http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/FU_comments.html Life at FU - Comments en http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/FU_comments.html Graduating near the top of my class from a Jesuit prep school in the Northeast, I believed that Fordham would be a great college experience; a beautiful campus close to (but not in) Manhattan, a stron... Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:59:29 GMT StudentsReview 947-92974 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 947-92974 947 79 Finance Male Undergraduate Class 2016 1st Year Negative Graduating near the top of my class from a Jesuit prep school in the Northeast, I believed that Fordham would be a great college experience; a beautiful campus close to (but not in) Manhattan, a strong connection to Wall Street, a wealth of internship opportunities, and, what appeared to be, a very smart, motivated, and well-rounded student body.

After attending Fordham for 1 semester, I can say that my impressions of Fordham back when I was applying/deciding to attend were highly misled and that I really sold myself short.

I will begin with academics. Two of my five professors spoke very little english and constantly struggled to communicate with the class sufficiently. Another professor would show up to class late every day (unprepared), borrow a students textbook, and start lecturing on a random topic right from the book. Overall, only two of my five professors were of acceptable quality, and even then, I would not say that they were "good teachers" by any stretch of the imagination.

What was even more disappointing than the poor teaching quality was the fact that the majority of my classmates did not seem to care. In fact, many were pleased because it meant that they could skip some classes and not have to do as much work. I found that the prevailing attitude amongst students at Fordham is mediocrity; really just wanting to get by with a B-average while "going out" (to the bars) as much as possible. Additionally, there are very few students that actually get involved with clubs or organizations on campus. I found that it is a relatively small "fringe" group of students that belongs to a number of different clubs. When I went to a debate club meeting, I was met with funny looks since Im an athlete and, apparently, athletes shouldn't join clubs because it isn't "cool."

Next: Social life. I would say that I'm a pretty easy going and chill person who makes friends easily. However, I was surprised to find that, since most students come from the tri-state area, a great number of kids come to Fordham already having a group of friends and are not that interested in making new ones. I also found that people aren't into socializing that much during the day but are absolutely fixated on "going out" as much as humanly possible. By going out, I mean going out to the few dive bars off campus that serve alcohol to anyone who is 18. While this was enjoyable the first few times, I found this to be an extremely unsatisfying "social life." But apparently, I am in the minority.

The campus leaves a lot to be desired. While the campus is beautiful and the landscaping is constantly being updated, the dorms and athletic facilities are certainly sub par compared to other schools. And the cafeteria is absolutely terrible. I found myself eating the same 4 or 5 meals over and over because there are so few options. And even these things were poor quality and very industrial. (Fordham was ranked worst in the nation for food by the princeton review)

And finally, the Bronx. The Little Italy section of the Bronx looks kind of alright on a bright sunny day in the spring, but it is certainly not a place that you would want to reside. It is risky going out to bars and apartment parties at night (someone gets mugged almost every weekend) and the locals have a very clear distain for Fordham kids. Every time I went off campus into the neighborhood, people would give me funny looks (I assume because I am white) and on three occasions, I was offered pot from some hoods dealing on the street.

All in all, my one semester at Fordham was a major disappointment in just about every way, to be completely honest with you. Academically it was very poor, socially there was nothing to do besides the bar scene and the kids were very stuck up and unfriendly. The facilities were not that nice, the food was terrible, and the Bronx neighborhood is almost unlivable.

