UPenn should be your top choice. President Amy Gutmann is Jewish and proud of her heritage. With 18% of students identifying as Jewish there, you cannot go wrong. Northwestern has about 15% and Hillel is strong there. Current president Schapiro (as well as several previous ones) is is Jewish too.
I agree with above poster about Vandy. They do have a Hillel House but it is relatively small. If you put aside ethnicity, however, it still has a great social scene.
Georgetown! Don’t be put off by the Catholic school aspect - it won’t impact your life in any way if you don’t want it to. Also WashU, Vandy and Northwestern are popular among kids you describe here.
Penn is a great choice for many reasons …but FWIW Amy Gutman will be retiring from Penn either this or next June.
Among the Ivies…
“In 2021, Jewish students are well-represented at all eight Ivy League schools. In fact, by percentage, Columbia leads the way at 24%, followed by Brown (19%), Cornell (17%), UPenn (17%), and Yale (13%).”
Lol on Columbia as a place for fun loving social kids.
College of Charleston. New Judaic center built not that long ago. Good Jewish presence both in the community and the town.
@tsbna44 can you elaborate!
Can’t speak to “fun loving” (nor do I think anyone can really quantify or generalize such characteristics among a sub group within a broader community) but Columbia is an extremely welcoming environment for Jewish students…
“Why should Jewish students attend Columbia? Jewish life at Columbia University is rich and diverse. Students can connect to Jewish experiences through Hillel, which is based out of the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life and offers multiple programs daily. There is a Chabad on campus, options to connect through Greek life, and a world renowned Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. - Brian Cohen, executive director, Columbia/Barnard Hillel”
I only know about a half dozen Jewish kids who attended Columbia and all were extremely social, from the tri state area but admittedly serious students as you would expect at a school of Columbia’s caliber.
Several of those students attended Birthright prior to Covid and spoke glowingly about the experience. Seemed very social…
If you have experience to the contrary please share.
We can vouch for Duke. First, during move-in, Jewish Life at Duke held an open house for students and parents, which was packed (look up the Freeman Center). Then, we just happened upon the rabbi at a food truck on campus and she’s great. Our son, who never had a Jewish friend (we don’t live in an area with many Jewish people), now has a ton of Jewish friends. He’s even been to Shabbat dinner and break fast (and we’re not religious)! For the upcoming family weekend, JLD is hosting dinner and brunch. I joked that I don’t want our son moving to Israel. But, he’s really having fun. His friends are very smart and they all work hard, but they love to go out, go to games, and have fun. Our son looked at Penn, which does have a larger Jewish population, but didn’t like the campus. You would not be making a mistake with Duke!
Didn’t mean to be overly negative about Columbia and agree re Jewish presence. I had a child graduate from Columbia, and his experience was of a very intense, academic, competitive, and extremely hard working place. All great qualities but not for everyone. Admittedly he was in stem.
Thanks. It should be next year. She has done great and will be missed by many.
My daughter has been there a month and the Hillel activity is constant. I’m beyond impressed.
My son goes to Bama and they allegedly have 800 students and I get lots of mailings but he did not connect - doesn’t mean it’s bad.
The Arizona person told me they have quantity - not quality.
The Hillel at C of C I believe is the only on campus one for a public school - it’s housed in Jewish Studies. My daughter never had a great Jewish life in TN - and she’s really happy with her choice in this regard.
Get on their list - they pound you.
Also, when you visit, we had lunch with the Hillel Director (Deb) and a student - it’s just first rate.
Good luck.
I agree. There are already lots of Jewish communities/organizations around NYC, and one does not have to choose Columbia for the sake of socializing with Jews. Like you, I feel that Columbia is a very intense (it reminds me of UChicago where people were studying or debating most of the time) and pre-professional environment - definitely much less social than most other colleges in America.
So not to anyone’s surprise… Michigan has one of the largest and most active Hillels out there. Extremely active in campus. The Chabad is also very active. Many Jewish groups etc etc.
They also have like 600 kids for holiday dinners, Weekly Shabbat meals. Reform, conservative and Orthodox services which are optional.
If your sick and your request it they will send you chicken soup. Highly suggest checking it out and you can see their weekly schedule.
Plus their food is pretty good and free for Shabbat dinners.
Also Michigan has lots of East Coast students.
Believe it or not, there are plenty of Jewish kids who come from outside the greater NYC region, south FL, or LA.
Penn (doesn’t matter who their president is), Columbia, Tulane. My kid says the Hillel at Harvard is great, and I’d be surprised if it weren’t that way at all of the Ivies, but Dartmouth was always the least actively Jewish of the Ivies. Also Brandeis, Muhlenberg. For state schools, you’ll find significant Jewish populations at the flagships in many of the states that have substantial Jewish populations.
Yes, because she got a job offer she couldn’t refuse: U.S. Ambassador to Germany. She is a bit of a rockstar on campus; her presence and leadership will be missed.
We have experience with Duke and U Mich and both definitely have the vibe you are looking for. My umich kid had 2 different lives there. One with her very Jewish sorority and Greek life. One with her very non Jewish nursing school classmates. Both great experiences but VERY different in many ways.
At the U of Colorado the Hillel is across the street from the main engineering building. It has the BEST parking for football (and they make a fortune on gameday).
Tulane
Awesome ! How about Duke?
My son is at WashU and Jewish life there is thriving. They had to host 2 Rosh Hashana dinners at Chabad since they had over 1000 kids sign up! He goes to Chabad on Friday nights and they consistently have 300+ kids for Shabbat.
Hillel is also very active. He went to a Cardinals game with Hillel. They are a great group as well.
It is estimated that WashU is about 25% Jewish which translates to about 2000 on campus.