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So after months and months of narrowing down the seminaries Ive basically come down to Machon Raya and Ateres. Everybody Ive spoken to has told me that Machon Raya is the closest to my type and I agree with them. Im just very nervous about the work. I happen to LOVE learning. I dont happen to love studying. For me it kills the enjoyment I get out of learning. I worked like an absolute lunatic the last three years in high school and it paid off. BH I have a great transcript and a very good reputation. But Im just so tired of studying. So the intellectual aspect of Machon Raya entices me but the crazy workload doesn’t. I wish I could find a seminary with extremely intellectual learning but without the insane workload. So heres the question.
How hard is it – really?
I happen to love reports – I would do three reports instead of every one tests I take. I love using my brain but I HATE memorizing. So what type of work does Machon Raya give? Is is mostly tests, memorizing notes and chazara, or is it reports and work that you need to use your brain? Also – people have told me there that the girls have legit no free time. Is that true? I want a place where I could go out with my friends, visit my relatives or go our for ice cream once in while without feeling like I cant leave the dorm because I have sooooo much work to do. So if you were to answer these questions specificaly they would be:
1) What type of work is the majority of it?
2) How many hour a day on average do most serious girls spend studying?
3) How much free time did you feel you had?
4) Were you able to chill on Shabbos or also felt pressure from work?
5) Are all the girls there crazy studious or they also like to chill and have fun?
I dont know – maybe Ateres IS more for me. I keep going back and forth. BH I still have a couple of months to decide. Thanks for your input.
Mostly research papers and such…the tests were pretty piddling in fact. Papers though. XP But I felt like I had enough free time to do what I wanted. And as for Raayans chilling and have fun…lol, I don’t think you need to worry about that. ^_^ ^_^ ^_^
Almost as hard as shidduchim!
My daughter is there now. So far it seems very manageable. The tests aren’t hard. The reports probably will be- she didn’t get her big report assignment yet. It’s very much text based. She is having an amazing time so far! Definitely plenty of “chill” and fun time. She absolutely LOVES everything about her seminary. Oh- and working hard is new to her- she definitely did not overwork in high school!
Not especially yeshivish but very frum, Tznius and growing girls. Lots of out of town. ( my daughter is definitely “in town,”)And my daughter has loads of personality – the life of the party and definitely knows how to have a good time. She is having an amazing experience since day 1! So far not at all overwhelmed by the work.
omgg i know someone whos in 12th grade that mite also go ur yr!!! that wud b rlly funny…. shes either going to machon raya, meohr, or darchei bina
hi! i went to machon raaya (and loved it!). i hope this helps you!
1) There is a lot of hachana work- like preparing perakim in navi and such. It’s definitely manageable. There are midterms and finals in almost every subject. A few teachers gave reports instead. but that would depend on which classes you’re taking. Most classes don’t have tests other than the midterm and final. those 2 weeks were the hardest in the year. There are also a few big reports that you will have to do.
2) Depends on the girl, on the day and on the time of year. I know that answer doesn’t really help much, but one of the things you learn in machon raaya is how to manage your time. like, when we had a big report to do, some girls started on it the day we got it and were working on it for 6 weeks. other girls started the week before, and still did pretty well. You can totally go out with your friends after class on a day that you have free time and do your work later.
3) your free time depends on how you make your schedule. morning classes are mandatory (from 8:30-1) and you have to take 9 hours (total throughout the week) of electives in the afternoon. So you can take all your classes on say, sunday and monday, and have wednesday afternoon totally free. there is no class on friday.
there’s definitely a lot of free time, you just have to manage it well with your work.
4) Shabbosim were chilled in general (except if you wanted to study for the weekly parsha quizzes which every sem has). Before midterms and finals people studied on shabbos. Again, it really depends on you and how you manage your time.
5) The girls really do make fun. As much studying as there was in the dorm, there was craziness and entertainment. the atmosphere was pretty chilled (except maybe night before a big test), but usually you didn’t feel pressure to do work just because another girl was studying.
yay! one of my favorite topics!!!!!!!!!!
soooo, as one who took almost every single class possible and still had plenty of “extra” time, i think it’s safe to say that it honestly depends on you and 1-your time management skills and 2-how quickly you work.(there was one class where some girls would finish the work before the period was up whereas others went overtime, or mefarshim sheets that took me 45 minutes and somebody else an hour and half and somebody else half an hour…)
also, depends on how you do things
as for wackiness, believe me… that is definitely NOT a concern! even studying was fun! there was the time we acted out the perek we were studying, or the time we practiced for our dinim test l’maaseh in the kitchen, or the we made up songs for every single part…
we love bymr!
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