Probably a good call. The Bronx could be a bit much for someone who’s never been to NYC.
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Our student goes to Fordham. Please don’t let the Fact that Fordham is in Bronx or NYC give you a specific impression without visiting. Fordham has a true campus, unlike most other urban schools. The entire campus is gated and very safe and secure (gates are always manned), with the added advantage that within 5 min walk you are at Metro North station to go to Penn station and from there anywhere. Also RAM Vans for a reasonable price take you direct to Manhattan throughout the day. Cross over the road and you can walk in Botanical gardens (free for Fordham students). A small town person can truly be at home as can be a person from a city. Arthur avenue has lot of dining options from fancy to affordable. With the new campus center expansion finishing up the campus looks more modern.
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Quick note for others reading - Metro North runs to Grand Central, not Penn Station.
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Hey, did anyone else get moved off the Fordham 2027 waitlist yesterday? My kid was on waitlist for LC and just got accepted with some grant money! A month ago it would have been a dream come true. But now they have kind of moved on and committed to Univ of Washington last week. They got pretty excited about all of its offerings and value. Maybe too little too late, we’ll see.
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Yes my son got the portal update yesterday. Unfortunately it was for his second choice major. He did get some money too surprisingly! He also has UW in his top list.
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Anyone willing to share how much money (and merit vs financial aid)?
My junior is still in love with Fordham, but I think we may be priced out.
And congratulations on the new acceptances!
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Unfortunately, Fordham doesn’t have the reputation for giving great aid. Those who have financial need often get “gapped” (i.e. full need is not met.) And although the merit grants are often a large dollar amount (20K-30K) the final cost to attend is still quite high because tuition, room and board are so high to begin with. So except in certain cases (such as for National Merit Scholars, National Hispanic/AA/Native American Recognition Scholars who happen to win Fordham’s full tuition awards) Fordham tends to be a very expensive school.
Yes. We likely won’t receive any financial aid. I asked for the difference, because people often combine the two, and I’m interested in merit only.
With $30K merit, the school is in budget. With $20K, the school is just out of budget, but we could make it work, BUT the annual increases seem steep. $20K merit might mean we could afford freshman year, but she would need loans starting sophomore year. That uncertainty causes stress, especially as she’d be majoring in film and tv, not business or anything.
Based on Fordham’s website, it looks like many people get $10K or $12.5K anyway. CC makes it sound like most folks get more somehow.
I hate that we toured, thinking we could get it down to our budget (about $65K). Wish D24 hadn’t fallen so hard…
Separately, I requested the recent CDS (they are not on the website). It looks like after freshman year, few people have merit $ and more have FA. It might be a wash in the end, but it worries me that they seem to be playing games with how the $ is classified.
It feels like jumping into a swimming pool with no idea how deep it is…
From what I gather, if you get merit, you keep that amount all 4 years unless you go below the GPA threshold, which happens only rarely, and they give you a chance to correct it. I have seen lots of students on CC as well as on Fordham’s a2c Reddit page receiving 20K+ in merit, so it does happen. Of course other options include working (Ram Van pays well, as do waiting tables and nannying in NYC), being an RA (free room and board and great resume builder, but competitive application.) Also moving off campus after freshman year can save a ton (or waste a ton) depending on how fancy your kid lives. The cheapest way is to be willing to sublet from other students going abroad that semester; they often sublet at a discount, and then you don’t have to pay summer rent either. Another money saver can be to graduate a semester early, or spend a semester abroad or at a different domestic Jesuit (many of these programs have cheaper tuition and sometimes much cheaper living expenses, but depends entirely on location.)
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This is great info, thank you!
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My D23 received $25k/year merit which we were initially excited about until I placed it into the spreadsheet I had created to track our cost for each school admitted to. While I initially thought that level of merit would place it within our budget, I soon realized that the 23-24 costs were about $8k more than this year. With that level of increase, it would become unaffordable by sophomore year so we never seriously considered it.
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My D23 received 27k in merit. (We didn’t qualify for f/a)
Stats 4.0 (uw) 4.8 (w) ACT: 34
Still came to 57k a year.
Thought I had seen other threads where you may be able to negotiate additional merit with Fordham?
Finally, just to add, that Fordham was an early front runner for my D23 in her junior year as well. But over time, Fordham dropped down the list. My D23, like many kids, just changed her mind on what mattered most when selecting a school.
They can be pretty fickle:)
Good luck next year!
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Any Dorm and Integrated Learning housing info out there? Searched several threads and no real info or advice…son might apply for the Loyola Integrated Learning Community…would love some pros and cons etc…thanks
Sorry meant this for the group…
Has anyone heard anything back from the waitlist? Still waiting since late April Lol
Everything I looked up seemed like Loyola was a great idea and the nicest dorms by far.
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My S graduated from Fordham a while back and loved his experience living in Queens Court (it was a wellness dorm so not everyone would be interested). Feel free to PM me if you want more information. Loyola was not a dorm when he was there but I’ve heard nice things about that program.
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thanks for the info!
great thanks–it’s top of his list!