If the goal is near a city, then Denison is 25 min from Columbus – which is (I had to double check) the 14th biggest city in the US as well the state capitol, with a major public university and vibrant arts scene.
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We visited. For college kids, it’s 35 minutes. It’s not close. It’s all country getting there. No burbs. The town is small.
I’m not saying it’s not a great school. Im just saying if someone wants to regularly be in city like area on a daily basis, Denison isn’t it. Miami isn’t it. Wooster and Allegheny…two other schools that would fit…aren’t it…if being in/near a city is important. Two many messages. Hard to tell if it is.
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To summarize:
UW 3.95, SAT 1400-1430
is premed, wants to be with strong students, needs a high gpa
family can afford about $55,000 for a private school (wants $20,000 in merit)
wants urban or close to urban
strong social life- student is very social
wants a Jewish presence
wants a smallish school but is willing to attend UMD
8 hour driving distance but flexible for certain schools
Have you looked into the University of Delaware? It meets all of your criteria except for size, and it is less competitive than Tulane (a reach) and UMD (two schools you/your daughter are willing to apply to). Your D might make honors, giving her a smaller cohort.
Is there anything on this list that you/daughter are willing to give up (size, location etc)? That might open things up a little more.
I thought of UD, I have a senior there. Over 2000 Jewish students, they have a move in early Hillel program for freshmen, very social campus, will get at least $15,000 in merit if they continue to base it on GPA. It’s an hour from Philadelphia. My daughter wanted a medium sized school, but every time she visited UD it got smaller, she’s never been on a campus bus, and she’s in the honors program which comes with some smaller classes. She didn’t even need a car off campus, she coukd walk.
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What about University of Richmond? Checks a lot of the boxes. It’s another school my son applied EA and is near the top of his list. Our tour guide was pre med and talked a lot about the quality of advising and high acceptance rate to medical school. I’m not sure how difficult it is to get merit aid there. They do award a handful of full merit scholarships and some for 1/3tuition. Also seems to have very active Hillel.
GW fits most of your boxes, except possibly the cost after merit, but my D got about 20K. and she was an A-/B+ student. They recently had an issue of antisemitism unfortunately, but Hillel is VERY strong on campus with many social events. They have a brand new building.
@momsearcheng Dckinson College has a brand new merit scholarship for Maryland students! This seems right up your ally: Reynolds Leadership Scholar Program | Dickinson College
There is a center for Jewish students on campus and she will find pre-med opportunities here.
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This is a long thread, so not sure if you have an updated list. However, I will try to answer your question about several of the schools I am familiar with.
Muhlenberg seems like a good fit. I would point out when we visited, it felt small not by enrollment but by the physical size of the campus.
Dickinson would be my top choice. We went to an open house there and remembered meeting a student who was studying biology and religion. When asked why she said she wanted to be a doctor and wanted to understand ethical choices in medicine. Seems like a thoughtful student body and faculty. Carlisle is an interesting little town within walking distance and Harrisburg state capital 30 minutes away.
Juniata is kind of like a more remote Dickinson. Not as competitive as Dickinson, so she probably gets more merit. You have 2000 as a cutoff, and Juniata is under 1400 students.
Elon seems like a great fit. Our son got good merit with stats a little below your daughter and first cost not as high as some Private Lacs. Also, she should get into the honors program with her stats. Not too big or small, close to Greensboro, even Raleigh Durham if you want to fly out. Beautiful campus.
College of Wooster, I believe, offers test blind merit and certainly makes sense to visit if you are going to schlep out to Denison. Both are great schools but consider Ohio maybe a little bit of adjustment for an east coast kid.
Union is very strong in science and a good academic choice as a LAC for your D major. Unfortunately, Schenectady is not a plus town. We loved the campus but took it off our list because of the town.
As a Jewish parent, I would not have an issue with any of these schools from that perspective. Also just wanted to suggest U of Mary Washington as a Public LAC that checks off some of your boxes. I don’t know how it got to Kansas and Alabama from your OP, but that’s what makes the world go round. Good luck!
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Thanks a lot.
After all discussion we’ve got huge list to look at…
Here is what I have now, but we will have to cross out some
Non LACS
- UMD (College Park)
- UPitt
- Case Western
- Tulane
- VCU
- George Washington
- University of Rochester
LACS or considered kind of LACS
- St. Mary’s of MD(need to visit. Very small and has no Hillel but may work due to proximity to home and a chance to drive back on weekends to work in local hospital and connect to local friends )
- Rhodes , (Memphis)
- Muhlenberg, PA
- Hofstra, NY
- Dickinson, PA
- Juniata, PA
- Furman, SC
- College of Wooster, OH (not sure but since many people suggested need to check)
- Elon, NC
- Union, NY
- Hobart and William Smith, NY
- Gettysburg, PA
- Denison, OH
14 Washington and Lee, VA (probably slim to none chance)
That is major list of 21 that we will reduce. I believe LACS will be cut roughly in half and we will try to stay within 15 schools for applications. Worst case scenario she will go to UMD 
I would also look at
Mary Washington but it is OOS public, so chance of Merit slim to none. May be appealing due to proximity.
