Darchei Bina | Imamother

amother

OP ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 12:50 am

What kind of seminary is it? Warm? Academic? OOT or in-town? How many girls? BY or MO?
Will it look weird if a BY girl applies there and, say, Ateres or Keser Chaya?

amother

Moccasin ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 11:52 am

It is warm, the teachers are into the girls, meet with them outside of class. There who to talk to if there are any issues, and my impressions is that they really care about each girl.
It is academic, but there are tracks for some classes. The girls are growing, but it’s not yeshivish, and I believe that it’s way more academic than the two others you mentioned.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 1:13 pm

amother Moccasin wrote:

Thanks. Is it considered a BY seminary or not really?

amother

↑ Moccasin

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 1:15 pm

I think it’s more of an OOT vibe, not in town BY, but girls who are spiritual and growing. Not BY looking to let loose, if that makes sense.

amother

Burgundy ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 1:16 pm

amother OP wrote:

Thanks. Is it considered a BY seminary or not really?

I went to SKA and flipped out in HS so going to DB for me, was considered very frum.
GIrls my year were applying to shaalvim, michlalah max, MMY...
but I had tons of BY girls my year in DB and I thought they were more chill.

we didnt have a uniform and some girls didnt wear socks.
teachers were all fantastic and I keep in touch with many of them (7 years later).
I grew so much in db, but I think thats bc I came from a more modern background and really chapped a rein that year.

amother

Brunette

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 1:16 pm

very warm
considered an oot beus Yaakov or byakov light. ie leggings and sneakers allowed. denim allowed. but....also serious learners , wanting to grow. good level of academics for bright girls.

amother

Candycane

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 1:17 pm

The BY I went to a few years ago did not consider Darchei Bina a BY seminary. I don't know if something changed in the last few years.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 1:34 pm

amother Candycane wrote:

The BY I went to a few years ago did not consider Darchei Bina a BY seminary. I don't know if something changed in the last few years.

I get a feeling it's the same now. So would it look weird to DB and BY seminaries if a girl applied to both? Or maybe only to BY ones but not to DB?
Also, how big is it - how many girls?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 1:35 pm

Also, my understanding is that the teachers don't shy away from controversial topics and discussing everything, as opposed to, say, yeshivishe places. What other BY seminaries are like that?

amother

Buttercup ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 1:45 pm

amother OP wrote:

Also, my understanding is that the teachers don't shy away from controversial topics and discussing everything, as opposed to, say, yeshivishe places. What other BY seminaries are like that?

The closest is probably maor.
DB is officially not a beis yaakov but it’s the most BY of the non BY seminaries.
I grew a tremendous amount there. When I went they had a reputation of having authentic students, no one pretending to be anything. I found that to be true. Some girls ended up “flipping out” others completely not but you were able to be honest and true to yourself and open to learning and growing.

Iymnok ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 2:34 pm

It is not beis Yaakov, but the hashkafa is. There are girls from BYs, but many from more modern or OOT schools. Some of the girls are moving in the direction of BY, but didn’t want to go to a "real" BY.

I applied to Darchei Bina and Ateres. This was many years ago, I’m sure they have both changed.

amother

Turquoise

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 3:04 pm

amother Candycane wrote:

The BY I went to a few years ago did not consider Darchei Bina a BY seminary. I don't know if something changed in the last few years.

I’m from out of town and my BY wouldn’t give out their applications unless directly requested. And then the girls involved got a lecture about the perils of going to a non BY seminary.

amother

Maize

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 3:28 pm

Not considered BY but rather somewhere in between BY and MO, with a BY hashkafa. Girls are allowed smartphones, and no BY seminary allows smartphones. Dress code is also less strict. My daughter went to a top BY seminary and was so impressed with the DB girls she met - girls with depth who really want to grow.
Ateres no longer exists.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 7:40 pm

amother Maize wrote:

Thanks.
Ateres decided last second they're continuing.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 9:23 pm

What kind of girls are in DB? In-town/oot, growing, deep, Jappy, mix? What is their dress mode (girls', not seminary's)?
Is it a big place or small?

amother

↑ Buttercup

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 9:25 pm

When I went it was a mix of in town and oot, maybe 20% jappy the rest not. Medium sized, maybe 100 girls or so?

That was 11 years ago

amother

↑ Burgundy ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 10:34 pm

amother OP wrote:

What are the official tznius rules?

when I was there- they told us to wear socks but many girls didnt. I can count on both hands how many girls wore full stockings (I was one of them).
covered elbows and collarbones.
girls wore denim skirts.

all of my teachers were chareidi- all of their husbands were still in kollel. I did feel that the kollel agenda was pushed a lot.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 10:39 pm

amother Burgundy wrote:

Was covering knees one of the rules or not? (Just trying to see if we got the objective info).
Really, Kollel was pushed? I'd expect it from a yeshivishe place.