<p>In agreement with happy1 above, I think people sometimes pick lower ranked schools where they feel they will get more of a chance to stand out and excel. For example, some students might know that they will do their best if they are at the head of the class and have high expectations, where others might know they will do their best if they are motivated to keep up with those ahead of them. It’s kind of a “big fish in a small pond,” vs. “small fish in a big pond” type scenario. Good luck with your choice, it’s a tough call to make when there is no one right answer.</p>
<p>Not all Catholic or Jesuit schools are the same or conservative with respect to ideological diversity. For example, consider [a</a> student organization at Holy Cross](<a href=“http://college.holycross.edu/studentorgs/abigale-allies.html]a”>http://college.holycross.edu/studentorgs/abigale-allies.html). There is a similar [student</a> organization at Fordham](<a href=“http://www.fordham.edu/student_affairs/student_leadership__/student_organization/cultural/pride_alliance/index.asp]student”>http://www.fordham.edu/student_affairs/student_leadership__/student_organization/cultural/pride_alliance/index.asp).</p>
<p>In contrast, a conservative Catholic school would be [url=<a href=“http://www.christendom.edu/about/mission.php]Christendom[/url”>http://www.christendom.edu/about/mission.php]Christendom[/url</a>].</p>
<p>I’m in no way claiming that they are all the same, I’m simply stating that they don’t have the same diversity which non-Jesuit schools have. </p>
<p>Secondly, I simply used BC as an example because I knew of a particular example there; BC has an LGBT organization - the same as Fordham or Holy Cross. However, the directors of the school tend to neglect the organization (to the dismay and protests of faculty) and some students seem to stigmatize the LGBT community. Fordham may very well be completely different on the subject - the point of my statement was only to say that Jesuit schools are not always very accepting of other ‘lifestyles’. E.g. see the current problem with Georgetown. </p>
<p>I’m unfamiliar with Fordham’s position on LGBT or contraception, but I assume the latter would be the same at Fordham as at Georgetown. Another policy which Fordham has: No members of the opposite sex are allowed to be overnight guests in dorm rooms (or so it was when I last checked the rules). Personally, I’m not for an institution of higher learning telling me what I can or cannot do with my guests (at least in the sense which that rule regulates sex of the guest) and what I ought or ought not do with contraception or my sex life (contraception or overnight guests) - it’s none of their business. Others may not see this is a problem, but, I do see it as a bias and, as I said before, an underrepresentation of other ‘lifestyles’, beliefs and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>Jesuit schools may be excellent for some people, but it’s foolish to think that they cater equally to everyone of every ‘lifestyle’ or belief system. Jesuit schools, typically, attract a very specific type of student (not in all cases, obviously) and, as such, it’s to be expected that their student body will not be as idealogical diverse and represented as their non-religiously affiliated counterparts. I.e. you would expect to see a smaller proportion of Muslim, Atheists, etc. at a Jesuit school than you would at a non-religiously affiliated school. I’m not stating the difference in proportional representation is extreme and only Catholic and other Christians go to Jesuit schools. I’m simply pointing out that Jesuit schools do not cater to everyone equally and attract more Jesuit students than other similar non-religiously affiliated schools.</p>
<p>The same goes for the rule which Fordham has against distributing condoms on campus.</p>
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<p>No institution in the universe does this, even NYU. Don’t confuse adherence to certain academic fashions with intellectual rigor. The two are not the same. </p>
<p>You may feel that religious institutions aren’t as academically rigorous as non-religious ones. However, keep in mind that without the Catholic Church, there would be no universities at all, as they invented the concept. And several of the most prestigious universities in the USA started out as theological schools (Harvard, Princeton). To dismiss religion as an intellectual force doesn’t sound, well, very intellectual.</p>
<p>NYU is just fine, but it is grossly overpriced and for general undergraduate arts and sciences, not any better than Rutgers, Suny Binghamton, etc. It has ridden the wave of enthusiasm for an NYC college experience over the past few years. Some of its graduate programs are excellent. I’m glad you’re happy there, but just because you are more comfortable at NYU instead of other places does not make it into a more “intellectually rigorous” school than Fordham.</p>
<p>(1) NYU is far more accepting of other belief systems than the Jesuit schools. Sorry, that’s just a fact. </p>
