<p>Is Brandeis like 99% Jewish. And is it really religious, like Fordham and Boston College? Are there ANY atheists? I’m atheist, and I’ve talked to admissions officers from Fordham and Boston College, and they have really installed a great distaste into me for their respective colleges since they really emphasized how religious their schools were. So is Brandeis the same way?</p>
<p>Brandeis is 50% Jew-ish. You will find a wide range of observancies among them ranging from Orthodox to secular. I'm agnostic and most of my friends are either agnostic or atheist so there are plenty of us. In the books, however, I know all of us self-identify as Jewish so the 50% number is a bit skewed that way.</p>
<p>Why do you all self-identify as Jewish? Does one benefit by doing so in the application process? Should I attempt to hide the fact that I am atheist?</p>
<p>Why would you want to lie about your beliefs?
I think you are only looking to be uncomfortable later on when you get accepted there. Perhaps Brandeis is not the school for you.</p>
<p>At no point in the "application process" does Brandeis require identification of religious beliefs or affiliation. Thus, they are not factored into the decision.</p>
<p>"Why would you want to lie about your beliefs?
I think you are only looking to be uncomfortable later on when you get accepted there. Perhaps Brandeis is not the school for you."--potatohead8</p>
<p>Whoa, whoa, relax buddy! I was just asking since SilverClover and all of his agnostic and atheist friends identified themselves as Jewish. I'm probably not going to identify myself as Jewish, but I also think it would be unwise to identify myself as atheist, at least from what I know of how other religous schools (BC, Fordham) analyze the applications.</p>
<p>Some people identify themselves as Jewish athiests.</p>
<p>I'm not a he :P And I identify myself as Jewish because that's what I am. I see Judaism as an ethnicity more than a religion. Even many Jews who are "religious" in that they actively participate in Hillel, Shabbat, and the holidays are agnostic. The cultural significance often has deeper roots for people than the religious significance.</p>
<p>In no way do you share your religious beliefs in the application (unless you include any activities related to your religious belief such as sunday school teacher, etc). At the beginning of freshman year, everyone is given an anonymous survey for statistics purposes including religious beliefs.</p>
<p>Fordham and BC clearly identify themselves as Catholic universities and both are run by a religious order (the Society of Jesus in both cases). Brandeis identifies itself as non-sectarian and, to the best of my knowledge, no one in its administration is ordained.</p>
<p>I'd be very surprised if either BC or Fordham asked about religious affiliation in their applications. If I'm not mistaken, it's illegal to do so.</p>
<p>^I know that the adm officers said that religious devotion is of great importance to the school. They also require religious studies every semester (at least Fordham does, I forget if BC also does.) I also know that on the collegeboard website, it says that religious devotion is a top factor for both schools.</p>
<p>And SilverClover, I sincerely apologize for referring to you as a male. I usually am good with those kind of things, but sometimes these errors happen subconsciously. I hope you understand, because all I can do now is visualize this one girl in my class just outright scolding me nonstop for a half an hour now!</p>
<p>Fordham's theology requirement is two courses, as is BC's. Both can be satisfied by taking non-doctrinal courses in comparative religion, western culture, etc. The theology requirements are also part of fairly extensive core curricula which are typical of Jesuit institutions.</p>
<p>I'm curious as to how BC and Fordham gauge "religious devotion" as part of their admissions processes. Do they require letters from clergy or is a devotional essay part of the application?</p>
<p>^I don't quite know since I haven't bothered checking their applications, but here, check this: College</a> Search - Boston College: Admission</p>
<p>You can clearly see yourself that for BC, it explicitly states "Religious Affiliation or Commitment" as one of the "important admissions factors," write up there with class rank, ECs, etc. It doesn't say that explicitly for Fordham, but I know for a fact that Fordham is too the same, since I talked to an assistant director of the admissions comittee for Fordham, and she kept yapping on and on and on about how how being devoted religiously is very important for Fordham.</p>
<p>To clearly answer the question, Brandeis is nonsectarian while Fordham and BC are not. Being a devoted Jew will not help you get into Brandeis. Whereas those schools have a religious requirement, Brandeis has none.</p>
<p>Most everyone I've met is agnostic or alreligious at best. My English professor constantly references the Bible and everyone in the class just sits and stares at him like he's mad. Just don't be an NEJS major and there's no reason why your atheism should be a problem. </p>
<p>I can't tell if you are of Jewish heritage but do not believe in the religion, or are an atheist gentile. If you are the latter and worrying about the "Jewish thing", don't. I'm not Jewish and I grew up with very, very little interaction with anyone who was Jewish..The only ways I can tell that Brandeis even has such a big population is by people's last names and Hillel and Chabad fliers in my dorm. That, and accidentally running into services while trying to get my mail in Usdan on a Saturday morning.</p>
<p>Gametheory,</p>
<p>Thanks for posting your concerns.</p>
<p>I'm an atheist, and just this year a few of us have established a Humanist Club at Brandeis. We've had some prominent speakers come to campus already and we're involved with other University clubs of the same nature (Harvard, Tufts, Bentley).</p>
<p>According to this year's diversity survey, around 25% of the Brandeis student body identifies as either atheist or agnostic.</p>
<p>If you're Jewish and applying to BC that will actually be an advantage to you in admissions. BC is making a real move to religious diversity. They've recently established a few new academic programs around the domain of Jewish Culture/History.</p>