Strange reactions to Fordham

<p>As any parent with a child off to college in September, I've read a lot of the threads on the CC message board about the many different choices on my child's college lists. (She's off to Fordham in September. ) When it comes to Fordham, I have particularly noticed over these past months the sometimes near visceral reactions some of the posters have when discussing Fordham (I haven't found anything quite like it for any other school) and how willing people are to go out of their way a) to provide misinformation about the school and b)to just plain thumb their noses at it.
What's the deal? What has Fordham done so wrong to make people enjoy taking potshots at it and berate it gratuitously. It's an excellent school and a great place!</p>

<p>They must be doing something right up in the Bronx, given that they received nearly 20,000 applications to attend last year. </p>

<p>Anyone have an idea on this?</p>

<p>I agree wholeheartedly; Fordham is a great place and I am fully enjoying my second year in the Bx. My guess about your concern is this: these message boards are so incredibly elitist that Fordham often is viewed as "sub-par" to the other NYC schools (NYU and Columbia). I can guarantee that within the next few years, this view will drastically change. Also, unfortunately, its "surrounding area" receives many bad remarks which may lead people to believe that it's a "bad" school or unsafe. It is extremely safe here. Use your head when you go out. It's just that simple. </p>

<p>Now, there are many things that Fordham needs to improve on-- I will admit that there are some aspects about Fordham that are much worse than at its competition (or other schools of the same calibur). The food is atrocious, the internet cuts out all the time etc etc. Also, after much time and effort, I still have yet to receive financial aid which has been very disheartening. </p>

<p>But yet, I still like it here. It has been and will continue to be a perfect fit for me.</p>

<p>It just goes to show you the ignorance of some people. On this site, if you do not attend an IVY you are worthless. Fordham is a wonderful school with a beautiful campus. I know many who go there as well as graduates of the school-- all express love for this school and the great education they have received. The interships are aplenty in this great city.</p>

<p>I don't disagree with either of you but there is more to this. If you look at posts about Manhattan College or Hofstra--clearly schools that are not peer schools to Fordham -- they get no unwarrented criticism or thumb-nosing. They are sometimes viewed as comparable to Fordham by posters. </p>

<p>I've read posts on different message boards here - including the Fordham one- where the posters literally and clearly go out of their way to disparage Fordham.
On the Fordham board in earlier posts, interested, propsective Fordham students asked normal questions and some yazoo chimed in out of nowhere about how much better NYU was than Fordham; however, I've never read anything critical from a Fordham "fan" on the NYU board. (And I hope it stays that way.)
Until 10 years ago, Fordham was objectively rated better than NYU. In my book, it remains so, although I readily admit the schools offer two different experiences.</p>

<p>They either have an ax to grind (but why) or are jealous (but why again). If you're happy with your school, you don't need to criticize the others. </p>

<p>Finally, the neighborhood in the Bronx, in my opinion, has always been a draw to Fordham and a way to select naturally the Fordham student. We want no wimps in the Bronx (joking)!
Columbia is in Harlem and that's not stopping anyone from applying. The Bronx is not a barrier to last year's near 20,000 applications. </p>

<p>Something is rotten in Denmark.</p>

<p>There was one stupid poster who said somethings like Fordham was for those that didn't get into NYU</p>

<p>My D is most likely going to Fordham in the fall, being a teen girl, she goes back and forth, but I know if she goes to FU (love those initials!) she will thrive</p>

<p>Her one big concern was the core course requirements, but when she really looked at all the options, etc., she felt much better</p>

<p>Every school is going to have its "stuff", either out in the country, or near a dodgy part of town, or to big, or too small...</p>

<p>She is visting in April, anybody else going to go?</p>

<p>And my D has learned to NEVER bash another school...when a friend was bashing a local Community College, my D was right in there defending it, as her good friend was going there</p>

<p>No need to put down any school, really, you can discuss particular concerns and aspects, but to jsut willynilly put down schools shows what that person is really like</p>

<p>ProudFordhamDad, I am with you...I think the school is great....and my D, who goes to a Jesuit HS didn't think she would want to go to a Jesuit College, but there you go!!!</p>

<p>I see your point DAD and do not understand why anyone bashes another school. I also see a lot of the SUNY's bashed around and can't understand what that is all about. </p>

