<p>I'm a freshman at St. Lawrence University, and plan to transfer for next year. I've basically been in a constant college search for a long time. I constantly find schools that look right, and then decide against them after reading enough to be convinced they just aren't. I'm throwing in the towel and my pride/ego to finally say, "I need some help, bad."</p>
<p>I want to be in a big city, or at least near one (suburban would be acceptable basically, or anywhere that has nice and reasonably priced transportation to a big city). I would like a school that is at least challenging and well-renowned. I want somewhere that there is a reasonable social scene and not the most killjoy place ever: I like to go out every once in a while, but not every night. Somewhere with at least moderately social conditions.</p>
<p>Location is mostly narrowed down to places like or near NYC and Boston. Being from way Northern New York (you say, "Albany? I say, "Farther.") I want somewhere within reasonable distance, but I guess I'd consider going as far as Philly if I had good reason.</p>
<p>SATs: 2150
ACTs: 32
GPA (HS): 98.something or other
GPA (Fall 2010 @ SLU): 4.0
APUSH: 5
APPhys: 4
Salutatorian</p>
<p>I've looked at Ivy's but have little chance getting in (was denied to a few first time around, figuring that means I won't get into any of them, especially as a transfer), and looked at Fordham but I'm worried that the RH campus is too strict and the LC campus too nonsocial (I'm into music and film and the like far more than sports, but I like at least a little balance, as I might do science OR English OR history as a major). NYU is too expensive (I'm far from rich) and BC seems a bit too preppy for me (a problem I have with SLU). Basically, financial aid is at least something to be considered, as all my scholarships will have to be Academic. If it's a purely financial aid school, I'm sure I'd at least get a little.</p>
<p>Happy to provide any more info that would help. Sorry, I'm a bit of a cynic, but I'm really just wanting help here, and pretty badly. Thank you to anyone who is willing to help me out, I really do appreciate it.</p>
<p>Here, I figured I’d give this one quick note and if it fades out I’ll just let it die. The original post is indeed a bit long.</p>
<p>College type desired: Northeast (namely NYC and Boston), urban or suburban, sociable, challenging. Schools considered: Fordham, BC, NYU, looking for other suggestions or notes on those three in particular. Again, if this ends up being second paged again with few responses I’ll let it die. Apologies.</p>
<p>If you need financial aid you may want to reconsider why being near NYC is so important to you. As someone who went to Fordham I can tell you it is extremely expensive to attend these schools beyond tuition just for living costs.
That said, I don’t think you should rule out Ivy’s, particularly Columbia. Having a college 4.0 is great and your high school stats are good. Even though you werent accepted the first time, seeing that you can do so well in a college setting is an asset. If you’re okay with Philly you might want to look at some of the local LAC’s because there are a number of excellent ones within an hour of that city. Villanova might also be a good option that you could probably get into.</p>
<p>Fordham actually gave me the second closest to a full ride out of eleven schools, surprisingly. Just took a lot of talking to them, but the scholarships and financial aid ended up in the 30K range. Need based aid gives us a little and then academic scholarship is a big bulk. Surely you’re not saying transfers don’t get academic scholarships…</p>
<p>That’s actually very surprising to hear from Fordham based on the students I’ve met for freshman admissions. I was commenting on the price of living in a city (food, transportation, entertainment, etc.), not on financial aid though. Although in my experience with transferring the aid available is very limited when considering living in a city like NYC there are an unfortunately large amounts of hidden costs. (The amount I had to spend on groceries because the dining hall had such limited hours was atrocious. The cheapest supermarket was Whole Foods -_-).</p>
<p>Ah, yes, well that certainly makes sense. My mindset though is i’m willing to work during breaks and vacations to get money, and more willing to take on debt at a great school in a nice city than go to a worse school and graduate without debt (as I would at my current school).</p>
<p>I’ve never been to DC but was looking at Georgetown University and George Washington University, as I’m sure I could visit. Only saying so here in hopes that people are familiar and could give me tips relative to other things I’ve said here (again I appreciate the assistance I’m getting, I’m sure you all have better things to do).</p>
<p>Yes, i’m saying academic scholarships for transfers are rare. Merit scholarships go primarily to freshmen. It’s very, very limited for transfer students. Post on the transfer board for ideas.</p>
<p>Well, either way, financial aid isn’t the most important at the moment I guess. The key is finding places so that I can worry about financial aid!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, all college searches that are well considered start with money. There is no use in spending time and effort applying to schools you can’t afford. There is no financial aid fairy that many look for. It’s especially hard for transfers.</p>
<p>So figure out if you qualify for need based aid and if your family can afford it’s EFC. If that works, focus on schools that meet 100% of need for transfers.</p>
<p>If not, look for the few schools that will give you merit aid or schools you can fully afford.</p>
<p>You could graduate from SLU debt free? That is very difficult to walk away from.
