<p>Can anyone comment on the validity of that? What I've heard is that SATs are basically a trump factor for Fordham, that they go before everything else in deciding admission, and determine where the merit aid goes.</p>
<p>In a word, no. The moms and students on this board don’t know the official policy; if a faculty or staff member were online, Reddit would probably be a better place than CC to look for him/her.</p>
<p>I had a very high SAT and did receive a large merit aid package, and many of my friends with high SAT/ACT scores are also here on great scholarships. But I was also valedictorian, heavily involved in multiple performing arts, and resident of a state from which Fordham wanted to recruit. Everyone I know who had big money thrown at them also had hooks of their own in addition to high test scores and GPAs.</p>
<p>I think the only way in which standardized testing plays a truly pivotal role in scholarship decisions is for the National Merit-related awards, which obviously require you to meet a certain PSAT threshold.</p>
<p>Look at the SATs, GPAs, writing styles, and ECs of admitted students and come to your own conclusions rather than promulgating hearsay.</p>
<p>Of course, I’m not trying to suggest SAT scores are the ONLY determining factor. But it’s very possible that they are considered the most important factor, and that they will go farther than anything else will in directing where merit aid goes.</p>
<p>Paramitas, it looks like you’re convinced. Sleep well knowing you have strong convictions.</p>
<p>Kids, remember to concentrate while taking standardized tests, get good GPAs, and try to be well-rounded students, servants, and leaders. Worrying about what specific qualities any one college “wants” is so CC–please don’t do it.</p>
<p>Let me answer this question for you and anyone applying to Fordham concerned with this question.</p>
<p>All colleges look to the SAT (even ones which are supposedly SAT optional) as an objective national standard by which they can draw a bright line for admission and merit aid. The reason is so many kids apply with 4.0 gpas and are presidents of clubs etc. Even with the SAT colleges could fill their classes with 1600 SATs and 4.0 students. They choose not to do so for diversity, recognizing that students bring many qualities to a student body. </p>
<p>Fordham is no different. If you were on the committee what would you do? Admit kids with a low SAT and defer or deny kids with a high SAT? Or admit only kids with high SAT’s? What is the cutoff point for you? Is it a hardline rule? What exceptions would you make and why? What would you do with a kid with a high SAT and modest gpa and class rank? (Trust me, they occur.) Or a super high gpa and class rank and EC’s, but modest SAT? The SAT is not a guarantee of success in college, and work ethic seems to be the best indicator of success. </p>
<p>Admissions is a very difficult job. Fordham receives more than 35,000 applications for a class of 1,700 students. They admit approximately 40-45% of applicants. They have to draw the line somewhere to be fair and equitable. Unfortunately, standardized testing is the only true objective measure, imperfect as it may be.</p>
<p>However, Fordham looks to all your factors, including gpa’s, class rank, recommendations, EC’s, geographical diversity, economic diversity, social diversity etc. </p>
<p>Angle is correct that nobody here knows the matrix recipe and what is the precise score that is in and what is the precise score which is out. </p>
<p>Fordham’s median score is between 1250 and 1300. It is rising every year. </p>
<p>To get merit aid, generally (from anecdotal reports) you must attain a 1400. </p>
<p>If you are below that score you will not likely get merit aid, but you may well receive a grant in aid if you provided that CSS and FAFSA forms and qualify for financial aid. </p>
<p>10 years ago, Fordham’s scores were lower and so was its ranking. The demographics of college applicants increased sharply in that time and applications soared. The common application also caused a sharp increase as kids applied to 10 or more schools. It is what it is. </p>
<p>10 years ago, an 1100 SAT probably got you admitted. Today it is very problematic. Even with high gpa and class rank. </p>
<p>I hope that helps you and others wondering about how decisions are made. It is always best to focus on match and safety schools (where your SAT is in the middle 50th percentile) to ensure you are admitted to several schools and have a choice. If that is Fordham wonderful. Reach schools are fine, but should not be counted upon for admission under any circumstance. </p>
<p>Legacy is no longer the factor it used to be either. There are students at Fordham whose younger siblings were waitlisted or rejected (or vice versa.) </p>
<p>And please remember that its not personal. Its a tough and quirky process. Good luck.</p>
<p>Well stated, sovereigndebt.</p>
<p>what SAT/ACT score do I need to get a full ride, considering that my GPA is 4.00, my EC’s,essays and letters of recommendation are very good?
Would 1400/32 be enough?</p>
<p>I dont work for Fordham and I am not aware of anyone here who does. That being said, from anecdotal reports, a 1400 SAT will probably (but not necessarily) qualify you for a merit scholarship, but not a full ride. By full ride I mean tuition, but not room/board. A true full ride including room/board is rare and I think that is mostly athletes. A 1600 SAT may well get you a full tuition scholarship. Fordham’s avg (mean score) SAT is 1268. </p>
<p>File a FAFSA and CSS and see also if they would supplement a partial scholarship with any university grant. </p>
<p>Every student who needs aid will get aid, but it varies on the amount. And you will be expected to have parents/family contribute to the cost and likely for you to take on some debt. The average debt for Fordham graduates is around 25k. That isnt onerous to pay back, particularly if you find a job in Manhattan with high salaries. </p>
<p>You have excellent stats. Congratulations on your hard work. But Fordham gets a lot of students with outstanding stats. Also some scholarships are restricted funds and have different criteria, particularly from Jesuit prep schools and some Catholic high schools, or from children of firefighters etc. </p>
<p>Every applicant at Fordham is reviewed for scholarship potential. No special scholarship application is necessary. Good luck.</p>
<p>In my case, I don’t think it did. I sent in my ACT score, first of all. I got a 27, which I don’t think is that good, and I got accepted with $16,000/year.</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted with a 28 ACT. Her SAT was WAY below the median Soverigndebt mentioned. She got the Jogues scholarship and came from a NYC Catholic HS. So, they must look at more than scores to have offered my D admittance. Ranked in top 10, 3.8 GPA, NHS and Spanish NHS since sophomore year, Irish Dancer for 10 years.
