Seminary options?

so then pninim seems like a good choice. meohr is anybodys guess as to who is going to get in. you can try. its more hashkafik than most bais yaakovs but it does have a nice amount of text.

so thyre very hashkafic. they have a very very warm and caring staff. every girl ive ever met who went there (and ive met alot) loved it to pieces. its about 90 girls i think but im not sure so double check that. they go on alot of tyulim and are suppose to have really good food. theyre located in near beit hadfus and kanfei which is a really good location. idk what else you wanna know. the best way to get info is to see if you can speak to anyone who was there in the past couple of yrs.

I don’t know if there’s any more to say about Ateres than Candy has already posted 🙂

oh i didnt know they are opposites….in wat way?! i dont know much about either sem so..

theyre both on the bais yaakov spectrum. but yes pninim girls are more to the left while ateres girls are more to the right. ateres does have more work. pninim is very hashkafa oriented and the growth in the girls is tremendous and seen inside out.

i went to ateres with candy and everything she said is so true and couldn’t be written better.

i’m from “in-town”, but was the one who was always the “out-of towner”, and i loved ateres. i think everyone can go to ateres and love it, not only go and ‘fit in’ but actually love it and feel like the school is tailor made for them, that’s one of the things that’s so special about ateres. our year we had girls that applied to all ranges of sems and yet they all ended up in ateres and loved it….i might not get every thing exact but if i’m remembering correctly which i think i am…girls applied to tiferes, bya, nachlas, chochmas lev, michlala, bnos sara, machon raaya, seminar, darchei bina, meohr….i think we had girls that applied to every BY sem out there and yet although everyone was different it didn’t matter we looked past that and we were all there for the same goal we were united together, looked past our differences and all strived to grow as high as we could…

About Machon Raaya, the girls are a great mix. My daughter is definitely full of personality and so are her friends there. When speaking to her it sounds like they’re in camp;). Definitely nothing to worry about in that department !

if anyone was worried, bymrers definitely have personality! anything else anyone wants to know, feel free to ask!

ok bymrer = can you explain exactly how hard it is. Meaning – is it the type of stuff that if I want to get good marks I wont be able to relax on Shabbos because I need to study. Definitely not interested in that. Also – do you have men teachers and ones with like boundless knowledge:) Let me know. Thanks a ton!

Nanny, Ateres is as textual as u are capable of working through… remember there are 3 tracks… the highest level has classes that are extremely text based… the middle one not as much, and the third one even less! if you are a student that has an easy time with learning from text, they won’t put you in the third track just cuz you want to take it easy… they put each girl in the track that fits her best… and a good fit is one that challenges the student enough to help her feel stimulated and stretch her mind but not too much that she can’t keep up… and if you are placed in a track that u don’t feel is right for you, they are so willing to help u out till it all feels just right! tutoring and modifications are readily available to all

Hi sorry I haven’t been on in a while. Have been very busy! I just wanted to tell you again how it goes in ateres for chumash and navi in ateres even though it was kinda mentioned, just because I found it so incredible and helpful. For both classes, there is a certain amount of preperation you need to complete before class. The higher track obviously having more, lower track not as much… There are Prep periods within the schedule with prep tutors there to help you. So twice a week you have groups 1 tutor (more like a newly married girl who went to BJJ) to about 4 or 5 girls. The higher track I think kinda preps on their own but have tutors around just in case. you can do it in groups or by yourself, but what I think is amazing is that it is during class time not for homework! It was actually one of my favorite classes! You do more textual and technical stuff with your tutor making sure to cover the material that is assigned, and it really is enjoyable. You come to Navi and Chumash class having covered the more textual stuff and then based off that the teacher will teach with the knowledge that you went through it so that way instead of spending time going through each rashi and meforash she can teach on a deeper level with hashkafa. This is not a text free class though! By doing this they really bridge your enjoyment of hashkafa with bringing up your textual skills higher then you ever thought they would ever be! It’s a really great system that works wonders, and I know Seminar does the same for navi because we had the same Navi teacher. So sorry if that was repetitive, I just really like and enjoyed that part of the academics in seminary so just felt I had to tell you. About tests…. The lower track has tests in english and are always responsible for less so ya, their tests will differ from the other tracks. There were classes where the middle and higher had the same tests, or had the same but the middle had more frees. And there were also some where each test was different completely. For Navi especially because their tests were always on more perukim. As I think about seminary, I really do not think you should worry in any way about being challenged enough. Trust me you will find that just because a place is more hashkafa doesn’t mean there is no hard work. And just letting you know that as much as people say they want a non a academic seminary, there really is no such thing! Each seminary is gonna have work! Prep, reports, tests (at the very least finals and midterms which is hard also) and Most seminaries are very into parsha so you may have a test or quiz every week and have to look a lot up! It’s tough but very fulfilling in a very different way then high school. You will find yourself enjoying the studying and the prep, something I never thought would happen to me, but it’s great! So just letting you know but not to get you overwhelmed, cuz its not so bad. I hope somewhere in this very long post I maybe answered your question!

