<p>just kidding. I’ve read in previous threads that Brandeis is a predominantly Jewish school. Does this mean there is little diversity at Brandeis? </p>
<p>Can someone please enlighten me on this issue?</p>
<p>bumpppppp please</p>
<p>according to collegeboard:
6% Asian/Pacific Islander
3% Black/Non-Hispanic
5% Hispanic
61% White/Non-Hispanic
9% Non-Resident Alien
15% Race/ethnicity unreported </p>
<p>when one of my friends visited, she said that she could definitely tell that it was very predominantly white/jewish and felt a little excluded because she was not. so if you're looking for a ton of religious diversity, brandeis might not be your best bet.</p>
<p>"so if you're looking for a ton of religious diversity, brandeis might not be your best bet."</p>
<p>Sorry, this always bugs me. Most schools in the country are at least 60% Christian. People rarely complain about that, but for some reason 60% Jewish is an issue. </p>
<p>Regarding diversity, it depends where you're coming from and what one would consider diverse.</p>
<p>Good point, however the reason most schools are primarily Christian is because of demographics. The Jewish population nationally is what? 3-4%. I am not sure. Where I live in NY it is quite diffferent but I could understand why some might have concerns of a "comfort level" when applying to Brandeis.
I am Jewish and would feel uncomfortable at a school like BYU in part by my lack of familiarity and common interests with the majority of students there.</p>
<p>There are not many schools with a high percentage of Jews other than Yeshiva and other sectarian programs. I spent time visiting Brandeis and realized quite quickly that the atmosphere was not the ideal fit for me. I loved the academic offerings but did not include the Deis on my list.</p>
<p>It is a fine school and we all have our preferences of what is a good fit for us.</p>
<p>Elmers,
You have to visit and speak to the students. I visited, spent two day at the Deis and was impressed with the academic life. Hardworking, rigorous and challenging curriculum; which is right up my alley!</p>
<p>Socially, it was initially difficult to dertermine if the Brandeis social life was or me. I ws told that Friday nights are quiet since many of the students went to Hillel for Shabbat dinner. Non observants hung out in their dorms or went into Boston. They have many activities on campus and it seems that the majority find their niche.</p>
<p>I found the social atmosphere a bit different from other "smallish" universities due in part to the demographic of the student body. Rochester, Tufts, Emory had a very different feel than Brandeis.</p>
<p>I agree with a previous poster to read old posts, keep an open mind but in my opinion someone with your questions really needs to visit the campus.</p>
<p>Hannibal, you are correct in saying that Friday nights are quiet here, and also correct that a lot of students go to Shabbat dinner (and observe Shabbat very closely). However, the reason for the quiet is more than just observant Jews--I'm almost positive that Orthodox Jews make up less than a third of total Jews, and since the school is somewhere around 60% Jewish that means under a quarter of the student body is Orthodox, and the remaining three quarters have no religious restrictions on partying down on Fridays. Most people here simply don't enjoy partying, at least not the drunken frat-style bashes portrayed in pop culture but which you'll also find at many other schools. Basically, Brandeis is what you get when all the nerds, losers, and misfits from hundreds of different high schools all end up together on the same campus. Most are very nice people on the inside (and sometimes even fun) but don't let the world know it.</p>
<p>But it's good you like rigor in your academics--although if you're planning on doing a science you may be biting off more than you can chew. (Not that humanities are necessarily easy, but based on what I've taken over 4 years my humanities classes have been easier than my science classes on the whole.) Just watch out if you're thinking of doing pre-med; lots of people who I think could probably become decent doctors get weeded out and discouraged from applying, and some professors are incredibly anal about giving good grades, even when you do good work. Also, usually a little over 1/3 of the ones who don't get weeded out still end up not getting into med school anywhere. And most of the schools where our graduates end up aren't the most prestigious. If I knew more about law school, grad school, or job placement rates I'd give you those too. I do hear, however, we are pretty weak in alumni relations, so if that's true then there aren't too many friendly Brandeis alums out there who will help get you an advantage/job in their companies (at least compared to other schools' alums). Good luck wherever you end up.</p>
<p>Diespremed,
Sounds as if your personal observations are a bit harsh and judgmental;</p>
<p>"Brandeis is what you get when all the nerds, losers, and misfits from hundreds of different high schools all end up together on the same campus."</p>
<p>Did you do thoroughly research Brandeis prior to attending? Were you aware of the social atmosphere?
