I
attend Fordham College at the Lincoln Center, which means our
campus is literally in the middle of New York City.
This provides great opportunities to get off campus and
do pretty much anything you could possibly think of doing,
from kayaking on the Hudson for free, to seeing Broadway
shows (sometimes also for free), to finding parties or raves
and dancing the night away. The school itself is
relatively small(buildings plus the law school), being right in the
middle of the city, which can cause problems for on-campus
activities who have to compete to get space for events.
However, student run clubs have gotten very inventive about
finding ways to meet and have fun anyway. I've
read a lot of reviews which say that the extracurriculars
on campus suck or don't exist. These people are
obviously not trying hard enough. Clubs and events are
advertised all over the school, on every bulletin board and
even on the school channel. All you have to
do to find an activity is look. It's really
easy since there is always something going on, either at
LC or Rose Hill. Transport between campuses is a
pain because it's long and uncomfortable sitting in the Ram
Vans with drivers who often don't care if their passengers
have a smooth ride over rough road; however, the Vans
are a readily accessible and easy way to get up
to the Bronx, instead of paying for the Metro North
or taking the D and having to walk for ten
minutes. Personally I really enjoy LC. Most of my
classes are a lot of fun and the teachers are
readily accessible for questions, comments and just for plain old
talking. Most of them have office hours that are
heavily attended and are also open to meeting in other
places for a cup of coffee and a chat.
This is not to say that all of the profs
are wonderful here. I've had a few who just didn't
care enough to learn names or were so focused on
their own research that that was all they focused on,
limiting the amount learned in class. Some of them
are very intelligent people who just cannot and should not
teach.
The cafeteria is, I must admit, pretty horrible.
It has been getting better, offering vegetarian options and adding
a sandwich bar, but overall, the food blows. It's
also not an actual cafe, with buffet-style dining. Instead
students have to buy item by item which can really
add up to a lot of money, depending on what
you get. The seating area is also small.
This is partially excusable by the fact that each dorm
room gets its own kitchen to cook but really, who
wants to cook ever night?
There is just too little
space in general, especially for commuter students who have one
small lounge by the cafe. For a school that
is almost half commuter, Fordham doesn't tend to focus on
them much. They have to spend their down time
in the library or the tiny lounge with little option
as to places to relax and just hang out.
They aren't allowed in the dorms without a resident to
sign them in, even to use the study lounges during
the day.
The dorms, on the other hand are very
nice. Basically each LC dorm suite is a full
apartment with a huge amount of space. We get
a full kitchen, with stove and fridge, one or two
bathrooms depending on the number of people in a suite
and a fully furnished common room. This is in
EACH SUITE. We also get free heating and air
conditioning units in each room, a definite plus when the
weather gets too cold or too hot. The RA's
in general are very dedicated individuals who take their jobs
seriously but don't allow it to get in the way
of making sure that the residents are enjoying and adjusting
to college life well. The RA's and RD's really
care about us residents and are willing to do anything
to help. My favorite RA last year sat with
my roommate for 9 hours at the hospital until her
mom came after the girl had an operation. THAT'S
dedication.
The core curriculum is very annoying as it restricts
what students are able to do the first couple of
semesters, but there are easy ways to get around it.
A lot of the core classes fulfill the requirements for
more than one part of the core. So a
Sociology class could also fill the Anthropology requirement. A
lot of kids don't get this and so they end
up taking too many unnecessary classes. The core really
isn't that difficult to fulfill if you work the system
correctly.
Overall, I am glad that I came to Fordham
Lincoln Center. It's a great school with a lot
of opportunities available for the kids who are willing to
look for and then pursue them.