<p>Want west? Scripps would do the trick. Great school. Large Jewish community when combined with the 5 colleges. Beautiful, too.</p>
<p>A few more excellent Midwestern LACs without dominant drinking cultures are Carleton and Grinnell. But both have very small Jewish populations. </p>
<p>Also, echoing what momrath said in post #56, bear in mind that, just as Colgate has a dominant culture, so too does every other LAC. If your D really wants another LAC, she needs evaluate each school carefully to determine whether the fit will be better for her there than at Colgate. For instance,I think that Swarthmore -- a fantastic LAC -- and Colgate are, in many respects, polar opposites. I'm not passing judgment on either school: they're just very, very different. So let's say your D initially chose Colgate thinking she'd find qualities A,B, and C there, then found quality B absent. Maybe she'd find quality B in abundance at Swarthmore (or some other LAC) but qualities A and C would be missing. I guess what I'm saying is, each LAC has its own social and academic culture, and no one place is perfect. With small, you have to think very carefully. </p>
<p>Besides the usual reasons for looking at an LAC (small classes, close contact with profs who care, etc.), the qualities that led my D to believe that Colgate would be a good fit for her -- Colgate’s size, its substantial Jewish population, and her perception that students there would be "like" her (extroverted, bright, middle-of-the-road) were still important to her in transferring. She quickly ruled out transferring to another LAC because she felt that each of her criteria (to which had been added NOT rural and a strong department in her major) could not be satisfied at any LAC (with the exception of Amherst, perhaps, which she considered too much of a reach). She turned to a mid-sized university.</p>
<p>I agree with wjb's comments although I wouldn't say Carleton has a very small Jewish population. About 11% of the students are Jewish compared to Colgate's 15%.</p>
<p>You could look at Claremont schools and Occidental if you want California.</p>
<p>carldad: The difference is that Colgate's total undergraduate enrollment is about 2700, Carleton's about 1850. According to hillel.org, Colgate's Jewish population is 400, Carleton's 200. At some point, for some kids, absolute numbers become important. But even with small numbers, a community can still be vibrant and active. Again, it's a matter of deciding what's important to you and then finding out if it's there.</p>
<p>Lots of Kosher kids from FL go to U Maryland.
I know Brandeis has a dorm for religious kids, but I'm not sure about all the FL colleges.
I agree it would be a good idea to contact Hillel to atleast focus on colleges with a Kosher dining room.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.brsweb.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brsweb.org/</a></p>
<p>The above link will get you in touch with a modern Orthodox synamgogue in S FL. They should help narrow the search.</p>
<p>
[quote]
A few more excellent Midwestern LACs without dominant drinking cultures are Carleton and Grinnell
[/quote]
I believe you're mistaken about Grinnell. It does have a drinking culture. And I've had bad reports on Occidental, too, even though the guidebooks don't mention the problem.</p>
<p>I think Carlton has a drinking AND drug culture. At least that is the strong word from the St. Olaf kids.</p>
<p>There are at least a 100 really fine LACs out there. The faculty, especially in English and History, are virtually interchangeable - who teaches at one and who teaches at another is mostly a factor of which school was hiring that year. But they vary quite widely in drinking cultures, and in Jewish life. Your d. shouldn't find it too hard to find at least 5 that will meet her needs better than where she is now.</p>
<p>I think compared to St. Olaf, Carleton is a den of iniquity. However compared to many of the highly selective LAC's with which it competes, my understanding is that the social life at Carleton, as a whole, is less alcohol dependent.</p>
<p>Emory in Atlanta, Georgia may be the school for you daughter. I believe that it is 35% Jewish, Heavily pre-law and pre-med-which suggests sober,hard-working,but competitive students. Which school is your D at now?</p>
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<blockquote> <p>I think Carlton has a drinking AND drug culture. At least that is the strong word from the St. Olaf kids.<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>I heard the very same thing from a St. Olaf graduate. She specifically chose St. Olaf after going on a campus visit to Carleton.</p>
<p>Yes, I'm sure Carleton has both drinking and drugs. What i'm hearing is there's also a part of the population that doesn't do either and there is no pressure to partake. St. Olaf is a very conservative school, so in comparison, Carleton would look like party central.</p>
<p>William and Mary is very non-conformist and partying is not the only way to have fun there. Kids are much less judgemental on how you spend your free time.</p>
<p>It's not hard to best the social environment of Colgate. It's a tiny school in a tiny, freezing cold location.</p>
<p>Personally, I would insist that your d look at much larger schools in much larger cities. She might even enjoy going to school in Lawrence.</p>
<p>EVERY school in the nation has a drug and drinking culture. Except -- maybe -- BYU and Bob Jones.</p>
<p>yeah, but it's the extent of the problem. We all know it's everywhere.</p>
<p>"EVERY school in the nation has a drug and drinking culture."</p>
<p>The differences among them are MUCH greater than their similarities.</p>
<p>OK, here's one that's definitely NOT in the northeast. Tulane. Pretty much guaranteed not to get cold and definitely no snow. Roughly 35% Jewish. Fairly large Jewish population in the city (at least preK) and a prominant synagoqe (sp?) on St. Charles Ave. down the street from the univ.</p>
<p>Now I know ya'll are going to yell "drinking culture", but a lot has changed since Katrina and it appears from what little info I get long distance that the frat/drinking scene is much diminished. I think that may be in part from the damage to the frat houses off campus &/or the bars, plus a diminished bar scene downtown, etc. </p>
<p>The school now requires community service hours of all freshmen and students in general; the university is at the forefront of the rebuilding plans and repairing the community. Students are actively helping in many ways and integrating the situation into majors and lesson plans.</p>
<p>Due to the damage sustained by things like the hall where the symphony performed, many artistic events are now held on Tulane's campus in either McAllister Auditorium or Dixon Hall, so the students are getting to see lots more cultural events on site and at reduced cost. All kinds of national personages are showing up from time to time, taking advantage of all aspects of the situation, so it provides a very unique learning environment if you'd be interested in something, well, really different.</p>
<p>I bet if your daughter applied now with her hs stats they would even possibly give her money.</p>