But think of it this way…if your child had been interested in the college and eligible for those scholarships…you likely would be singing the praises of that admissions person.
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Absolutely, and we did not cross this particular school off of the list. My point was just that it can come across as a bit needy or off putting. One or two emails would have sufficed, he received dozens of communications from them.
Nearly all honors or core curriculum colleges will have a “Great Books” program of some sort, with various names. Some will fold them into a “Westen Civ” requirement or a Humanities requirement.
The most traditional invariably include masterpieces from Antiquity to the modern period, and invariably include some Greek and Roman works, the Bible and the Q’uran (and a good indication whether it’s a scholarly study v. religious is that the edition will be something like the Oxford Annotated version, ie., not for devotion but for scholarly analysis), Shakespeare, some poetry, etc.; with authors coming from a variety of traditions. For the longest time, that was the “normal” college curriculum. These books can also be found in many other classes although they would not be part of a cohesive whole and most honors classes or seminars will include some of those texts. Even literature classes can include any of these works.
These are NOT religion classes.
For clarification purpose, do you oppose “great books” and “core reading” programs, or religion classes?
(It’s going to be very difficult to find colleges without classes where one reads at least some classics, especially at conservative colleges in the South).
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You can decide if the positives of Rhodes (or other colleges with a particular course requirement) is worth it.
IMO, having to do a comparative religious or modern thought course can only help any future doctor. It is possible that an internship or residency could be at a catholic or baptist or even Jewish hospital. It is nice to know how the administrators are thinking. It might be nice to know what is important to patients. A future doctor could get that from a psych class or a ‘thought’ class.
I was recently teaching in a school that was almost half Muslim, and I liked knowing what the kids were experiencing at their homes, and learning about their beliefs. No one was trying to convert anyone, just learning.
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I was exposed to the major religious tenets of Catholicism, Judaism and Protestantism, along with the Bible as literature, over 40 years ago in public school in NY. Knowledge and understanding of others are a good thing, regardless of your own beliefs. Part of the core mision of higher education.
Understanding others is a basic requirement for health care professionals-for many patients, their religion is intertwined with health care decisions on life, death, treatment. I would hope any future professional would show more knowledge of and empathy to various faiths regardless of their personal views.
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This is the class description…
- Students read the major texts that make up the Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman traditions in historical and cultural context. In addition to the Bible, readings include the Qur’an, as well as the works of poets such as Sappho, Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Christine de Pizan and philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and St. Augustine.
- Through careful reading of the texts, students encounter questions about the ideas, arguments, beliefs, and institutions that have shaped Western thought. and wrestle with questions about justice, ethics, cultural difference, and community.
This is not what I would describe as pushing an ideology. For most students these sorts of classes provide a familiarity with classics, augment the capacity to express and argue an opinion, write effectively, have historic context, consider the experiences of others, learn basic philosophy and logic, etc, but your daughters opinion is all that matters.
Seems like a perfect time to quote Dante…
“Consider your origins: you were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge”
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OP’s D has great options on the table. She’ll need to choose one and reject all the others… doesn’t really matter at this point what criteria she uses…life is full of tradeoffs!
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Not just LACs - at College of Charleston, b4 the info session started, someone came to every row asking are you so and so.
When she found us, she told us we were having lunch with the Hillel director and a student. The person who came is responsible for recruiting Jewish students there- they have a large population percentage wise. We did not ask for this…nor did we know about this beforehand.
But this is a public.
Listen - if this is a hook to get into a great school - my daughter got into W&L - hopefully on her own merits but who knows - but if it’s a hook it’s great.
There are no doubt Jewish kids having great experiences at many LACs. It doesn’t mean they’re right for everyone but every person is different and ultimately each kid will decide for themselves.
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@momsearcheng any chance your daughter will be invited to these interviews for the Duke Scholarship.
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I didn’t mean to suggest that it is only LACs or only colleges in the South that are actively striving to increase their Jewish enrollment. I was just commenting that at many Southern LACs like Rhodes and Furman we check a diversity box that can result in a boost in admission odds and/or scholarship money. @momsearcheng described her D’s interview experience with a Rhodes AO who was scrolling on a cell phone and seemed completely uninterested until they realized that her D is Jewish. I can understand why this might make her feel uncomfortable or question what the climate on campus is really like.
About 20 years ago, Vanderbilt very publicly began a campaign to increase Jewish enrollment. They saw this as a path to reaching ivy league status and tapping into Jewish charitable donations to higher Ed. In the years since, many other schools across the country have followed Vanderbilt’s lead. The end result is a positive for Jewish students and families. Schools are building new Jewish student centers and kosher kitchens. They are offering Jewish study courses and hiring Jewish faculty. There is now thriving Jewish life on any number of campuses that used to have few if any Jewish students. I too see this as a win win and have no issue with using Judaism as a “hook”. This article is old but a very interesting read on the topic. It specifically mentions W&L among others.
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Did the Vanderbilt plan work in terms of boosting the school’s Ivy League status and garnering donations?
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Arguably. They went from a US news ranking of 21 in 2002 to 13 in 2022. Not that I’m saying that US news rankings are all that meaningful. 
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Or that the increase in Jewish students is the reason for the jump.
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What I hate here is that some assumptions again are based on stupid stereotypes. The biggest one is that all Jews are rich and most likely can pay full tuition and then bring some other rich Jews and they all will donate big money to our college… Schools are not interested in Jews they are interested in money…
Well, here is a catch. Not all Jews are rich. Not all of them are lawyers and doctors. Not all Jewish doctors are top pay and some Jews have VERY big families and can’t send kids to college. In fact, many Jewish orthodox girls do not go to college at all. And the last one: orthodox Jews would never send a kid to a secular school, not even to Yale no matter where the nearest synagogue is located or how many kosher meals will be on campus.
But all of the above do not belong to this thread.
My DD is not from an Orthodox family, and she is looking for a good fit. However, she does not want to be judged or accepted to college based on gender, race, or religion. She wants to be accepted based on her abilities and her character.
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Absolutely. That’s why I said arguably. There is a correlation. Does not mean that it is causation
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W&L is already one of the richest schools in the country. Its overriding and imperative necessity is to increase diversity in all ways.
I’d add (for others reading the thread) their Hillel isn’t an afterthought, tucked in an out of the way location. It’s in the heart of things, and their cafe is known for good food, so lots of kids go there.
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Wow. I suspect this would shock and shame those oblivious and morally bankrupt college administrators. Thanks for sharing and getting the word out. 
“And the last one: orthodox Jews would never send a kid to a secular school, not even to Yale no matter where the nearest synagogue is located or how many kosher meals will be on campus.”
Yale has a thriving Orthodox community, with a Rabbinic couple, three minyanim a day, and a kosher kitchen which serves hundreds of kids…this has nothing to do with the Orthodox community in New Haven; these are facilities smack dab in the middle of campus.
Where do you get your “facts”? Do not post things which are verifiably untrue. Yale works hard to help support thriving Orthodox life (as well as the other Jewish denominations) on campus. There are lots of Orthodox families who don’t share your disdain for Yale.
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Then you should not have had her apply to schools which practice holistic admission and are try to craft a class. Many Canadian public schools do not.
Most LACs need to reach established gender ratios. That often disadvantages female applicants.
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I get my facts from a very Orthodox extended family. The only “kosher” place for them is separate education for boys and girls. At least through undergrads. Furthermore, living on campus would be impossible. The only acceptable places are Touro college and Yeshiva university with separate education for men and women.