<p>Son applied to 12 schools and narrowed choices down to Loyola, Fordham, Scranton and Marist. S plans on studying business and after school believes he'll be staying in the NYC metro area. Fordham and Loyola have slight edge and cost may be a factor.
Looking at what the schools have to offer in terms of
1- quality of business programs
2- quality of overall education
3- job placement/networking
4- social life
5- overall college experience</p>
<p>son attends all boys catholic HS, good student (3.8gpa), athlete, easy going and Type B personality.</p>
<p>I am seriously looking/have looked at Loyola, Fordham and at Marist a little bit. I would say location wise Fordham is the best, plus there are so many internship opportunities there in NYC. However, don’t be tricked, NYC is not as close as you think to the Bronx, its about a half hour drive and train ride. I believe the business school travels (one year australia?) Then again I know someone who went to Loyola who also studied business who went to australia… dont know many details about that. Baltimore is a nice city, but hey its no New York.</p>
<p>Personally I would scratch Scranton and Marist just because the other 2 are better schools. (unless cost is an issue) Loyola and Fordham have a majority of girls. All 4 schools are preppy and have a similar student body. However, Fordham has a bit of an artsy community as well. Sportswise, Loyola is probably the best although it doesnt have a football team.</p>
<p>Just to update the above, Fordham’s business school in on the Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. The Bronx is in New York City and a short railroad ride to Manhattan. Metro North railroad is right outside the Fordham U entrance. Depending on what train you get, it can take as little as 16 minutes to get you to Grand Central Station…or 19, 20 or 25 minutes depending on which train you catch. As a New Yorker, I think that is a very, very short commute into Manhattan. Male to female ratio on campus is 47:53. The Rose Hill campus is not considered “artsy”. Their Manhattan campus at Lincoln Center is more “artsy” as that campus is well known for theater and dance…don’t know anything about Loyola or Marist.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback, agree LC campus more artsy but RH campus has more diversity and different types of kids than Loyola MD, which has much more preppy crowd and Scranton is preppy but most wear sweatpants all week.</p>
<p>As far as location and travel in NYC, I am intimately familiar with both Manhattan and Bronx having working in many locations in both boroughs for years.
My interest on this thread is:
Looking at what the schools have to offer in terms of
1- quality of business programs
2- quality of overall education
3- job placement/networking
4- social life
5- overall college experience</p>
<p>sportsman29…I can give you a little perspective on Loyola from a father’s point of view.
First, I know several parents with children at Loyola, Fordham, and Scranton and from the parents’ perspectives all their children have been happy with their decisions. I would strongly recommend that your S visit his top choices again before making a final decision. My S is a freshman in the Honors Program at Loyola and is very happy with his decision to attend. He is the type B personality in our household and seems to be thriving at Loyola. He says he is working much harder than in high school, but is enjoying college all that much more. S was undecided this time last year and his second visits in early April helped him come up with a clear decision. Loyola was always in the top 3, but his second visits changed some of his feelings and perspectives. S was always one to uncover every stone before making a major decision.
S has been undecided on his major but seriously is considering a business major. Loyola’s Sellinger Business School is highly ranked (Finance #21 in US News and Accounting #24 in US News) and #45 in Business Week. Sellinger is ranked very favorably versus Fordham, Scranton, and Marist.
I am partial to the Jesuits, so I believe one can receive a stellar education at all of the Jesuit colleges. For S Loyola felt like the right fit both academically and socially. I am a true believer in fit, with academic fit coming first followed closely by social fit.
S has made a lot of friends has found his own close group of friends. S is enjoying Baltimore and is off campus quite a bit on weekends. He is not a drinker, so there still is plenty to do. S is a musician and has been to several concerts at Rams Head Live, Recher Theater, Reitz Arena (Loyola), and Mariner One. Some of these tickets were very reasonably priced and some were not. Lots of places to eat, shop, relax, etc. The FAC is great and S diligently works out there 4 days per week. S also is athletic and has started a club. (I dont want to leave too much information to give away Ss identity.)
