<p>Sovereigndebt- you have been a wealth of information for which I am thankful. You are probably Fordhams #1 cheerleader when it comes to positives and promoting the university.</p>
<p>With that said, what negatives can you cast on Fordham? what could be better? what should change? what "Bad" experiences have you had?</p>
<p>Thanks, just trying to see beyond the rose colored glasses before making final decision.</p>
<p>No school is without quirks and issues. No school is without professors who irritate students, seem insensitive. So right up front, Fordham is like all other schools. And its hard to please 5,000 undergrads at Rose Hill and 1800 undergrads at Lincoln Center. They are leaving home for the first time and kids are kids. Some are very easy going and roll with it, and some are persnickity and perhaps a little too sheltered. You will always have personalities in dorms. </p>
<p>Fordham is in New York and for those not from the area, it can be culture shock…and sometimes overwhelming. At first its fun…the fast pace, the lights, the subway, the MetroNorth, the tall buildings, the gazillion people. But after a while that wears off and the workload is looming and homesickness sets in…often around Thanksgiving, when exams are around the corner. Then the January=February blahs…transferitis sets in and dorm drama is at its peak etc. </p>
<p>My kid had all of the above. But hung in there. We are not New Yorkers. We are not from the large contingent from Long Island, for example. While students are welcoming, fitting into everyone’s idea of things is not always smooth and easy. So come prepared. (But really the same is true everywhere). </p>
<p>At first the reality of life in the Bronx was a bit tough to take. But eventually it was embraced and became a blessing for everyone. The education you receive at Fordham is not just academic, its also social and psychological…and for many spiritual. </p>
<p>My kid had two professors in four years who were classic “jerks.” It happens. I’m not talking hard grading. I am talking insensitive and unsympathetic to illness etc. But I am proud of her for self selecting the hardest courses, the hardest professors both in the core and her majors. The VAST majority were superb, warm and very helpful. Some were better instructors than others. </p>
<p>Fordham lacks school spirit in athletics…and that is caused by years of poor performances and other issues I wont discuss here. Most are being addressed. I wish school spirit had been a bit better…but it is improving. Through it all, my kid even traveled to some away games (like Yale and Columbia). The Rose Hill Gym is the oldest basketball facility still in usage in Division I. Its historic and quirky. One bathroom. So go BEFORE the game starts. </p>
<p>Food in the cafeteria can be spotty. I have personally eaten there many times, all three meals and never had bad food…I thought breakfast was the best. Love the waffles. Good coffee. </p>
<p>Fordham financial aid is bureaucratic and sometimes insensitive to people who have issues that arise during their 4 years. You have to be patient and know how to work with people. I wish someone could find a way to stop the national rise in college tuition. </p>
<p>I think security is too rigid on parking and often act like nazis. Though sometimes you get someone who is cool. The security at the gates were never a problem, always polite and I was never hassled…asked about ID? Yep. </p>
<p>I think SOME kids drink too much, and while that is a right of passage at all schools, I think Fordham could do a better job of enforcing the rules when someone is blasted. </p>
<p>The U2 concert in 09 was the highlight of the social scene for 4 years there. That was just amazing, arranged by a Fordham alumnus at ABC television. </p>
<p>I like that Fordham is in New York, but its not NYU. If you get that. Not only in appearance, but in demeanor. Its smaller (NYU is HUGE), more close knit and yet still a nice campus. </p>
<p>Fordham is diverse, yet the students make good friends from all over and all walks of life. They are all basically good kids and after 4 years it was hard to leave. Graduation was very emotional. Hard to say goodbye to beloved professors (and Deans!), and Little Italy. But Fr. McShane was true to his words to us at Orientation and Move In Day…and my kid grew up, changed, transformed and received a first class education, making excellent life long friends along the way. </p>
<p>I wish you all the best. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman at LC and I thought I would throw a few thoughts in here.</p>
<p>The food in the cafe at LC is not great. She has a really hard time finding things to eat. They keep the food warm under red hot lights, so the food looks red, and sometimes it’s hard to figure out what it is. Many of the servers don’t speak english well, so when she asks what something is, she can’t understand the answer.
And since you pay and sit down, if you don’t like something, you’ve already paid for it. </p>
<p>The food choices at RH are Much better. You pay to get in, and can take as much as you want, so you can taste something, decide you don’t like it, and then go back and get something else, at no extra cost. If LC had the dining hall that RH has, she would have no complaints.</p>
<p>She has also found living in a suite with 6 other girls to be a big challange. Her roommates are slobby, don’t wash their dishes, won’t take out the trash, leave their stuff all over the living room, have loud parties when she wants to sleep… I don’t think RH has such big suites, but she has not been too happy at LC with her living arrangements. Hoping next year will be better, she has chosen other people to room with. That’s why the cafe food affects her so much, most people just cook in their rooms, but her room never has a clean pot to use…and her roommates decided the first week that all food is communal. So if you have food in the kitchen, someone else might eat or drink it. So you are out of luck. Not all suites do that, but hers does.</p>
<p>Not happy with a few of the professors she’s had so far, but you get that anywhere. No one has been unfair, some of them just don’t seem to know how to teach difficult information. Others have been great. </p>
<p>She is thrilled to be part of Fordham, loves the location. Has seen numerous Broadway shows at college rush prices, has been to the ballet and an opera, and will be singing with the choir at Carnegie Hall in April, really excited about that. </p>
<p>There isn’t anywhere else she’d rather be.</p>
<p>Sovereign and Lefty - </p>
<p>Thank you for these posts - excellent considering the timing and what’s to come over the next two weeks. I have a D that is now a Jr. in college and everything that both of you posted about Fordham could be said of her own college in Washington DC with the only difference being actually in the rant of “I should have watched more CNN over summer break!” </p>
<p>Yes, this is an exciting time in the lives of 18 year olds but it has it’s ups and downs as well. 99.9% make it through just fine and would choose their schools again if given the chance to change history but a lot of it is just growing up and learning to deal with situations that are not always perfect. I wish we could spread these two posts onto all the school pages - it would be very good for everyone to read and is a good reminder for parents as well for what is to come next fall/winter. Deep breath everyone.</p>
<p>My S is a senior at RH and is having a wonderful experience at Fodham. I can’t imagine that there could have been a better place in the world for him to have spent the last four years. That said, no school is perfect so here are some things he would change…
-There could be some more activities on campus on the weekends and such – I think the school assumes that kids go into Manhattan or out in the Bronx.
