<p>Hi!
I was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom for me regarding the difference between Fordham's Rose Hill campus and Lincoln Center campus in regards to social life, the kinds of people that generally attend and the overall positive/negative sides of both campuses.
As of now I'm thinking that I want to major in Communication & Media Studies and English. I know I defiantly want to apply to Fordham, but as the deadline approaches, I have to apply to one campus and I'm not sure what the REAL campus dynamics are (the ones that they don't show on tours).
Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Many threads in the archives about this as its asked several times a year. Its a very personal decision. LC is more artsy because of drama and dance schools, and next door Julliard. LC is very urban and basically one square block and you are in the midst of midtown manhattan. Lots of commuters also at LC. RH is residential and a classic college compus with sports and dorms and all of that. RH has kids from the tri state area and a lot from Long Island. But also a lot of kids from Texas, California, Florida and other regions. </p>
<p>There are subtle differences too hard to define here and it also depends on your own personality and what you are looking for in a college experience, the type of people. Fordham is amazingly diverse for an expensive private school. Its Catholic and Jesuit, but only 60% are catholics. Clubs at both campuses. You will find kids from wealth and kids who aren’t. Kids who are conservative and kids who are liberals and kids who dont care. Preppies and more artsy/urban. Fordham is accepting and welcoming. </p>
<p>You can take classes at both campuses as upperclassmen as well. </p>
<p>Rose Hill kids go into the city often…for museums, shopping, clubbing, internships etc. Both campuses have excellent mentors and connections for the top students to find internships.</p>
<p>And we of course don’t know you, so can’t decide for you. :-)</p>
<p>Just one thing to consider, as a comm/ media major, at LC, you are just blocks away from the major tv networks and CNN and other media outlets (magazines, the New York Times!). It will be very easy for you to walk to an internship from LC’s location. You can get into the city from RH too, by Ram Van or by subway, but you will have to add in commute time and the cost.
There are many factors to consider, just wanted to mention this one.</p>
<p>Thank you both! I really appreciate your input. This is very helpful :)</p>
<p>You are very welcome. Lefty is a great source for LC matters. :-)</p>
<p>You should know, that regardless of which campus you choose, Fordham has wonderful internships and relationships with the major networks and cable television with longstanding placement record. The producer of ABC’s GMA show is a Fordham alumnus who brought U2 to Rose Hill in March 2009 for a special, surprise free concert for students and faculty…you can youtube it. </p>
<p>FoxNews hires Fordham grads. And so does NBC. There are Fordham graduates in cable enterntainment channels as well. </p>
<p>But as you might gather, only the top students get those plum jobs so its imperative you do well. Good luck!</p>
<p>My daughter loves LC so much that she became a tour guide this year, she just wanted to share her love for the school. </p>
<p>I’m a student at RH. As mentioned above RH offers more of a traditional college experience with a beautiful Gothic gated campus, traditional dorms, sports teams on campus, etc. The LC campus is one square block in the heart of Manhattan. Virtually every RH student takes advantage of the proximity to Manhattan one way of another. There is easy access to Manhattan via the subway, Ram Van (van from RH to LC campus) or Metro North but there is some time and cost involved in making the commute. RH students go into Manhattan for social activities, to take internships in Manhattan, and to take classes at LC. </p>
<p>In general the RH student might be stereotyped as being a bit more traditional (the bulk of the business school is at RH while the theater and dance programs are at LC). but you can find a wide range of people at either campus. In terms of dorms, RH has more traditional dorms for freshman and sophomore years and then apartment style dorms for junior and senior years. LC has only apartment style dorms (which I’ve seen and they are great as well). From what I can tell, there are some cheaper social/weekend options available in the Bronx as compared to Manhattan. The LC undergraduate class is much smaller than the RH one if that matters to you. I also believe that LC has a larger commuter population but that may be changing as new dorms are available.</p>
<p>Both campuses have much to offer. LC with its location in Manhattan is great. But people also do internships in Manhattan from RH and the school’s very well respected radio station WFUV is at RH.</p>
<p>If you live nearby it may be worthwhile to visit (or re-visit) the two campuses – look at the students, the campus, the area etc. and try to get a sense of which might be the best fit for you. </p>
<p>Spirit, I was actually able to visit both schools at their respective open houses this weekend! It did help, but as I’m thinking of studying Communications (with a concentration in Journalism/New Media) some of the staff at LC seemed to kind of lean towards RH as a better fit…in your experience (if you know), with these concentrations, is RH the better campus?
Also (anyone), if I want a sense of community, should I be at Rose Hill (in your opinion) or would LC be okay?
Finally, (I’ve thought of a lot of questions in the past day haha) I’ve heard that a lot of stereotypical (rich, snobby, materialistic) Long Island and New Jersey and Connecticut kids attend Rose Hill. I’m trying to avoid that.
Seriously, thank you all so incredibly much. </p>
<p>@elainef will PM you</p>
<p>My D attends RH and has met a few snobby kids, but not all come from the tri-state area. Some are from Northern CA and even some South Western states. The school does cost 60K a year, so you will find them anywhere. Besides, it is all in the eye of the beholder. I just spoke to a parent of another private school who feels that “all international students are filthy rich” and his D was uncomfortable with them. My D would love to have friends from other countries, so, to each his own. Every school has every type, especially an expensive private school in one of the largest cities in the world. Fordham is getting more diverse every year, and this is a good thing. Check out both campuses. You can always make a change sophomore year. Good luck. </p>
<p>My D, who is home this weekend 
just told me a lot of LC kids come up to Bronx on the weekends and that LC can be a little empty on weekends. </p>
<p>snobbery occurs at every school in the nation. From state flagships to expensive private schools. There is little to no way for admissions to find out who they are on applications. On the other hand, there are often students who come from wealth who dress down, so to speak, and are well balanced, well grounded and very humble…and one would never know their social status. I’ve heard stories of big egos with kids from less wealth…kids are kids. Every person comes in the door with all sorts of “psychological baggage and agendas”. </p>
<p>Its what makes a “community” and it is in that community kids learn valuable lessons on how to deal with people who are different than them, how to deal with competition, and how to deal with adverse situations…all while living in a close quarters dormitory. 
A lot of growing up occurs during four years. </p>
<p>My kid, a graduate of FCRH, rolls her eyes now when we remind her of “the dorm drama” (particularly freshman year). The good news is that Fordham is not all one race, not all one religion, not all one social status, not all one region, not all one interest group, not all one focus on math/science etc. Its diverse in every sense of the word. Good people find other good people. Rude people are quickly discovered and avoided. And some come full circle and beg forgiveness for previous transgressions and judgments. Seen it. </p>
<p>Fr. McShane promises that Fordham is transformational. He warns all parents as they drop them off that their kids will come home a changed person…for the better. And he delivers on that promise in spades. </p>
<p>I wont mention any names, as I dont bash other schools, but there are some peer schools that my kid was interested in/applied to/was deferred or didnt apply to…and they are a lot less diverse and a lot more preppy and don’t have the very valuable social resource of “The Bronx”…to educate them. That is the beauty of Fordham. Its two educations for the price of one. The worst thing a parent could do, in my humble opinion, is to send a kid off to college and have them returned the same sheltered spoiled kid they were in high school (to borrow a phrase rhetorically; not an accusation.)</p>
<p>Growth is a good thing. </p>