Fordham vs Barnard

<p>Hi, I am a rising senior and I've been looking around at colleges this spring and summer. I have found that I really like two schools - Fordham and Barnard, hence the title of this post :P. Anyway, I have been talking to alot of people about their opinions and someone suggested I make an account and ask it here. </p>

<p>So my question would be how do Fordham and Barnard compare? </p>

<p>I really like their New York City location and more flexible cores, but I am interested in how they compare in terms of type of social life, type of student body, academics and such. I am interested in creative writing, English and psychology and have a laid back personality. :) Thanks so much in advance!!</p>

<p>well the two are pretty distinct schools. both are good, but barnard is all girls, as you probably know. i have a friend who ultimately got off the barnard waitlist and is going there, and also got into fordham. it’s probably harder to get into barnard, but fordham isn’t a safety or pushover by any measure. they both have good liberal arts programs and fordham has a great up and coming business school for undergrads. fordham lincoln center is in the city like barnard, but rose hill is in the bronx. it’s a beautiful campus, one of the main reasons why i actually chose fordham. ultimately, it’s your decision. i think you should visit both schools to see which you like better. congratulations on finally getting to this point in your life, and i wish you all the best in your search for the right school. :)</p>

<p>hello! actually, i am a member of the college council in the Lincoln Center (Manhattan) campus, which is made up of faculty, students, and the dean of college, and when we were looking at other schools in the area to compare ourselves to, we found that the college we are most like is Barnard. So this is a funny post.</p>

<p>Fordham Lincoln Center is VERY similar to Barnard. both have a seemingly small campus (a large dorm, and one academic building) and are connected to larger schools (Rose Hill for Fordham, Columbia for Barnard) where students can take classes at both and consider it as one university, but two campuses (although a little less so for Barnard). both have a pretty laid back student life, and similar values with regard to a well rounded education, as seen by the two core curriculums both mandate.</p>

<p>i actually did a Barnard summer program the summer after my junior year of high school, and i loved it. however, i chose not to apply there and had Fordham LC be my first choice instead mainly because it was so similar to Barnard, which i already knew was a system i loved, and it had a communications department, which Barnard lacked. Also, there is the thing where Barnard is all girls, while Fordham is obviously co-ed (with a 60/40 ratio, girls to guys, but it’s okay).</p>

<p>as i said, the academics are pretty similar, because of the core requirements both have. Fordham’s is a little more rigorous, but only because as a jesuit school we are very into curea personalis, which is care for the whole person, and try and make students broaden their education to more than just what their major is, which i personally love. also, from what i’ve gathered from Barnard, i feel that at Fordham we go more in depth with our majors, where as Barnard just gives you a broad sweep of whatever it is your majoring in. However, i could be wrong about that. Also, as a jesuit school we really stress social justice and doing what you’re passionate about, so there are tons of ways to combine whatever it is you’re interested in with helping others, which is always nice.</p>

<p>in terms of student life and student body, the biggest difference obviously is that Fordham is not an all girls school. in the dorms we have co-ed floors, but apartments are all single sex. as someone who had all guy friends until i went to college, i could never imagine being only friends with girls except for when i interact with columbia kids, but that’s just me. i don’t really know much about student life at Barnard, but i have a friend that goes there and she’s told me that one thing she kind of doesn’t like is that she feels that she gets stuck in the “Barnard bubble”, since they are all the way up on 116th street in Morningside Heights (which is basically Harlem, but actually a beautiful neighborhood) and they don’t really leave that neighborhood very often. At Fordham LC, we are literally in the middle of Manhattan, within walking distance to Midtown, Hell’s Kitchen, and the Upper West Side, and with the 1/A/C/B/D trains a block away at Columbus Circle to take us anywhere else in NYC.</p>

<p>if you get a chance, take a tour of both schools, and you can see for yourself how similar the two really are. both are wonderful schools, and i wish you the best in your applying process!</p>

<p>In terms of RH:</p>

<p>Social Life: Most people go to off campus parties to drink and the Tri-bar area. </p>

<p>Type of Student Body: Preppy/ Largely Irish/Italian Catholic from Jersey or LI. </p>

<p>Academics: Decent. Most of your core classes will be taught by Grad students so keep that in mind. Also, There’s not much of a “creative” attitude here. I would describe the atmosphere as very pre-professional with most students caring mainly about getting the highest grade possible.</p>