I visited both schools this past weekend, and I have zero ideas on where to go. I feel like Sarah Lawrence’s rather open-ended education system would be really beneficial to me, but I worry that socially it’s not a good fit for me, that I won’t enjoy my time there. Fordham (Lincoln Center) has the benefit of what seems to be a fairly extensive career planning and a lot of internships. They also have fairly small classes, which I find appealing. I also like that I would be in the city–I know that Sarah Lawrence is pretty close, but I currently live about the same distance from the city as the college is, so that doesn’t really mean much to me as of right now.
I’m going in undecided, and have no idea what I would like to pursue, beyond something in the liberal arts arena. Literally any help at all would be appreciated!
Sarah Lawrence is a very liberal artsy place - perhaps one of the most liberal artsy places there is. While I never visited Fordham, I get the sense that it has less of that vibe and that students there are more pre-professionally minded. I didn’t know Fordham LC had small classes, but I can assure you Sarah Lawrence definitely does as well.
SLC offerings emphasize visual and performing arts, writing, literature, history, and psychology, but may be limited in other subjects.
https://www.sarahlawrence.edu/undergraduate/disciplines/
I think the vibe at Fordham LC is pretty liberal but I expect there would be a bit more diversity in of student body as compared to SLC which may make it a better social fit. Fordham’s location in Manhattan is amazing and you can take classes on the Rose Hill campus if something offered there piques your interest.
One other thing to consider is that Fordham has an extensive liberal arts core curriculum which can be found online I’m sure – take some time to look it over. For full disclosure my S went to Fordham RH (Gabelli) and didn’t mind the core at all – he felt it stretched him in classes he never would have otherwise taken – but some people object to such a large core.
If possible try to visit or re-visit the two schools maybe during admitted students day. That second look helped my S to decide which school felt right to him.
Liberal, artsy, etc. are relative labels that mean different things to different people. Look at the difference in how you learn. Do you want a structure with three, rather than four, major courses each term because each of those has two components: the classroom, and the one-on-one ongoing advisory and project. And the don system. That is the big structural difference I noticed when moving from conventional curriculum to Sarah Lawrence. It’s a fundamental difference in how you learn and in the student-teacher relationship. Visit so you can feel it and what the choice is really between. Also they are very different campuses to live and operate in.