S has found there is so much to do at Loyola. As a freshman I believe S has only touched the tip of the iceberg.
I cannot yet comment on job placement and networking as S has not entered that process. S has met a few employers at a recent Loyola job fair and did get some solid internship information. I believe S is about a year away there. I do know two recent Loyola graduates that found good jobs in the DC area. I also know that there is a network available for Jesuit graduates at the other Jesuit schools. Again, my firsthand knowledge here is limited.
I wish I could be more help and this is only one father’s perspective. I am thrilled with S’s college choice of Loyola.
Good Luck to you and your S in your college search. I remember it as a very exciting time.</p>
<p>funfatdaddy- thats a great recap and good info. I looked at Sellingers ratings and one of the draws is the business school ranking at Loyola. Not sure how it fairs in NYC market but I am sure there are plenty of alum and I don’t take that to be the end all be all. An in-law works in NJ (mutual funds) and half his office is from FLA and grads of U Florida and Fla State grads, as the other half of his company is based in Flordia. At the moment the cost difference between Loyola and Fordham is about 5k/yr and both schools said that annual increases average 3-6%. Waiting on both to get back on final offers and that may have some impact. Son has been very busy with school, EC’s and spring sport, so doing some of his leg work now. He likes both Fordham and Loyola by far the most but is torn between the two and so going back for visits again. Sounds like it will come down to the right feel and hopefully we can get a better offer on merit.</p>
<p>ffd–Thank you for the info on Loyola & Fordham! My daughter also is accepted at each & must decide, also there are a couple other schools we are waiting to hear from in a few days. Who knows what they will say!</p>
<p>Sportsman – you say Loyola has a much more “preppy” crowd—are you talking about the styles of clothes the kids wear, or are you saying most of them went to prep schools and tend to be from very well off families? I am very concerned about this— girls can let each other know who is & who isn’t “of our crowd,” & I don’t want my D being snubbed by classmates raised in McMansions & taking things like European vacations for granted. We are far from poor but we are not in that price bracket. </p>
<p>When we visited Loyola we were greatlly impressed by the overall friendliness of the students but that was on a superficial level of giving directions to strangers, etc. I was glad to see it but I have been warned about this preppy thing by a couple of teachers at the h.s., and while I have not spoken to my D about it, I do worry whether it is the wrong place for her. </p>
<p>We visited Fordham on one of the accepted student days and got there early enough to drive all around the surrounding neighborhood. Not very cheered by what we saw. </p>
<p>Can you, as a parent, tell me whether these concerns about Loyola are valid—or am I worrying too much over the “preppy” thing? Thanks!</p>
<p>JRZmom, I’m a HS junior and also looking at fordham and Loyola as well as some others. I also share your concern regarding the student body (particularly how girls treat one another). I believe the use of the word “preppy” is NOT pertaining to prep school. It’s upper middle-class, UGS wearing, NorthFace wearing, etc. crowd.</p>
<p>Just gave the Princeton Review “the best northeast colleges” a glance. Looking at the “student body” section I found the word “preppy” (amongst other words like “well off” etc.) associated with the following schools:
Fordham
Holy Cross
Providence
Loyola
Stonehill
Fairfield
Univ. of Scranton</p>
<p>I think when you are looking at private northeast colleges, with big tuition, you are going to attract upper middle class to wealthy students. No way around it. just have to hope everyone finds their way and crowd and things aren’t too cliquey</p>
<p>A lot of the schools on that list you just gave are ones my D applied to!</p>
<p>She was looking at academic fit and also she had specified to Naviance that she did not want frats. No-frats means you get a list of Jesuit schools. : – )</p>
<p>As far as Scranton is concerned, I can attest to the Uggs + North Face crowd. I went on an overnight there last month, and I was shocked by the sheer numbers of those that I saw around. That said, they did get four inches of snow while I was there, so maybe that had something to do with it, but still. I will say, though, that the students I interacted with in dorms and whatnot seemed friendly and genuine. I was a guest, so maybe they were just rolling out the welcome mat, but still. I think the area in general seems to have pretty down-to-earth people.</p>
