<p>@jhp093 I heard that Tulane doesn’t give out a lot of money, however a ton of kids from my school apply there and at least 5 end up going every year so I think they like people from my school :)</p>
<p>@slitheytove we’re planning on doing that sometime today. Do you know at all how accurate it is?</p>
<p>I agree that Howard may not be a good fit…How many students will be Jewish @ an HBCU? </p>
<p>My own dd14 isnt even applying there… not a good fit for her either… LOL and it fits closer to DD than to OP.</p>
<p>But I don’t want to discourage it if OP wants to apply…</p>
<p>CLBI, no idea how accurate it is. Go ask the folks on the Vanderbilt forum. What I think is great is that your mom will see some cold, hard numbers. Make sure she’s sitting down. 
:eek: Seriously! The first time any parent sees an EFC is kind of horrifying (“surely that’s for four years?”)</p>
<p>Syracuse, although in the middle of nowhere matches many of your criteria (Not sure about their aid)</p>
<p>Also Boston University (Doesn’t give great aid)</p>
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<p>Well, I don’t get why people assume that going to a school where one is a member of a minority group automatically means a poor fit. Would you suggest that a black student not apply to a place like Brandeis because of that? Or would you suggest that a white or black student not apply to a place like UCLA or UTEP because of that?</p>
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<p>It does seem odd that Howard got quite a reaction from other posters, but the UA schools that were also suggested as candidate financial safeties did not (the state of Alabama is only 0.2% Jewish). The religious community preference was the least important of the OP’s stated criteria. Given the OP’s parents’ unwillingness to discuss cost constraints, she must prepare for the worst case of the parents being unable or unwilling to pay the EFC, in which case other criteria become subordinate to cost.</p>
<p>Perhaps it is not a good fit, but I prefer to put the option on the table for the OP to decide rather than leave it out.</p>
<p>Sorry, OP, for the bit of a hijack…</p>
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<p>ucb, there’s a world of difference between a Jewish student applying to Howard and the other examples you brought up. There may possibly be a few Jewish students at Howard. There is no Hillel there. There’s absolutely no Jewish communal life organized on campus. It’s not a question of being a minority, because Jewish students are a minority at almost every single college in the US. It’s being a minority of one. UTEP, UCLA and Brandeis all have black student organizations; there might not be huge numbers of black students at these schools, but it ain’t in the single digits. </p>
<p>Alabama doesn’t have a lot of Jews. That doesn’t mean that UA doesn’t have a significant Jewish community. [University</a> of Alabama: Hillel](<a href=“http://hillel.ua.edu/faq/]University”>University of Alabama: Hillel) says there are 600-700 Jewish students at Bama. There’s an active calendar of events, and (this is so cool! :)) they even sell houndstooth check “Roll Tide” kippot (the little beanie that observant Jewish men and some women wear). There’s a long-standing connection between Bama and the local Jewish community. [Alabamas</a> secret Jewish weapon celebrates grid title | JTA - Jewish & Israel News](<a href=“http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/01/10/3091119/in-alabama-jews-love-college-football]Alabamas”>http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/01/10/3091119/in-alabama-jews-love-college-football) Bama is an excellent suggestion for the OP; the only issue is size, which is addressed by the Honors college.</p>
<p>The OP could also look at U Kansas (has kosher food at basketball games!), U Arizona (and the Honors college at ASU), and the SUNYs.</p>
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<p>For U.S. applicants, Vanderbilt is a need-blind, full-need institution. That means they claim to meet 100% of determined need. However, it is the college that determines how much a family with your combination of income, assets, and obligations (number of children, etc.) could afford to pay, assuming you are living within your means (according to Vanderbilt’s idea of “living within your means”, that is). For an income of $150K, they might decide to award an aid package worth $20K. You’d be expected to cover the balance (~$35K) regardless of whether your parents believe they actually can afford that in light of their own savings, financial obligations and goals.</p>
<p>I would imagine that most families making $150K/year cannot afford $35K/year for college out of current income. The aid formulas probably assume that a family at a certain upper middle class income level has been saving diligently for college for many years.</p>
<p>Did you read OP’s criteria? Maybe you should have read it before starting a discussion about race… quite unfair on your part. I never brought up race… why did you?</p>
<p>I will give you the benefit of doubt and assume that you didn’t read her post thoroughly.</p>
<p>I just took the time to call Howards admissions office and spoke to one of the office workers.</p>
<p>I asked her about the percentage of Jews @ Howard…she stated that they would not have that type of data… but what they would have is the percentage of caucasians at the school… after being placed on hold… she returned to tell me that her most current data(from 2008-2009) of caucasians is 1.1%.</p>
<p>Wanting to be even more thorough/fair, I asked if they had a kosher dining hall/synagogue on campus… and her answer was “no”.</p>
<p>@slitheytove–thank you! You said it far better than I could…</p>
<p>@UCB I can’t speak to UA…I can only speak to Howard. I know with a pretty good degree of certainty that the Jewish population will very be low/non existent. </p>
<p>I also can’t speak to the other posters motivations.</p>
<p>At Brandeis, a black student would at least have some company. Brandeis is a bit more diverse than you think (~4% black). Better analogy would be Yeshiva University. They have as many blacks as Howard has Jews, which is essentially none. </p>
<p>The state of Alabama may be 0.2% Jewish, but how is that relevant? The undergrad student body of UA is 3%. There are over 700 UA students identifying themselves as Jewish. I can’t find anything online showing a single Jewish student at Howard. Not surprising in a school that’s 99% black. Considering that there are other more appropriate fits that will cost her even less than Howard, there is no reason to include Howard on her list. Frankly I think it’s ridiculous we’re even discussing it.</p>
