2 important questions about Fordham

Colleges and Universities A-Z Fordham University
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<p>One of the schools my senior daughter is considering is Fordham. She's been offered full tuition based on her scores, so Fordham has become a pleasantly surprising option. Two questions we'd appreciate CC input on: 1) Does the campus 'empty out' on weekends (something we've been told)? She is from Ohio and being recruited for her sport, so going home regularly is not an option. 2) How important is a Jesuit/Catholic background at Fordham? She's a public school kid who views religion somewhat skeptically.</p>

<p>Any help is greatly appreciated!</p>

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<p>First congratulations. Welcome to Fordham. </p>

<p>Second, athletics at Fordham is a large part of campus life, so being recruited for that, as well as her scores, is awesome. </p>

<p>Third, Fordham is Jesuit first and Catholic second, if I may be so bold. What does that mean? It means Jesuit influence in teaching you how to think, not what to think. Getting a student to look at problems from several angles and to consider a perspective of social justice (both for conservatives and liberals!). Religion is not a way of life at Fordham as it would be at Notre Dame. Fordham is about 60% Catholic, but some of those are Catholic in name only and not particularly religious. Theology is required at Fordham but its two core classes and they are not doctrinal at all. More philosophical in perspective and history of the Church in the Western World etc. Plus some options like comparative religions etc. No worries there. </p>

<p>Skepticism isnt necessarily good or bad. It just is. Take that skepticism and use it to dig deep into the subject matters being discussed…and surprise yourself on what you learn. Come open minded and tolerant. But nobody will proselytize you. Nobody will force Church services on you. They are voluntary. Fordham has both conservative and liberal Jesuits on campus, but most lean left. Other religious faculty as well. Some of them are simply amazing scholars and human beings. The Jesuit ethos is world reknown. </p>

<p>A Fordham degree is a pedigree in and of itself. Highly respected everywhere. </p>

<p>Campus life is full. Some kids do go home on weekends, but surprisingly, even the local kids from Jersey and Long Island often stay on campus. Its considered faux pas in some circles to be too dependent on mom and dad. It only empties out when the university closes between semesters/Christmas. Athletes arrive early and some stay late because of training/games. Trust me, its a very active campus. Kids do sleep a lot on weekends. LOL. </p>

<p>Fordham will challenge you academically. The cream rises to the top. Faculty will quickly identify those who turn in superior quality work and who come to class prepared. They tap those for mentoring and sometimes honors programs. Fordham has its fair share of party kids and those who are content with average quality work. Just roll your eyes and move along. Hang with the kids who work hard and get it! And yes, a balance in life is very important. That includes exercise (athletics) and just learning to chill in a setting away from campus…Manhattan window shopping, visiting museums, Botanical Gardens, Zoo, etc. </p>

<p>Fordham offers amazing internships in financial world, communications, but also non profits. </p>

<p>Lots of kids from Kentucky/Cincy/Ohio region. She wont be alone, trust me. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>Congratulations on the scholarship!</p>

<p>My D is a freshman who has the NMSF scholarship and is in the honors program. We live in the area, about an hour away, and we are not Catholic. </p>

<p>My daughter is having a great experience, academically and socially. She does not come home on the weekends as she is too busy on campus. Her cousin and big sister want to visit her and she said that they should come on Friday, not on Saturday, as she will be busy Saturday, doing school work during the day and with her friends at night. Some of her friends are from the area, and none of them seem to go home on the weekend either. Classes were cancelled for the week of the hurricane and she chose to stay on campus to hang out with her friends instead of coming home.</p>

<p>There are a lot of religious activities on campus for students who are interested in participating but my D has never felt pressured to get involved and has never felt uncomfortable for not getting involved. Some of the students are religious and some are not at all religious, and the variety of beliefs has led to many interesting discussions. She has not been made to feel uncomfortable in any way for being a religious minority on campus and in her ancient lit class last semester, the prof. seemed to appreciate her different perspective. </p>

<p>My D has remarked many times that the people are all so nice, and that seems to be the way that the religious nature of the campus has affected her the most. And that nice feeling is ultimately what was the deciding factor for us. She received scholarships to other schools as well as Fordham, and also was accepted to some ‘higher rated’ schools, but we just loved the caring and kindness that we felt whenever we went on campus.</p>

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<p>Although people often leave campus during weekends, they’re less likely to be going home than going into the city, volunteering, or attending some school event. And while a few local students (10% of residents, maybe?) do visit home every few weeks, their travel is generally staggered, and on no one weekend are more than one or two people from any friend-circle home.</p>

<p>Unfamiliarity with Catholicism would be a handicap only if she wanted to get involved in campus ministry. Since she probably wouldn’t be doing this, it should be a non-issue. The core does include a theology course and a religion course, but from my experience (coming from 13 years in public schools) having a Catholic-school background doesn’t help significantly with those.</p>

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<p>angle, I think we need to clarify that comment. Campus Ministry (their services) at Fordham is open to all students, particularly for their fabulous weekend retreats. Its not required to be catholic. As for working at Campus Ministry, I dont know what their policy is, but it would surprise me if they had a strict Catholic requirement.</p>

