BYA seminary | Imamother

amother

Violet

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 2:16 pm

My daughter is from one of those schools, I didn’t hear anyone going yet …

amother

Goldenrod

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 2:18 pm

amother Butterscotch wrote:

My daughter is from Lakewood and knows whole bunch from here from bais kaila, aderes, Shira’s devora and even bais shaindel,
A bunch of camp maarava girls from all over (my daughter if now worried she won’t be making any new friends cause she know so many girls going)
It’s definitely a more in town but not jappy type
Kessler Chaya will have a more of a mix of girls and more out of town type.

Generally the beis shaindel girls in bya are only there because they have to be. It's not really taht type of crowd, unless it's changed hugely.

amother

Snow

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 2:28 pm

BYA- in town (but not happy), solid girls, much more open schedule and unsupervised free time than other sems

Kesser Chaya- more academic (not crazy), more out of town type, solid crowd- depending on the year

amother

Butterscotch

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 2:33 pm

amother Goldenrod wrote:

Generally the beis shaindel girls in bya are only there because they have to be. It's not really taht type of crowd, unless it's changed hugely.

Right BYA is not typical bais shaindel type
But my daughter knows 2 girls from there going

amother

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 2:40 pm

amother Snow wrote:

is this really true?
From the information that I got BYA is way more on top of the girls and keeping a close eye on them. Also apparently BYA is more academic than Keser chaya.
Can anyone else weigh in?

amother

Hawthorn

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 3:21 pm

My daughter went to BYA last year. She loved the new principal, she is very warm. My daughter wished that the girls respected the teachers more and took seminary a little more seriouly. Teachers and classes were amazing but alot of the girl's focus was more on having fun than growing and learning.

amother

Mint

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 5:35 pm

My daughter is in Keser Chaya this year. I don’t think it’s more academic than BYA. They have a higher track for girls that want that, but they’re known to not care about a girl’s grades nearly as much as her middos. My daughter worked much harder in HS than she’s working now, but she loves most of the classes and gets a lot out of them. It has a lot of nice down to earth girls. A lot of the girls aren’t into the latest styles, so if your daughter wants that type of crowd it may not be for her. The girls are known to be friendly and warm and more OOT type. Not into cliques.

Chayalle

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 5:50 pm

One of my daughter's best friends went to BYA about 3 years ago (year of COVID). I would describe her as solid, frum, tznius, great personality and middos, put-together but not super materialistic, looking for short-term learner. That's my impression of BYA. I have my eye on BYA for my youngest, who says she will be my first to go to EY seminary (we'll see IYH in two years....) I like a seminary that has a solid track record for so many years.

amother

Amaranthus

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 5:56 pm

amother Carnation wrote:

How does BYA compare to Ateres or Rinas?

A bit more mainstream than either of these. I went to BYA pretty recently (but there's a new principal now so it is different) and it was not super in towny, very solid girls, not a ton of work, you can find a good chevra of growing girls. One thing that bothered me was that girls didn't take classes so seriously but they do have amazing teachers and excellent extracurriculars

amother

Steel

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 6:05 pm

amother OP wrote:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about BYA! I agree that it's an incredible seminary, and I believe my daughter will thrive there. but I (and she!) are very worried that she will have a very hard time adjusting and fitting in as its knows to be more an 'American' sem and she will most probably going herself from the country that we live in.

Most sems are 95-99% American. If she has good social skills, is a normal on the ball kid then she'll be ok wherever she goes IY"H.

amother

Tuberose

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 7:44 pm

My daughter went last year and had the best time. The girls were really nice, laid back and warm. She chose to go based on the girls she knew where going and was so happy with her decision bh. There is a choice of tracks. My daughter chose the harder track so she was with girls that took class seriously.

amother

Jetblack

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 10:43 am

amother Butterscotch wrote:

It’s definitely a more in town but not jappy type
Kessler Chaya will have a more of a mix of girls and more out of town type.

My daughter is in BYA now, and I would agree with this. Seminar is more focused on the yeshivish type. The Keser chaya staff are super warm, out of towny feel, I was very impressed when I met them. I do think BYA is more academic than KC is, but in terms of studies, I think its what each individual girl makes of it. There's a lot of overlap with the Israeli seminary teachers in general, and they all do yemei iyun and extras like that.