needle in a haystack?

Parent Cafe
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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. He needs 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, being Jewish, this should not be a catholic school and should have an average jewish population. Your input is appreciated!</p>

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<p>What area of the country is he interested in and what sports? Public or private?</p>

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<p>You mentioned in your PM that you are interested in colleges in the NE and SE and possibly Colorado. I don’t know anything about any of those areas, unfortunately. Have you used the college search tool on the College Board website? That might be a good place to start. My son attends Chapman University in Orange, CA, and it might be a good fit other than the location. I think something like 10-15% of the students are Jewish. They have an active Hillel group and a Jewish fraternity. One of the CC members, paying3tuitions, has a son who attends there and they are Jewish, so she could tell you more about that. I think Chapman is a D-3 school. You could look at their website for more info if California isn’t a deal breaker.</p>

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<p>There is a thread called “Brag About Your Lesser Known Schools” <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/370873-brag-about-your-lesser-known-school.htmlthat[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/370873-brag-about-your-lesser-known-school.htmlthat&lt;/a&gt; would be a good starting point for you. It’s many, many pages long, but you may find some schools to start looking at. Also there is a thread called 3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/707436-new-3-0-3-3-gpa-parents-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/707436-new-3-0-3-3-gpa-parents-thread.html&lt;/a&gt; Some of the kids there have 3.0 weighted and some are unweighted so it, too, is a good thread to read to get you going. When you’ve found a couple that your son likes, then you can ask the question “If he likes this one, what others are like it?” I, too, am not familiar with the NE or the south, so these threads are probably good ones to get you going. You say he goes to a very good private school. Most private schools have better than average college counseling, so perhaps that is a place to ask, also.</p>

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<p>Suggest you investigate the schools that are part of the Penn State Higher Ed system. [PASSHE</a> | PA State System of Higher Education](<a href=“http://www.passhe.edu/Pages/default.aspx]PASSHE”>Home | PA State System of Higher Education) Most are D2 athletically but I’m sure they all offer intramurals in the basic sports as well as club teams. DS attends CUP and had a great time playing on the club Lax team. Played against Pitt, CMU, IUP, SRU, etc. Cost is reasonable and its not difficult to get in.</p>

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<p>If your S would be happy w/ club and IM sports at a D3 school wouldn’t he also be happy w/ them at a D2 school? That would open up your search a bit. Also improving his ACT would help. My D brought her composite up a point with half hearted effort using ACT’s own prep program.</p>

<p>Sorry I don’t have advice re specific schools in those regions but Cal State Monterey Bay is a very hands on experiential-learning oriented school which has been recognized for the degree to which their students are actively engaged. I don’t know about the Jewish population but you can check out the website at [CSUMB</a> ~ Homepage](<a href=“http://www.csumb.edu%5DCSUMB”>http://www.csumb.edu)</p>

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<p>Here’s another thread which may be of interest to you:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/783395-hillel-house-tour-reports.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/783395-hillel-house-tour-reports.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>One more potential source of info: [Colleges</a> That Change Lives](<a href=“http://ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://ctcl.org/)</p>