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<p>Certainly Campus Ministry and its retreats are open to all students. (Conor, the interfaith coordinator, is a fabulous guy, too.) But you can’t deny that spiritual life at Fordham is overwhelmingly Catholic. I come from a conservative/evangelical Protestant background and feel very much a minority at even those CM events that aren’t expressly Catholic. Example: the student-run “Praise and Worship” thing on Wednesday nights includes recitation of the old-style “Our Father who art in heaven” Lord’s Prayer, a Catholic-style “Lord hear our prayer” prayer, a Eucharistic adoration (one of the Jesuits had to explain to me why everyone was kneeling when something got put into the cross), and lots of incense–all things that were never used (with the possible exception of the Lord’s Prayer) in any service I’d been to before. And if you’re not comfortable with people thinking you’re the abnormal one for not believing that a wafer actually just turned into Jesus, you won’t enjoy any Eucharist-focused services here.</p>

<p>I was wrong to use the word “handicap.” But wrt the OP’s question of the “importance” of a Jesuit/Catholic background, I would argue that being Catholic is important to feeling fully catered-to and incorporated by the CM community here. That’s not necessarily a good or bad thing; it comes with the territory of the university’s Catholic heritage, but it’s something the OP’s daughter would want to keep in mind if she were interested in CM.</p>

<p>Of course, she’s not, so it’s a bit of a moot point…</p>

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<p>I have zero interest in arguing with people on CC. Its counterproductive and unhelpful to those reading these threads to learn about Fordham. But you completely changed the subject matter of my post, which was a specific response to a specific comment you made about Campus Ministry. </p>

<p>Fordham is Jesuit. Fordham is Catholic. And there is no apology needed from anyone about that. Fordham is also highly tolerant of divergent religious views, even of agnostics. </p>

<p>The issue was Campus Ministry and my statement that you needed clarify for the record so as to not leave the impression to readers and applicants that Campus Ministry was restricted to Catholics only. It is not. I am very familiar with campus ministry at Fordham, and the predecessor leader there who was also phenomenal.</p>

<p>I have zero interest in discussing theology here with you, its merits, and failures and sad divisions. Because this is not the time or place to do that. I respect everyone for their faith journey. I am a devout non apologetic Catholic. I welcome people of all faiths or no faith to Fordham.</p>

<p>The OP made no mention whatsoever about Campus Ministry. It was a question about the generic vibe on campus given Fordham’s catholic heritage, with particular emphasis on her daughter being a skeptic from a public school.<br>
As you know, Campus Ministry is a service provided to those in need of spiritual and emotional support. It has a very broad reach and broad perspective, looking for holistic healing for students in distress. Its useful even for agnostics. The weekend retreats they offer, particularly for freshmen, are awesome and highly effective.</p>

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<p>Jesuits consider it their mission to educate the world. Hence all the great Universities like BC, Georgetown, Fordham, Loyola, Santa Clara and on and on. They educate everyone Christian or not. FYI Catholics are not bible thumpers believing the bible is infallible. They believe it is open to change and interpretation, and since they wrote the book (new testament), I do believe they’re right.</p>

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<p>Well, I can tell you that my Jewish daughter is loving her time at Fordham. She is very comfortable there. This semester, she is taking a core class called Sacred Texts, and had to buy a Bible and a Koran.</p>

<p>She is at LC, sometimes her suitemates might leave for a weekend to visit friends at other colleges, but very few go home. Many live too far away.</p>

<p>I don’t know anything about the athletic program.</p>

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<p>Thanks to all for your prompt and extremely useful thoughts. Maybe we have a Ram here in Ohio, who knows?</p>

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<p>My D is a soph. We live in the rural southwest and we are not catholic or particularly religious ie no church on Sunday unless we are with the grandparents. My daughter and her dorm mates stick around campus or visit friends at NYU. The other girls are from the hamptons and Chicago. She has a good friend from the rowing team from New Zealand and other friends from Korea so there are a lot of company all the time. She is soo excited about her service learning project with the Dorothy day center and volunteers several hours a week via a campus arranged program. It has been hard and at times it would definitely have been easier had she been closer to home. I think, as does she, that the benefits of a fordham education have been well worth it,</p>

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<p>azmom: Let me commend your daughter (and you) for her service project with the Dorothy Day Center. My kid did a very similar community service project while at Fordham. It was life changing and ultimately had a huge influence on her career path and graduate school selection. This is why its dangerous to ever judge a school by the salaries of its graduates because so many from Fordham choose to give back to community through teaching, counseling, public service and community service. Bravo!</p>

<p>Yes, we are far from New York as well and it was NOT easy many times, with the dorm drama freshmen year and cultural adjustments. But in the long run, very worthwhile. </p>

<p>Dorothy Day, btw, is being championed by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York for sainthood. Ms. Day had a somewhat controversial early life and ultimately became a passionate agent provocateur for social justice and devout Roman Catholic. </p>

<p>I sincerely hope that your daughter has the incredible experience in community service that my daughter had while at Fordham.</p>