I second TCNJ
I agree witb suggestion of U of Delaware, especially since your D really liked UMass Amherst. UDel is smaller, but has a very similar feel. UDel’s campus is lovely, wirh a real old fashioned Main Street, always brimming with students, running right through the middle of it, wirh lots of great little shops and restaurants.
UDel, at least when my D attended, was a huge party school (it’s why she transferred away.) The campus is indeed lovely, and the education is first rate, but the atmosphere was not what she was looking for.
I’d say ditto for Seton Hall–good school, decent urban campus, but when I taught there, big party atmosphere.
Not to put down either school, both of which offer good educations (esp I think UDel), but since you mentioned it, I wanted to put that out there.
The honors program at UDel is not a party program, but admission is very tough. Seton Hall is a very big party school, and it IS actively Catholic, as is Sacred Heart. Both of the locations of Seton Hall and Sacred Heart are commutable easily to NYC, but they aren’t great locations safety and experience wise.
I think UDel is a great option, but its admission standards and standards for merit money have changed a lot in recent years, and where it used to be a safety and brought real money when my D applied (she is a recent honors program graduate), by the time it was my son’s turn, the standards had changed markedly, although my perception is that they are kinder in terms of admission to out-of-state full pay students, which skews the statistics in a way that doesn’t reflect the reality on the ground.
UDel really does look like a great option. Looking at acceptance rates from our school, it looks like a safety. I would be a little concerned about it being a party school, but that is something we can check out when we visit. Thanks!
@traderjane depending on major, UDel is tough. My friend’s son was rejected from UDel for Biomed (his mom is an alum and his brother was a freshman when he was rejected last year), but was accepted and now attending Carnegie Mellon (he was a recruited football player for CMU, so I’m sure that accounts for a lot), but I was shocked that he would get into CMU and not UDel, especially being a legacy.
I do think a lot of that is dependent on major - another friend was just accepted to UDel as a business major, stats not nearly as strong as our CMU friend and no legacy. Go figure!
@njwerstlingmom I understand what you are saying. That’s why we’re taking the search for “safety” schools so seriously. Honestly, I think many families underestimate the importance of finding schools their kids will love and can actually get into AND afford. At least around here, they seem to spend endless hours researching and visiting these huge reaches. The kids get emotionally attached to schools where they have only a small chance. Its incredibly stressful. Kids in my town are having nervous breakdowns all the time. There is no need for it! My goal is to have a handful of schools that we can be reasonably sure of and that she would be thrilled to attend. So far UMass Amherst fits the bill. My older D fell in love with her safety school and it was one of the best things that could have happened. Looking at the history of acceptances from our school, I would say Udel should be a safety. But I understand that nothing is actually guaranteed. Thanks to you all, we now have a really good solid list.
Sorry for the rant. But I feel so bad for these kids and the unecessary stress they are under.
Someone suggested Fordham, which is very accepting of all religions, but I’ve seen on other threads that students there think the science program is weak, so you’d need to check into it if you’re interested in the school.
@traderjane I agree with you 100%. My daughter (freshman) is in an extremely competitive public school. She is a great student, but constantly worried that she’s not taking enough honors courses because some of her friends are taking all honors. She’s a freshman! Luckily, she loves Rowan, where her brother is, and they have an Honors College, so she seems perfectly content with that option right now. We’ll see when she’s a junior/senior and the Ivy frenzy hits! So much more stressful than it ever was when I was applying!
Conn College is an excellent school, but you really need to talk to Jewish students on campus to see how active the Jewish community really is. A friend of my daughter went there her freshman year after being assured they had a good Christian fellowship, but was sorely disappointed in it. She transferred out.
With any small school, the religious life will change depending on who is on campus. At a larger, more diverse school, she is bound to find at least one active Jewish organization.
third for TCNJ great undergraduate programs.