<p>We have visited the school twice and love the campus. The surrounding area is rich in culture with some of the best places to eat right there on Arthur Avenue-- Bronxs' Little Italy. Some would argue probably the original Little Italy of NY. There are still many families who have remained in the area for decades. </p>

<p>We went to an Open House and the students there praise the school and its surrounding area for being rich in opportunities, some of which they would have never experienced had they gone elsewhere.</p>

<p>Just to add- coming from a public school, the talk of giving back to the community was never more emphasized than at Fordham. I mean we visited Boston College as well, but Fordham did a better job at it. We walked with the feeling that the school instills in you a true sense of purpose.</p>

<p>What was a big draw for my D was the president of Fordham and his speech...she said it was sooo different from anything she ever heard and his talk was amazing....it gave her that good vibe feel</p>

<p>As well, my D went to the SOTA protest in Georgia and the entire place was filled with college and HS students from different schools...the college kids she met for various jesuit colleges really impressed her as did the staff that also went....</p>

<p>My D is a freshman at Fordham and loves it. We are from Florida. Her dream was to attend college in New York city and admittedly NYU was her first choice but she's glad she was rejected because she feels like she belongs where she is. My friend's son a senior in HS applied to both FU and NYU and visited both in the fall. He said he would probably go to NYU if accepted because of the prestige of the business school but he liked the general vibe at Fordham much better (he also mentioned something about the girls being "way hotter"...)
I watched Hardball College Tour broadcast from Fordham in Dec. with Tom Brokaw as special guest and he described Fordham as kind of a blue collar school. I think he was influenced by the neighborhood rather than the student body but comments like that on a news program would certainly contribute to a negative perception of the school from the "elite."</p>

<p>Hello to all,
Janesmom1 - You have an excellent perception of Fordham. Actually, the way you see Fordham is generally the way a Fordham student/alum talks about their own Fordham experience. Bravo! There is only one real Little Italy and it's not on Mulberry Street. </p>

<p>You all have to bear with me a little about NYU, I am most confused about the prestige factor it seems to have appropriated for itself. When I was at Fordham 30 years ago, NYU had the number 3 undergraduate program in NYC (Fordham the second) and was just one big commuter school. I don't get it.
Many of the graduate programs at NYU have, however, always been excellent. </p>

<p>By the way, my own D dared to tell her Fordham father she wanted to attend NYU and not the Alma Mater. Jesuit educated and trained, I zipped it up and just hoped she'd her find her way back home. (In the long run, it's our "kids'" choice, no matter how much we want them to attend one school versus another. They have to make their own choice.They have to do the work.) After spending a few Saturdays on and around the NYU campus, she got the impression that NYU had no sense of community and seemed like a big business. She's decided if Fordham was good enough for NYU's president, who holds three degrees from there, it's good enough for her.
And while Stern Business is ranked better, the starting salaries for both a Fordham and NYU business undergrad are strictly the same. In the end, the difference between Fordham and NYU is not really prestige but the type of college experience the student wants. They offer two very different experiences.
(And if she had still pushed for NYU, I would have moved her into Soho, albeit with regrets, next August.)</p>

<p>Fordham has a communications program, the one that organized HardBall, and they seem to do a lot of lectures, etc with Columbia, NYU, etc. So those connections are all there</p>

<p>When my D was looking at colleges, she didn't think she wanted a school with that "spirit thing", and after visiting Fordham and realizing how mush she enjoys it at her HS, she thought, hmmm, maybe I do want that school spirit thing.</p>

<p>I don't like Fordham because they seem very conservative. You have to sign a now substance policy and boys aren't allowed on the girls floors and girls aren't allowed on the boys floors. Also, the campus I visited was icky. The building looked like a public highschool and smelt like feet. The food was voted worst in the country. I also have a problem with religious schools.</p>

<p>Yeah, that's basically what it is. It's not Fordham-bashing, it's Catholic bashing.
Those Catholic schools that are liberal (BC, Georgetown, etc,) do not get the kind of bashing that Fordham does.</p>

<p>but its jesuit. thats different from catholic. im not catholic and i go to a jesuit high school, and trust me, its verrry different.</p>

