Went on tour of Fairfield University this past week and will share my thoughts and opinions. Thought the school presented itself as a competitive school discussing importance of AP classes and honor programs. They pushed the Study Abroad program hard. Seemed many students were able to double major or major/minor. 2019 Tuition/Room and Board is $64,000. Merit aid is between $9k and 25k renewable each year. (it remains same amount for 4 years)
The campus was nice. Very clean, well manicured. Buildings are all newer and a new business school is being built. No where to walk to off campus as it is located in a suburban neighborhood. Shuttle bus runs all day to downtown Fairfield and Metro. The school is convenient to major cities for internships, entertainment as its about 1 hour from NYC via train ($18 each way). New business school building is under construction. Freshman dorms were small, upper classman live in on campus apartments and townhouses. No cars allowed on campus for freshman or sophs (exception for nursing majors.)
Disappointed that there was only 1 dining hall. There is no football team. There is no hockey team. The Basketball team plays off campus. The lack of athletic events is a huge turn-off.
Missing college vibe
My son is a freshman at Fairifled. For its size one dining hall is more than enough. There are also smaller locations to eat like Einstein’s Bagels, a Deli, sushi place and Dunkin’ Donuts. Just one mile away you can go into Fairfield for stores, restaurants and movies. The basketball team does play a lot of games on campus only some are off campus. An article was written this week how most on campus games were sold out so it would be nice to play all games at alumni hall. There is a hockey team that plays off campus but games are streamed on campus. There’s also lacrosse, soccer and baseball. I wouldn’t say it’s a big sports school like say Syracuse but there’s definitely opportunities. Being so close to the city there are also planned trips to Yankee stadium and MSG to see the Knicks. Many club sports and organizations to join and just hanging out at the beach with a frisbee or football is very popular.
My son is also a freshman at Fairfield and it was my favorite school by far and my second son’s first choice. We have toured many for both boys and Fairfield was just right. Good school with excellent academic goals, beautiful clean campus, good food. With less sports at the school it is not for everyone. My other son is at a RA RA school and has been to one game in three years. Just no time often is the case. If your not playing the sport don’t let that discourage you Fairfield is wonderful!!
Thanks JCD716 and mrs806 for your feedback and insight. Still on the list, may come back around for a re-visit after seeing some other schools.
@BmacNJ
I don’t really know anything about Fairfield; just starting to look into it for my D20. However, my son is a freshman at University of Florida with about 40,000 undergrads and they only have 2 dining hall. So I wouldn’t let the 1 dining hall sway you. Lack of sports is a totally understandable reason to cross a school off a list though. It was obviously a priority for my son. Good luck with the process.