OoM – “He also thinks yeshiva bochurim aren’t competent enough to go to college, but they shouldn’t take the SAT.” Wrong and wrong. I said “few” Yeshiva guys are competent enough to make it in “real” college, and I said I took the SAT and it didn’t do a/t for me even though I did well, and the Yeshivish system of transferring credits doesn’t require taking the SAT.
As far as seminaries being intellectual vs. academic, that is precisely the point I was trying to make. Being studious, having many classes that are soooooooo amazing, even being tested repeatedly and in depth on what you learn, does not speak to the intellectual quality of what you learn. True, my subjective opinion is based on anecdotal evidence (of which I’m not sharing that much – deal with it). Is anyone here spouting anything remotely objective on this topic?
The primary motivation of a girl going to Israel for a year has little to do with the “intellectual studies” (which can’t possibly be done locally…) and likely much more to do with independence, growing up, and having fun. Rank that.