<p>its much more liberal, much less "catholicism is the only good religion," etc.</p>

<p>and im pretty sure boys and girls are allowed on each others floors, just not past 3:30am. i dont really think thats that big of a problem.</p>

<p>To be fair, I haven't been engaging in Fordham bashing, I respect other choice to go there, I was just hoping to give some insight into why people don't like Fordham. I don't personally like it for the above reasons but if you like it that's great. Obviously no everyone wants to go to a liberal school. I originally was looking into the school because it's in NY but the Manhatten campus was icky. The Rose Hill one was beautiful, I'll give you that. </p>

<p>Also, I don't go there so I don't know the policy about boys and girls on each others floors. That's just what I heard from my tour guide. I would have a problem with this, what is my boyfriend slept over?</p>

<p>I graduated from Fordham many years ago, and at that time, there was one all-girls dorm, Spellman Hall. I can assure you that the guys often visited - and I don't recall any curfews of any sort!</p>

<p>the thing is, jesuit schools are liberal. although part of the catholic church, the jesuits are all about a well-rounded education. my school (its jesuit) teaches sex ed, openly protests the war, has a gay-straight alliance and many openly gay teachers...im not sure how it could be more liberal.</p>

<p>and i know from those who have gone to my school and then fordham, they are verry similar in all these respects.</p>

<p>superstarr567 jesuits aren't that liberal. Pope John Paul II condemned Iraq War, so was he a liberal? Most Catholic schools these days offer some kind of sex ed and have g/s alliance and gay teachers, etc.</p>

<p>its not that big of a deal anymore.</p>

<p>when discussing the catholic religion Jesuits are liberal and their style of education is amazing</p>

<p>I think superstarr567s point when discussing a system of education, a college, the Jesuit really teach it all, unlike some other Catholic or religious schools</p>

<p>Sometimes people here, oh Catholic College, is religion forced down your throat, and at Fordam and other Jesuit institutions, it is not</p>

<p>why the hostility</p>

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<p>Who is "they" when you refer to that group as conservative? What is that even supposed to mean? Generalizing a group, whether it's the students, administrators, or anyone for that matter with such an elementary term leaves much to the imagination.</p>

<p>I don't know what you're talking about in regards to men not being allowed to even be on women's floors and vice versa, but men and women live on the same floors together. The "substance policy" that you speak of probably refers to an agreement that you sign at the beginning of the year stating you will not drink alcohol on campus (if you're underage) or do drugs on campus. Oh the absurdity of such an agreement!</p>

<p>The food was ranked something like "8th Worst in the Country", not the worst. By no means am I saying that the food is all that great, but you really need to take subjective ratings with a grain of salt. Let's say I absolutely despise of ice cream and I decide to publish a ranking of the worst foods. Ice cream tops my list because I really dislike the taste; does this mean that ice cream is the worst food? No, it doesn't because there's no way to measure something like food as the "best" or the "worst" because it's a subjective matter. I mean, how do they even draw conclusions that a school has the "worst food"; how do you measure such a thing?</p>

<p>You then went on to say that the school "smells like feet", which again doesn't make sense. Different parts of the building will most likely smell different; you could be standing outside a bathroom and think to yourself "wow, this building smells awful!" Or you could be next to someone eating pizza and think to yourself that the building smells great. You're generalizing AGAIN (based on not much) and it makes no sense to do so.</p>

<p>What is your problem with religious schools? Is your problem that the schools are "religious"? It's not as if every person that attends a "religious school" is AFFILIATED with a religious institution of any shape or form. Is your problem with a school's affiliation, its historical background, or its policies? Fordham is officially a Jesuit University, but it's not as if religious doctrines dictate the curriculum, major policies, or much for that matter.</p>

<p>I hope I've cleared up a few misconceptions.</p>

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<p>Males and Females are most definitely allowed on each others floors. As aforementioned, men and women mostly live on the same floors. Technically speaking, you're not supposed to have any sort of guest in your dorm past 3:30AM (unless you have a guest pass), or be in a person of the opposite sex's room after that hour, but this is not enforced at all. It's difficult to get into another dorm without the correct ID after 3:30AM, but males/females are often in each others rooms (engaging in all sorts of behavior ;)) for all hours of the night.</p>