Schools with a similar profile to Brandeis and Villanova, minus the religion
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Anonymous
If you adhere to a particular ranking to the extent suggested above, I can see why you might think this. |
Anonymous
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I am Jewish and have a bunch of family who went to Brandeis. It was founded with a Jewish feel. In our generation (1990s) it was still quite Jewish - lots of camp Ramah and Eisner alums from the northeast corridor.
It has changed a lot. As others have mentioned it is now only 1/3 or so Jewish. It actually makes me sad as 1990s era Brandeis would have been a great fit for my kid but the current version is less appealing. They are trying to figure out who they are. There is an interim president who is very good but not there for long. i hope they figure it out as it was a great place that had a nice niche. |
Anonymous
You don't need to know that particular ranking to just know that Hofstra is not a good school. |
Anonymous
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Brandeis doesn't sound great to me.
https://www.boston.com/news/the-boston-globe/2024/10/19/amid-declining-enrollment-brandeis-is-in-an-intensifying-budget-crunch/ |
Anonymous
| Brandeis has been running deficits, leadership problems and declining enrollment. |
Anonymous
| What about some of the New York ones like Colgate or Hamilton? |
Anonymous
| Pitt, Syracuse and Lehigh are all good suggestions. Syracuse is in a city if not a marge one. Lehigh also may not be in a large city but it’s in a fairly large metro area and accessible to both NYC and Philly. Extremely similar profile to Villanova but not religious. |
Anonymous
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Wants to be near a big city. Hamilton and Colgate are beyond remote.
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Anonymous
New interim President is a superstar. Check out his track record. And I know kids from TT NYC SHSAT schools going there. Things were not ideal but are now on the mend. |
Anonymous
| OP, I'm honestly not sure what your kid wants. But I like the suggestions of Pitt and Syracuse. I'd add Temple and one of the strong SUNYs, like Binghamton or Stony Brook. |
Anonymous
| How strongly religious is a place like Villanova, Marquette, Gonzaga? |
Anonymous
Marquette and Gonzaga are Jesuit, so they're only as religious as you want them to be. All three will require a couple of classes in religion as Ged Ed, but they're not over the top. Generally speaking, a non-religious but accepting person will do fine at virtually every Catholic university in the USA, Notre Dame included. It's when you're anti-religion that there's a problem. |
Anonymous
NP. For context, Marquette and Gonzaga are Jesuit. Villanova is Augustinian. None of them are going to be places where classmates care what someone else's religion is and the school itself will be non-proselytizing (not trying to convert anyone). All of them will have some sort of theology course requirement, typically from a slate of choices that is historically based and/or includes other religions, comparative religion classes, etc. All of them have D1 basketball. Gonzaga is the one I am most familiar with. It's a chill place. ABET-accredited engineering with small class sizes. |
Anonymous
DC public schools give off for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, so it's basically like a Yeshiva. |
Anonymous
Kids from TT NYC SSHSs go to places like U Albany and Stony Brook all the time. |