Bnos Sarah vs Machon Raaya and everything in between

amother

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 8:51 am

amother [ Brown ] wrote:

My sister is in Bnos Avigayil and LOVES it.
I second the poster that says "out of the box" means OOT yesheivish. That describes my family to a T
From what I've heard recently Meohr attracts a much more in-town crowd than it sounds like you're looking for.
Bnos Sarah definitely caters to girls looking for a kollel lifestyle, but if everything else sounds like a good fit, I wouldn't discount it because of that. I know a few girls who went there that are now married to professionals. It doesn't sound like the type of place that will try and brainwash her thinking.

BA is on her top 5 list solely because of comments here. But I know so little about it. I tried contacting them regarding an open house or similar and their reply was “Bnos Avigail has never held any open houses so we're certainly not going to start this year”, ouch.

I haven’t discounted BS yet, though my dd’s seminary advisor made it clear that she should only apply to max 1 other place and that this backup can not be a place like machon Raaya if she wants to get into Bnos Sarah.

BH Yom Yom

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 8:52 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

So confused why the seminary advisor is saying not to apply to at least three places. I thought that was the standard?

Also, there are girls who apply to both Bnos Sara and Machon Raaya, and get in to both...

amother

Lavender

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 8:53 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

If I only had 2 or even 3 choices, I would gladly use that strategy. But sadly as the search progresses, the list gets longer Confused

I never thought it would be difficult to find a frum but not yeshivish seminary, a place where low maintenance OOT girls would feel comfortable, where the education is on higher end of spectrum and where most girls are not into Kollel lifestyle but want to grow.

Michlalah

amother

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 8:57 am

BH Yom Yom wrote:

Idk, it’s just what she was told. They also said that BS looks at other seminaries she’s applying to and it doesn’t look the greatest if applying to a place like MR.
My impression is that the principal & staff will have to really push to get my dd into Bnos Sarah as it’s not feeder school, and they don’t want to spend all this time & energy if she doesn’t really really want to go.

amother

Mint

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 10:07 am

I would recommend emailing the seminary offices and asking them to send you their weekly schedule. That helped us narrow down which ones to apply to. Some of the sems had too much free time so we knew they were geared toward kids who wanted to go out to eat or visit family a lot, which is fine but not what my dd wanted. Some had a lot of classes that just didn’t excite her.

Our dd’s school encouraged everyone to apply to three schools. That’s pretty typical.

amother

Maroon

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 10:08 am

So a few years ago I would have said that Machon Raaya is 100% what your daughter is looking for. Solidly Bais Yaakov, out-of-town friendly, awesome textual learning and skills building but not crazy pressure, not everyone marries a kollel guy but are definitely strong on wanting a ben torah, etc. Plus also other awesome things like trips designed to foster a love and appreciation for Yerushalayim.

However, I've heard the crowd shifted more in-town, and I'm not sure how comfortable out-of-town girls would feel. Maybe ask the school what percentages come from where. If you can find out specifically about that element, and you're comfortable with what you're hearing, I think it could be a great place for your daughter.

amother

Oak

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 10:13 am

amother [ Maroon ] wrote:

This.

cat81

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 10:16 am

Not to derail the thread but would places like Machon Raaya, Bnos Avigayil and Ateres be a good fit for a girl that enjoys practical classes versus theory. In HS, her most enjoyable lemudai kodesh classes where with the Rabbi discussing hilchos shabbos, kashrut and the like.

Girl is from OOT, low maintenance, frum (MO school background), college bound, honors student looking to grow and NOT chill.
Of course DD wants to be around like minded girls, and since she’s from OOT needs friendly/welcoming girls that are NOT coming in with preformed friend groups.

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 10:19 am

amother [ Maroon ] wrote:

Yes. I agree. I went to Machon Raaya a few years ago. I am very much an OOTer. It was such a great mix of girls, from different places, independent thinkers, everyone was somewhat "out of the box". Ugh. It was such a good place. Even the "in-town" girls were "out of town-y".

I know that now girls from my OOT city still apply and go there but they are very "in-towny". They are mostly wealthier and could be labeled "cool BY girls". Not so much the independent, deep thinkers I went to seminary with....

amother

Oak

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 10:22 am

amother [ Royalblue ] wrote:

Yes, same experience here!

amother

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 10:50 am

amother [ Maroon ] wrote:

amother [ Oak ] wrote:

This.

amother [ Royalblue ] wrote:

amother [ Oak ] wrote:

Yes, same experience here!

So where would such a girl go now?

susanstohelit

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 11:09 am

My cousin went to Bnos Avigayil last year and absolutely loved it- from what I can tell from your description of your daughter, she sounds a lot like my cousin in terms of frumkeit level, priorities, and academic standing.

She wanted a less "in-towny" place (she's from in-town and had a hard time in high school) and the friends who she's in touch with now are literally from all over the world! (A lot of the hanhala is British, which she said helped- there was much less of an in-towny mindset built in as a result.) She found the school to be warm but also sensible and matter-of-fact, which she found to be a great mix. She and her friends are all in college now (one is shana bet but will continue on to college) and while none are yet married, they seem to be solidly in a learner/earner place (kollel for a year or two, then college/job).

(I will add that I myself went to Michlalah and a decent number of teachers actually overlap- not just the usual suspects who teach everywhere, but some excellent teachers who, as far as I know, teach ONLY at both Michlalah and Bnos Avigayil. To me that's definitely a point in favor.)

One thing I will note is that my cousin struggled a bit at first with the emphasis on source-based learning, learning inside texts, etc- that is taken seriously there. Then again, that to me is a sign of a school that wants to make sure that the students are gaining skills, which is great! I do want to make clear that I do NOT think that it is a destination for less intelligent/academic students at all. My cousin was academically in about the same place as how you describe her daughter, and her friend group has students in pre-medical, pre-law, business, and psychology programs.

Last edited by susanstohelit on Thu, Dec 24 2020, 11:15 am; edited 2 times in total

amother

Powderblue

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 11:31 am

cat81 wrote:

To answer both this and your other question about college- I think that Bnos Avigayil would suit your daughter's interests better than Machon Raaya or Ateres. I work in a MO high school setting and if I were advising your daughter I would recommend Bnos Avigayil if she specifically wanted something more BY-oriented (uniform, etc) but also out-of-towny and diverse or Michlalah from an academics/classes/growth perspective if she's not hung up on the BY aspect (it was the first school I thought of when I saw your description). Both schools, I think, would be a great fit for students coming in alone looking to join friend groups/make friends.

You also asked elsewhere about colleges, and if your daughter is in a MO school she should have college guidance that will help her when it comes to figuring out how to apply to college, and figuring out which schools have honors programs and scholarships- most do, whether public or private (though of course the more elite the college the more likely it is that, effectively, the college itself is its own honors program Tongue Out

and therefore unlikely to give merit based aid). Essentially, the question of whether a given school offers merit based (rather than need based) aid should be one of the first you ask if that's important to you.

If your daughter is specifically interested in Jewish programs, the only one I know of that offers merit scholarships besides Touro is YU (which has an honors program as well as smaller-scale merit scholarships). A nice benefit to both is that they'll give your daughter up to a year's worth of college credit for her year in Israel. What is your daughter looking for as far as college?