<p>(2) The Catholic Church started the University of Bologna. Oxford, Cambridge, University of Paris (the other ancient Universities) were not not founded by the Catholic Church. So yes, we would have Universities without the Catholic Church. </p>
<p>(3) Having gone to Rutgers, I know for a fact NYU is better for undergraduate than Rutgers. </p>
<p>(4) Religion may very well have been an intellectual force; but that doesn’t mean an exclusively Jesuit education is the intellectually best education. If I believe X and X is taught to me (reinforced) without ever being presented any substantial reasons for not-X, I wouldn’t consider that significant challenge to ones beliefs and so on and so forth.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I would question, are NYU and Fordham both going to help out to the same extent. I think NYU will end up costing substantially more.</p></li>
<li><p>The students at Fordham are diverse. </p></li>
<li><p>Both schools are in NYC. You can find whatever you want.</p></li>
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<p>This is the crux of the matter. Usually, the problem with NYU is the high COA and their lousy FA. I think you need to thoroughly check the financials before proceeding.</p>
<p>Remember, you can always transfer like NYU2013 did if you find Fordham doesn’t meet your expectations.</p>
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<p>If this is what you think the Jesuit educational method consists of, then you really do know nothing about it.</p>
<p>Anyway, good luck to the OP as he makes his decision. He’s got two decent choices.</p>
<p>Both schools are great with a national reputations. Go to where it feels more natural.</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>If you go by US News, NYU doesn’t have a top-10 econ department. It’s ranked 12th actually. </p>
<p>NYU2013,
I think it’s an overstatement to call a 12th-rank department in the US “world leading”.</p>
<p>I think there are a bunch of different reasons for going to a “lower ranked” school. Maybe you get a scholarship at Fordham and not NYU. Or a school may be lower ranked overall, but have a strong program that you are interested in. For example if you want to go into musical theater you would choose NYU over Harvard. Or you could simply prefer a lower ranked school over a higher ranked one. Rankings don’t mean all that much, especially if they are closely ranked.</p>
<p>@NJSue </p>
<p>You would know from personal experience right, and surely I never attended Jesuit schools in the past (In fact, I spent years in high school in the Jesuit system)? I clearly don’t have friends at a number of the top Jesuit schools (In fact, coming from a Jesuit high school, I have many, many friends at Jesuit schools) I haven’t looked at their curriculum, right (considering I never applied to any and wasn’t accepted to any and never toured them)? </p>
<p>@Sam Lee
Considering the thousands of Universities in the world, yeah, I would consider a top 12 program to be world-leading. QS (not the most reliable ranking, but likely the most accurate for world rankings) puts it at #14 in the world for economics. So no, I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that it’s a world leading department. I would think that at least the top 20 schools would be world leading.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church hardly started Oxford or Cambridge, their papal bulls came later. Indeed, they had very strong connections with the Church (after the mid 16th century, the Anglican), but that was the way of things back then. After all, with the sole exception of Cornell, all the Ivies had extremely strong religious connections in their initial -?- years, being founded or endowed by people connected to denominations, or the denominations themselves. John Harvard, for example, was a Cambridge educated clergyman…</p>
<p>The case in point is that there’s virtually nothing in common in the foundation process of Oxbridge and, say, Georgetown and the like, the other Jesuit schools. (Moreover, Oxbridge was, for more than 400 years, as protestant as you can get. Catholics were not allowed to study there until the end of the 19th century 
)</p>
<p>As for the thread: NYU any time. Not that Fordham is not a decent school as it is, but hardly comparable with NYU. The differences is probably 20 or so places in the USNews, but while NYU is ranked in the world top 45 in all three world rankings, Fordham is invisible on those. Most importantly, getting into a, say, Ivy grad school with an NYU degree is “”“easy(er)”"" but it’s certainly harder with a Fordham degree. The lower ranked the school is, the harder to get into a top notch grad school. Not impossible, of course, but for some reason, most people at such grad schools have a degree from a very decent uni. But, again, it’s not that a Fordham degree closes any doors. But a NYU degree opens more.</p>
<p>Ehhh, misread the CC and the foundation of Oxbridge and Paris part, my bad.</p>