Sounds like a bad fit for you. That is unfortunate.</p>
<p>As I stated previously, I found the academics top notch but the social atmosphere was not for me. I preferred Rochester, Tufts and Emory and will be atteding the latter which seems to be the best overall fit for me. Emory is 35% Jewish (many from the northeast) but is quite a different atmosphere from the Deis. My preferences are personal and I believe it is unfair to bash others who have differing opinions and are quite happy at Brandeis.</p>
<p>To each his/her own!</p>
<p>Yea i guess i do have to visit the campus. I've gone to a catholic school all my life, so i'm guessing Brandeis would be a huge change for me. I keep hearing the same things over and over again in these threads..that while the academics are strong, the social life isnt good, and that premed (which i was considering) is extremely difficult. Brandeis gave me a very generous scholarship, so i'm definitely gonna visit the school and give it a chance. </p>
<p>Thanks for all your help guys!</p>
<p>Yes, you're right, and I apologize for being somewhat harsh. At the same time, I was trying to be honest--maybe I just went a little overboard. I did say also that the kids here are mostly pretty nice, they're just not my cup of tea socially. Hopeful, you yourself admitted that the social scene wasn't for you, so I think we're in agreement on that issue. I should have researched the social aspect more, but when I took a tour of the school (back when people lived in caves and hunted woolly mammoths), my tour guide was a phony who misinformed me, telling me the social scene was the absolute best. So I applied, and when I was accepted I got way too much financial aid to turn down. At that point I tried to make the best of things, and here I am today. I won't lie though; I think I got a pretty decent education at Brandeis. My only hope is that the rigor and grading policies here don't keep me out of med school. After all, what's the point of a good education, for someone in my position, if I can't use it to get me to the next level?</p>
<p>Also, being as objective as I possibly can be, most of the med students as well as my fellow applicants I met visiting medical schools were more friendly and outgoing than a lot of my classmates at Brandeis. That's just been my general experience, and I'm sure other people here have different opinions. To sum things up, I would sayd come to Brandeis if you want rigorous academics and a sedate, low-intensity social scene. If you're really into partying, and it's that important to you, I'd think twice before coming. It's not like there are no parties here, but things are definitely on the low-key side.</p>
<p>thats similar to my situation deispremed. Brandeis gave me such good financial aid that my parents have their hearts set on me attending there. The scholarship is going to be hard to turn down, especially because i know that my other schools probably won't be as generous.</p>
<p>Deispremed,
Sometimes its good to tell it like you see it. It seems to me that the happy minority at Brandeis did not do enough research into the school possibly assuming that Brandeis is similar to other highly regarded smaller universities.</p>
<p>Those who jump at merit $$$ may have overlooked researching the social scene fit. Perhaps some were excited and pleased to be getting merit $$$ to a school ranked in the mid 30s. Who knows? Brandeis has a decent retention rate.</p>
<p>I read the college books as well as old posts from CC and did notice a similar theme to the type of people and atmosphere in Waltham. I visited and spoke to students finding them to be quite candid and helpful. I opted to apply elsewhere. To me, the college experience includes academics as well as a strong social component. Academics is my # 1 priority but I want to be happy during my 4 years. I know a number of students who love Brandeis. That's great and they made the right decision. It's all about personal fit.</p>
<p>As far as rigorous premed, I believe you will find similar stories at many schools, in particular schools that weed out students with the bell curve. Many who enter college as a premed, quickly learn that there are other options better suited for them. I bet pre-med at Michigan, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Rice, Emory, Cornell, etc... is no cakewalk either.</p>
<p>Good luck!!</p>
<p>To begin with any premed program that is worth anything is tough. It is designed to weed students out. Did you expect your hand to be held or spoon-feed? What do you think med school is like? From my experiences it is hell. If you can't hack premed anywhere you better rethink your career choice. You are dealing with life and death. You have to be able to stand the pressure. As far as top medical schools go, again you need to well whereever you are because what you do in life (specialty or where you do your residency) will take you places.Be prepare to stand on your own two feet and not wait for alumni to help you.</p>
<p>Question: Does anyone know the percentage of students who are accepted to medical school from Brandeis?</p>