If you want to put your head down, ignore all of the problems that Fordham has, and get good grades, then there really are internship opportunities that become available. A lot of kids do this and ultimately get good jobs. However, I do not believe that it is worth giving up a quality education and a positive college experience just to get an internship on Wall Street while you are still in college. This is why I have transferred to a small liberal arts school in the NESCAC league. I would advise anyone who wants to true education/college experience, and not just a job, to skip Fordham. Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:59:29 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/FU_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/FU_comments.html Fordham is great. The education is great and the faculty cares about you. The kids are great and the nightlife is pretty good. It is a pretty big party school while still having good classes that will... Sun, 03 Feb 2013 07:21:50 GMT StudentsReview 947-91779 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 947-91779 947 1 Accounting Male Undergraduate Class 2016 1st Year Positive Fordham is great. The education is great and the faculty cares about you. The kids are great and the nightlife is pretty good. It is a pretty big party school while still having good classes that will land you a job. Work hard, play harder. Sun, 03 Feb 2013 07:21:50 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/FU_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/FU_comments.html I enjoyed my stay at Fordham - Well worth the time.... Mon, 28 Jan 2013 06:03:02 GMT StudentsReview 947-91655 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 947-91655 947 57 Economics Male Undergraduate Class 2013 4th Year Positive I enjoyed my stay at Fordham - Well worth the time. Mon, 28 Jan 2013 06:03:02 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/FU_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/FU_comments.html Bunch of pompous niggers at this institution. Brother shoulda gone to Manhattan or something... Wed, 26 Dec 2012 07:40:04 GMT StudentsReview 947-91182 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 947-91182 947 2 Aerospace Engineering Female Undergraduate Class 2016 2nd Year Negative Bunch of pompous niggers at this institution. Brother shoulda gone to Manhattan or something Wed, 26 Dec 2012 07:40:04 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/FU_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/FU_comments.html Listen, I'm going to provide a review that is not often seen for Fordham; and that is one of a student who came from a small public school that was generally bad. A student who grew up with no money. ... Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:56:11 GMT StudentsReview 947-90525 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 947-90525 947 6 Biology Female Undergraduate Class 2016 1st Year Advice Listen, I'm going to provide a review that is not often seen for Fordham; and that is one of a student who came from a small public school that was generally bad. A student who grew up with no money. A student who cares about much more than superficial college shit. And a student who is so confused that it's not even funny.
First word of advice , CONSIDER EVERYTHING. Here's my top ten advice:
1) The cost. If you can't afford it without taking out a 30,000 dollar private student loan per-year, then look somewhere else. Seriously, the interest means you'll be paying about 83,000 a year (yes, that's me). Without meaning to be harsh, throw out your romanticized idea of the fact you'll get a good paying job and it'll be easy to pay back. 400,000 isn't easy no matter how you look at it, especially if you need to go to graduate school to get a job that even pays close to what you need (which can be much more expensive). And don't think it's worth it to spend the money to get into Fordham Law afterwards, out of the 1200 enrolled at the law school, less than 50 are actually Fordham kids. (Dean told me this)
2) This is a private, jesuit college. When they mean no opposite sex guests, they mean it, and you WILL get in trouble. This is a catholic school and while they emphasize diversity, the students are not so open, trust me. And if you're of a different religion, you'll feel it.
3) A lot of students are rich and have no problem blowing all of their money on alcohol or stupid things. Which they do quite frequently. Not only that, but when you talk to some of the rich-kid stereotypes, they have no fucking idea what to do with their life. I'd kill to have the kind of money to not be transferring right now.
4) The only "social life" is drinking on the weekends. Yes there's little italy and the city but good-luck finding people that actually want to take the trip that far. Drinking's the easiest thing to do, so it's done.
5) THE FOOD. Okay, it's not that bad. Better than some places now that they've fixed it. But it does get repetitive and sometimes you just don't eat because you can't stand it. I've barely been here a semester and i've taken to eating once a day. It's so blah.
6) If you aren't "preppy", or loud, or like to get really drunk and fuck anything that moves, then you might not be happy here. If you have just ONE OUNCE of individuality (no, if you're a hipster, you're not individual. You'll fit in fine. We have a cafe for you) then Fordham isn't the place for you. If you have a PC instead of a Mac, prepare to be death stared everywhere you go. You WILL be the odd one out and it's going to suck. All because of that rich private school mentality.
7) Teachers tend to think you have no other classes but their own so you have about 13 hours a week of studying to do... PER CLASS. If you think i'm kidding, then subtract half a letter grade per hour. I'm serious. You WILL do tons of work and you WILL NOT have free time without sacrifice. It gets hard to maintain if you aren't used to it.
8) Speaking of which... I'm paying WAY TOO MUCH for the quality of education. I'm not learning anything new, the professors make me fall asleep much too easily and those that don't, probably have a dead bug up their butt. Because they're jerks. And those ivy-league guys? Yep, they're the worst. Because we're not good enough for them. And some of them even bring it up.
9) Oh and Fordham cares too much about their alumns and newly accepted students. Almost every even on campus is for them. There is rarely anything to do on the weekends except drink. There are plays and debates or "talks" with people on various intellectual topics, but they can be a bit hard to follow and sometimes they're at difficult times, mostly during the week which sucks because many students are commuters or live close by so they go home on the weekends when you actually need something to do.
10) Overall, if you were a cheerleader in high school or enjoy being EXTREMELY LOUD ALL THE TIME or drunk. Then this is the school for you. If you're coming here for an enriching education and lots of opportunities, you might be able to get that here if you go out of the way. If you're coming here just for the name, trust me it's not even worth it. That's what I'm struggling with right now. It saddens me to leave the "name", but what's the name without the whole package? A ton of fun-sucking bullshit. Unless I'm convinced otherwise, i'm transferring next semester. Hopefully, it'll be a better experience.
Either way, good luck and PLEASE consider all options before you decide to come here. Don't jump on a school for it's name, think about everything. It'll be worth it in the end. Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:56:11 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/FU_comments.html