Ohio Wesleyan - looks like under 1,500 students
I know people raved about College of Charleston, but I am not looking for another public school.
Our biggest challenge is that DD is very social with quite big group of real friends (she found amazing group of people in school of 2000), but not a “party” person. She also needs meaningful social activities to be happy. So small very rural quiet schools probably will not work, but we will try. We absolutely need at least small Hillel, I do not want her to be the only Jew on campus or in school with mandatory religious subjects.
You are correct, for kid who grew up in Metro DC, Ohio will be a challenge, unless we are talking about school like Case. Pennsylvania small schools may work better since there is a big number of kids there from MD, Philadelphia, NJ and NY.
Sorry, we will not consider Kansas, Alabama or Florida no matter how good they are.
I appreciate help of everyone. You definitely helped to add and remove schools from original list. I would not know about issues at Oberlin without you. I have never heard about Union or Hobart and William Smith. I would probably miss Hofstra too.
I will let you know how it will work or not work.
Choosing schools in DD case is more challenging than for older kid.
Thanks.
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VCU is close - but other than Maryland, it’s the biggest school on your list - more than 30K students. Charleston is 10K students - for what it’s worth. I’m not suggesting you swap - but given you don’t want huge - it appears that’s what VCU is. UNC Asheville may be another that’s closer than Charleston and is smaller and has a small Jewish life…not 10% of Charlestons but you’d also not be alone. It’s a public LAC similar to Mary Washington and in many regards Charleston (who has Southwest Airlines flights from Baltimore btw).
Hofstra - not an LAC - but the good thing about them - take 5 minutes and fill out their NPC - they’ll tell you your merit aid right up front - so you can decide if it’s a keeper or not. I suspect, given your budget, it will be a keeper. Read the reviews - seems a lot of people leave on weekends.
As a Jewish parent, I’m completely unsure (still) will Juniata, Furman and to a lesser extent Rhodes would make the list - I’ve mentioned b4. What you seek is Jewish life - and none of these schools will offer an ample amount. Fact is, your student will mostly feel like they’re one of few. Also, Memphis is a 13 hour drive from home and I think you wanted to be closer. To me, Allegheny would be better than any of these three (as a Jewish parent).
Elon sort of checks all your boxes - it’s COA will come in about budget…maybe a bit less if you earn one of their scholarships. The only thing it’s lacking is it’s isolated - the town is tiny (one small street), about 5-10 mins from the next town over and then as others have said about 45 minutes from Greensboro and Durham. The campus is gorgeous, you only read fantastic things about the school from students/parents…but that isolation was why my daughter took it off the list after we visited.
btw - Wooster will be similar in many ways - but why so many suggested Wooster I think is:
- You want merit - and you’ll get merit and beat your target cost (as you can at many schools)
- Wooster is always linked with Princeton in a ranking area that they continue to exploit in their marketing - undergraduate research/creative projects and senior capstone—recognized by education experts as “enriched offerings … linked to success.”
Anyway, best of luck to you. It’s a fun time - and I suspect as you travel, you’ll see some she unexpectedly loves and maybe some she doesn’t love - and that’s good too - part of the process.
I would not hesitate to send my D to Oberlin. We visited last spring and loved it. There are people on these boards with kids there now who are having wonderful experiences. We got pastries at the bakery in question and there were definitely students working there/buying there. No doubt the bakery incident was a terrible misstep. But overall I don’t think it is affecting the daily experience of the students there & Oberlin has a lot to offer. On the other hand, I would not consider Union. I have a young relative who attended there & although she got a good education there, it is very much a party school. Lots of drinking, lots of social life around the frats/sororities. Schenectady certainly has nothing to recommend it - very run down without much going on (aside from Proctor’s). My relative now says they wish they’d gone to their runner-up school though they certainly had fun while they were there. Point is, you can probably find negatives about any school. While I’m making no excuses for the bakery debacle, I wouldn’t base any decision on one incident, no matter how misguided the response still seems to be. Like you, I might hesitate on the whole Ohio thing (apologies to the mid-westerners, but the necessity of signs saying you can’t take your firearm in the store make me shiver a bit) but Oberlin is a beautiful, well-kept campus, lovely town, what appears to be a great student body & faculty from our limited experience, and innovative academic offerings.
