<p>I'm a serious student considering majoring in English Literature at Fordham. My question is: do students at Fordham take their classes seriously? Is there real intellectual curiousity? The other, unrelated question: does Fordham have a requirement that freshmen live on campus? Thanks!</p>
<p>LC:</p>
<p>Yes and no. Same with another school most likely.</p>
<p>Sometimes not even the professor takes the class seriously (puts on a “related” youtube video and dozes off, mumbles through PowerPoints and leaves, etc). One of my friends is in a Video Game Design class, and the professor has never played a video game or really cares to. Sometimes the professor is really smart and engaging (luckily for you my English professors have been these). Sometimes (well, often) students are texting, on the computer, and/or sleeping. Sometimes they’re paying attention.</p>
<p>I especially can’t really generalize because I am in the Honors program and well everyone there takes it at least somewhat seriously especially because they classes are better. The issue of non-Honors kids is that the core puts them in more than one class that they truly have no interest in, so just like in high school they barely pay attention or do anything as long as they get whatever grade is okay for them. I personally think the non-Honors core is harmful and an outdated educational system, but that’s an argument for another day and I don’t want to infuriate the pro-Fordham brigade we have here.</p>
<p>I am in my first RH class (Computer Science 1), and not many people pay attention but no one seems to be failing or truly not caring.</p>
<p>And no, you don’t have to live on campus.</p>
<p>To answer the question about housing, no you do not need to live in dorms first year.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman at LC . What I can say about academic seriousness is it depends on the individual student and occasionally the professor. True, the core can be painful and I am NOT in honors, so there are probably benefits of slightly better classes if you are. Anyway, the amount of academic seriousness is a mix, but I would say most students are serious with their work. There is definitely intellectual curiosity, especially among upper class men (My Faith and Critical Reason class has a lot of upper class men and I find I have the most intellectual discussions in that class).
Also, I have one or two professors who give off a vibe like they don’t want to be there, so it makes the class less engaging. However, most professors will try to push you and take you out of your comfort zone, which can be a good thing. Yes, there will be students who could care less if they pass a certain class or just classes in general. Don’t let that deter you though. Fordham is a good school, but part of it is how you use the school to your advantage.</p>
<p>1) There is no requirement to live on campus freshman year. In fact Fordham has a good number of commuters as well as some students who opt to move off campus from the start. If you commute from the start (and if you get an apartment off campus and forget to mention it) you get a $6,000 metro grant which is money off the tuition bill. If you move off campus later, you don’t get this money. However, I live on campus at RH and love it.
2) Most students I know take their classes seriously and want to do well. People I know want to do well so they can start a career or to get into a good grad school after Fordham. Fordham is not an easy school. And while a couple of my core classes were not the best, most of mine have been pretty good.</p>
<p>I will try and answer both in general terms and specific terms. At every college there are people, and yes surprisingly that includes some top 20 schools and Ivy League schools, who are lackadaisical about grades and work. Party animals. The paradox of college is that the best students who work the hardest are often the most stressed and are given the most work by professors and also given the most piercing remarks in papers. Why? Because those professors are prepping those students they QUICKLY identify as the creme of the class, for graduate school or professional school. So you must learn to be self disciplined and hang with kids of like mind and work ethic, no matteer where you attend college. I did that, decades ago, and it paid HUGE dividends. I blew past the lazy and party inclined people and derived my energy from those who were at times very competitive and also very helpful…a support system if you will.</p>
<p>My kid graduated Fordham recently and found the same experience. Fordham ranks its students and if you are not in the Freshman Honors Program from the gitgo, they will tap you on the shoulder after freshmen grades are in (May) and ask you to consider a program with an honors curriculum, whether that is English Lit, Philosophy, Political Science, Theology, Psychology etc. And my kid was exhausted every semester…a perfectionist, and often stressed and often frustrated with VERY demanding professors…all of whom encouraged her hard work and then some. Preparing her for graduate school…which paid huge dividends…finishing highest honors, Phil Beta Kappa and getting into some very elite graduate schools. </p>
<p>Her friends all lived together in apartments on campus for four years. (not coed living…separate floors for boys and girls). They ALL finished Phi Beta Kappa. After Freshmen year they just ignored the kids who were happy with a C, or who were party animals, or who showed little interest in the subject matter. </p>
<p>You get out of college, and Fordham, what you put into it. </p>
<p>I can tell you that Fordham’s English Department is very strong and the faculty HUGELY respected, but that other departments dovetail that and you will see all sorts of opportunities to weave in concepts you experience and learn in multi disciplinary fashion. The core requirements are designed to do just that. Not one dimensional thinking but multidimensional. </p>
<p>Fordham is a very strong academic school. You have an opportunity to shine, thrive and grow. But its really up to you to get there. Professors are very supportive. </p>
<p>My daughter’s mentor was one of the toughest professors at Rose Hill. One of the most demanding and most frustrating professors…but also one of the most supportive and in the end, delivered in spades…and they are very close friends now. He is a Jesuit. </p>
<p>I hope that helps you.</p>
<p>If you want to excel at Fordham, you’re going to have to work your ass off. And you’ll learn a lot.</p>