I applied early decision to Fordham and loved everything about it, including its location in New York where I’ve always envisioned myself living. My whole family is there and I lived there until high school. I was deferred to regular decision. I also applied early action to Santa Clara and was accepted and offered a lot of money. Santa Clara embodies all of the values I loved about Fordham and ranks at 64 as opposed to Fordham’s 132. I applied to SCU because I do love the school, but the only factor holding me back is its location in California. It seems beautiful and full of opportunities, as the school is right in Silicon Valley, but it’s the opposite of what I’ve always seen for my future. I feel if I continue with my application to Fordham I have a good shot at getting accepted, but now I’m reconsidering everything. Santa Clara seems like a better school in a lot of ways according to a lot of statistics, but if anyone is personally familiar with either school and wants to offer me their 2 cents I would really appreciate it.
My daughter is a freshman at Fordham and LOVES it. Is so happy. She feels challenged, she loves the people, and is able to take advantage of NYC upon occasion as well. She didn’t look at Santa Clara, so I can’t compare, but thought I’d share that her experience at Fordham so far has been awesome. Good luck with your decision - two great schools.
Thank you 
I’m not sure which rankings you are looking at. US News has Fordham at 61 in national universities, and Santa Clara as a regional university not even on the national list.
Disregarding rankings, I doubt Fordham is going to offer you a lot of money if they deferred your admission. If finances are a factor at all where you can go, then you could wind up at Santa Clara or somewhere else besides Fordham. My daughter had such high scores and credentials that she was offered full tuition scholarships at higher ranked universities and a research scholarship at Cornell that Cornell only offers its top 1% of admitted students. However, Fordham only offered her a half tuition scholarship. Just saying…
If you go to Santa Clara, you will still get to see New York on breaks if you travel there to visit family, but the same cannot be said – you probably won’t have a chance to establish a life and connections in Silicon Valley if you don’t go to Santa Clara.
For my daughter, finances were a big issue, so she followed the money in her choice of university, and not the rankings. She chose the best scholarship package with the least requirements for renewing the scholarships. If you are being offered merit scholarships, be sure to look at the GPA required to renew them, and ask yourself if that is a realistic GPA based on the major you are planning to pursue.
@mommyrocks thank you so much for your thoughtful answer. I agree and I think I’m going to go with santa clara 
I’m really excited for the new experiences to come. Congrats to your daughter! You must be so proud
btw here’s the ranking I was referring to
https://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/2/#tab:rank
I would have to agree with the money warning. If you were deferred at Fordham, you are still competitive for admission, but probably not for the top merit awards.
Your offer at Santa Clara should still stand until May 1st if you want to wait and see if you get into Fordham.