My son is visiting Fordham RH for accepted students visit in February. He’s never been to Fordham (or NYC) before. What are some “must do” things he must do & see on RH campus while visiting (besides the accepted students stuff/program)? Are there certain places on campus that really give a good reflection on what RH is like? Best place to eat on campus?
Congrats on your son’s admission to Fordham! What is his intended major?
My advice is to see the Rose Hill campus and tour the Bronx. Fordham is small enough that you will be able to see the entire campus but large enough that your son will be exposed to many mindsets. On another day, take the train from the Fordham station (literally 30 seconds from campus, you will not miss it) to Grand Central Station. From there, tour Midtown (Times Square, MET, Central Park, etc.). If you have an extra day, see lower Manhattan! The fact that Fordham is so close to Manhattan is what cemented my decision. It never gets old!
*Rose Hill (The following is based upon an email provided to me by a dean when I asked about where to tour)
Keating Hall – This is the home of our liberal arts college (Fordham College), but many classes and lectures occur in this building. In the basement level is our award-winning College Radio Station, WFUV.
Hughes Hall - This is the home of our Gabelli School of Business, and many classes and lectures occur in this building. Stop into the first floor to see the trading room.
Duane Library – This is the former library building and this is where our admissions office is located (2nd floor).
Walsh Library – This is our main library on the Rose Hill campus. This is one of my favorite places on Earth. It is gigantic! I got lost my first time visiting.
University Church – This is a beautiful building. The stained glass windows came from a special church in France and the altar came from the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC.
O’Hare Hall – Near the Rose Hill Ram Van office and parking garage. This houses the university bookstore.
McGinely Center – This housing the gym, food court, career center, and much more.
*The Bronx
Walk to Auther Avenue for lunch or dinner. Ask your son to imagine spending four years in this area.
Walk up East Fordham Road.
If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask me. By the way, I’m from Washington State, so NYC was very new/different for me.
@atp1234 Thanks for all the suggestions. He is planning on majoring in International Political Economy. He is attending an admitted students day, so he will get the full tour, but it’s good to check out some other places on his own. We’re also West Coasters, from SoCal, so the weather will be a shock to the system, as well.
Welcome to NYC!
:-h
Depending on how much time you have, you may want to hop on the subway and head downtown.
If you take the Green 4 train downtown all of the way to the Wall Street stop, that’s a short walk from there to see the Statue of Liberty standing in the harbor. (the Staten Island Ferry terminal is right there, too. It’s a free ferry ride to Staten Island right past the Statue of Liberty.)
At the Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall stop, you can walk from there to Chinatown for some food.
If you get on the Green 6 train, (same line as the 4, but the local train) stop at 33rd Street, you should be standing right beside the Empire State Building.
If you get off the 6 train at 86th, you wan walk a few blocks West and see the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You can pay as little as $1.00 admission. (It’s pay what you wish)
Look at Time Out NY. Each day the list FREE things to do in NYC. It’s updated each day. https://www.timeout.com/newyork/things-to-do/free-things-to-do-in-nyc
Before you go, download CITYMAPPER app for your smart phone. It will tell you how to travel around the city, including which trains are out of service.
Have fun!!
Welcome!
If he is able to, I suggest visiting the food areas on campus. McGinley has the Marketplace or “caf” as everyone calls it. O’Hare Hall has the Grill, Queens Court SubConnection/Auntie Anne’s, Campbell Hall, Cosi. Make sure he talks with students about the food. My daughter likes the meatball sub at SubConnection(or whatever it’s called now) and I had it and I thought it was pretty good. Everyone will have their own views/horror stories about the food. Fordham got rid of Sodexo and went with Aramark and according to my daughter, the quality went down (like that could even be possible).
He should also go into the Walsh Library and look around there. During finals, it is usually where most students are found. Duane Library is also beautiful, classes are held there. As my daughter says, it’s the only library where you aren’t allowed to go to study.
Make sure he talks with current students and asks them questions. This way he can hear for himself how the students feel about the school and not hearing the tour speeches.
If he can take a walk up Arthur Avenue that would be an added bonus. Most students live on Arthur (in university run and private housing). You can see where the restaurants/bars/shopping is like. If he goes further down Arthur make sure he stop in the Arthur Avenue Market, which is a huge open market with vendors selling great Italian foods/goods. Plus the Bronx Beer Hall is there and most students go there for karaoke (and the beer).
Burger Lodge on E189th street (go up Arthur and make a left on 189th) has great burgers, is owned by a Fordham student and is another great Fordham food place to go to. Reasonably priced and really fills you up.
Right outside the main gate on Fordham Road is shopping galore. BestBuy and Walgreens, Starbucks, TJMaxx, PizzaStudio (another food favorite) and Applebees (probably the slowest and worst Applebees ever). From Walsh Gate or Finlay Gate on Fordham Road you can find that Rams Deli is the “go-to” favorite and I am a fan of their “hash-tag sandwich”, my husband loves their Reuben and according to my daughter they make the best bacon/egg/cheese on a roll.
If you want to take a side trip into Manhattan, you can just go out the main gate on Fordham road, take a right and Metro North is a 20 minute trip to Grand Central Terminal. The cost is $6.50 one way. More economical is the subway, walk a few blocks up Fordham Road to the Grand Concourse (this way you also see all the shopping in the area) and you can catch the “D” train, a few more block to Jerome Avenue and you can hop on the “4” (it’s an elevated line, believe me, you can’t miss it). If he is staying in Manhattan, see that he gets a MetroCard, this way he’s not standing there at the machine trying to figure out what ticket to buy and how much it’ll cost. I myself just have a basic card that I load with $15 at a time since I no longer live in the city. I miss tokens (native NY’r from the Bronx).
Download the NYCWay app. It will give you all transit maps, this way he has some sort of idea of where he is going. Or even TrainTime for Metro North, which will give give you schedules/fares/service advisories. Plus you can even purchase your ticket in advance (don’t activate the ticket until you’re on the train!).
What was suggested above sounds great also. February weather in NY can be a bit weird. It can be either freezing or warm (and by warm I mean above 45, which after the winters of '14 and '15 where we didn’t see temps above 20 for MONTHS is downright balmy), snowy or dry. It’s so bi-polar. It’s winter, it’s the east, we just dress in a warm coat and hope for the best. Dress in layers when it’s really cold, this way you can just take your coat off and have a shirt and sweater on and be comfortable.
During the winter of 2014, when it was really REALLY cold for a while, there was a warm snap of 45-50 degrees (that lasted a day) and my daughter and her friends were all wearing sweatshirts enjoying the weather and her friends from California were still bundled up in down coats freezing.
Enjoy NYC!