Brandeis is a small liberal arts school (3319) in the Boston suburbs, founded in 1948 because at that time if a student wasn’t white, Christian and male, it was hard to get admitted to college. Brandeis wanted to create opportunities for everyone else! The campus is quite beautiful and the architecture modern compared to the many traditional bastions in New England. Tree-lined pathways weave throughout the campus which is connected to easy trains and buses (9 miles) into Boston anytime of the day or night. 88% of the students live on campus. 235 acres.
Brandeis requires a writing seminar and there is a PE requirement and both can be fulfilled with courses fashioned around a student’s interests. They just built an impressive new science facility and there is all sorts of undergrad research going on there. As a matter of fact, Smart Balance butter spread was developed at Brandeis by undergrads!! (look at the back of the package sometime…)
Experiential learning is BIG with a lot of internships and research and there are many scholarships available to apply for to get paid internship opportunities. Also, lots of career guidance.
The neighborhood is sedate, but the campus provides a lot of entertainment with plays, concerts, dances, sporting events, bingo, aviation club, ballroom dance, cheese club and tons of other activities. All events get emailed to each student every week and as I said there is regular transportation into Boston so students love to go into town.
No merit money, need only, and interviews are optional. Brandeis does very well with acceptances to grad schools; law schools 90% acceptance rate. Med school 70-75%.
In terms of diversity the school is 50% Jewish, 17% world religions, 28% people of color, 56% female. They really draw students from all over the place….47 states represented, 62 countries on campus.