-The dorms are great for the most part, but the security is a bit silly - you need to be signed into a friend’s dorm after 5PM even if you are a Fordham student. I think the rules should be relaxed a bit or the school should spend to allow students to swipe their ID cards (so the schools will know they are in the dorm if they want that information to let them into other dorms before say 10PM or so. This is more of an annoying inconvenience than it is a big problem though.
-Another dorm issue if you are coming from far away is that they close many dorms over even some of the shorter vacations.
-Food on campus is mediocre and expensive (but great food off campus and once you get a dorm with a kitchen you don’t need to get a meal plan).
-Some classes (at least in the business school) are offered at night which I don’t like. For example a once a week night class was the only option for my S for an upper level tax and an upper level management class this semester. At least one of these profs. teaches during the day as well so I don’t know why this is.
-Like sovreigndebt, my S had a few (3) “clunkers” at profs. - but I imagine that would be the case almost anywhere.
-They keep trying to improve the sports teams, but they are not quite there yet (basketball team showed signs of improvement this year and a new football coach is coming so we’ll see).
All in all he is getting a great education, has made wonderful friends, and has grown and matured as a person. A good tradeoff overall!!</p>
<p>Squiggles, you are definitely right that some things are just a matter of growing and learning to deal with things. My daughter one day decided that instead of always being angry at the suitemates because they NEVER empty the trash, she just started doing it whenever it was full. And everytime she washes her own dishes, she washes 10 extra things. Just the way she decided to deal with the situation.</p>
<p>It’s rare to see people who love a school able to be so honest about its blemishes-- that in itself speaks well for Fordham!</p>
<p>About dorms closing, I don’t think they ever close them at LC because the grad students live upstairs. I know my DD could be there over Christmas, she just had to tell them what dates. And several people stayed over this past week during spring break, and others won’t be going home for Easter/Passover in April. I think she can always stay if she wants. I guess the close the dorms at RH though.</p>
<p>It is probably different at RH because there are more dorms. Usually one or two stay open but if you don’t live there, you have to find a host in that dorm and stay in that room (or so I understand). It isn’t a problem for us because we’re relatively close, but as Fordham gets more students from out of the area, they may have to re-think their policies.</p>
<p>I am aware that some foreign students don’t go home …sometimes when the University is closed at Christmas or during Spring Break. So they must notify reslife and security and they make arrangements of where they are allowed to stay on campus temporarily, though the cafeteria is closed and they have to eat at outside locations or bring in prepared foods to their dorm. But 99% of students leave. Some kids from the west coast who don’t want to go home then hang with friends on the east coast or Long Island…it all works out. Nobody is left crying on the curb so to speak! LOL.</p>
<p>Gwen: Thanks for that. We do love Fordham. Its quirks make it…well…Fordham! There will always be some disgruntled grouch who “can’t adjust” or “roll with it” who makes things tough. But usually the RA’s and other dormies step in and “counsel that person.”</p>
<p>Do kids transfer out? Yep. For all sorts of reasons, and if they were unhappy they become boo birds and throw rocks at Fordham. I don’t want anyone unhappy or miserable at Fordham. </p>
<p>My own kid went through illness, dorm drama and a HUGE (gynormous) culture shock…and it got really rough in Late January freshman year. We had to go up there and have a little hotel “prayer meeting”. The sun came out in March and everything resolved and professors extended tremendous understanding and assistance (save 1, who is now gone! Thank the Lord!) and Fordham became home away from home. In fact, she is now often commenting on how much she misses Fordham (and she is in grad school presently.) </p>
<p>Like everything in life, you deal with the circumstances that present in front of you, make lemonaid out of lemons, learn to adjust and grow up, etc. Change what can be changed, like Lefty’s daughter did…learn coping skills…if you are a clean freak, then just do it…and next year pick different roommates! </p>
<p>Squiggles: Thanks for that as well. So much of what you hear from kids when they go to college is “ewwww! my roomie picks her nose!” or "ewwwww…the food here is gross!’ What parents and kids need to learn is that a big part of the college experience is learning to grow up, take responsibility for your own actions (and omissions), and just get on with it. </p>
<p>Fordham is a transformational college. Some students embrace that and really get involved, some are nerds (maybe with good reason, like pre-med etc…or gunning for a wallstreet finance job), and not so involved. Its okay. Nobody is forced to do or not do anything. But the opportunities are there for the taking.</p>