I’m so sorry… I feel like I keep confusing people about what Ateres really is with my posts! Yes the work is harder, but the classes are definately on a higher level as well. They are more intelectual and stimulating for sure! The classes have text as well Not just airy conversations. The class DOES have prep time just as the other two tracks, but they are not being taught the material. They do it more with other girls and have tutors around if the need does arise.

I understand what you are saying about needing substance. Ateres has both textual and hashkafa so that substance definately exists. I am not saying Machon Raya is not better for you. I don’t know you and it very well could be that it is the place for you! I am not here to sell Ateres! For the people that it is the place for, I encourage them and hope they will have the privalege to go. So it really is overall a higher level class in all areas not just more work. But you know you gotta apply to 3 places, and many of my friends applied to machon raya also. Apply to both and 1 more and let Hashem do the rest! That is really all you can do. If you do get into both you will worry about it then. You do not need to get yourself worked up about seminary until November I say don’t think about it now, and work to enjoy 12th grade while you have it!!!

the girls r really from all over! it’s really nice! they r all warm, caring girls & non- judgemental. it’s not very textual, some of it is textual but not too much. i think it’s a good mix.there is some hw, but definitely enough time to party, or to do watever u want.the teachers r also very warm & caring. they r open minded, u will feel comfortable to ask them anything, & they will answer u to the best of their ability or direct u to someone else if not. there r a lot of party girls, & there r also the girls tht will do their work first. like i said there’s a big mix so u’ll find both.

not sure the type of crowd they got. just know wat they were looking for cuz 1 of my rabbeim is helping to open it.

nanny- unfortunately, most girls these days listen to non jewish music. in most BY seminaries, you wont hear the music out loud though. and by the way you described yeshivish with never showing the knees… sorry but its not going to be that way. unfortunately, a majority of the girls have a hard time with that.

and nanny- sorry but meohr is academic with a lot of work and a lottttttttttt of class. but the hashkafa balances it out. it is hard to get into but you will get in if you are right for it.

good luck wherever you end up!!

nanny like we said before ateres is def a place you should apply to, maybe seminar or machon raya could be a second, but machon raya might be more academic then what you are looking for, but I know this may be surprising but i think you should look more into tiferes as a third place to apply! I do think ateres would be great for you!!!!!

Hi so I see Nanny has started the ongoing conversation, My principal gave me the option of maybe Ateres, but I am in 12th grade so I have to decide very soon! I am looking for a seminary that really stresses the value of torah and mitzvot and halchot because i regard it highly, but aren’t so narrow, they teach the whole picture, they stress the halachot but like they don’t force you. I want to leave feeling like I love Hashem not overwhelmed and irritated after hearing about tzniut, etc. I’m interested in Bais Yaakov, I asked about darchei binah, but I know a close friend who didn’t havethe best experience. To candy..the one who went to ateres, help me out haha, is ateres warm? do they stress midot tovot, do they let you ask questions till you completely understand it because my friend scared me that some schools can call you apikores. I know everyone is on their own tznius level, theirs obviously a dress code, but do they recognize everyone is on their own level and if something is un- tznius they say it nicely. and also would you do me the great chesed of telling me what classes you had besides chumash and navi like others for an example- eshes chayil, tehilim, koheles, mishlei, I learned those in highschool, anything like that? I looked online and I saw bnos chana, halichos, but my school is unfamiliar about that one, although the classes seemed nice, its alittle risky to go somewhere my teachers never heard of, but some alumnis from my school went to ateres…

Hi! So happy to have seen ateres up again! So to helpmeoutplease- i think it would be very helpful for you to go back and read the past posts of this thread! I am sure many if not all of your questions about ateres will be answered! But to give you a quick answer, yes! ateres is known to be one of the warmest places! They encourage you to ask any questions you can possibly have! They are so patient with each and every girl and every question that you come out feeling satisfied, feeling like your head is screwed on straight, and not only knowing why you do what you do without having things feel like annoying restrictions, but you come to feel like it is your own and understand why you want to incorporate these special things into your life now and into those generations to come!!!

Ateres may not be what you are looking for. I cannot say since I do not know you. I do not “sell” the seminary i went to. I believe it is great for those that it caters to! So please do yourself a favor and read the 3 pages of posts and you will get a feeling of what Ateres is so that you will see for yourself if it is a place you should apply to! I wish you much hatzlacha and may you get into the right place for you where you will gain and grow higher!!!!

Hey again guys. Candy – just wondering what Rabbi Belsky is like. I dont know anything about him. Whats his derech when it comes to his girls?

this is an absolutely amazing thread. Candy, you are SO helpful and full of knowledge about the different seminaries. I;’m going to have my granddaughter read this whole thread, and we’ll be back if she has any further questions. THANK YOU!