<p>What are the surrounding areas like, pros/cons, safety at each, etc.? How do they compare/contrast and which one(s) do you prefer and why?</p>
<p>Fordham (rose hill- i know its secluded but how's the bronx outside of campus)</p>
<p>NYU</p>
<p>Yale</p>
<p>Columbia</p>
<p>Loyola University Chicago</p>
<p>Marquette</p>
<p>UPenn</p>
<p>NYU - You won't feel like you'll be living on a campus because everything is spread out and there isn't a central quad, though there's Washington Square Park. The area is always quite busy (probably around 20-22 hours a day) with the busy nightlife; I've never felt unsafe in the village. There are shuttle buses that connect the buildings that are farther away so distance is not really that much of a problem. Then there's also the subway system, which will get you pretty much anywhere you want to go in the city.</p>
<p>Columbia - All of the buildings are closer together than NYU's, with the exception of the medical school. There IS a central area where lots of people hang out, though it's not huge compared to less urban campuses. There are a few subway lines that run through the area, but not as many as the NYU area, and it's further uptown, so it'll take you a little while longer to get to other places in the city. The area is pretty safe, though it does quiet down at night. Not as many things to do around that neighborhood.</p>
<p>Fordham - Don't know that much, but I've been in the area a few times and the campus is beautiful. It's the most traditional of the 3 New York schools that you listed.</p>
<p>Personally, I prefer the NYU campus by far, mostly because I prefer skyscrapers to grass. Depending on your field, you can probably get plenty of part-time internships during the academic year, which was also a big plus for me. There are also sooo many good restaurants in the area. =)</p>
<p>Fordham's campus is gorgeous. Its all gothic, lawns and trees, football field, a sports fieldhouse named after Vince Lombardi, a beautiful church (with a LONG waiting list if you want to get married there), across the street from the New York Botanical Gardens and Bronx Zoo. David Hartmann,formerly of Good Morning America, did a wonderful piece with PBS on New York boroughs and they covered the Bronx very well and how beautiful it really is and what fun it is...and it covered Fordham, Little Italy, the major parks in the Bronx (which are larger than Central Park), etc. </p>
<p>Fordham's campus is very, very safe. Its crime stats are very low. You ALWAYS have to be careful on ANY college campus, like not walking alone at night etc. But its police force is very strong and the campus is gated with 24/7 guards. Kids go out in groups to Little Italy and into the city without any problems. The Metro North train (New Haven-Grand Central line) stops literally at the Fordham gates. Its 3.00 to go into Grand Central and about 10 minutes. If you take the subway line, its a couple of stops to Yankee Stadium. </p>
<p>Fordham is the best of both worlds..its urban but also a classic campus. It offers everything that New York has to offer but also the seclusion of its campus. Kids are friendly and tight nit. Its an academic school, but not as frenetic as Columbia and NYU. Its graduates have AWESOME internship opportunities. Its graduates all get into prestigious law, medicine and MBA programs...or find awesome jobs. Many in fact go to NYU or Columbia for graduate school. Its faculty is about 70% Ivy League credentialed. Division I sports ...and they play Columbia all the time and beat their behinds! LOL.</p>
<p>It doesnt have the penache or "prestige-ranking" of Yale, Columbia, Penn obviously because its not an Ivy League School. But it is striving to return to the rank of Best Catholic School in the country in the next 10 years...and is going after BC, Holy Cross and Georgetown.</p>
<p>Loyola has two different campuses. One is the Lake Shore situated along Lake Michigan, and is quite beautiful. Many students love sitting by it and is a good place to relax outside or inside one of the buildings overlooking the lake. However, as of right now there is a lot of construction for renovating buildings and adding more to green space and trees.</p>
<p>The Water Tower campus is awesome as well where you can get a lot of shopping done or make business connections. If you are a full time student at a Chicago university you get a free U-Pass, which is a card that allows you to travel as much as you'd like without paying everytime you board the El train.</p>
<p>The city of Chicago itself is amazing. Full of multicultural restaruants, good chicago theatre, as well as shopping and museums.</p>
<p>One note on safety, however: the lake shore campus is situated in Rogers Park, which is not really the safest place. There are however a lot of security personel that patrol the area surrounding the campus and they are armed. Within the campus though is good.</p>
<p>NYU -- in a great and exciting part of NY but no real central campus AT ALL. Very, very expensive school.</p>
<p>Now onto the two I know well -- Loyola and Marquette. While Chicago gets all the points over Milwaukee, I actually prefer Marquette. It's got a better male to female ratio and a MUCH higher residency rate. It feels more like a traditional college in an urban setting, not a commuter school that is turning residential like Loyola, if that makes any sense. Campus is very pretty. There is some crime in the surrounding off-campus area to the north and west, but public safety is top-notch and the LIMO program runs ALL NIGHT. Downtown, the lakefront, the riverfront, Water St. are all really close.<br>
Loyola's lakeshore campus is under massive renovation and reconstruction for the next few years. We were there the other day and couldn't walk around it very well at all. </p>
<p>My D is starting at Marquette this fall and we live near Chicago. PM me if you have any questions, and sorry if this rambled!</p>
<p>bump......</p>