<p>It's decision time! Things didn't work out quite how I'd hoped in my college search (rejected at Yale, waitlisted at Georgetown and Barnard and won't qualify for fin aid, which I'd need for both of those schools), but I still have 2 options. Here they are, with my pros/cons. Your insight would be appreciated!</p>
<p>Fordham (Lincoln Center):</p>
<p>Honors program (16 students out of about 425)
Presidential Scholarship (so costs would be $5000 the first year and about $7500 after that)
Location (I want to study International Affairs, FCLC has internship connections with the UN and lots of NGOs, plus, well, it's NEW YORK)</p>
<p>UW (Seattle):</p>
<p>Honors program (200 students out of about 6,000)
Costs more, but still affordable w/o aid
Ranked higher
Close to home (saves money, but also not as exciting, and Seattle's not exactly a hub of international politics...)</p>
<p>I'm also considering going to Fordham for 2 years with the intent to transfer to Barnard (hopefully for the 3-2 program with SIPA at Columbia or at Sciences Po), Georgetown, or somewhere else. Transferring from UW to one of these schools would not be financially viable.</p>
<p>If all else fails, I'll be an au pair for a year and reapply to a different slate of colleges. I know I'm lucky to have options, but I never expected to already be making plans to transfer.</p>
<p>The Fordham honors program is amazing and the location is perfect to eventually pursue internships in your area of interest. I’d jump on that opportunity. (You can try putting up a post on the Fordham CC wall to get more information)</p>
<p>A word of advice from a mom – I wouldn’t go to a school intending to transfer out as it will make it harder to develop relationships at a college and enjoy the experience in front of you. Also often transfers don’t get much in the way of financial aid so transferring may not be do-able ultimately.</p>
<p>You’d crazy not to take Fordham, a degree in Fordham is not much different from Barnard. Barnard is NOT Columbia, I know, I have friends and families from all three schools.</p>
<p>@happy1:
Financial aid wouldn’t be as much of a problem if I spent my first two years at Fordham, which would make a tiny dent in the college savings compared to Barnard or Georgetown. And Narnard is only about 30 blocks away from Fordham- wouldn’t be too hard to keep in touch with friends. Kids go to community college with the intent to transfer all the time- this would be like that but better. @artloversplus:
I know Barnard is not Columbia, but the caliber of the education is certainly higher than that of Fordham. And Barnard does offer that 3-2 program that pretty much can’t be beat.</p>
<p>Wow…you could not pick such different schools in character: Barnard is a super liberal women’s college within Columbia with their own core curiculum, physical presence on the Columbia campus but with a defiant “we are NOT Columbia College” stance, while Fordham-Rose Hill is much more conservative, collegiate feeling, bigger green campus and more traditional activites. FU-Rose Hill is more like UWashington and that makes for a better comparison</p>
<p>@RamRay:
I didn’t apply to Fordham Rose Hill for exactly that reason. Fordham Lincoln Center is smaller, more progressive, much less athletics-oriented, and doesn’t have a traditional campus.</p>