<p>Fedmom and hopeful1: weeding out premed studnts is nothing new, either. When I attended college, back in the caveman days, about one-third of my classmates claimed to be premed students. A much much smaller number than that applied to medical schools when the time came. The GPA and science requirements were meant to shorten the list and did so, then and now.</p>
<p>Which, to me, is fine. I think that it's unrealistic to expect most people at age 18 or so, with no exposure to the vast number of possibilities that colleges offer, to really know what they want to do with their lives, including what they want to work at. I sure wouldn't want to hold any of them to that 18-year old vision.</p>
<p>Elmers, for this question I have good, hard data!</p>
<p>A packet the pre-med office put out last year gave acceptance rates from 200-2004. </p>
<p>2000: 57 admitted, 34 not admitted (63% accepted), nationwide 47% accepted
2001: 52 admitted, 19 not admitted (71%), nationwide 50%
2002: 44 admitted, 16 not admitted (73%), nationwide 52%
2003: 51 admitted, 25 not admitted (67%), nationwide 50%
2004: 39 admitted, 13 not admitted (75%), nationwide 49%</p>
<p>5-year total: 243 admitted, 107 not admitted (69%), nationwide 50%</p>
<p>So we do better than the national average, although our school is certainly better than average as well. Keep in mind your chances of acceptance at any one school are VERY low; most of the time people apply to 15-20 schools and get into 1-3 of them. Also, if you look at the numbers more carefully you'll notice that the years which had higher acceptance rates also had fewer total applicants, so perhaps they did more weeding out in those years.</p>
<p>Finally, one last point. It's not the bell curve that does most people in here. Instead, the classes themselves just get so tedious with labs and everything that most of the weeded-out students actually quit on their own.</p>
<p>I think the med school acceptance rates are real good assuming that all candidates who apply are included in the stats. Keep in mind, there are always some applicants in the pool who are very borderline and others who are not qualified. In other words, if you have the credentials, your chances of getting accepted to at least 1 med school are excellent.</p>
<p>They prob have more detailed stats included GPA and MCAT averages and further broken down by med school.</p>
<p>I know that at Emory's graduating class of 2004, if you had a minimum 3.5 GPA and 30 MCAT, you had a 91% chance of acceptance to at least 1 med school. I bet Brandeis has similar numbers since the pre-med rep is excellent.</p>
<p>"Instead, the classes themselves just get so tedious with labs and everything that most of the weeded-out students actually quit on their own."</p>
<p>Okay, so I'm not pre-med, but as a chem major I have to take all of the same classes minus bio. But I have to take harder physics, so it's a tradeoff.</p>
<p>Anyways, I don't think the classes are tedious at all. They are fundamental to what it is to be a scientist. If you can't deal with organic chemistry, you probably shouldn't be a doctor. If you can't work in the lab, same deal. I find a large factor with pre-med unhappiness is a general dislike of science. The pre-meds I know who actually enjoy science are doing quite well.</p>
<p>in the class of 2008, it is 48% jewish. however, my sister's best friend is catholic. so...you do the math. if you are smart enough to get into brandeis, i think you can figure it out. in fact, brandeis even has 2 churches on campus as opposed to one synagogue.</p>
<p>Brandeis doesn't have two churches, nor does it have one synagogue. But semantics aside, the reason for the two "churches" is because one is Protestant and the other is Catholic. I'm Jewish, so I'm no expert on Christianity, but I do know that Catholicism and Protestantism have very different religious practices and beliefs. It would probably be utterly sacrilegious to each to be combined into one organization.</p>
<p>As for Shoshie's comment, she seems to imply that I hate science. Not so. I've spent 4 summers doing research in private and academic labs, and I love it. I plan to do a fifth summer in research this year before medical school (I just got my first acceptance, so I will in fact be going next year), then maybe a sixth after the first med school year, and then do it professionally someday. That all being said, the lab courses here and most other schools too are generally dreadful, and most of the lecture courses aren't all that great either. And as for organic chemistry, a couple doctors who interviewed me had a good laugh when I told them what I thought about the subject. And yet I still am going to be a doctor nonetheless.</p>
<p>Hopeful is pretty much right about the whole statistics thing. I was advised that 30 on the MCAT is commonly a cutoff used by medical admissions committees to determine whether a student can handle the work. Of course, if you want to go to an Ivy, a score of 30 will for the most part guarantee a rejection. And going to the magical 3.5 GPA, that also has a lot of truth. The problem with Brandeis tends to be that getting a 3.5 here is much harder than at alot of other comparable colleges. So combine a 30 MCAT, which is about the average at Brandeis, with a 3.3-3.4, also around the average here, and you're down to overall acceptance rates in the mid to high 60's.</p>