I keep seeing Fordham show up on Worst lists for room and board but it’s never broken out by campus. Is there a marked difference? We toured both and for dorms we saw:
RH - some super dorm that you have to apply to. Beautiful. They didn’t take us to a regular dorm.
LC - an astonishing new dorm with million dollar views of Manhattan. They made it sound like they were all like that.
Any scoop?
Thanks
We saw an average dorm at RH- Loschert Hall…it was fine. The bathrooms were a bit dated, but they were clean. The rooms were actually quite large with a nice large window. The boys who toured us, said it is not the best dorm, but it ins’t the worst either…
The dorms at LC are to die for…literally. They were the best rooms we have seen on any campus… except maybe Rice University.
I believe the food provider is new this year and a huge improvement over years past. We toured the dining hall and spoke at length to a Junior there. She said it is far better, but it is still institutional food. She suggested buying the smallest meal plan, and giving your kids the extra money for local food.
I told the girls that the LC rooms were the equivalent of an apartment they would never be able to afford. What did you think of the RH campus? We visited on a day with torrential downpours and only saw 3 feet in front of us when we ran from building to building. I assumed D1 would want LC and D2 would prefer RH but when she saw LC…
D1 can almost certainly get in. D2 probably/maybe. It will all be about the financial aid.
My girls fell in love with LC, after touring both. They wanted the in your face feel
of the city. Once accepted, they joined all the FB groups and really started feeling that the LC students were too artsy for them. Also, they are athletes and want to play club sports, so going back and forth while doable, would be a huge time commitment.
So…just last week they requested a change to RH. We toured and they loved it. And the idea of having the city there but also having green grass and a gorgeous, traditional campus really appealed to them. The transfer was approved!
One twin, is still mourning those LC dorm rooms though.
My girls are much more arty than athletic. Actually they are more Martian than athletic so that part of LC won’t bother them. I’m a little concerned that LC might not have a campus vibe, rather a bunch of people all doing their own thing. Neither are extroverts and need groups of friends.
As a current LC student, the food at Rose Hill is definitely better. They just have more options and better hours. After freshman year people live in McMahon and don’t really have a meal plan, so it doesn’t really matter
@curiositysquared - are you happy with your choice of campus? I’ll have one graphic designer and one undecided.
I am going to give you an insight on the dorming situation at both campuses. My daughter had the opportunity to live in the older dorm (McMahon) at LC for one summer session and it was really nice. Her view of Manhattan was good, but it was mainly of the new law school and not much of the skyline. But, it was still nice. It was convenient to everything and being in Manhattan was great, especially since Central Park was a few blocks away. And I remember her going food shopping at a Western Beef nearby. The apartment was a two bedroom for four people. There was a sitting area for dining a small living room off the kitchen that was very small also.
As for RH, that is where my daughter is located. I remember doing the tours and being shown Queens Court (that’s the dorm you apply to, because it is “substance free”) and Alumni South. Queens Court has that old time feel, the common areas are leather seats and wood paneling and just beautiful. You’d think you were in a country estate in England. Downside: no AC. Same with Loschert and Alumni South, no AC. Big rooms, and can easily fit three people. Loyola, which opened recently kind of knocked QC off the “must live in” list, because it’s nice also, huge rooms. And roomy enough for three people (see where I’m going here?) if deemed necessary. Martyr’s Court, when we did the tour, we got a wave of the hand from the tour guide and he said, and I quote “You DON’T want to be assigned there”. We didn’t even go in. Upside? AC. Also, all the freshman dorms have communal bathrooms.
So when she was accepted and did the housing application she didn’t want QC because she was hoping to get South or Loschert. Loyola wasn’t available then (didn’t open until the following year), and which did my daughter get? Martyr’s. No elevator. But AC. Small rooms, and for a triple it’s a tight squeeze. During Freshman year she was grateful she didn’t get into South or Loschert and she spent most of her time hanging out with friends in QC.
By Sophomore year she was placed back in Martyr’s in a single (post-housing lotto, that’s another story), which was pretty much the same size as her previous room. Loyola opened and was mostly doubles. O’Hare, the sophomore dorm have triple and double rooms. They just recently allowed sophomores to apply for housing in Walsh Hall which used to be mainly junior housing. One great thing about Walsh is that AC was installed a couple of years ago along with new windows. Some of the apartments had their kitchens renovated. Finlay is nice, mostly triples and Tierney is ok.
My daughter has noticed that the current freshman class, they seemed to have been placed in all triples. Martyr’s is all forced triples. Loyola is now triples. Lots of forced triples in Loschert and South. And Queen’s Court. They opened Faber Hall as part dorm for upperclassmen. That’s what happens where the incoming freshman classes are over 2000.
