Seminary Help!

Ateres is an officially BY sem, even though it is modern. their not going to be as accepting when it comes to tertiary education. by being BY they are saying we want u to be the perfect BY girl, every BY sem is a cookie cutter.

Darchei Binah is a lot more guiding rather than strict when it comes to rules. obvously some core ones are set in stone, but they give u the torah and halacha behind it and u choose ur path (obviously they encourage a BY direction).

I know so many solid good girls from where I live who went to both Ateres and Darchei Binah and have come out amazing.

I know a few people applying for the coming year who come from solid frum homes and the BY school here (constantly participating in chesed programs, one of them is super brainy and sweet). You can email me if the MODs allo by giving u my email.

The best thing that your daughter can do is speak to her friends who went to these seminaries. They can give her the best advice on what she should do.

I assume you meant AtereS and not AtereT. These are two different seminaries; Ateres is Bais Yaakov and relatively strict (compared to non Bais Yaakovs), and Ateret is completely not Bais Yaakov- the girls who apply there also apply to Sharfmans etc.

Darchei Binah has great, world renowned teachers, and the girls can get close to them. The girls that go are a mix, there are many really solid, growth oriented girls, and there are some that will party in ben yehuda–but you have that in every seminary, even bais yaakovs.

the teachers are all encouraging, and really help the girls grow, both in Torah and middos. their philosphy, like zk said, is guiding rather than strict; they dont force things down your throat, but after spending a year with inspiring teachers who have all accomplished a tremendous amount, the girls come out with a new perspective on life.

darchei binah girls are all sweet, friendly, Real girls (not hiding anything, or pretending to be someone they’re not), who come out of seminary being very comfortable with who they are (great, smart bnos yisroel!)

any other questions??

If your wrried about Darchei Binah not being friendly, they have a reputation of having a great eim bayit and nice friendly girls from all over the world. they even allow southern hemisphere kids to come, so chances are there are some south africans and australians too.

Are you sure there are really 2 seperate seminaries? I was under the impression that it was called ateret in the past but people started calling it ateres in the past years as it changed over to BY. I really dont think there are 2.

It sounds crazy for a girl to apply to both darchei binah and ateres, but I feel like it may not be as crazy as everyone thinks. Both seminaries are warm and very growthful. If a girl fits this description, plus is willing to follow the rules of tznius and curfew, ect she will probably be good for ateres. It is a huge mix, and there were girls on all ends of the spectrum, but they did follow all the rules of a BY school.

I know the girls who are applying to DB, not jappy and not applying to places like Sharfmans!! however they are quite diverse in personality. some obviously will like to party, same in every place (some more than others), but theyre all serious girls, the most intellectual ones in their school. chances are girls in DB are more open minded and accepting than ateres, however ther should be some diversity in Ateres. chances are ateres is not as accepting if u would like a job outside a jewish only workplace (teacher at a jewish school) and not if would like u to marry a guy that works (becuase he only studied in yeshivah for 3 years and went to uni to support his family)…

The OP sounds like the mother of every single girl who is not going to BJJ, or whatever the elite seminary du jour is. The good news is that it doesn’t matter in the slightest in any practical way.

candy613- Ateres and Ateret are 2 separate places…

No, DB is not at all like Sharfmans, and neither are the girls. There are a few girls that apply to both, but most DB girls also applied to places like Michlalah, Bnos Chava, Meohr and a few others. There are some new york girls, and there are some out of towners. many girls from toronto, LA, baltimore, yes some from australia, england, brazil, chili and other places.

I like to say that DB is the frummest non-Bais Yaakov seminary, and in some ways is frummer than some of the Bais Yaakov seminaries! Many of my friends from DB dress more tzniusdigly than typical Bais Yaakov girls! But they don’t force you to do things- it comes from the girls themselves.

As far as academics, they usually only accept girls with good grades, that’s why it has a reputation for being very academic. But the truth is that the girls choose many of their classes, and can choose between hashkafah and text based classes. Yes, we had tests and homework and a few reports, but compared to my friends in Bais Yaakov seminaries, it was nothing! The teachers are smart, the classes are stimulating, but we don’t have “busy work” (memorizing, or parshah tests every week…) it is really very manageable! I spent a lot less time studying than my friends in Bais Yaakov seminaries!

I know a lot of girls who applied to DB this year (like half my grade). Its a big mix. I know they have the most amazing teachers! They are known for that. Girls come out very much “grown up” than when they went in. About the non-Jewish music, I do know some girls who applied there who don’t listen to it, but most girls (according to who I know applied) do- but that doesn’t mean she has to be influenced by it. A nice number of girls who went in listening to non-Jewish music came out not. And as I said, its a big mix, so I’m sure she could find her crowd and be perfectly fine.

Just to give you an idea of what DB is about, I went into seminary thinking that I won’t change at all–I did not want to give up my ‘beloved’ music, I loved my long, long hair, I was not interested at all in a kollel lifestyle, and, while I dressed pretty tznius, I didn’t understand it at all. Now, I don’t listen to non Jewish music or watch movies, my hair is a regular length, and I am open to the idea of a kollel lifestyle and I think it is a beautiful concept, and I improved my sensitivities to tznius in many ways. This all came about from watching my inspiring teachers, and being with a group of encouraging friends–NOT from any yelling/screaming/threatening on the seminary’s part. They did not force us to act or think in a certain way. I/We learned from example, the best way to learn!