<p>If only there were such thing as a school with a SLIGHTLY conservative, tolerant student body with plenty of Jews and a fine academic environment.</p>
<p>I think UVA is a bit far to the right for me. Remember. I'm an Arlen Spector NOT a Rick Santorum.</p>
<p>why then did you ask the question if after so many responses present evidence contrary to your contention you continue to cling to your original perception?</p>
<p>I don't think UVa is too far to the right for you. After all, Julian Bond has taught a class there for years. You may not like the school for various reasons, but fear of conservatives and anti-Semites is probably not one of them. Keep in mind though that most colleges and universities, including and perhaps especially the most elite and most liberal, have strong anti-Israel factions, supposedly not to be confused with anti-Semitism but somtimes rather disconcerting all the same.</p>
<p>As I said, I'm not afraid of conservatives. I am somewhat conservative. And I'm well aware that these days, more liberals have anti-semitic tendencies. Here's the thing. When you **** off a left-wing nutjob, he'll just sit around and whine. Maybe write up a petition. If you **** off a right-wing nutjob, he'll blow your frigging head off.</p>
<p>The whole extreme thing is a double-edged sword.</p>
<p>Anyone with suggestions for other schools in the south with decent size Jewish population and liberal environment. How about College of Charleston, U of Richmond, Elon? Any thoughts on these schols. Any other medium schools with nice campuses?</p>
<p>How could you expect to walk into Georgetown and not see crosses? It is a Catholic University.....Just like if I was taking a tour of Spertus College in Chicago and I saw alot of Jewish symbols... they are what they are--religious institutions. You should know that the minute you research the school.</p>
<p>Other southern schools popular with the NY "Jewish" crowd have been Tulane (of course this may change) and Emory. Friends son attends Duke. He's comfortable there and likes it, but did have to find his group of friends. I grew up in Brooklyn and went to school upstate NY (SUNY-Oswego). That was an adjustment too. Sometimes it's good and a real life experience to be out of your environment. It is a real learning experience. It may be more of an adjustment going to school in the south. A kid who would never think to join Hillel at Cornell or U Penn may decide to join Hillel at UVA or Duke just to make sure they "find" the other Jewish kids on campus. So visit the campuses-go with your gut-- and good luck. Candace-I never visited College of Charleston as d#2 didn't want to be that far from home, but I was very impressed with the Hillel site and it did seem to be a vibrant community. I wished my d was more interested in the school as it did seem to have a lot of potential. Also--We made the effort to visit both UVA and Wm&Mary during passover just to get a feel as to how it is handled at the school. I remember at the Wm&Mary tour, the guide pointed out the "Passover Table" in the dining hall. This was done without us even asking- so it made me feel a bit more comfortable.</p>
<p>Jenrik- Alot of schools have religious affiliations- be it Georgetown-Villanova or Yeshiva. That's fine & wonderful and many of those schools do want to be inclusive and go out of their way to enroll students from different backgrounds and faiths. But each individual has to decide whether they would feel comfortable in that surrounding. Personally, I'd feel more comfortable at Georgetown than in a small rural college in the NE even with a large # of Jewish kids. So my point was that one needs to check out the environment of the school and know whether you'd be comfortable there and if it is the right fit. And I actually did take more notice of the airplane noise than of the crosses at Georgetown.</p>
<p>I went to the law school and graduated in 1981. Not a problem then and I suspect not a problem now.</p>
<p>That is what I was trying to say</p>
<p>FYI, other top 25 schools with large Jewish populations outside of the northeast are Emory and Michigan.
Michigan has the largest # of Jewish students in the country according to the website.
Emory is at least 30% (probably more) Jewish and has a large Jewish population from the Northeast and FL.</p>
<p>There's a list of schools showing what percentage of the students are Jewish. It's on this site somewhere- you should find it.</p>
<p>UVA is a college... it's not conservative</p>
<p>That's a general trend, soccerguy315. You know that there are many exceptions.</p>
<p>Georgetown admissions went to great lengths to note the school's acceptance and welcoming of divergent religious views and is reputedly less stringently catholic than other catholic universities, but rest assured that it is a catholic institution in philosophy and practice, and that attitude is likely reflected in classes where controversial topics like right to life issues (abortion or dying) or sexuality may arise. </p>
<p>As for UVA, Heavenwood appears to have answered his own question and may have biases of his own. My daughter--a northern, liberal, feminist francophile, not jewish but with many jewish friends--hopes to attend UVA too, and plans to offer another perspective on a somewhat more conservative southern campus. Isn't the fair exchange of ideas part of what you kids are going to college to experience? What better way to broaden the life experiences of your classmates--and your own-- than to show another perspective.</p>
<p>I would definitely urge you to look at Emory.</p>
<p>FWIW, my daughter was advised away by an alumna friend of ours who felt it would not be an appropriately comfortable environment.</p>
<p>So I guess there are different perspectives on this.</p>
<p>I interviewed the undergraduate Dean of Admission several years ago when I was in the Federal Government. He quoted a former President of Georgetown, a priest, as saying something like: "You don't have to leave your religion at the door when you come to Georgetown." That meant that people of all religions were welcomed there. </p>
<p>Having said that, as a long-time resident of DC and NoVA, I'm in agreement with poster number 35's first paragraph.</p>
<p>Emory is a reach for me (my GPA is a bit low) and I'll probably apply ED.</p>
<p>there are definitely not "many" exceptions to colleges being liberal.</p>
<p>And I'm fairly confident if you do an informal facebook survey, there are more liberal students at uva than conservative.</p>