Holy Cross or U Richmond or Fordham

My DD was accepted to all three. Fordham Gabelli with NMSF scholarship - full tuition award. Generous scholarships at HC and UR. Please share opinions on her remaining choices.

Three great options! My oldest graduated from Holy Cross in May. She had a great experience. Alumni network has been instrumental in landing a job and also for mentoring. HC is an inviting community and beautiful campus. PM me with specific questions!

What does your daughter think? These are all fine schools.

Gabelli is well regarded and, of course, it’s NYC. Lots to do plus great internship opportunities. Does she like big cities? Is she accepted at Lincoln Center or Rose Hill?

I’m sure you will find fans of all those schools. My two went/go to U Richmond. They love it. We appreciated the school funded internship that every student gets. Sophomore Scholars is a neat program. They’ve started a new program to insure everyone that wants a study abroad opportunity even if it needs to be short term due to schedule, atheletics or whatever. That said, I don’t know much about the other schools. I’m sure they all have great perks. Just go with something affordable and wherever she feels most comfortable.

I think the location of what she wants needs to be clarified.

U of Richmond is actually outside of Richmond…more suburban.

Fordham is urban.

Holy Cross is in a smaller city.

If she plans to live off campus…Fordham is located where there is very expensive real estate and high rents. Another thought.

Congratulations! All three of these schools were on our radar. So, HC and Fordham will have the Jesuit culture and influence (that’s a plus, for us at least) and will result in a common core that will include some religious or philosophy classes. Richmond has the Richmond Guarantee which is awesome, a $2000 grant towards an internship or research experience.

We’ve only visited Richmond, but I think that Richmond and Fordham might be quite different in campus, student body and possibly culture. Have you visited? Richmond seemed quite preppy, and in a country club in the woods type atmosphere. Fordham would have a more diverse student body, in both geographic, race, and sexual orientation, although I’ve read that the student body skews quite affluent as well. I’ve never heard Fordham described as preppy though.

I only ever researched great things about HC, but can’t speak to it as I couldn’t get DS to visit or apply (for no reason, it just came up later in the process and he didn’t want to add schools).

They are all fine colleges where a great education is available. The differences among them aren’t subtle; they are huge and right in your face: Catholic (Jesuit) vs. non-religious private. 10,000 undergraduates (and many more graduate students) vs. 3,000 vs. 2,500. Meaningfully different ethnic and socio-economic mixes. Beating heart of New York City (both campuses, one in midtown Manhattan, the other in a vibrant multi-ethnic community in the central Bronx) vs. affluent area not-really-in-the-center of Virginia’s relatively small capital city vs. isolated campus on the edge of a depressed really small city (albeit with lots of higher education institutions), Mid-Atlantic vs. Southern vs. New England.

Someone could like all of them, but I don’t think anyone could like all of them equally.

The best college for a particular student is whichever one the student can afford and makes the student feel most engaged, excited about learning, and confident. If cost isn’t a big differentiator here, the OP’s daughter should go with her gut, and that will be the right choice.

all great colleges. Which one does she feel more comfortable in? In other words, is there one that stands out as, “Yeah, this could be ‘home’ for the next four years.”

Our D attends Holy Cross and is very happy there. She chose HC because she wanted a large LAC (3,000 students), NO Greek life and strong academic rigor, bright students and a school with a great reputation with strong alumni support/connections after graduation. HC location is great for students wanting to be close to downtown but also having a well demarcated, leafy green campus. Worcester is the second largest city in MA and has been on a steady economic upswing. Old stereotypes die hard, I guess, but it’s a great college town.

Three great choices. Time for a road trip if all are on the table for the family, and let the student choose. If one costs a lot less, perhaps some money in the bank for future use? Or no loans if any in the package? If money is an issue that should be brought into the picture.

I’ve known kids who have gone to all three and I couldn’t choose one over the other overall.

@Bananas95,
It appears all three are very good chioce. Someone have already pointed out the environments and locations. What about the weather. Of the three, HC will be the coldest and snowiest. I live here so I am used to it.

Would your daughter mind being in a place where it is cold 4-5 months a year?

The Jesuit aspect of Fordham has been mentioned, when we visited we didn’t find it “in your face” at all. Like - it’s there if you want it, and if you are catholic you will certainly find enough to get involved with, but otherwise you can feel comfortable with the positive outcomes of it without feeling like religion is being forced on you. And as someone mentioned above, being in NYC it’s a very diverse and tolerant university. My not-Catholic daughter liked Fordham a lot.

Good point above about Jesuit schools. We have found Holy Cross welcoming and tolerant to all faiths or no faith. It’s mission is very much about rigorous education and a global view of the common good and service to others. Holy Cross has been excellent for our non-Catholic student.

All 3 are wonderful choices academically, with very different locations/feel. That Fordham NMF scholarship opportunity is fantastic, congrats to your kiddo!

I have 2 UR graduates who had great experiences while there, with excellent professors and advisors, small classes, wonderful travel abroad programs, with 67% having an experience abroad.

The dining hall has excellent, award winning food and Richmond is a fun historic city with an artsy, foodie vibe, nice museums and parks, festivals, and we loved our visits.

One of the big pluses for us was that the majority of UR students live on campus during their time there (87%), which helps foster a very strong sense of community. There are a bunch of nice on campus apartments where many upperclassmen live.

What, if any, are the requirements for keeping her scholarship awards at each school ?

Either she wants to be in NYC or she doesn’t. Three very different environments, in my opinion.

All good schools where your D can get an excellent education. You haven’t said whether you’ve visited each school. If not, you definitelly should. NYC is not for everyone. Similarly, Worcester (although HC unlike Clark) is up on the hill and somewhat removed from Worcester, which is always trying to revive itself. (Maybe the Red Sox AAA team will help but that isn’t happening un til 2021). Your D needs to feel comfortable with her environment.

Hard to pass up a full ride!

Can’t compare them, just share info on Richmond as we have a freshman S there. Campus is beautiful. Very small discussion-based classes and professor accessibility. Top notch faculty (his current accounting prof wrote the textbook and teaches by Socratic method). 4K for unpaid research or internship. Frats are a pretty big thing (though you can have a social life without them). S loves it and has tons of friends and isn’t a “preppy” kid as we’re from the SW, but there’s definitely a contingent that dresses that way as the mid/north east coast is well-represented.

We were a bit surprised by his 1st sem grades though. Mind you, he apparently was extremely social, joined a traveling D3 club frisbee team, and didn’t put in much work (he thought with a 34 ACT and pretty good grades without much work from a rigorous prep school he’d slide by - not so!). So, I’d say it’s more rigorous than lots on CC seem to think, which is a good thing.

The school has a downtown presence and lots of great service opportunities. A shuttle runs downtown and takes kids elsewhere. Amtrak station is close by for easy access to DC, elsewhere for longer weekends or breaks. Many lecturers come to campus on different topics. Have artists in residence. There’s a unique Leadership School (lots of kids double major). Lots of living learning communities.

According to our S, most kids get internships by sophomore summer, so they often use the 4K for freshman summer.

I’d say it’s a great school if you’re going to use everything they offer (and aren’t a slacker!).

@havenoidea: I do not believe that OP has been offered a full ride. OP has a full tuition scholarship (National Merit) at Fordham, and scholarships of unspecified amounts elsewhere.

I live about 10 mins from U of R. It’s top notch.