Tell me about bnos chava seminary

amother

Thu, Feb 20 2014, 7:42 am

amother wrote:

Bnos Chava- majority are more jappy intowners, but they make sure to accept a balance of out of towners too. which means that there is a more materialistic culture overall, but definitely possible to find a group of friends from oot and you'll be fine.

BJJ- very academic, teachers are more "up there" and out of touch. Is described as more of a college- very centered on classes and academia, less emphasis on friendliness of girls, connections with teachers, and imparting hashkafa.

Bnos Sara- academic, smaller, warmer than either of the other schools, more ooters= less materialistic culture.

I went to bc and I felt like there was an atmosphere of we're here to have fun, even though most girls were very smart, they weren't interested in classes "studying is sooo high school, we're past that"
Hatzlacha!

I'm the original bjj amother and I would like to clarify one point. While bjj is not known for "brainwashing" or using a heavy hand when imparting hashkafa, they definitely do provide a lot in that realm. I am a very down to earth type, and I left after a year with a very solid idea of the derech I would like my life to take. I'm still holding in that same place, and I'm very grateful to them for that.

PinkFridge

Thu, Feb 20 2014, 9:43 am

amother wrote:

Ok OP, I will say what some other posters are trying to say.
The girls who go to Bnos Chava from Brooklyn/5 towns, Monsey, etc.. are jappy, and a large large percentage are very wealthy. And defintiely not yeshivish.

Yes this is different than it was years ago. I went about 11/12 years ago and it was only a minority like that. But things have changed and it is now a lot more girls than it used to be.
I'm sure there are still plenty of nice non jappy OOT girls there, so she'll find like minded people because the place is so big but if it will bother her to have so many jappy rich girls there with her, then BC is not the place.

FTR, there are nice Jappy girls too ;-)
(Though of course I understand how someone can say this isn't the crowd she wants to be with for seminary, just something to bear in mind as we go through life.)

PinkFridge

Thu, Feb 20 2014, 9:44 am

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

Is Bnos Sarah even an option? OP, did your daughter apply/get accepted there? I also think it would be a good fit but it's not an option really if you haven't applied there (can't hurt to try, though, I guess!)

If she didn't apply, it's not happening.

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Feb 20 2014, 10:46 am

Technically, I would think so too, but I know people who have gotten in very last minute for whatever considerations in various seminaries in various years if they didn't end up as full as they expected...but I do doubt it would work.

From what it sounds like, between BC and BJJ, I *think* (without knowing OP's daughter) BJJ may be a more suited group as a whole for her, but BC would also be fine if she can find her group of friends. She can be happy in either place. The hashkafah of the school/classes would work equally at least on a hypothetical level...

Chayalle

Thu, Feb 20 2014, 11:31 am

amother wrote:

I went to BJJ and my little sister went to Bnos Sarah. She chose BS because she felt she needed a smaller sem with younger staff - more in touch with the students. She developed a close relationship with the teachers there, still calls them from time to time to discuss whatever is going on in her life....yes, there are people who develop that in BJJ but it's not the norm.

Probably because it's a smaller group - I've been really impressed with the cohesiveness and Achdus of BS. I see how my sister and her friends will all travel together to weddings of friends...they are all really friendly with each other. It's really nice, like one big family.

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Feb 20 2014, 12:13 pm

amother wrote:

which I think has a lot less to do with the fact that mrs tarshish left than with the fact that a different sem closed, which has many girls who would've gone there going to bnos chava. obviously not the most yeshivish girls

I don't think it's that as much as many other academic yeshivish seminaries opened up -- nachalas, machon raya, mesores rochel, bnos sarah, binas, etc...these are all new, started in the past decade.

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Feb 20 2014, 9:51 pm

Ok, OP, I spoke to my sister who works in Bnos Chava (as well as a different seminary, and she has been at other seminaries in different years, so she has a good grasp of the seminary world)....I don't want to post publicly her response, but it was positive for your daughter's particular circumstances (or the little I know of from this thread!). Feel free to PM me and I can tell you exactly what she said.