your d to try to contact a student involved in the campus hillel or jewish student group -- if you go to hillel.org's campus guide you will hopefully be able to get a link to the campus hillel, which will hopefully give you the names of kids there you can contact. current students will be able to answer your d's questions. (unfortunately, local websites are not always up to date, so if you don't get a reply, don't be discouraged, it could be an old link - we found that out when d kept wondering why a hillel pres didn't respond to her- turned out the kid she wrote to had graduated!)</p>
<p>you can also try contacting any of the hillel professionals listed for the campus -- just realize, that sometimes they try to market their school to a prospective student, so we found it usually best to try to contact a student as well - they'll usually give you straight answers. the hillel professional should be able to put you in contact with a student if you haven't otherwise been able to find an email address for one.</p>
<p>if your d is planning a visit, she should try to see if she can arrange to meet a student from the hillel and spend some time with them -- nothing will tell her more about whether the community is what she is looking for.</p>
<p>Here's the website for the Elon Hillel. They have a rabbi, but the website has not been updated recently. Can't tell if they had High Holiday services or not, for instance. </p>
<p>They don't seem to have Shabbat dinners very frequently. How much of a Jewish presence does your daughter want? Occasional gastronomic Judaism, or regular services & dinners? ;) </p>
<p><a href="http://org.elon.edu/hillel/index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://org.elon.edu/hillel/index.htm</a></p>
<p>Elon seems to be a small town in the middle of East Nowhere in the Bible Belt. Best to ask Jewish students already there how they like it and how comfortable they feel.</p>
<p>Is Vanderbilt too large for your daughter? They have openly recruited Jewish students lately. </p>
<p>Another angle is to look for a small college in a town with a good Jewish population. Often if there is no Hillel the students go to the only synagogue in town, which is very happy to have them.</p>
<p>My d just got an e-mail newsletter from Hillel & Princeton Review called "Chai Wire - A Guide to the College Balancing Act." You might find it interesting. It's at <a href="http://www.chaiwire.org%5B/url%5D">www.chaiwire.org</a>.</p>
<p>i see the list of student officers at the elon website is from 05-06 -- your d could cc all of them on her e-mail in the hopes that at least one of them is still a student there - even if they aren't still on the board, they should be able to answer her questions.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions. I have heard back from the president of Hillel at Elon and she sounded very happy there. The link to chaiwire was fun, thanks Chedva. Looks like we will visit Elon in March. My daughter went to a Jewish camp in NC a few years back and we loved the area. The camp was near Asheville, so we have not been to the towns near Elon. It looks like a beautiful area. Have you been to the area, mommusic?</p>
<p>No, I have not, but I'm sure it's lovely. Again, it depends on the level of Jewish activity she is looking for. If she visits and asks all the right questions I'm sure she'll be fine.</p>
<p>Interesting area, Asheville. Nearby was Black Mountain College, closed now but it was very progressive in its day. Borrowed from a website: </p>
<p>• Black Mountain College was the first American experimental college boasting complete democratic self-rule, extensive work in the creative arts, and interdisciplinary academic study </p>
<p>• First geodesic dome built by Buckminster Fuller in 1948 </p>
<p>• First multimedia happening occurred at Black Mountain College in 1952, staged by John Cage </p>
<p>So you see there have been amazing pockets of non-stereotypical action!</p>
<p>How about Tufts? Huge, well-organized Jewish population; great Hillel center (best building on-campus, probably), and a great Child Development major as well as aa 5-year program that earns you an MEd.</p>
<p>She wants a school in the SOUTH.</p>
<p>Actually Tufts was my first choice when I applied to colleges, a million years ago. But, it is too cold for my daughter. She is a Florida girl. She just wants to see a little bit of snow. Thanks for the interesting info, mommusic.</p>
<p>All right, this sounds crazy, but Washington and Lee, long a bastion of southern Christianity, has what I would consider a good Jewish activity level of the Hillel type. My daughter, a freshman, has been very comfortable there (and she's the type who actually fasted on Yom Kippur, was Bat Mitzvah'd, etc). Plus, VMI is next door, and many of the events merge the students of the two schools. </p>
<p>My daughter has had rush "dates" from several sororities, so fitting in is not a problem. She feels completely accepted, but then she went to a H.S. where she was in the minority.</p>
<p>It's not Brandeis, but it is in the south. </p>
<p>Now, if you're looking for a large percentage of Jewish kids....don't go to W&L. Go to NYU.</p>
<p>Candace-
Your daughter is still a Junior and her college list may change drastically in the next year. My eldest had told us during her junior year of high school that she would never stay in Florida. After many expensive and time consuming college visits to New England, the mid atlantic states and the South, my daughter is now a freshman at UF in Gainesville and loving it. We visited Gainesville in January of her senior year during a cold snap. My Florida daughter, after our campus tour, was shivering and showing me her purple nail beds...it was about 44 degrees and breezy. She then decided that this was as far north as she ever wanted to live! Never say never.
