Reply To: Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy/Yuhsb

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#1188004
writersoul
Participant

Aha. College prep. MTA would definitely be the best solution then- and I got a bit of that from your post, which is why I suggested Shaar HaTorah and Ohavei Torah, which both provide relatively good educations in secular studies and whose graduates often go on to college with success.

Bear in mind that it really depends what college you want to go to- most places which would be willing to take you in and accommodate you (read: not the elitist yeshivish ones) have good enough English that you could for sure get into a state college, even if they wouldn’t actively encourage it. I have several cousins who went to schools which actively discouraged college, in fact, but provided educations which, while not great, were enough to prep them for the SAT and college.

Maybe try, as someone above mentioned, Chofetz Chaim? They seem to have a good English department, and might be willing to accommodate you. Or maybe a school like MAY in the Five Towns or Heichal HaTorah in Teaneck- still part of the yeshivishe velt, but due to being in more “modern” communities, with a greater emphasis on secular studies (generally due to parental interest, which is often absent in other places- someone I know in Monsey opened a yeshiva and at the open house was asked by a parent why he was offering “too much” English). Ohavei Torah is the same type. On the other hand, these schools might or might not have the tools to help you in limudei kodesh- but it’s worth a shot. That said, none of these schools will make it a priority to educate you for Harvard- not that you might not get in anyway (I know girls who got in from BY type schools which did not have that goal either), but it will simply not be a goal for them.

Actually, one caveat about MTA- you know how people have said that it depends which rebbi you get? It’s tracked, so I’ve heard great things from more right-wing people who ended up in the higher tracks as far as the chevra- but in the lower tracks, you might end up with guys who are less on your wavelength if you see yourself as yeshivish. (The guys in the higher track might not be yeshivish either, but even so there may be a difference socially, depending on what you’re expecting/used to.) There are other yeshiva high schools in the tristate area, like RPRY, TABC, etc, but they may have a similar situation.

If you’re already considering dorming (and I have no idea where you live so this may or may not be practical) why not look into schools in places like Chicago or LA? I don’t know much about it, but Skokie seems off the top of my head like a good place for you, somewhere in between MTA and one of the “modern yeshivish” places I mentioned. (If I’m wrong about it, let me know*- I only know one person who went there so I might not right about that.)

*not quite what he’s looking for