You probably will not get a good deal like that at another school! </p>
<p>My family never found it to be “preppy” at all & we have a SLU Grad. </p>
<p>Maybe you just haven’t made the right friends?
But if you aren’t happy, then transfer!
67% of students at SLU are from public schools.</p>
<p>The student population will probably be rather similar everywhere, I just find it to be slightly more leaning towards people that didn’t work very hard in high school and won’t have to at St. Lawrence. It’s mostly that I find the curriculum to be unchallenging and St. Lawrence to be a great school for average students. My dad’s an alumni, so you can imagine how popular that statement is with him.</p>
<p>My S is a freshman at Fordham LC and his final decision came down to Fordham, NYU and BC. He chose Fordham for the Jesuit education, the strong Theatre department and “artsy” vibe of the campus, and the NYC location. He is very happy with his choice and can’t wait to go back! :)</p>
<p>So what makes you say that Fordham RH is too strict and LC is too antisocial? Did you visit and get that impression? If you’re really considering transferring, I think you should take another look because the Fordham experience is really kind of in the middle of BC and NYU. And you can get the best of both worlds by taking classes or participating in activities at either campus by using the RamVan.</p>
<p>nyc2013 is right about the additional expenses involved in living in NYC though and certainly 2college makes a good point that there is no use applying to schools you can’t afford. Don’t even think about putting yourself in any significant debt for undergrad even if you get into a “great school in a nice city.” </p>
<p>If you want any more info specifically on Fordham, I recommend that you post your questions in the Fordham forum. The people who post are usually very helpful as long as you don’t get into discussions about financial aid or scholarships, lol! </p>
<p>I do think you’re correct that the student populations will be very efferent at SLU and at say a T2O college. On that basis I can see a transfer making sense if the finances work. I agree it’s not worth significant debt.</p>
<p>General consensus seems to be that the RAs and campus security are hardasses (I mean they have to be at some level, but at the same time I don’t know how I feel about having to go out to parties in the Bronx because there aren’t any on campus…) Also there seems to be a popular thought that the campus is rather conservative, and while I’m more centrist than anything, I don’t really get along with too-strongly opinionated people either way.</p>
<p>LC I heard is great social-wise if you’re in the theatre part, but if you’re just doing whatever then most places seem to say you won’t meet many people as there aren’t many people and there tends to be a lot of “loners”. It’s just a bit daunting.</p>
<p>I was going to suggest Carnegie Mellon ¶ but noticed CMU does not give merit aid to transfer students. Pittsburgh being another college city, although not as large as NYC, Boston or Philly.</p>
<p>agladwin, the question wasn’t really what you HEARD about Fordham, it was did you visit and form your own impression??? It’s definitely not the right fit for everybody. But if it IS a good fit, you will love it. And keep in mind that when you are figuring out what schools might be a good fit FOR YOU, popular thought means little, it’s your own that counts.</p>
<p>I wish you good luck with the search whether or not you take another look at Fordham! :)</p>
<p>Ah, you’re right, I appear to have avoided the direct question. I visited Rose Hill: the campus feeling was a little intimidating (after staying at BU a couple of times I liked the integrated city feel) but I certainly enjoyed Rose Hill’s beauty. The strictness worries me a bit though as I tend to like having a bit of freedom; things like group punishment or unnecessary restrictions give me a bit of a bother, and there definitely sounded like there were many during the tour.</p>
<p>LC, on the other hand, I did not visit (unfortunately). It sounds a bit like Marymount Manhattan College though, truth be told, which I visited. Could be wrong, of course. In NYC I did Marymount, FCRH, and Columbia. Unfortunately, the Columbia tour was miserable (not as in I disliked the campus, but it was just a bad tour).</p>
<p>^^^If you found the RH campus intimidating, I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t feel the same about BC being it is a much larger school with three campuses! And yes, the Jesuit schools will have some of what you are referring to as restrictions. But keep in mind, every school will have rules and policies. It’s not like you’ll be able to go anywhere and do whatever you please free from all consequences. </p>
<p>If you LIKE the integrated city feel like BU, then you should look at LC and NYU which you apparently missed the first time around. I have never been to Marymount so I couldn’t possibly say whether they are similar or not. But you just can’t guess what the vibe of LC is like unless you’ve been there and felt it.</p>
<p>People have given you some great suggestions on this thread. I suggest that you do some research on the schools to see if they offer the kinds of programs you are interested in and if they look to be a fit academically and financially, then I recommend that you get off your butt and go visit!!!</p>