<p>I’m trying not to judge totally on Uggs, because they’re in all corners of the earth at this point, but I do find myself counting the pairs I see, too…</p>
<p>I don’t even see the point of Uggs. They have flat soles, and most of the ones i’ve seen on girls are not waterproof. If I was going to walk around all day in slush and snow, I’d want an entirley different kind of footwear. </p>
<p>Same for cold but dry weather—you walk around campus all day, and those things have no arch support. There are tons of better choices out there—and if it is about “what I spent”, you can throw a lot more $$ at good boots & hiking shoes than you spend on Uggs.</p>
<p>JRZMom- I think tellch00 hit the nail on the head on preppy. However, some preppy crowds can be very cliquey, snooty and if one can not keep up with the Jones on campus in spending and going to exotic places for spring break you not in the in crowd. Which is difficult to tell from just visiting and is a very subjective characterization of what I would like to avoid. I think the uggs and northface was a preppy sign a few years back but everyone has them now.<br>
I have been to most of the schools that tellch00 mentioned, except Stonehill and Loyola- wife took S. to Loyola and S. to visit was just accepted at Stonehill with merit so should be going up very soon. If I had to ask him today, his first choice is Loyola with Fordham a very close second.</p>
<p>However, of the schools I did visit I thought the Scranton had the most down to earth (unpretentious students), second was Fordham, then Holy Cross.<br>
If anyone has any feedback on Stonehill, I’m all ears…</p>
<p>One of my D’s friends is a freshman at Stonehill right now & loves the place. I don’t know her very well though. She was trying to get my D to apply—she nearly did, and then we realized it is a bit more isolated than my D was looking for, and also from a brochure they sent I did not think they are able to offer a lot of aid. I might have judged them wrong there, though. </p>
<p>I agree with Tellch00 that if you are looking at schools in the NE – or other regions—and they are private but don’t have the endowments of the Ivies (hence not able to offer big aid to top students), you are going to be seeing a lot of people from well off suburban families. </p>
<p>My D was complaining about the whiteness of the campuses we visited --and I had to tell her, for one thing, only abt 11% of the countrys’ pop. is African Amer, so no matter where you are, they will be spread thinly, except for histly AA schools—and ditto for other tints & ethnic groups. She is “spoiled” living in NJ where every other person is Asian, AA, Hisp or some combination. Her Euro Hist class is 3/4 kids who were not born in USA or it is their parents who are the immigrs. These kids are not preps – though some of them are quite well off. So whatever college she goes to will be different.</p>
<p>thanks for feedback JRZMom, son goes to HS in NJ too, and is really pushing Loyola now. In the last week 5 classmates is friendly with are going to Loyola. Stonehill sounded interesting but, the isolation is a factor from my prospective, going to accepted students reception in NJ on 4/3 to get a feel for kids applied/going. Also, looking at the finance options for Loyola and don’t want to break the bank with more college bound coming.</p>
<p>If you go to an accepted student reception in NJ, you will only see the NJans who are accepted. That might skew your perception of the place.</p>
<p>If it was my D we wd be making appts at Stonehill to sit in on classes during April. We are vsiting 3 schools in Apr to do this–already have been to Fordham’s. She is leaning strongly to Loyola but we don’t want her to make a default decision. </p>
<p>We know that sometime during freshman year, kids say “WHY did I go to this school!”—Maybe some prof is giving impossible labs, or they just can’t stand something about the social scene—I want for her to be able to answer herself, “Because when I took a good hard look at X & Y, I saw myself doing best here” — and not be wondering if she would have chosen differently if she had gone & taken that good hard look.</p>
<p>Absolutely agree and I even went over that with son prior to walking in the door. But since they were 20 min. away took the opportunity to meet others and school staff. I would not say that the kids we saw were typical cross representation of students. Most of the kids we saw were accepted to honors program. That said we are going to visit on Monday and spend on campus, with student, sit in on classes and if he really likes it. We are getting low on time and son plays spring sport so schedule not flexible either. Good luck.</p>