We received a very generous FA package, but I still need to pay a substantial amount out of pocket. But worth every penny.</p>
<p>The vast, vast bulk of money given to incoming students is based on financial need, not merit.</p>
<p>A few kids do get prestigious scholarships - I got a 2320 on my SAT with over a 4.0 GPA in high school, and I got a 26,000 scholarship.</p>
<p>A student with a 1750 SAT and 3.65 GPA, but who comes from a family with a low income level, will get close to a full ride (assuming he is admitted). If you are a minority, that helps even more.</p>
<p>I personally think that’s a little ridiculous, but it is the way it works.</p>
<p>People who get scholarships from catholic high schools with scores lower than 1400 SAT or its ACT equivalent are getting those funds from restricted scholarships. Fordham also gives better scholarships to kids from catholic schools often…and its infuriating to those who went to public schools because the one catholic school in our region was not as competitive academically and was a 30 minute drive each way and very expensive. </p>
<p>I have long stated that Fordham’s financial aid office and admissions office/scholarship committee is infuriating. Congrats if you got one, but its ludicrous for a kid with a mediocre score to get one just because they went to a favored local catholic school on Long Island or New Jersey and some kid from another state with a HIGHER score gets nothing in merit aid. </p>
<p>I dont work for Fordham and dont pretend to know what goes on inside Admissions/Financial Aid, other than personal experience and anecdotes from my kids’ classmates who suffered through the process. But its a private school and they can do whateve they want with their money, or in the case of restricted funds, can give out scholarships if you meet those particular restrictions (e.g. “catholic high school graduates from a New Jersey catholic school.”) </p>
<p>But on a general anecdotal basis, you need a 1400 to get a scholarship and a very high score to get a full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>My kid got a fairly generous university grant that was essentially equal to the Jogues, so apart from not having the prestige of a scholarship, it fulfilled the same purpose. I wrote big checks over four years and my kid took student loans, but not onerous loans…about the average. So file your FAFSA. </p>
<p>Many noted authors have long castigated the Financial Aid/Scholarship injustices which occur across the country and the use/abuse of the SAT system to do it. IT is what what is.</p>
<p>i got my ACT score…34.</p>
<p>now i have a dilemma, i can just attend fordham if i get a scholarship that covers 3/4 of tuition and fees. Should I apply? Or do you think that I won’t get a scholarship? (GPA is still 3.98 unweighted)</p>
<p>You’ll definitely get a scholarship. Can’t hurt to apply.</p>
<p>full tuiton possible?
anybody experienced it?</p>
<p>There are full tuition scholarships given to NMSF. They gave out 50+ of them this year and last year. They cover tuition for all four years as long as the student takes 15 credits a semester and maintains a 3.0 gpa. The NMSF scholarship doesn’t cover room, board or fees. There are a limited number of presidential scholarships that cover tuition and the dorm, but not food.</p>
<p>I know someone who’s there on a full scholarship right now. Ranked in the Top 20 of her high school class, don’t remember the specific score but SATs were over 2200.</p>
<p>If you are capable of getting into an ivy league school, you’ll get a full ride to Fordham.</p>
<p>But remember this: if your family’s income is very low (which is much more frequently the case than having an ivy league candidate), then you will get the same full ride. That includes all of tuition, and usually the bulk of room and board (depending I suppose on just how low your family’s income is).</p>
<p>I know this because I work at Fordham (work-study) and I see tons of $30,000 + scholarships to students with average grades (less than 2000 SAT). Like, they might get 8,000 dollars in scholarship (which pretty much everyone gets), and then 15,000 dollar financial aid (not a loan…money straight off the tuition), then 6,000 dollar metro grant, then 3,500 a semester for some random grant. And then usually something like a 2000 dollar loan for each semester. So when you add that all up they’re taking out that 2,000 dollar loan every semester, and the rest is pretty much paid for.</p>
<p>Obviously that’s just an example - its not always exactly like that - but I see stuff like that a lot more often than I see someone getting the full ride on merit. </p>
<p>It’s also worth mentioning that ALL commuters will be given the $6,000 metro grant…unless you receive a Dean’s Scholarship (among the most prestigious scholarships Fordham offers, which I’ve seen range from $10,000 for the year to about $30,000 for the year), in which case the metro grant is “absorbed” into the Dean’s Scholarship (so it just gets taken away). If you don’t have the merit to get the Dean’s Scholarship, but you’re poor, they don’t take away the metro grant - they add it on top of the rest of your financial aid. They only take the metro grant away from those students who have enough merit to get an academic scholarship. </p>
<p>Sorry for the rant…I’m just a little aggravated at how hard-working kids have to pay so much more than other people just because they’re poor.</p>
<p>
Nah. My daughter got into an Ivy and did not get nearly a full ride.</p>
<p>what Act/Sat score and GPA did your daughter have?</p>