I second the Pitt recommendation. They are strong in biology and the school has ties to a world class research hospital. Though it has ~26,000 students, it feels much smaller and the Oakland neighborhood in Pittsburgh is a great student environment. It is next door to CMU, and students can cross register for some programs.
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FYI. Undergrad enrollment at Pitt is under 20k so it’s a smaller public school. If you’re interested in anything medical related it’s hard to beat.
URoch has a vibrant Jewish community, around 10% of students. Seems almost all my d’s friends were Jewish, and she went to Shabbat with them several times (I believe at a professor’s house).
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I appreciate everyone’s input.
If you are looking at large public universities, you might want to add some more Big10 schools: UofM, UofW Madison and UIUC. All are highly ranked with strong Biology departments. UIUC pulls many students from the Chicago metro area, so there will be a diverse student body and a decent Jewish population and supporting orgs like Illini Hillel. UofM is strong in everything, including bio, but they do not have a history of giving much financial aid to OOS students. All three are ranked higher than all the publics listed in the thread.
Thank you for your input.
Already applying to Wisconsin. Hoping for some merit aid (but may not get it).
Michigan doesn’t give any merit aid and tuition is $55k. Illinois is similar to Wisconsin.
Michigan gives merit aid. You just have to apply for it after you are accepted. Out of state can get up to 20k for the most part. There are a couple of 30k scholarships.
Both University of Texas and Texas A&M have large, active Hillels and Jewish sororities and fraternities.
Obviously very large schools, larger than what you’re asking, but don’t discount that southern schools don’t have a large Jewish presence.
I drive by the A&M Hillel complex often, and it is gorgeous!
Good luck college shopping…I hope you find the perfect fit!
Not sure if you looked at Connecticut College - a little smaller than you said with around 2,000 undergrad. However they give great aid, I am going here for cheaper than any state school in CT would have been (from CT). Acceptance rate is around 37%, definitely attainable. It doesn’t feel super academically competitive, and we also get to know our teachers very well! There are lots of research opportunities in our biology department as well!
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Would Eckerd College in Florida fit the bill? I’ve heard nothing but good things about it.
Thank you for your input!
Coming pretty late to this party (have a junior son (D24), so just starting the process again now) and probably too late now but might help others. I didn’t see any discussion of women’s colleges, so probably not something of interest to your daughter, but FWIW . . .
My D21 wanted east coast / LAC / mid size-small, near a big city and is Jewish. She’s a sophmore at Bryn Mawr. She was interested in the HWCs as well (went to an all-girls’ K-8). Some of the HWCs (except for Barnard and Wellesley) have a very good record of giving merit aid (and a lot of it) to the women with stats in the top of their range as it seems they are trying to lure them from the top 20-30 schools. My daughter had a 33 ACT and an A- average (no AP classes at her small private school, but a very rigorous class schedule).
Here’s what my daughter got offered in merit aid:
Scripps - 0 (but some friends got between $10-15K)
Smith - $15K
Sarah Lawrence - $25K
Bryn Mawr - $30K
Mount Holyoke - $40K
Loves BMC, can take classes at Haverford and Swarthmore, and even Penn. Makes her small school feel much bigger if she wants it to. And she’s an active part of Hillel there (Quaker roots, similar to Friends schools, but no longer attached to the organization). Because of the bi-co/tri-co there are men on campus who take classes, live there, eat there, but she really loves the close nature of the all women’s vibe. She definitely works hard and is very engaged.
Just a thought.
Good luck!
Oh! and acceptance rates are higher (average 35%) than equal quality LACs as only women apply and the ones who do necessarily self-select, so a much smaller pool.
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I think URI is a school one should visit before applying. My kids thought it was in the middle of no where…unless you had a car…and they knew they weren’t taking a car to college.
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Thank you for your input.
This was not the case last year. Acceptance rates have taken a dive everywhere, so make sure you have many options.
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Per Fiske Guide 2022, the colleges I was referencing had acceptance rates last year as follows:
Scripps - 35%
Smith - 37%
Bryn Mawr College - 38%
Mount Holyoke - 52%
Sarah Lawrence - 55%
But obviously I agree, you want to make sure you have many options. I’m just a big proponent of the HWCs for many reasons, one of them being their relatively high acceptance rates and generosity in merit aid for high stats/achieving women in comparison to more competitive Northeast LACs that are co-ed.
I’m confused - isnt’ the topic mid-sized privates?
I imagine anyone can define mid-size differently but the list above all seems small to me - although a few “share” resources with other schools.
Scripps is technically a small Women’s college but given its location within the Claremont consortium, it feels more like a co-ed mid-sized university with one of the most beautiful campuses in America and a culture comparable to Brown. My D had no interest in CA or women’s colleges and then fell in love with Scripps. She had comparable stats to your D and was offered merit aid to Scripps. Went to revisits and was impressed by the other kids and had several friends there or at other Claremont colleges who were all happy, urged her to go. She only didn’t go because got in to UChicago. Which also gives merit aid and your D has a chance at if she applies early or ED2. Can’t say enough good things about UChicago! Another option to consider is Villanova, which has a great honors program, is close to big city and although Catholic, not especially religious and a Jewish friend’s kid is really happy there. Also have a Jewish friend who’s daughter with worse grades than yours got merit aid at UVm and loves it. UVm also offered my daughter and her friend 20k in merit aid. The campus is gorgeous, the town is small but great and the vibe is similar to Brown and it’s much smaller than other state schools in NE. IMO it’s a perfect target or safety school especially for someone interested in sciences and a crunchy vibe. Also want to plug SUNY Stony Brook for a bio major although I’m not sure out of state if the price would match your needs. Another urban school that offers merit aid is GW. It’s a little bigger than I think you’re looking for but such a great city and lots of bio research opportunities at NIH and many nearby hospitals. Kids love it and there’s a vibrant Jewish community. Good luck!!
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I like them a lot too, and my D had very good stats, but was WL at 3 women’s colleges…so if you know you want to go ED if you can afford to.
Totally agree with you except they all do more than “share resources” especially Scripps in regards to the Claremont colleges. The others allow you to take classes at the other colleges and even major at the other colleges which really provides the student with a whole other one-two-or three colleges to explore. Just throwing that out there in case the OP hadn’t thought of the HWCs, but fully agree that they are small colleges if you just look at their own student bodies.
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