<p>I've recently been accepted to both Fordham and Manhattan, and love them both. Small, private Catholic schools with great tradition in an awesome city close to home. I'll be majoring in Finance in the fall, and am torn between these two schools. </p>
<p>Both schools gave me 15k, but Manhattan is 12k cheaper to start with. It seems that Fordham has the better name/program, and is known more nationally, but is that worth the additional cost? I know a fair amount of graduates from each school, and it seems that alumni from both schools make a similar amount of money out of college and had good internships/made lots of connections during their four years. The thing Manhattan has going for it is the ROI. In Payscales return on investment survey, MC places 19th (Right next to Columbia, RPI, Brown, UC:Berkley) while Fordham is down at 99 (Stony Brook, UC Davis, UMichigan, Purdue, Fairfield). Since the purpose of a college is to increase your salary, does this put MC ahead? </p>
<p>At the end of the day my question is, where would you chose? </p>
<p>Also, how's the Fordham food? Manhattan just redid their dining services apparently, and I've read some awful things about the food on Rose Hill.</p>
<p>To me it is not even a question, Fordham wins. </p>
<p>I never applied to Manhattan, but I did go there to tour it. I did not even stay for my tour. I had toured Fordham that morning and its campus just had nothing on Fordham. It was in an odd area and I thought it was a bit rundown.</p>
<p>Beyond that, the Gabelli Business School is one of the best in the country. Gabelli kids at Fordham get treated very well and have great oppertunities presented to them. I didn’t even know Manhattan offered business majors.</p>
<p>I could be wrong, but I think employers are going to look at Fordham more highly than Manhattan. Fordham is considered almost in the same class as NYU and Columbia in NYC, Manhattan is not.</p>
<p>The food at Fordham is not terrible. Is it the best food you will ever have? Of course not. But it is decent enough to eat everyday and not hate. The dining system at Fordham is also getting a lot better, they keep adding more and more really good options. I do not think you should pick a college just based on food though.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision. If you come to Fordham, I am sure you will love it! But if not, I am sure you will have made the right choice for you.</p>
<p>Here is my best and very common response to questions like this:</p>
<p>Its up to you. Not being snarky. It’s just what is. At the end of the day, you have to decide which school best suits your needs, finances, inner voice, and all the factors that go into selecting a college. Its your college experience, not mine or others. Not even your parents. </p>
<p>I understand you are reaching out for comments. On the Fordham board you will likely get a lot of strong Fordham votes, support. It’s what is expected. We are Fordham family. </p>
<p>But kids all over the country will be making choices in April. Some of them gut wrenching. We got down to two schools in April 07 and it was a last day kind of decision. Very emotional. But you pull the trigger, close the book on the others, don the gear of the school you select (hopefully Fordham) and look forwards and upwards, not down and behind you. </p>
<p>Every school has remarkable qualities and features. Every school has a vibe. They serve their constituency as best they can. Some kids want to be the top dog or big fish in a little pond, some want total anonymity and could care less about class rank or notoreity. Some want more sports legacy, some its purely academic. Some urban, some suburban or out in the sticks. There is no one right answer that fits all. Its the answer that fits YOU. And deep down, you likely have a strong feeling what that is. </p>
<p>Manhattan College is a fine school. A superb engineering school. Its President is the former Dean of the College at Rose Hill (Fordham). He is a great human being doing a great job. Its up the street so to speak from Fordham. But its small. Its not for everyone. For others its perfect. Yes, they offer a substantial cost savings compared to Fordham and for many that is outcome determinative. </p>
<p>Whatever you decide, you must turn the page and close the book and move forward. But take your time, visit both schools. Visit others who accept you as well. Make your decision and buy the gear. </p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful responses – Especially you, sovereign. </p>
<p>Gardy, when I went to MC just last week the facilities seem fine, though my tour guide told me that everything had been recently renovated. When did you go? I think Fordham has the nicer campus overall, but I like the Riverdale area where Manhattan is located.</p>
<p>my pleasure Angel. Riverdale is lovely. Truly. I get that. </p>
<p>But dont be afraid of Belmont/Arthur Ave./Fordham Road area. Fordham is very safe. We are not New Yorkers and my kid was very sheltered. She had huge culture shock at Fordham freshman year, but by sophomore year found herself and by Senior year HATED to leave Fordham. Tears gushing she hated to leave so much. </p>
<p>I never ever bash any school. I can’t stand elitism and superficial stuff. I understand finances play a role for EVERY kid, some more than others. I understand its a personal decision. But as they say, selecting a college is the FIRST adult decision you make that impacts your future life…and yes, its hard. Welcome to being an adult! </p>
<p>I have a bias. Its admitted and clear. But if you select Manhattan we wish you the very best and applaud you. Some kids will turn Fordham away for money. Some will get into an Ivy, or BC or Georgetown etc. But I will also tell you that kids pick Fordham over higher ranked schools. My kid had several kids with perfect 1600 SATs in her class at Fordham and her dorm was FULL of Honors students. She entered an Honors program after Freshman year (there are several, by invitation of the faculty). She was supremely challenged, exhausted and exhuberant. </p>
<p>Fordham and Manhattan have a strong basketball rivalry going back decades. Its part of the fun! Good luck.</p>
<p>As always, sovereigndebt gives excellent advice. Manhattan and Fordham are sort of local rivals and have a L-O-N-G history where the rivalry is pretty intense. To address some of your points:<br>
-Payscales: MC 19th, FU 99th. I don’t know where you got that stat and what was the data to derive this, but I find it very strange. There are many ways to measure if an education was worthwhile, so allow me a counter-point on this stat you quote. The Mines schools de Paris does a study of ALL schools in the world, looking at the top leaders of Fortune 500 companies and where they graduated from. Fordham was listed 63rd…out of some 5,000 schools worldwide. Manhattan was not listed in the first thousand or so that was published. I guess one can find some statistic, somewhere, that can show how school A is better than school B or vice versa. If you are looking the most for your tuition dollar, a state school will probably give you the most for your dollar, or ROI…or the most expensive top private schools also have a high ROI. Things like internships and post grad admissions (areas Fordham does very well in) are important but are not usually part of an ROI study. Try this: look at the list of famous grads on the Fordham and Manhattan Wiki sites to get an idea of representative tangible outcomes. Not a hard stat by any means, but real world results.