My second daughter is a Junior now in high school. She will stay in Florida. </p>
<p>UCF in Orlando is rising fast in academic reputation and Jewish Population (currently about 13%). FSU is about 10% Jewish, UF is about 15%. All have strong education departments. </p>
<p>Tastes/wants/needs change, add a few Florida schools to the list...just in case.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input, Seiclan. I do think that she should at least apply to UF. But she really wants a small school, so maybe Rollins College. The only negative to Rollins is that it is a little too close to home. But it does have a great education dept.</p>
<p>Candace, your daughter went to Blue Star? Finding a school in the south with a GOOD Jewish population is pretty difficult. Outside of some of the schools in FL, Emory, Vandy now, VA schools, etc. there isnt a ton of Jewish life. I havent looked into southern schools because I cant get into the schools with Jewish life (which is very important to me), i.e Emory, Vandy, UF, etc. So I gotta stay in the N.E. no biggy :)</p>
<p>jpod-
my kiddos went to Blue Star for years! One was a counselor there for one summer as well!</p>
<p>Candace-
Elon is not far from Duke and UNC . The area is quite nice. Not as pretty as the mountains, but quite nice. Have you considered New School (or is it New College) in Fla? How about U of Miami? or Nova?</p>
<p>I have a friend who is a college counselor at a Solomon Schechter HS up north. She does private consulting on the side. If you PM me I'll send you some info. I don't see why you can't hire her long distance. I can't say how familiar she is with southern schools, but she is quite knowledgeable.</p>
<p>As an aside, my older s is at Rice and loves it! 3 of the 4 guys in his suite are Jewish!</p>
<p>jpod-
my kiddos went to Blue Star for years! One was a counselor there for one summer as well!</p>
<p>Candace-
Elon is not far from Duke and UNC . The area is quite nice. Not as pretty as the mountains, but quite nice. Have you considered New School (or is it New College) in Fla? How about U of Miami? or Nova?</p>
<p>I have a friend who is a college counselor at a Solomon Schechter HS up north. She does private consulting on the side. If you PM me I'll send you some info. I don't see why you can't hire her long distance. I can't say how familiar she is with southern schools, but she is quite knowledgeable.</p>
<p>As an aside, my older s is at Rice and loves it! 3 of the 4 guys in his suite are Jewish!</p>
<p>jpod-
my kiddos went to Blue Star for years! One was a counselor there for one summer as well!</p>
<p>Candace-
Elon is not far from Duke and UNC . The area is quite nice. Not as pretty as the mountains, but quite nice. Have you considered New School (or is it New College) in Fla? How about U of Miami? or Nova?</p>
<p>I have a friend who is a college counselor at a Solomon Schechter HS up north. She does private consulting on the side. If you PM me I'll send you some info. I don't see why you can't hire her long distance. I can't say how familiar she is with southern schools, but she is quite knowledgeable.</p>
<p>As an aside, my older s is at Rice and loves it! 3 of the 4 guys in his suite are Jewish!</p>
<p>Yes, she did go to Blue Star! Small world.</p>