<p>UCBAlumnus was just giving a suggestion, I don’t know why it got such a negative response</p>
<p>@!barkk I dont think I was being negative at all… but why should a Jewish student look @ a school with NO Jewish presence when that is one of her criteria?</p>
<p>UCB was theonly one who went negative/racial… I don’t think anyone else did. This is a forum for folks to disagree…, and just because we disagree doesn’t mean that we are being negative…but I don’t think it fair to bring race into it.</p>
<p>If the OP likes Vanderbilt and Colorado College, and in light of all her other criteria, I don’t know why she’d be very attracted to Howard, Alabama, or Kansas. Brandeis might be a good choice. Brandeis is a small, private university with a large Jewish population (~55%) in the Boston area. Net cost after average need-based aid is about $27K. It also offers merit grants. It is “decently selective” but not out of reach (the OP’s ACT score is just above their median band).</p>
<p><a href=“http://jewishstudies.sdsu.edu/docs/Col_Chart_f09.pdf[/url]”>http://jewishstudies.sdsu.edu/docs/Col_Chart_f09.pdf</a></p>
<p>Now, one could also make a case for the College of the Holy Cross. This is perhaps the least selective of the ~50 need-blind, full-need schools. It seems to have a very liberal atmosphere ([CollegeGuide.org</a> - Rating America’s Colleges](<a href=“http://www.collegeguide.org/itemdetail.aspx?item=486fb85a-5d15-4d1f-a8f5-5ce2804c3129&page=16]CollegeGuide.org”>http://www.collegeguide.org/itemdetail.aspx?item=486fb85a-5d15-4d1f-a8f5-5ce2804c3129&page=16)). It also sponsors some 25 D1 sports teams, an unusually high number for such a small school (which might appeal to someone who craves “school spirit”). I don’t think it enrolls many Jewish students … but then, that might give the OP an admission “hook”.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your input! Here is my current list:
P.S: The reason I am trying to find a list of schools this soon is because I leave for the entire summer and will not have time to browse the internet or look at college books or anything. Plus I would like to arrange for visits in the fall as soon as possible, seeing as the only schools I have visited so far are Vanderbilt (twice, we drive through Nashville a lot on roadtrips) and University of Miami. </p>
<p>REACH:
-Vanderbilt
-Emory
-Northwestern</p>
<p>MEDIUM:
-University of Miami
-University of Maryland College Park
-George Washington University</p>
<p>SAFETY:
-Mizzou (hopefully honors college)
-University of Alabama, Birmingham (still a bit hesitant about going into the deep south, but judging by what everyone has said it would be a good fit if I got into the honors college)
-Indiana University</p>
<p>I feel like I need more medium schools…Also, please let me know if any of these should be in a different category (reach, medium, or safety)!</p>
<p>If you do end up visiting UAB, spend the extra 45 minutes to drive down to Tuscaloosa to see the main University of Alabama campus. It has a very different feel from UAB. I’m familiar with many of the schools on your list and the flagship University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa feels more similar to the other schools on your list to me than UAB does. In particular, the campus and student life at Vanderbilt and the University of Alabama main campus seem very similar to me – probably because they are both absolutely beautiful campuses with SEC Division I sports and significant Greek life (which may be a factor you want to think about – several of your schools have pretty heavily Greek influenced social scenes).</p>
<p>Hey! I just found a really cool resource: [Top</a> 60 Schools by Jewish Student Population](<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/about/news/2011/aug/31AUG11_Top60.htm]Top”>http://www.hillel.org/about/news/2011/aug/31AUG11_Top60.htm)</p>
<p>This link will give you the top private and public schools by Jewish population. For you, a pre-law major, there are many, many great schools!</p>
<p>A couple are located in Washington DC as well. Perfect for pre-law. Many of these schools are well-known and will fill out every range (Reach, Middle and Safety). I am astounded that some of these schools have Jewish populations as high as 25%. There is not a loser on the list.</p>
<p>very true paying4college…very different vibes between uab and ua… ua being a more traditional college campus, uab being more modern buildings and urban campus. uab is only 6% greek vs about 35% greek at ua. ua is big in football, uab is not. very different social scenes. 11K students vs approx 30K</p>
<p>It does seem odd that Howard got quite a reaction from other posters, but the UA schools that were also suggested as candidate financial safeties did not (the state of Alabama is only 0.2% Jewish</p>
<p>A state’s population doesn’t mean that a school’s population will be the same/similar.</p>
<p>I doubt Rice’s or WashU’s Jewish population is close to those states’. </p>
<p>I know that the Catholic population in the state of Alabama is very low, but at the public universities, it’s quite strong. </p>
<p>The Jewish population in the state of Alabama is low, but it’s higher in university cities and at the actual universities…perhaps because a good number of the profs are Jewish and the medical centers have a number of Jewish physicians? I don’t know. There is a reason why the intellectual centers in any state will have higher Jewish (and Catholic) populations. </p>
<p>There has been a Jewish temple in Tuscaloosa for over 100 years. And, there’s a Jewish temple and Hillel right on campus…the Hillel has been there for about 60 years.</p>
<p>Information about the Jewish population at Alabama:
[url=<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17808]University”>http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17808]University</a> of Alabama - Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life<a href=“Jewish%20students%20represent%202.4%%20of%20the%20undergraduate%20population”>/url</a></p>
<p>Compare to Vanderbilt:
[url=<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17956]Vanderbilt”>http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17956]Vanderbilt</a> University - Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life<a href=“Jewish%20students%20represent%2016%%20of%20the%20undergraduate%20population”>/url</a></p>
<p>Or Emory:
[url=<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17381]Emory”>http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17381]Emory</a> University - Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life<a href=“about%2030%”>/url</a></p>