As for the food, it still is “meh” even with the new provider Aramark. Get the mid level food plan (Block 225). The meal swipes expire at the end of the fall semester but the Declining Balance (DB) carry forward into the spring but expire at the end of the spring semester. So in the spring you start seeing everyone using up their meal swipes and buying everything in sight to use up the DB’s. One year I went home with a freezer bag with about 8 pints of Ben and Jerry’s. Meal swipes are used at the “Caf” and DB are used at the other retail places (Cosi, Auntie Anne’s, etc…).
@MomTheChauffer - can you tell me what is “bad” about Matyr? Is it just that the rooms are small…or is it old and in disrepair?
I’d like my girls to make an informed decision about whether or not to apply to an LC, but like you said…they never go in there on a tour…
We did go in to Loschert, and my girls didn’t find it all that bad…of course compared to what they’ve seen at LC, everything is a step down.
@flute1298 - the situation with Martyr’s is that the rooms are small. They are typical dorm rooms, small compared to Loschert/South which are much bigger. If your bed is high enough, you can easily put a small fridge under it. Each student has a nice sized wardrobe, there is a shelf on top and on the bottom section there are drawers.
They aren’t in disrepair by any means, there just isn’t an elevator. So when it comes to move-in for freshman, it’s great because all your stuff is moved up to your room. The downside is, when it comes to the end of the year you now have to schlep that stuff down stairs. There are lounges with TV’s and AC and I know there are also study areas also, which my daughter enjoyed. The AC’s are installed during the Easter break and then removed usually during Thanksgiving break.
My daughter only stayed in McMahon for one summer session and they were already getting ready to open McKeon for the new freshman. So yes, I can understand nothing compares to an apartment in Manhattan. I told my daughter to enjoy it while she can because rents in that area are astronomical.
My daughter really really really really wanted South. Didn’t bother applying to Queens and got assigned to Martyr’s and wound up spending the bulk of her time with friends in Queens anyway.
My son survived martyrs freshman year. Luckily he was not tripled and his roommate was a minimalist so the fridge went under that bed. One thing I remember is that the length (door to window) of the room was so small that there was no logical place for a TV. There was an uphigh TV shelf and we duct taped the tv to that but other rooms didn’t have the stand A/C is a plus and he was in the first floor.
Currently junior year- he is in a suite that doesn’t require a dining plan We bout a one meal a day plan and he has realized grabbing something off campus is better quality/ cheaper than an extra meal at the caf. Freshman year - they ate auntie Annie’s a lot.
Thanks. D1 who can certainly get in will only apply to LC. D2 who is probably 50/50 will likely apply to LC as well. As a graphic designer she wants access to the galleries and design houses. She thought she wanted a traditional campus but realized that she’s a weather-wuss and the notion of never having to go outside has real appeal. Temps over 80 or under 50 will made her an underground regular.
@byadg123 I definitely am, I love LC, but you definitely have to be an LC person to enjoy it here. There aren’t a lot of extracurriculars, and most people spend a lot of time off campus, but you can find places with people who are doing really cool things. I will say that it is definitely a dressier campus, and so people tend to wear real clothes to class, not pajamas, which is kind of a downside for me. IDK about visual arts majors, though. The underground tunnels are great until you realize that you haven’t been outside in a week. Hope this helps!
D1 will not like no pajamas! Spending time off campus is ideal, IF you have friends to do it with. I lived in Manhattan for a dozen years and when I was a first-job pauper I had a blast but I had a bunch of first job paupers to hang with. 30 years later we live across 5 cities and I’m close to every one of them. Without them it would have been very lonely.
Haha, you can totally do it and people will probably respect you for it, it just isn’t the norm. I’ve found a pretty close group of friends, it’s totally doable here but you have to take a chance on people, because they’re all terrified too.
@curiositysquared - Do you tend to spend weekends on campus? Would D be stuck in empty dorms if she has to stay in and do homework?
Speaking of which - how’s the workload and stress? She isn’t afraid of working hard and putting in the hours but wants to avoid places that are competitive rather than collaborative.
@byadg123 I spend a lot of weekends on campus. There are usually people around. A lot of people are out of state, especially California, and so they only really go home for holidays. I personally have a study group that I share a lot of classes with and so we tend to get together and do homework.
I might not be the best person to ask because I’m in the honors program and so I have a pretty heavy workload, but I would say there definitely is a pretty heavy workload. I would say that Fordham isn’t competitive. We have Dean’s List at the end of the year, but it’s not really that competitive. My friends and I work together on homework and help each other where we can. It might be different depending on the program, but I’ve never really felt a competitive atmosphere.