Lander's College and going to Israel questions

amother

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 10:18 pm

Is there any point for my son to enroll in the TICO (Touro Israel) Program if we already arranged (and partially paid) tuition directly to the Yeshiva he'll be attending. We're not going to qualify for a Pell grant (and we don't live in NY so no TAP). We don't really need a loan for Israel because BH his Yeshiva worked with us and we agreed upon a payment plan that works for us. (I'd rather save the loans for actual college!)

Why should I pay $1000+ for him to be on their Israel program? Plus, he may very well not even go there. If he enrolls in YU, the yeshiva's not even on the YU Israel Program list so he's be officially deferring and then transferring his Israel credits. Couldn't we do that with Lander's? Do they easily accept transfer credits from Israel? (If he decides to attend there.) Do they charge more for them than if you go through their joint program? Is there ANY advantage if we don't need the government loans and don't qualify for grants?

amother

Goldenrod

Wed, Feb 03 2021, 11:10 am

I have had a son and daughter do the Touro college israel option. It was worth it to me because I knew they were going to attend Touro when they got back home. Their classes from Israel are on the Touro transcript, so it's more seamless. They do not show up as transfer credits, they have Touro codes and are official Touro classes. It's just easier all around to have one transcript that shows everything. The classes in Israel have letter grades, and if they are transfer credits it's pass/fail. If your kid is a good student and will do well academically in Israel, the letter grades add to their GPA. If your kid doesn't want to work so hard, then take the transfer credits and the P/F option. The transfer credits do not count towards any core classes or towards any major, they are more like filler credits.

As far as scholarships, my kids got Touro academic scholarships, but they could not use that for their year in Israel, only for classes taken on campus in America. I don't know if that is the same with a needs based scholarship. I did pay tuition straight to Touro (whatever I had already paid in deposits to the seminary or yeshiva got credited back to me) so you get the official 1098 tuition statement for taxes.

Do what makes sense for your own individual situation, this is what worked well for us.

amother

Plum

Wed, Feb 03 2021, 11:25 am

If you do the Israel option then the grades count towards the gpa. If you don’t they come up as transfer credits and don’t affect the gpa. I did not do the Israel option and still came out with over 30 credits that year and didn’t have to worry about getting good grades in sem.

SacN

Wed, Feb 03 2021, 11:38 am

It's worth it if he will eventually want a master's degree or professional license.

While Touro and YU accept Israel yeshiva transfer credits and count them toward elective requirements for the degree, many universities do not.

If someone needs a certain amount of college credits for a license (teachers, cpa, social work, etc) or applies to a picky graduate school (or wants to move to Israel), those transfer credits may not be counted as university-level courses.

If he does the TCIO, they look like Touro courses taken through Touro, and would be accepted by licensing bodies and universities (and the misrad hachinuch in Israel). This is true even if he transfers to YU.

I know enough people who had their degrees thrown out and told they needed to make up those 30 credits from an accredited university to know that it's always worth it.

amother

Wed, Feb 03 2021, 11:55 am

SacN wrote:

This is VERY useful to know. Thank yiu. However, if he gets accepted to YU Honors (won't know till mid March I think) he'll accept that for sure. His yeshiva will still only be transfer credits...it's not on YU's Israel program...too right wing:-) I'm pretty sure he can't enroll in Lander's as he defers a year or two to YU! I don't know if he'll do graduate school...his undergrad major is likely to be Comp Sci and/or math. His Israel credits (transfer or not) would just go towards his Kodesh requirements anyway in that case. YU still requires you to take liberal arts courses and the like.

Hmm...I guess it's s good Q for YU then. If their transfer from Israel students have issues. (I was on their Israel program so obviously never came up when I applied to a real grad school....)

amother

Blush

Wed, Feb 03 2021, 11:59 am

amother [ Goldenrod ] wrote:

How long ago did your DD go to Landers? Did she like it? Were you pleased?

amother

Wed, Feb 03 2021, 12:03 pm

If he doesn't get into YU honors, then the question is should he enrolls in Lander's Israel program and then transfer Touro credits to YU or just go to Israel straight without accepting either college admission. Plus he may be there for 2 years....

He thinks it's dishonest to accept Lander's and use the Lander's credits and transfer. I'm trying to explain to him that he doesn't actually know what he'll do after Israel. Most boys from that yeshiva don't go on to YU. So, who knows what he'll end up deciding. (I'm partial to YU, but I'm thinking realistically.)