What is the difference between stern and Brandeis?

imasinger

Tue, Jul 11 2023, 1:11 pm

Stern is a frum college for women only, where Torah learning and life is an expected part of the curriculum. It is a city school, with dorms in Manhattan. Transportation is easy.

Brandeis is a secular university, albeit, one with a frum presence on campus, and the option of a kosher meal plan. It's a suburban school, with a very pretty campus. Getting off campus (especially to a frum neighborhood for Shabbos/yt) can be done, but isn't as easy as in the city.

You can look online at their academic rankings. I've seen fine scholars graduate from both, and these days, you need at least a master's degree for many fields.

amother

Zinnia

Tue, Jul 11 2023, 2:13 pm

Brandeis is not a Jewish school. It was founded by and named after a Jew, and it is popular with Jews of all stripes, but that's the extent of its jewishness. It is otherwise no different from any other American university. Stern is davka a Jewish college. That is the whole purpose of its existence. It has a requirement for taking Jewish courses (like tanach, halacha, Jewish philosophy etc) on top of other university requirements. It's women only. The calendar follows the Jewish calendar. Not every student who goes is frum, but it is a generally frum environment.

amother

Snowflake

Tue, Jul 11 2023, 2:30 pm

They are very, very different.
As stated above, one is a frum school -the flagship university for MO women, and the other is a secular university which was created at a time when Jews could not get in to college because of quotas. The school has a higher percentage of Jewish students, but it is not exclusively Jewish, only a small percentage is frum, and it is a secular institution.

Where are you coming from (location/haskaficly)?
What is she looking for?
What have her past experiences been? How does that impact her decision?

Stern is much more homogeneous/Brandeis has much more diversity

Stern has Judaic studies requirements / Brandeis has optional Torah learning and it is not for credit. It is something you would need to actively choose and it competes with other activities and class work. It is not going to be the same quality and it is much more of a chevruta type learning than someone teaching you.

Brandeis has boys. (Some, but not many, nice frum ones). Stern does not. Stern has much more pressure to meet your Bashert and get engaged

Brandeis has a Shabbos environment, like camp or a shabbaton. Stern tends to empty out and the girls go home/to a friend’s house.

Brandeis has some anti-Semitic and Anti-Israel tensions (my children are at secular universities and we personally took Brandeis off the table for that reason). The school firmly believes in “free speech and free expression” (as opposed to creating a safe environment and preventing lies and hate speech - my opinion, but echoed by many others)

DD has friends at both schools. They are all happy with their choices but they are VERY different choices.

TwinsMommy

Tue, Jul 11 2023, 8:41 pm

I went to Brandeis 1992 to 1996 (yes I'm old). I came in Reform and came out confused (not YET frum). Actually I was a gabbai for the egalitarian Conservative minyan for a year.... lol. It's a GREAT place for those who might become BT if exposed to frumkeit. For those already frum, it can be a tough place because even the frummest on campus tend to experiment a bit (those who grew up shomer negiah are maybe NOT so much at Brandeis for example). When I was there, the girls in BOO (Brandeis Orthodox Organization) --- maybe 10% of them wore skirts all the time and were consistently shomeret negiah. The mainstream frum who will not be swayed and tempted to experiment by major exposure to mixed classes and mixed social situations and mixed committment to learning and davening and mixed cafeterias where kosher and non kosher eat from separate lines but at the same tables (careful to keep the kosher food on the kosher trays but it's just students helping to watch that)------ are few and far between. It could have changed in the last 30 years, absolutely-- but this is my experience from the 90's. Having said all of that, the school is GREAT, academics-wise. But VERYYYYYY liberal. I came in a Reform Jew and it was too liberal for ME! Lots of pressure to be a democrat and be very active in politics on the "correct" side of the debate. Hope that helps!