mitzvoslover

I will save you time by telling you everything i know about BYA,(which is a lot.) Some of the girls are New Yorky, but there are plenty of out of towners and girls from all over the world. The seminary is somewhat academic, but you are able to still have a life. The teachers are some of the best teachers, and they have girls come to their house often. The teachers are very into developing a kesher with every girl, as is the aim bayis. It seems that girls really enjoy it and that the sem is a very warm and well balanced place. They go on trips, but also learn a lot. They are not into fluff and they really want the girls to feel a part of sem even after. I believe the amount of girls range from year to year, but it is usually between 75 and 100 girls a year. (Oh, and many of the girls really like their madrichas)

The seminary attracts many different types of girls including a very large proportion that have psychiatric problems. In a regular seminary if one or two girls have problems it is not so bad, but here the girls I spoke to who went found it to be harmful since they are living in very close quarters and there aren’t very many girls at all. On the other hand, the classes are supposed to be great, especially Mrs Cooper. It is very much a family run seminary which is risky, since you become very close to the whole family, but if something goes wrong it is much harder to get through to them since you are telling one a problem you have with her family member. Finally, they don’t really foster independence, but rather make the girls feel a need for them.

Hatzlocho, and I hope that you help your daughter make the right choice!