Loyola Chicago or Fordham

Hello,

We are new to the forum, and hoping to get some help navigating our D’s college decision.

At this point her top two choices are Loyola Chicago and Fordham.

She is looking for a larger school in a major city, and likely majoring in clinical Psychology. She has an interest in choral music and performing arts (as either a minor or extra-curricular).

She has visited both campuses and loved both, but is leaning toward Fordham.

We are familiar and comfortable with both schools (we have family that attended each and live in the metro-areas).

Net cost at this point:
Fordham = $72k annual
LUC = $37k annual (she was awarded a $25k annual Presidential Scholarship)

She has yet to hear from a handful of others (Northeastern and Gettysburg are the alternatives she is truly considering), but LUC and Fordham are her top picks no matter the outcome.

Our questions are pretty straightforward:

  • What is the value of the education at each school? Is a Fordham education worth an additional $140k ($35k x 4)?
  • What are the reputations of these schools in their respective markets?
  • How is each perceived by prospective employers/graduate programs?

Thanks for your objective, dispassionate assistance!

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Just to clarify - my D is looking at Fordham Rose Hill and LUC Lakeshore campuses.

Thanks again!

My S looked at both. As for the value/worth, that will be your judgement call to spend the money or not, but my opinion is no. And that’s not really about these two somewhat similar schools, its about the super high price of Fordham…for me it’s hard for any school to be worth that sticker price. With clinical psych she’ll be looking at grad school, so maybe the savings is even more important! Didn’t LUC have a 5 year psych program?

I feel like LUC has a bit of a disadvantage in its market because there are so many really excellent schools in Chicago. Other than that, I can’t help, not living in either. I tried to get at this question on our visit (in terms of competing for internships) but honestly didn’t get a great answer other than “there are tons of opportunities here.”

We didn’t look at grad school success rates from each, even though my S is also interested in clinical psych…for him we were focused more on fit of the school (just a personal decision based on his personality and not feeling 100% sure about the major and career). After reading some things here and on N***e.com about social life at Fordham, LUC was a better fit for him (although he ultimately chose a different school altogether).

Sorry, this is not super objective like you are looking for! Good luck!

Thanks TS0104. This is helpful. We just checked out the 5 year psych program and yes, LUC has it.

I hope your son is happy wherever he landed!

Still hoping to hear from others that might know a little more about the value of each school.

Saving at least $140,000 over 4 years of undergraduate school seems like a clear cut decision.

Avoid or minimize undergraduate debt.

They are probably fairly equivalent in terms of educational value. Unless it’s no problem for you to spend upwards of 70k per year, go with LUC.