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What kind of seminary is recommend for a girl that went to college instead of high school and in the same grade as everyone else? The girl is very into academics and she is becoming a type of doctor.
Cornell
Why don’t you just say “I” instead of “a girl” we read your posts. We are not stupid.
MsPrincess, I faced the same problem you did. I graduated high school with over 70 (reputable – not online or degree mill program) credits. Ultimately, I decided not to go to seminary; I was turned off by many stories of seminary being used as a party year, and my high school taught the textual and analytic skills that many learn in seminary. I had also heard that many programs are low level for students from my high school, and that post-college programs are much higher-level, even if they are optimized for baalei teshuva.
Can you provide some more detail? Are you in a secular or Jewish college? If you are in / plan to go to a secular college, do you feel confident and secure about your being Jewish to stay frum in a secular environment? Are/will you be living at home? Would you consider a seminary that would potentially disapprove and try to dissuade you from going to college, or the [secular?] college you are attending? Are you OOT?
First of all, on how high a level have you learned chumash and navi? Have you taken any entrance exams (does Michlala still give those?) and what did you think of them?
OOT = Out of Town.
How many credits do you have / what percent of your major have you finished? Depending on how far you are in the field already, you may be able to do research in Israel, and go to seminary classes at night.
You may be underestimating the effect of 10 months of listening to beliefs contrary to yours. It would probably be best if you went to a seminary that endorsed college – from the sound of it, you want an academic college that will help you grow through what you believe, not one that you will end up block out most of their lessons.
Like I said, I didn’t go to seminary, so perhaps I’m not the best person to ask. But I would imagine you’re looking for something in the way of Michlala, maybe Machon Raaya.
Posters who know more about seminaries – do you have any suggestions?
MsPrincess-
If you’ve learned Gemara, then Machon Raaya will probably be too frum for you.
As for not listening to things that you disagree with- will you get off your high horse and admit that there are people in this world who know better than you? Maybe if you opened your eyes and your heart, you would realize that you are not the center of all that is intelligent and correct in this world. People have a lot to contribute in many different areas, especially if you take the time to get to know them and to listen.
Machon Raaya is not one of the most frum seminaries. It’s actually pretty middle-of-the-road compared to a lot of the other BY seminaries.
Michlalah sounds like a better option for you.
B’nos Trolla is very exclusive, but it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
MsPrincess, you transcend different groups in yiddishkeit. On one hand, you seem to think you belong with the “yeshivish” group, which agrees with many of your posts on other forums. On the other hand, the best intellectual material, especially for someone who wants to be an academic and get extensive schooling, will be in a Modern Orthodox seminary. And if you’ve learned gemara, as technical20 points out, you probably won’t feel comfortable at a yeshivish seminary. I have a friend who is extremely smart; she was very happy in MMY. I don’t know if you would consider that, which is why I didn’t include it in my previous assessment, but you may want to think about it.
^ Threads, not forums.
All of the seminaries will be religious (eg their hanhalas). Blouses=/=more religious. The question is the girls- some more MO seminaries, while with very religious faculty, will have a less religious student body. Some will have a student body which is very religious in a spiritual sense but will not dress, etc in the way you’re used to.
Perhaps talking about the kinds of girls you’d feel comfortable being in school with will help… do you watch movies? Listen to non-Jewish music? Only read frum novels? Are you Zionist? What are your tznius standards? These often have little to do with the actual religiosity of the institution but are important when it comes to feeling comfortable with your fellow students.
Michlalah is a great place, and has had non-traditional students.
MMY is Modern Orthodox all the way. My cousins went there, and they are pretty modern. They learn Gemara there, so maybe that would appeal to you. I think that Michlalah is considered more academic, though.
I’d say that MMY and Michlalah are probably equally academic, with perhaps a slight edge to Michlalah. They have very different learning programs, though. There has lately been a pretty decent amount of overlap in “type” of students, so if you can see yourself at Michlalah, you may want to check out MMY. (I briefly considered it but decided against it for various reasons.)
The fact that you listen to non-Jewish music and watch movies doesn’t fit with your description of yourself as yeshivish. To say that you want to become more frum is fair, though… there is a question of which BY seminary would take you from your background. BJJ almost sounds like a good idea, since Rebbetzin David apparently likes intellectual girls that aren’t exactly on the beaten track.
Can I please urge you not to consider modern and religious to be two opposite poles of a continuum?
Not that that needs to influence your decision, but…
Perhaps you might like Darchei Binah? Many girls who, like you, start off less yeshivish, but it’s very yeshivishly-minded, kollel emphasis, etc.
writersoul- not a bad idea, actually…. kind of bridges the gap between the two mindsets.
I’m looking for a yeshivish place. I don’t listen to non jewish music, read non jewish books, I wear tights, don’t wear my hair out…
So would I actually fit in in Michlala?
Shopping: I don’t know. You would find girls like you, but definitely not predominantly. You might actually want to focus more on the BY places, though Michlalah could definitely work.
What does “wearing hair out” mean? Is it not wearing a ponytail or something?
I guess when you go out, you put on a snood. Yeah for sure BJJ.
I only wear my hair in a ponytail. I prob. will stop by it just to see if I have time…
Again, I’m bh going to check out machon raaya…
What do you mean by convince? I have no idea how they will pay for it….I seriously think were going to be crowdfunding or something so I can go….Why don’t your parents want you going? The money? The idea? Hashkafa?
MsPrincess- my parents didn’t want me to go to seminary. The way I convinced them was by having good grades and being able to convince a seminary to give me a very reduced rate:)
I’m not being entirely fair, though, since I went from BYA HS to BYA seminary, and they are owned by the same person. Made it a lot easier for me to get a scholarship.
Technical20: did you know that BYA has this new thing that being in BYA high school doesn’t make you automatically get in to BYA seminary? so consider yourself lucky!
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