To the OP,
If you and your parents are unsure about the campus, but are still interested in Fordham, might I suggest Fordham Lincoln Center? It’s located on the west side and is in the middle of the city. It’s a not traditional college campus, but still nice in its own way. I suggest you check it out if you’re not overly attached to the idea of being on a traditional college campus.
My dad started ranting about how dangerous it is at dinner tonight so I officially can’t apply.
@00110011 hah this is the same with my dad, eventhough I already applied because I got a waiver so figured why not. If I get in then I will try and push it more, but I don’t want to start a fight for no reason
As @wisteria100 noted above, it is a safe campus. But you have to realize, and I am being very honest, one needs to use common sense when walking around.
Fordham is not suburban. It is in the borough of the Bronx, and it’s not like NYU where it is in the middle of the city and doesn’t have a campus per se. And depending on where in Brooklyn that tour guide was from, there are parts of Brooklyn that are comparable to the Fordham section. Columbia has a campus, gated with guards also. My daughter after seeing Columbia’s campus says it doesn’t even compare to Fordham’s.
During the day it is very very very busy. Lots of shopping and people everywhere. Between shopping and people going to the Botanical Gardens and the zoo, it is very busy. Arthur Avenue is another busy strip with classic Italian shops and restaurants.
At night, it’s best to stay in groups. Don’t be stumbling drunk. Don’t have the iPhone out. It’s basic common sense in every city. You need to keep your wits about you. Don’t have the headphones on and be alert. This is a rule of thumb in every city.
I grew up not too far from Fordham. I grew up shopping on Fordham Road and going to the movies there with friends on weekends. I used to take the #20 (then it became the #9) bus from the Marble Hill area to Fordham and to the zoo. Father McShane grew up a few blocks from me (never knew him, but I have a friend who was neighbors with him).
Not for nothing but the University of Southern California and Yale aren’t in the best of neighborhoods either. All you have to do it use some common sense.
Some people are put off by the location of Fordham and look for a more rural/suburban environment and that is perfectly within their right. It is unfortunate that in some cases as in @00110011’s dad the sense that Fordham is “not safe” was made solely on hearsay and without even visiting campus. Still, there should be plenty of great schools out there for the OP that his father can be comfortable with and Fordham has plenty of applicants (over 44,000 last year) so it is all good. For me Fordham’s Rose Hill location was ideal but to each their own.