<p>I was wondering what you guys thought about these two schools. Dickinson is more my type, for I love small liberal arts schools. However, Fordham's vicinity to NYC is also attractive. I would love to hear any thoughts regarding campus aesthetics, academics, and social life.</p>
<p>As the parent of a Dickinson junior who visited 20 campuses during her college search, I think Dickinson has one of the prettiest campuses we saw. Beautiful light gray limestone buildings, a gorgeous library (the first thing we saw when driving into town at night), and red adirondack chairs scattered across the lawns.</p>
<p>Socially, Carlisle IS a smallish town. D and friends go out to eat, see shows at the Carlisle theater, swing dance, and belong to a lot of campus clubs. They hike, go for frozen custard, and make the occasional trip to Harrisburg for shopping and dining (in someone else’s car, D does not have one). It suits D quite well. She is not a partier, and has quite a rich and busy social life as far as I can tell. And I think she is happy she is not in a larger city, she requires a lot less spending money than some other schools we visited; since she is on her own to earn that, she appreciates the lower “cost of living” there.</p>
<p>Regarding academics, D is quite hardworking (honestly, harder than she worked in high school – more disciplined, I mean). She gets excellent grades, and says she is learning a lot in her classes. In comparison, she just spent fall semester at a European university, and she commented that the profs at Dickinson do a lot more teaching than the profs in her European school (they rely a lot on student presentations there). She is a Political Science major.</p>
<p>I have no comparison to Fordham… but Dickinson has been a perfect choice for my D.</p>
<p>Interesting question for me. My S is a junior at Fordham and we will be looking at Dickinson for my younger D in the spring. In all honesty, I went onto this site to try to pick up any information I can on Dickinson because I think the school will be a great fit for my D.</p>
<p>But here we go…my S loves Fordham - Rose Hill. He is is in the business school and is getting a great and very well rounded education (thanks to the Jesuits). He works hard but he and his friends go into Manhattan at least a couple of times a month (shows, movies, museums, concerts, hanging in the Village etc.). In addition, there is stuff to do in the Bronx as well (Italian restaurants on Arthur Ave, Bronx Zoo, Botanical Gardens, college bars, shopping etc.). My S has always loved NYC and was interested in an urban college experience (although we looked at schools outside of cities as well.) Having a beautiful traditional campus and access to NYC (although Manhattan is about a half hour from the Bronx campus) has proven to be a great fit for him.</p>
<p>But my D is different. She definitely wants a small LAC college expereince and has no particular desire to be near a major city. Although her brother is having a great experience at Fordham, she has no interest in the school. We haven’t seen Dickinson yet, so I can’t comment first-hand but I’ve heard wonderful things about the education, students, campus etc. We are all really excited about visiting the school in April and I expect Dickinson to emerge as one of my D’s top choices. I know people whose kids are there and they love the school.</p>
<p>So the long and short of it is that I think you are looking at two great schools. I would consider 1) the environment where your son/daughter wants to spend the next four years and 2) if there are any particularly strong programs one school has in your child’s area of interest 3) if there is a difference in scholarships/finances between the two schools that may play a role as well.</p>
<p>I know this doesn’t directly answer your question about Dickinson, but I hope you find it helpful. You have two great and somewhat distinct choices. You really can’t go wrong. Good luck.</p>
<p>And intparent, thanks for your comments. Dickinson sounds like exactly what my D is looking for in a college.</p>
<p>Yes, consider the cost of living, particularly if you will need to live off campus for a year or two. Also, room and board charges vary by $2,000 to $3,000 a year from college to college. </p>
<p>My cousin lives in Manhattan and she was amazed when she came back to PA. that everything even in the CVS store was so much cheaper in PA. compared to a CVS store in Manhattan. The Bronx certainly has not-quite-as-outrageous housing prices, but you still pay the Tony Soprano premium for everything.</p>