Some questions from a perspective student

sovereigndebt
Sat, 11 Jan 2014 09:58:49 +0000

LOL. Well meaning freshmen sometimes get mixed metaphors, as they say. I dont know what the LC rules are on registration for classes but I presume the matter is more about the core, the depth and difficulty of the core, and staying on track to graduate on time. If you add evening classes which are almost always upper division courses, many graduate level courses, then its very difficult to get your work done, pass your courses and graduate on time. Graduating on time is very important because of the expense of Fordham University, but also affects Fordham’s rankings as schools are judged by their graduation rates at 4,5, 6 year intervals. So I strongly suspect that the prohibition on evening classes is imposed exclusively on freshmen at LC. (At RH I know that a lot of accounting classes are at night and the Gabelli kids take those.)

I recommend to Reader that he/she take a course or two at Rose Hill. Its well worth the experience of a new venue, new professors, new classmates and makes you inclusive of the entire Fordham community, not to mention their athletics teams. A lot of RH students take courses at LC for that very reason. My kid took three at LC and enjoyed them immensely.

The comment about atheists is awkward and funny. SOME students at Fordham profess to be atheists, often in a phase of defiance and rebellion from parental control and what they perceive to be societal control. Its fairly normal to question ones belief systems. But to say many students at Fordham are atheists is incorrect, it seems to me. I dont know what the anecdotal evidence is at LC, but at RH they exist but not in large numbers. Just the same, its not a big deal since Fordham is University, not a Seminary for Priests (though some ultimately decide to become clergy and some even as Jesuits, which I admire immensely!) Fordham does have a large Jewish presence on campus. One of my daughter’s best friends at Fordham is a Jewish young man, who went on to Harvard graduate school. There is no problem being accepted if you are Jewish. While Fordham is Catholic and Jesuit, its about ethos, not doctrine. Nobody forces anyone, including Catholics, to attend mass or “be religious.” Its a personal decision. But I also tell you that embracing the Jesuits on campus as teachers and mentors is perhaps one of the best decisions a student can make regardless of their religious views.

To Perspective student (sic. PROspective student, lol.) I encourage you to visit Fordham when the students are back on campus and taking courses. You didnt tell us if you are a HS senior, whether you applied and were admitted, or whether you are a HS Junior etc. Our responses may differ depending on your situation, age etc.

As for most of your questions there are plenty of threads which address each question on this CC Fordham board. Look around.

Reader: Speak to your academic advisor and plan your coursework. Get your core requirements out of the way, to stay on track. But also the core is designed to prepare you for upper division courses and to broaden perspectives and introduce departments and majors to you. Relax. You have four years at Fordham. Rose Hill is a simple (free if you have a class there) RamVan ride away. Its a GORGEOUS campus, gothic, and next to the amazing and beautiful and renowned Botanical Gardens, and the Bronx Zoo. There are programs at both locations coordinated at Fordham, btw if you are a science type person. Fordham also has a joint program at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine (Yeshiva).

Good luck everyone.