Sorry - I should learn the quote thing - this. At least they did in the past…Hofstra that is.
Also, don’t many colleges that give merit want the applicants to fill out the FAFSA at the minimum? I know that was true in the past…but maybe things have changed.
For true merit awards, colleges don’t require the financial aid forms at all. A small number do…but not most. For merit, it’s all about strength of application in most cases.
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Mom of a Jewish student at St. Olaf here. While apparently not a fit for the OP, there is a small but active Jewish student union at St. Olaf. They have weekly Shabbat services, bi (CORRECTION TEICE) monthly havdalah, torah study and Hebrew as well as other social gatherings. There are a couple of rabbis on the faculty who facilitate and held a student led seder last week. Apparently the student who led it was raised conservative and did the whole Haggadah with lots of editorial in Hebrew (a new experience for my very very reformed son) They collaborate in some or all of these with Carton students too. Honestly, my son identifies as Jewish and participates in activities maybe more now than he did at home.
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I know Case forced us to fill both FAFSA and CSS profile mandatory for any merit. I remember it drove me crazy. I do not remember what we had to put in for CMU. UMich, UMD, GaTech and all other privates did not care at all.
Sounds great for Seder. I do not understand what is bi monthly havdalah. Every other month instead of every Shabbas? This sounds really funny. Yes they hired Rabbi for college faculty. I think Rabbi is working in two colleges St. Olaf and Carleton. No offence, but my daughter will have a problem with female Rabbi. I know it is common for reform movement.
And Conservative.
She is really painting herself into a box. And even if she chooses a school with a Hillel with what she cosnsiders to be apprpriately-gendered clergy, turnover does happen and then what will she do? But maybe there is a Chabad nearby? Both of my sons are at schools with both Hillel and Chabad…and she certainly won’t find a female rabbi at the latter.
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DD daughter is youth leader with Chabad. You can usually find Chabad only with big public schools. I would not count on Chabad in small LACS. Active Hillel should be enough for us.
Muhlenberg probably is the only one on our list that has orthodox presence. They even have eruv (for people who knows what it is.)
Both of my sons are at private colleges. One is large (20k undergrad but feels smaller) and the other is 7k. Both have what appears to be a pretty active Chabad.
That’s pretty amazing about the eruv. I’m glad it’s there for those who want/require it!
This is not true at all about Chabad. I have a child at a NESCAC school (not for you because no merit) that has a nice Chabad.
What strikes me about this thread is a lot of preconceived ideas and inflexibility. I understand the need for merit. That’s truly the limiting factor. But with a little more flexibility on some of the other criteria, a whole new world of options will open up.
It would also be helpful to have a sense of the degree to which each of these checklist items is important to her rather than you. You keep saying “we” need this and “we” want that and this is good enough for “us.” Of course parents have opinions and are involved, but do you and your daughter have exactly the same needs and wants?
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You have added Miami (Ohio) for consideration. It is twice the size of College of Charleston and checks off less boxes for your daughter. I’m still not sure why this college is not in consideration.
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I’m glad to hear your son is having a positive experience as a Jewish student at St. Olaf. But, right or wrong, the criteria we looked for during our search was whether the school had an active Hillel. Also, if the local community or town had a Jewish population to support a synagogue, St Olaf was not on our radar when we were looking, but we would have more than likely not considered it for those reasons.
I do, however, think Furman is a school for the OP to consider. Even though the school doesn’t have a large Jewish population, it has an active Hillel and a robust local and historic Jewish community. Greenville has a reformed, conservative, and orthodox {Chabad} synagogue and a Jewish federation. It seems that there would be many opportunities to participate beyond the campus.
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That’s not true about Chabad only being at big public schools. SUNY Oneonta has a local Chabad for area students, and SUNY New Paltz has both a Hillel and a local Chabad. Both schools also check your boxes for size. I know Jewish students at both schools, one family who is quite religious and her son love it.
FYI SUNY Binghamton should be on your list of schools to do some research on. It’s bigger than your required size but much smaller than UMD. They often give merit to OOS students, there are many, many many Jewish students on campus, social kids (you said your D is social), excellent pre health advising, not rural, etc.
I also don’t understand why C of C is not on the list. It also checks your boxes and you were willing to add Miami Ohio. UDel is another one.
Is your daughter kosher in/and or out of the house?
I am still not understanding the distaste for public colleges….given that several check all the boxes and affordability is your number one concern.
One of my kids attended a small public college (5000 students total). There is a Chabad in the community (walking distance) for local college students, a hospital within walking distance, strong pre health advising, a very very long list of MD and DO schools that their grads attend, small classes, etc.
It seems to me that there are some preconceived notions about public colleges? It’s too bad, since some of them might be affordable.
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I live adjacent to a private university. There is a Chabad House on my street. It’s not officially run by the university but it’s all students who attend events and services. I don’t believe it’s listed on any of the university’s materials because it’s in the community. Adds another layer of research for your D
(No merit here though and too far).
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150 posts later, following up on Denison foreign language requirements. Has the OP talked to Admissions in detail to get connected with someone in 1st year advising or dug deeply on the website about gen ed requirements for foreign language? Denison has French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese, plus Arabic for gen ed credit but not as a major/minor.
Clearly it’s not the place for your child, I just wanted to put it out there for other Jewish families who might be searching. And thank you! I meant TWICE monthly Havdalah, every other week. Shabbat every week. There is a Rabbi who teaches in the history and religion departments in addition to the Rabbi Chaplin.
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Ohio University is worth mentioning again. It is smaller than UMD, has excellent pre health advising, and Jewish students.
We have Orthodox family members whose kids attended Ohio University and they were very happy.
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Miami of Ohio was added as safety. It does not satisfy size requirement. It is good for premed with good support. It is rural but has big campus. All other requirements (Hillel, language, proximity, no religious affiliations etc.) were met. It is safety since for DD some good merit is almost 100% guaranteed. It is not match/target and she most likely will not attend it. It was added to create some choice between UMD and Ursinus. She may prefer Ursinus or UMD in the end. We hope she will get to one of her target/match schools with enough merit and we will never look at safety list.
What you don’t seem to understand is that big merit only comes from safety schools.
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That is because these schools are in metro NY city area with huge Jewish population. That does not happen in other places.