Hi,
I know that at this point most schools have Hillel, but I was wondering which liberal arts colleges have more active Hillel programs. I’m hoping to not have to found it or be in a group with only one or two other people. I’m not opposed to a school with a larger Jewish population but a less popular Hillel.
I like Brandeis and I have a $5k scholarship from summer study there, but while I may apply to Brandeis, I’m not 100% about it and would prefer more of a LAC if possible.
For reference: 3.9 GPA; female junior; taking the SAT soon; IB Bio, Chem, English, Math; I’m active at my temple (in youth group & teach religious school); over 250 volunteer hours since high school started; hopeful MD-PhD, MD, or PhD; Smith & Tufts legacy
Bonus points for schools with active Hillel and a good STEM program. If it has to come down to it I would pick colleges with better STEM & aid over Hillel, but right now I’m just formulating a good list.
Thank you so much.
Not an LAC but WashU has an active Hillel-the program director posts on the FB parents group often. Plus pre-med is a focus just because of the proximity of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the med school.
My son goes to Tulane and they seem to have very active Hillel - he is Catholic but goes there for some celebrations and entertainment they offer.
Dickinson
I think Brandeis sounds like an excellent choice for you. Muhlenberg might be an option to consider.
Although I am not Jewish, I do know that Emory has a large & vibrant Jewish student population as does WashUStL–although neither are LACS, but both are outstanding universities academically. University of Pennsylvania–also not an LAC–but with a strong Jewish presence.
Hillel publishes lists of schools with particularly high numbers of Jewish students, both in terms of absolute numbers and in terms of percentage. Since LACs are small, the latter list is more relevant. The following LACs, with estimated % Jewish enrollment, show up on that list:
33 Barnard
31 Goucher
28 Sarah Lawrence
26 Oberlin
25 Muhlenberg
24 Haverford
23 Hampshire
21 Vassar
19 Skidmore
18 Mitchell
16 Kenyon
14 Bryn Mawr
14 Union
13 Franklin & Marshall
Hillel apparently didn’t have the numbers for Wesleyan University, but Wesleyan is a top LAC with relatively high Jewish enrollment. Wesleyan estimates it at 20-22%.
https://www.wesleyan.edu/orsl/jewish/faq.html
The Hillel list also includes universities, some of which are relatively small, like Brandeis, Lehigh, Tufts, or Clark.
Hillel lists are great guides, but often based on guesstimates. For example, recent Hillel guides listed Emory University as 17% Jewish undergraduate population & as 30% Jewish undergraduate population for the same school year. (My exposure to Emory suggests that the 30% figure is the more accurate guesstimate of the two.)
Realistically, “guesstimates” are all that you can get. I doubt that any college (except maybe religious schools) requires students to explicitly reveal their religious orientation. So they don’t have hard data.
Even if a college did ask students to reveal their religious orientation, the results might not be straightforward to interpret. Maybe there are halachically Jewish students who have decided that they are atheists and no longer identify as “Jewish”. Or maybe there are students from totally secular, non-practicing families who nonetheless do identify as “Jewish”.
Yes, I was thinking there’s a difference between people who check it on a box and people who actually participate.
Brandeis, as I said, is really nice but I’m still looking for a LAC. Tulane, Emory, and WashU are big but not out of my realm (I’ll probably visit WashU since it’s close to me). I’ve been focusing on liberal arts colleges in the Northeast, but I definitely appreciate the ideas that are “outside my comfort zone” 
Dickinson, Skidmore, Wesleyan - all LACs with strong STEM and strong Jewish communities on campus.
Definitely look into Muhlenberg. Very small school but a huge Jewish population and a very active Hillel.
I’d hope as a Tufts legacy you are looking there. Meets both STEM and Hillel requirements.
College of Charleston has a strong Hillel. They also have a vegan/kosher dining hall. They have great relationship with the Medical College of SC and provide opportunities for undergrad research and volunteer hrs. It is a liberal arts based school, but not an LAC. It has a population of approx 11,000 students . It also has an Honors College which your stats and community service would make you very competitive for.
More of a LAC than Brandeis is pretty limiting because you are already talking about small to medium sized universities and you also have the Hillel requirement. Are you also crossing Emory, WashU, NYU, and others off of your list? Since the small LAC is higher on your list than Jewish presence, then you should work backwards and look at your LAC list and then discover how vibrant the Hillel center there is and also consider BDS presence if that makes you uncomfortable. I do think you should visit Emory for all of the reasons you mentioned.
Check out Forward magazine’s Jewish College Guide - I think my first post was flagged because it included a link. Google “Forward Jewish college guide” and it should be the first hit.
Our daughter is looking for a solid engineering program at a college with an active Jewish community so we included Forward magazine’s Jewish score for each college in our spreadsheet.
Smith College (all female). According to Hillel International College Guide, 9% Jewish students. Great academics. member of Five College Consortium, with Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Amherst, and U Mass Amherst. Northampton is a great college town.
According to same source, Vassar College has 21% Jewish students, Bard College 15%, Franklin & Marshall 13%, Union College 13% (very strong in sciences), Connecticut College 8%.
Good luck!
The Claremont Colleges have a very active Hillel.
Eckerd college has a very active program with a Rabbi in residence. He is also the advisor for their environmental scuba club, Scubi Jew. Hillel has their own boat. They offer generous merit and financial aid. They have a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, an honors program, Ford Apprentice Scholar program for students wishing to pursue a Ph.D program, and a 63% rate of admission to med school. You are also able to receive your EMT certification and participate in the student Emergency Response Team. You can become a member of a nationally renowned search and rescue team. The close professor/mentor program is a huge bonus with the ability to begin research as early as freshman year. In addition, Eckerd offers a freshman research scholarship.