Fordham University

[taben]

If any one has had experience with Fordham University, I would appreciate hearing thoughts on the quality of education, social life and diversity. We are quite sure the education will be solid, but are still trying to figure out if the school might be too much of a party atmosphere for our child and if it accepting of various races and economic backgrounds in particular.

Thank you.

 

[PhiloMed]

I went to Fordham.

The education is fantastic. The priests tend to be politically quite liberal, though, and they have a large Social Justice program (you can actually get a Peace and Justice degree for whatever that is worth).

I enjoyed it. Plenty of activities. When I was there we had the option of living in the residential college of Queens Court which tended to be more academically-centered. Not sure if that is still an option or not. I did not live there myself. I was a double major in Biology and Philosophy and thought I had a great balance.

Ultimately, your son needs to decide where he is comfortable since he is the one attending for at least 4 years.

EDIT: As far as being accepting, it is an extremely diverse student population. There are students who live on campus and commuter students. The commuters tend to be from the Bronx area and are often children of immigrants. It’s a very welcoming environment!

 

[lalabean33]

I went to Fordham.

The education is fantastic. The priests tend to be politically quite liberal, though, and they have a large Social Justice program (you can actually get a Peace and Justice degree for whatever that is worth).

I enjoyed it. Plenty of activities. When I was there we had the option of living in the residential college of Queens Court which tended to be more academically-centered. Not sure if that is still an option or not. I did not live there myself. I was a double major in Biology and Philosophy and thought I had a great balance.

Ultimately, your son needs to decide where he is comfortable since he is the one attending for at least 4 years.

EDIT: As far as being accepting, it is an extremely diverse student population. There are students who live on campus and commuter students. The commuters tend to be from the Bronx area and are often children of immigrants. It’s a very welcoming environment!

 

[taben]

Great to hear. The problem with the internet is that if you look long enough you find complaints
We’ve seen too many posts about heavy drinking, a division of rich kids vs. the rest and a socially dead campus on weekends as kids head to bars.

BUT we have also seen good reviews and are looking for those as we know that at any college it is what you make of it to a large degree.

One thing for sure, our child can certainly engage with the Catholic faith at Fordham and that is a big, big plus.

 

[Et_Cetera]

My friend did a year at Fordham before transferring. I don’t think that he disliked the school as much as he wanted to be at a school where he already had more friends. He has tales of it being kind of a rich kid party. His parents are very wealthy, so he never spoke about feeling divided because of it. Most East Coast private colleges seem to have that issue though. I went to a similar school (also Catholic) where there was a big focus on money and materialism.

 

[Et_Cetera]

I went to Fordham.

The education is fantastic. The priests tend to be politically quite liberal, though, and they have a large Social Justice program (you can actually get a Peace and Justice degree for whatever that is worth).

I enjoyed it. Plenty of activities. When I was there we had the option of living in the residential college of Queens Court which tended to be more academically-centered. Not sure if that is still an option or not. I did not live there myself. I was a double major in Biology and Philosophy and thought I had a great balance.

Ultimately, your son needs to decide where he is comfortable since he is the one attending for at least 4 years.

EDIT: As far as being accepting, it is an extremely diverse student population. There are students who live on campus and commuter students. The commuters tend to be from the Bronx area and are often children of immigrants. It’s a very welcoming environment!

Good to hear. I’ve always heard good things about the education. My friend seemed to think the people were nice.

 

[taben]

I wonder if any of you have any opinion as to how ‘Catholic’ Fordham is? For a student who is going in part because of the commit to service of the Catholic church and Jesuits in particular, will they find that here? Also, will they find a group of active, practicing Catholics?

One friend told me that her child who went to a Catholic college had a harder time finding practicing Catholic friends than her child who attended a large state university because the later found a very active ‘Catholic Students Club’, white the former said no such club existed at his school be cause the school was Catholic!

 

[PhiloMed]

I wonder if any of you have any opinion as to how ‘Catholic’ Fordham is? For a student who is going in part because of the commit to service of the Catholic church and Jesuits in particular, will they find that here? Also, will they find a group of active, practicing Catholics?

One friend told me that her child who went to a Catholic college had a harder time finding practicing Catholic friends than her child who attended a large state university because the later found a very active ‘Catholic Students Club’, white the former said no such club existed at his school be cause the school was Catholic!

Has your son toured the school and asked about which types of service clubs are available?

Yes, there are practicing Catholics at the school. There is mass on campus every Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

Also remember there are multiple campuses for Fordham and he might have a different experience depending on which campus he attends.