Jewish studies major, in/near urban area?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>D has the following criteria: small to medium size school, Jewish studies major (or at least minor), in or near a big city. Her basic stats: GPA = 3.7 (school does not weight); top 25th percentile; SAT = 1420/2120 (will retake in October); SAT II Math I = 720 (will take others in November); NMSF</p>

<p>She has taken the most rigorous curriculum available, including 5 APs. Her HS has no honors classes and limited AP options.</p>

<p>ECs include several leadership positions (VP of religious youth group Regional Board, Co-President of GSA, news editor of HS paper, publicity director for HS drama department, Girl Scouts (Silver Award))</p>

<p>Several schools on her list meet just 2 of her 3 primary criteria (Jewish studies/urban/small-medium). In ascending order of “reachiness”:</p>

<p>Indiana University (Bloomington), Goucher, Clark, Earlham, American, Muhlenberg, Dickinson, McGill, Tulane, Pitzer, Macalester, Oberlin, Vassar, Brandeis, Vanderbilt, Emory</p>

<p>Are we missing any obvious schools? Any we should definitely take off the list? I think 16 schools is way too many. But if there is no such thing as a true “match” anymore, only safeties and ….everything else, maybe an inordinately long list is the only way to beat the odds?</p>

<p>(also posting on Parents Forum)</p>

2

<p>I don’t really see Earlham. While it’s a great school, it’s in the middle of nowhere, and it’s Quaker. So no urbanness and no Jews.</p>

<p>I would suggest Hampshire College. By percentage, it has an incredibly high number of Jewish students, it has the low-key alternative vibe that the other schools have, and it has the National Yiddish Book Center.</p>

<p>[National</a> Yiddish Book Center - National Yiddish Book Center Launches Steven Spielberg Digital Library](<a href=“http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/+10055]National”>http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/+10055)</p>

<p>Hampshire is a DIY major school, so your D would have no problem taking classes at Hampshire and the other schools in the consortium that interest her. So I think Hampshire would make a great fit.</p>

<p>The schools I would question a little bit more are Vanderbilt and Emory. Not saying they aren’t great schools, but they seem to stand out compared to the others on the list. A school like Vandy might really want a Jewish studies major, but your D would need to want Vanderbilt back.</p>

3

<p>unalove: Great comments - thanks! Earlham made the list because a) an admission rep at a college fair talked up the Jewish studies program and b) D’s uncle (my brother) is an alum. It is probably worth a second thought.</p>

<p>Hampshire has been on and off the list. D is young (just turned 17) and not always as organized or focused as her parents think she should be (:)). So the DIY nature of Hampshire is of concern.</p>

<p>I think you may be right about Emory and Vanderbilt. They meet the urban/Jewish studies criteria, but may not be a fit otherwise. Need to do more research and maybe a visit…</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

4

<p>i think emory/vandy are fine fits. </p>

<p>indiana on the other hand is not- its huge! and although not rural by anymeans i wouldnt call it urban</p>

5

<p>Yeshiva U?
[Yeshiva</a> University - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeshiva_University]Yeshiva”>Yeshiva University - Wikipedia)</p>

6

<p>She would likely get a near or full ride at Temple, and she’d be in the honors program.</p>

<p>[Welcome</a> to Jewish Studies at Temple University!](<a href=“http://www.temple.edu/jewishstudies/]Welcome”>http://www.temple.edu/jewishstudies/)</p>

<p>[Temple</a> University Undergraduate Bulletin - CLA/Jewish Studies](<a href=“http://www.temple.edu/bulletin/Academic_programs/schools_colleges/cla/programs/jewish_stud/cla_jewish_stud.shtm]Temple”>http://www.temple.edu/bulletin/Academic_programs/schools_colleges/cla/programs/jewish_stud/cla_jewish_stud.shtm)</p>

7

<p>I agree about IU, but she loves it - she has lots of friends there and they have a strong Jewish studies program. I’m encouraging her to consider other safeties like Goucher and Clark, which fit all her criteria.</p>

