Last Five Days: Choosing Between Fordham and Northeastern

<p>So what is a college senior to do when in love with two different for two different ideas and money is equal at both? I have visited both and at both exchanged emails with students. Needless to say, there are things I like and don't like about both. If you have any anecdotes or thoughts that you think would be helpful in tipping the balance please feel no need to read the rest of this post.
But here are some specifics:</p>

<p>LOCATION
-Fordham is closer (eight hours v. four) I could take public trasnporation to both
-Winter depresses me and it would be worse in Boston
-I like Boston more than NYC. Also, Northeastern seems to be in a great part of the city whereas I got the idea students at Fordham tend to leave the Bronx and go into Manhattan. </p>

<p>CURRICULUM
I will be studying English
-Northeastern doesn't seem particularly strong in the liberal arts. But I could be wrong. On the other hand, as I don't know what to do on the other side of college, the internship program seems great.
-Northeastern isn't as prestigious as Fordham (though it was the #1 up-and-coming school this year according to USNWR). Also, it is big. I did get into the honors program, but am thinking I might find a better caliber of students at Fordham.
-My gut reaction to Fordham's core is NO THANKS. I attend a classical high school, which places an emphasis on studying the ancient world, philosophy and rhetoric and thiink I am more interested in contemporary things. But I could be wrong.</p>

<p>PERSONALLY
-I have been raised Evangelical Christian and I understand from corresponding with current students that this would put me in a very small minority at Fordham (which makes sense given the Jesuit background). Northeastern seems to have a really strong Christian community.
Please respond to these things or say anything else you think would be helpful in tipping the balance. Thanks so much!</p>

<p>great choices you have! fordham is in a sketchier area of the bronx while boston seems safer. i would go to northeastern but what are you planning on doing with an english degree in terms of the co-op program?</p>

<p>There’s nothing wrong with the area of the Bronx that Fordham is in - I live in Manhattan and go shopping on Fordham road from time to time, sometimes at night. It’s pretty safe and there’s campus security around there. It is “sketchier” but every large city has some sketchy neighborhoods (the neighborhood I live in is kind of sketchy too, but pretty safe overall). Also, given the complete accessibility of the NYC public transit system Fordham’s location shouldn’t ring any bells - you’ll be in midtown in less than an hour. There are nicer neighborhoods to be had in the city (and no, there’s nothing particularly interesting about the Bronx besides the Yankees) but still, you’ll be trawling all over NYC in no time. And the Rose Hill campus is pretty, too.</p>

<p>Winter in New York isn’t quite so cold - I’d say it gets around the 30s in the coldest months, sometimes can drop into the 20s, rarely below that. We got some snowfalls and they were nice. Then again, I like snow and I like winter. Right now it’s been in the steady 60s and high 50s. You’ll be out of NYC when it really gets the hottest and yuckiest during the summer months (although I love summer too, and there are tons of cool things to do in the summer time in NYC), and by September it’s pretty pleasant again.</p>

<p>Both schools are in large cities with lots of options for term-time internships (you won’t have to compete with the influx of students who come during the summer; you’d be competing with the much smaller pool of students who live in NYC or Boston during the school year and do term-time internships in the fall and spring semesters). I’d say you might find slightly more opportunities, and more diversity of opportunities, in NYC given the sheer size and number of companies that are headquartered here. However, both cities will give you those things.</p>

<p>Core curricula aren’t as bad as people make them out to be - they give great foundational knowledge and they may be more useful to you down the road than you think. My college had a core requirement that was essentially a theory course - we had to read some work by Marx, Weber, Durkheim, along with other things. I still had complete flexibility my final two years. A couple years later here I am in a PhD program and lo and behold, we’re reading Marx, Weber, and Durkheim along with some of the other work I had to read. Most psychology students don’t have that kind of background, and I’m glad I did.</p>

<p>I don’t know, it’s a rough decision. Personally I’d chose Fordham, but I am totally biased because I grew up in NYC and I love it. I think Northeastern’s co-op program is really cool, too.</p>

<p>Northeastern grad here. If you really want English or other classical liberal art subjects - I’d go with Fordham - particularly if you’re just going on to grad school. </p>

<p>However, if you want to explore different options including work experiences, Northeastern is the better option. That and Boston is a college town. At Fordham, you’ll make friends at Fordham. While at NU, I made friends at BC, BU, Harvard, MIT, Tufts, New England Conservative for Music and Simmons College.</p>