need help finding the right college w/ good jewish population

College Search & Selection
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<p>My son goes to a very good private school in the Mid-Atlantic region. He is a B- student and has ACT's around 23. He works reasonably hard but doesn't apply himself as best he can. I'm looking for a school that can inspire and engage students in learning through a variety of approaches, and has between 2000-8,000 students, roughly. He wants to play college sports, so it should be a Div 1 school w/ clubs and intramurals or a Div 3 school. The curriculum should be broad as he doesn't know what he wants to do. Finally, I'd like the school to have a reasonable Jewish population. Your input is appreciated!</p>

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<p>Odds are that by the time it comes to choose a college, “your” preferences won’t be important. It’s four more years of his life, not yours. Jewish populations don’t really vary among schools (excepting religious schools and certain regions, etc.) although if that’s a critical point look into schools in New York or at least the Northeast. Yeshiva?</p>

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<p>Take a look at Tulane. Their undergrad enrollment is about 5,000, and they have that “rebuilding the city” initiative that may inspire your son. I hear they have a really big Jewish population as well. However, their average ACT score is something like 29, so your son would have to bring his stats up if he’s really interested.</p>

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<p>thanks for your suggestion. I love the idea of tulane, but that might be a reach–other thoughts?</p>

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<p>I know that ~30% of the undergrads at Goucher College are Jewish.</p>

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<p>Muhlenberg</p>

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<p>yes, perfect place, I’m expecting. others that compare in case he doesn’t get in?</p>

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<p>There have been several threads on the jewish population at different schools. Here is a linkto the top 60 schools that jewish kids apply to, and links to 2 previous threads on this topic.</p>

<p><a href=“http://reformjudaismmag.org/_kd/Items/actions.cfm?action=Show&item_id=1518&destination=ShowItem[/url]”>http://reformjudaismmag.org/_kd/Items/actions.cfm?action=Show&item_id=1518&destination=ShowItem&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/310901-jewish-enrollment-graph-3.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/310901-jewish-enrollment-graph-3.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/589063-schools-recruiting-jewish-students.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/589063-schools-recruiting-jewish-students.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Agree that you might want to consider having your s prep more and retake the ACT or take the SAT. With the current scores, perhaps Hofstra or Northeastern might be good starting places. Tulane’s middle ACT range is 28-32, and the acceptance rate has been around 24-26% in the past 2 years, so that would probably be a reach. What sports does he play?</p>

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<p>thank you so much! Really appreciate your input.</p>

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<p>SUNY New Paltz might be a good fit, but he would have to pull his stats up a bit.</p>

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<p>Boston University College of General Studies might be an option. 18% of the students are jewish there. Hope you had a nice holiday today!</p>

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<p>thank you, and you as well!</p>

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<p>New York is heavily populated with Jewish people. Search for colleges there.</p>

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<p>^^^^ errr, pumpkins. I am guessing you didnt notice that the OP said she was from the Mid atlantic (NY is in the mid atlantic). I suspect she’s quite familiar with the distribution of jews in the US. Here’s a map [File:Jews-usa-county.jpg</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jews-usa-county.jpg]File:Jews-usa-county.jpg”>File:Jews-usa-county.jpg - Wikipedia) that shows the distribution, should you be interested, and want to learn that not only are there concentrations of jews in other areas besides the NE, but that the population of the region doesn’t necessarily correlate with the population in attendance at colleges and universities. I think you meant well, and didn’t intentionally mean to be offensive.</p>

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<p>jym: you’re so kind to give pumpkins the benefit of the doubt…</p>

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<p>syracuse. Close to home, large jewish population in the student body, a secular private school, though its larger than you are looking for. Frankly, your search is just not going to turn up what I think you are looking for (a small college with a huge jewish population that takes average students). What you really need to do is find a school with those parameters where they accept B students with avg SAT or ACT scores, that are either secular or if religious they are highly tolerant of other faith communities and cultures. In essence, what I am saying is it depends more on your views about other faiths and cultures and how you think he will do in an environment where he is a minority. If you (and your son) are open minded and tolerant and comfortable with your own views in a community of others, then it really doesnt matter where you go. Very few private colleges with a religious heritage are overtly religious and doctrinal. 99 percent of them are open, tolerant and respectful…bending over backwards to be inclusive and fair. </p>

<p>St. Marys College in Maryland is a small liberal arts college that is a STATE school. Its NOT religious. Its located in St. Mary’s Maryland on the eastern shore. Its a really good school. You might look there as well. Also Towson State University in Baltimore. University of Baltimore has a lot of Jewish students.</p>

<p>From that other thread on CC about percentage of Jewish students at schools, I pulled this Hillel list…but as you can see, they are all top highly competitive schools and your son’s stats wont get him in there.</p>

<p>Top 30 private schools by number of Jewish students according to Hillel:</p>

<p>NYU
Boston University
Cornell
Penn
Yeshiva
GWU
Syracuse
Emory
Columbia
Harvard
Tulane
Brandeis
Northwestern
WashUStL
USC
Univ. of Miami
Brown
Tufts
Univ. of Hartford
Hofstra
LIU
Yale
American Univ.
Barnard College
Northeastern
Pratt
Vanderbilt
Oberlin
Univ. of Denver
Univ. of Rochester</p>

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<p>rodney-
Thanks. I thought about it for a while. But since its Yom Kippur, I decided to forgive pumpkin’s ignorance. :)</p>

<p>** BTW, U of Delaware might be worth a look, as would UMD Baltimore County.</p>

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<p>University of Denver has about 5000 undergrads, over 1000 are Jewish. The Hillel on campus has a new facility and there is also an active Chabad on campus. My middle son is a junior (on a semester abroad) who has been very happy there, academically and socially. It’s a very good school for late bloomers. DU offers all kinds of opportunities for its students–great internships. all kinds of cultural activities, and of course outdoor sports.</p>

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<p>A second vote for Muhlenberg…a great small college.</p>

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<p>Here’s a list of the SAT optional schools. Union is a good thought. [Optional</a> List | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]Optional”>ACT/SAT Optional List for Fall 2025 - Fairtest). What about Utica college at Syracuse?</p>