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Seconding Rhodes College as an alumni. It has very good premed placement. The college is Presbyterian affiliated but no religious courses are required. One of my sorority sisters/best friends from my college days is Jewish. The Jewish president of Rhodes recently resigned to take on a huge role as the president of the Council of Independent Colleges. President Hass Called to National Leadership Role and Will Leave Rhodes to Become President of the Council of Independent Colleges | Rhodes News Rhodes has a beautiful campus. The Memphis airport is pretty close to campus so she can fly home easily. You might also check out other schools on the Colleges that Change Lives list that might be closer to home. https://ctcl.org
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The issue here is - and another told her that students are saying Oberlin doesn’t protect them. Oberlin is 25% Jewish. Your daughter will find her people there.
The OP is being told there are political issues - this schools supports Israel, this doesn’t.
Christian or any other students supporting Israel have little to do with the OP finding a Jewish community. That’s why as a Jewish parent, I cringe when the suggestion is to go to a Clemson over an Oberlin - simply because its students or professors are deemed pro-Israel.
Oberlin has been and will remain a top college that creative and intelligent Jewish students choose, likely for many many many years to come.
In this case, while the writer had good intent, it’s my belief they are confusing politics with an ample Jewish presence and life.
Oberlin meets need, has merit - but again, it’s a higher level school - so it’d be a strong choice for the OP - but of course, when chasing merit it’s often those lesser perceived/ranked schools that are better.
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Wait, why isn’t Brandeis on the list?
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I guess I will research Oberlin (Slim chance DD will get merit there though)and Union more and visit.
I suspect like many people mentioned that small OH schools will be at the end eliminated. Possible that would be case of Elon too, but I like its size and opportunities.
I am sure that VCU, Hofstra and Rhodes are keepers ( I have my own reasons that I do not want to put here). I actually less sure about Tulane (almost want her not be accepted there :). It is way too far for my taste). I think that Furman will make cut. I know very little about Hobart and William Smith…
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Hofstra definitely has a suitcase school vibe to it- not that everyone goes home every weekend, but the NY metro area kids go home A LOT and the weekend campus life suffers for it. You’ve got a couple of heavy partying/drinking schools on here but your D will quickly suss that out- it’s not a subtlety.
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Your D wants to be a pediatrician? Might be nice to have a Children’s Hospital nearby for internships, research opportunities or just to volunteer. St. Jude would probably work too but I think they’re mostly in the midwest.
Juniata has a small Hillel but it has a strong and interesting history. I don’t think being a Jewish student there would at all be of issue. The size and the fairly remote location would be the bigger considerations.
I agree with Hofstra as a suitcase school. Also, I would run the NPC on Mary Washington, I think there may be some decent merit available.
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If you can, visit U Rochester and see if she can sit in on a class as well as meet with someone in Hillel. Other than size and not being sure you want something that costly, it seems like it would appeal to her. Sitting in on a class would let her know if she likes and feels comfortable with the depth of their content. It’s a school with a pretty high freshman retention rate, so students love it, but IME they know from a visit if they will love it or not.
I am going to respond here because I think you are misconstruing my comments earlier in the thread. I sincerely apologize if I made you cringe😬 I never suggested that OPs daughter should apply to Clemson. When OP inquired about Clemson, my response was that it was neither small nor provided good merit aid. I also pointed out that it does have a small Jewish community and a Hillel. I attached a link to an article that I feel gives an accurate description of Jewish life at Clemson.
My comments about Oberlin have to do with allegations of antisemitism on campus. I don’t consider this to be a political issue per se. Sadly, campus anti semitism is on the rise and at near historic levels at colleges across the country. It is coming at us from both the right and the left. Many of our kids, my own included,are ill equipped to handle it. There is a line between legitimate criticism of Israel and outright antisemitism. A few years back, the SJP at my alma mater went into dorms and off campus apartments and put “eviction” notices on the doors of Jewish kids. You may disagree, but to me this is a threatening message of " I know you are a Jew and I know where you live."
My statement was that I would feel more comfortable sending my Jewish kid to a Clemson, Furman or Rhodes than I would to Oberlin. I never said that had anything to do with pro Israel political views of the faculty.
I have lived in the Atlanta suburbs for the past thirty years and raised my children here. Many of our closest friends are evangelicals. My kids have never been ostracized or excluded because of their faith. I appreciate that your experience has been different. My S22 is one of 5 Jewish kids in his class. When he was bar mitzvahed, the entire class showed up to support him. My oldest son just graduated from Auburn, where he was involved in Hillel and had friends who joined AEPi. He had a great four years and never experienced anti semitism. I would not think the Jewish experience at Clemson would be much different. (Although I guess Auburn gets a few extra points for having a Jewish basketball coach)
I understand your point about your kids wanting a larger Jewish community and Oberlin providing that. My point is whether it is Clemson, Oberlin or any other college, you need to do your research and determine whether it is an environment that is comfortable for you. Your kids have chosen schools that have both larger Jewish populations and don’t experience the type of antisemitism that is happening on many campuses. My kids are fine with being in a much smaller Jewish environment. It’s not a one size fits all proposition.
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