-Cost: Yes, Manhattan is 12K less expensive, but it is a smaller school with a smaller operating budget. If you compare the facilities, number of campuses (4 to 1), schools etc. you will see the many reasons why there is a 12K difference. It is up to you if you think it is worth it. Many kids will take less aid in order to go to the school they prefer. Some must attend the least expensive school. Every case is different.
-Food: Fordham is in the process of addressing some issues it had last year…It was rated the worst food by one publication and that triggered a “Clean-up” of the food service.</p>
<p>Manhattan is a fine school and you will get a good education there. Pick the school that you really like and can manage the cost.</p>
<p>Very true standish. Engineering grads do make very good starting salaries and that is a big factor in that strange statistic. Not to mention the number of Fordham grads who go into teaching, public service etc. that tend to have low starting salaries.
…then again with the number of gouvenors, congressman, senators, military, CIA and FBI leaders that are Fordham grads, civil service is not such a bad way to start a career.</p>
<p>So unless Angelfish95 is going into their engineering school, I would put verly little weight in that starting salary statistic that was quoted.</p>
<p>Excellent point RamRay. Fordham has nationally ranked programs in psychology, education, counseling, theology, etc which produce stars who are not measured by their annual starting salary. Those careers are not focused on income or “money” like wallstreet or financial services/hedgefunds/mutual funds, but on helping people. It has always irked me the pinheads on CC who use statistics to their own narcissistic advantage to bludgeon schools they deem inferior (the elitists on CC), and often use starting salaries as one measure to do that. </p>
<p>A better measure is to look at the ranking of particular programs, both graduate and undergraduate, to determine the strength of a Fordham degree. We are not New Yorkers. My kid got into some very prestigious graduate programs upon graduating from Fordham. The strength of that Fordham degree (and her gpa/class rank) was a key factor. And after finishing graduate school, job offers came in outside of New York and everyone commented at interviews about their respect for Fordham University. </p>
<p>In the end, selecting a particular undergraduate school is highly subjective, based on one person’s (or family) particular interests, financial needs, geographics, personality, program strength, size of school, athletics, campus size, urban or suburban, on and on. We hope they select Fordham. But we really want to ensure that if they select Fordham its for the right reasons and they embrace Fordham, its ethos, its location. If they select another school, we wish them all the very best. Our job here on CC is to introduce Fordham, to explain things as best we can and to encourage them to attend. Beyond that, its all up to them.</p>
<p>I have often come across some “Pinheads” on these forums who lock onto one or two facts to “Prove” that their school is better than Fordham and others (the Fordham vs Villanova thread ran for YEARS!!! silly). I have to admit I jump on when I see a statement like “Well, my school is naturally superior to Fordham because we average 10 points higher on the SATs!” and I provide counter-points. I feel if a HS kid reads a statement like that, they may take it at face value…unless such a statement is challanged or counter-pointed, people tend to believe everything they read on the net.</p>
<p>Congrats on your daughter. My D finished Fordham 1 semester early and my W and I were worried about her future as she changed her major 3x amd in the current economy, liberal arts majors have a hard time finding jobs. She settled on marketing in her last 2 years, got good grades and got great internships in her field. Result? When she walks down to get her diploma in May, she will be a working woman in the marketing dept. of a large record label. She got 3 interviews with the intership jobs she had and was offered 3 jobs by 1 month after she finished in December!</p>
<p>Real world results…Now THATS the power of a Fordham education!</p>
<p>The ROI that AngelFish mentions is PayScales 2012 ROI Report. Manhattan College is known for its outstanding Engineering program; Fordham has the outstanding Business program. Manhattan has a very small campus while Fordham has the larger campus with amenities like the football team. Both are located in similar areas just 3 miles from each other.</p>
<p>One of my friends got an email saying he got accepted AND got a scholarship! I’m getting worried now… I dont know if there is a difference between Rose Hill and Lincoln Center, but she applied to Lincoln Center and got a big scholarship for theater arts :p</p>
<p>Pacentral, Don’t worry yet. Regular Decision acceptance letters will be coming in by April 1st and possibly beyond. However, Fordham is now very competitive. Good luck!</p>