<p>Yeshiva is (in her words) “too Jewish” ;)</p>

8

<p>Temple - good idea. Thanks!</p>

9

<p>You’re very welcome :)</p>

10

<p>Brown?</p>

<p>Everyone here is a Jew.</p>

<p>Er, by which I mean, yes, there is a Judaic Studies major.</p>

11

<p>College of Charleston. New hillel/jewish studies facility. My D is applying there..wants to minor in jewish studies. I have been in touch with some of the folks who run the hillel program and they are incredibly warm and informative.</p>

12

<p>Penn has one of the finest Jewish Studies programs in the country:</p>

<p>[Penn</a> Jewish Studies Program Web Site](<a href=“http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/index.html]Penn”>http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/index.html)</p>

<p>It is also the home of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, which is “the only institution in the world devoted exclusively to post-doctoral research on Jewish civilization in all its historical and cultural manifestations.”</p>

<p>[Katz</a> Center Home](<a href=“http://www.cjs.upenn.edu/]Katz”>http://www.cjs.upenn.edu/)</p>

<p>Per the Katz Center web site:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>[Katz</a> Center History](<a href=“http://www.cjs.upenn.edu/history/history.htm]Katz”>http://www.cjs.upenn.edu/history/history.htm)</p>

<p>The presence of these assets–even at the postgraduate level–directly enhances the undergraduate Jewish Studies program:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>[Penn</a> Jewish Studies Program Welcome](<a href=“http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/welcome.htm]Penn”>http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/welcome.htm)</p>

<p>As the web site discusses, the field of Jewish Studies has an extraordinarily long and distinguished history at Penn:</p>

<p>[Penn</a> Jewish Studies Program History](<a href=“http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/history.htm]Penn”>http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/history.htm)</p>

13

<p>Brandeis would probably be good</p>

14

<p>I know Maryland is quite large and perhaps not the epicenter of urban living, but it is the place to be if you’re a conservative Jew and want to major in Jewish Studies.</p>

15

<p>Again, not in a big city, but surrounded by other colleges, she should seriously look at Smith.
[Jewish Studies</a> - Smith College: The Major](<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/jewishstudies/major.html]Jewish Studies”>http://www.smith.edu/jewishstudies/major.html)</p>

16

<p>If she really likes Vassar and Oberlin, Wesleyan is very much like them, and has a Jewish studies minor (called certificate) and a great Jewish community. Not that close to a big city, though (about 2 hours from New York).</p>

<p>Maybe NYU? It’s not small or medium sized, which might be why you don’t have it, but since she seems to have sacrificed the city for some of those other places, maybe she’d want to include one with the city and major, but not the size?</p>

17

<p>NYU has a large and prominent department of Hebrew and Judaic studies,
[New</a> York University > The Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies](<a href=“Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies”>Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies) , which offers an undergraduate major (and a minor) in this area.</p>

18

<p>Wisconsin has a large well funded program. It’s a nice sized city with a large Jewish population. And a great university.</p>

<p>[Center</a> for Jewish Studies](<a href=“Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies – Founded 1991 – UW–Madison”>http://jewishstudies.wisc.edu/)</p>

19

<p>Thanks for all the suggestions, including several we had not looked at or thought of (College of Charleston?! who knew?). Some of the others (i.e., places like Brown, Penn, and Wesleyan) seem to be too much of a reach, however, given her 3.7 GPA and top 25%ile, even with NMSF.</p>

<p>barrons, thanks for the UW suggestion. Someone on the Parent Forum mentioned it as well - definitely worth taking a look at. In my mind, IU-Bloomington fills the large, Midwestern, public university slot on the list but maybe there’s more we should know about UW…?</p>

20

<p>BU has a gorgeous Hillel and the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies.</p>

<p>[Elie</a> Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/judaicstudies/]Elie”>Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies)</p>