<p>We just discovered that my D is a National Merit Semi-Finalist. We also just discovered that Fordham offers a full-tuition scholarship to NMSFs who meet some very reasonable conditions. We're excited, as Fordham looks like a good match for our daughter in several ways. However, there are other ways in which we're not sure if it's a match at all. I've delved into old threads and answered some of my questions, but others remain. I'd be grateful for any responses from parents or students.</p>
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<li><p>Fordham touts small class sizes as a draw. However, Fordham's miniscule honors programs do the same, which indicates to me that perhaps non-honors core courses are taught lecture-style. True? Are core courses ever taught by adjuncts? Often?</p></li>
<li><p>Fordham students are often described as smart, driven academically, and career-oriented. D is smart, driven academically, and (at least at this point in her life) pretty much anti-career. Will she find her learning-for-its-own-sake peeps at Fordham? </p></li>
<li><p>D likes to participate in theater, but is not interested in a major or minor. Are there opportunities to participate in casual, collegiate-style theater? On which campus? I couldn't find anything in a quick look at the arts clubs. </p></li>
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<p>I'm sure that's more than enough for one post. I've been very impressed with the generous reponses from Fordham fans on previous posts. You folks have already impressed me with your deep loyalty to the institution.</p>
<p>Congrats to you and your daughter on her semi finalist status!
My daughter is a finalist and we were thrilled that she got that full tuition scholarship. </p>
<p>I can’t really answer any of your questions though. I think that even though all of the classes for a theater major are at LC, I think there is a club type activity for theater at RH. My daughter is minoring theater, but has had no time to even think about auditioning for anything.</p>
<p>My daughter hasn’t mentioned any big lecture classes. She is in the honors program so her honors classes have only 14 kids in them, but she takes other classes too, and has never mentioned a large class size. </p>
<p>Hopefully, others here can answer you questions better than I can.</p>
<p>Congratuations! My D is a freshman at Fordham, the RH campus. She has a NMSF scholarship (one of 51 students with it in this years’ entering class) and while I can’t answer all of your questions, I will tell you a bit about my D’s experience so far. I can sum it up by saying so far, so good!</p>
<p>She is in the honors program and has about 12 students in each of her 3 honors program classes. They all sit around a large table. She is taking a foreign language class, which is small, and her fifth class is Introduction to Theater, which has about 30 students in it. Last year, we visited the LC campus once and the RH campus a number of times and I know that it is hard to believe it, but we have never seen a classroom on either campus that looks like it is large enough to hold a large lecture class.</p>
<p>She said that there have been a lot of interesting discussions in the honors classes and that kids in those classes are intimidatingly smart. She is having a lot of fun in the theater class.</p>
<p>She is considering majoring in history, english, writing or another of the humanities or social sciences. She has met many kids who are in the business school or are pre-law or pre-med but she has also met many kids who aren’t. She says that she has met many students that she likes both in and out of the honors program. One of the closest friends that she has made since starting school is in the business school.</p>
<p>She wanted to go to school in NYC but also wanted a real college experience on a real campus. She has gone into Manhattan frequently and enjoys coming back to the peaceful campus.</p>
<p>She recently told me that she is happy, that Fordham is a very nice place.</p>
<p>Fordham is a fine school with opportunities in just about all majors. I’ve known many top kids who have gone there, go there. Do visit the schools–the LC campus is very different from RH, one very much the big city school, the other the very typical traditional college campus. </p>
<p>My son found it tough finding a school he like better than Fordham. He was accepted EA there, so it became his safety, but he really wanted to go further away for college. We would tour college after college and the tally would most often come up with Fordham. Other than the most selective schools, it’s hard to get all of the advantages Fordham can offer, and if you throw in free tution vs what other schools might cost, Fordleona helmsleyham is a top pick. </p>
<p>Do look at Northeastern as well. They, too, have great NMS awards,</p>
<p>My son is not in the honors program at LC, but it sounds as if none of his freshman classes has more than 35-40 kids in it, and they are all taught by professors. Some of them may be adjunct, but it doesn’t sound as if they have the huge lecture style classes with most of your interaction coming from TAs.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you for quick and very helpful responses. Each one adds a bit to my picture of Fordham. We would like to visit soon, but my daughter’s schedule is very full. The more I learn about Fordham, the more I like it. Admission into the honors program would be a significant plus, but it’s very small, so I appreciate hearing about happy non-honors students as well.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if Rose Hill offers chem-free housing? (i.e. Dorms where the students pledge not to imbibe in the dormitory.) I would assume that LC doesn’t have enough housing to offer such a thing.</p>
<p>Dunno about LC. As for RH: If she is at all interested in the honors program, she should email Dr. Nasuti with any questions, or just to express interest. If her letter(s) and grades match her scores then she has a good chance of being accepted.</p>
<p>Many students are career-oriented, but many aren’t. I dabble in lots of things unrelated to major or planned career and there are plenty of others who do the same. Last summer, probably a quarter the students did a career-related internship, a quarter worked, a quarter took classes, and a quarter were funemployed.</p>
<p>Theatre: YES. There are so many opportunities: Mimes and Mummers, FET, stand-up, hanging out with the Broadway geeks… If amateur theatre can be pursued casually, we have a real Smörgåsbord of casual-theatre options.</p>
<p>I lived in the RH freshman “wellness” dorm, Queen’s Court, last year. Alas, it’s not as “well” as it might be, because it’s also the extra-programming dorm and the nicest freshman residence hall. There’s an upperclass wellness dorm that’s genuinely chem-free.</p>
<p>Thanks, Angle. I was waiting for someone to bust me for mentioning “casual” involvement with theater. There ain’t no such thing.</p>
<p>More seriously, I appreciate the contact info for honors, and the rest of your very helpful post. I have a much better picture of what classes might be like now. (I’d completely forgotten that some classes might be taught by grad students – wasn’t done at my undergrad institution, & isn’t done at older daughter’s LAC, but of course it is a very common practice.)</p>
<p>There is only one, high rise dorm building at LC, so, no chem-free housing.</p>