UCLA vs EMERSON vs FORDHAM

sandkmom
Fri, 25 Mar 2011 08:35:34 +0000

Congratulations on your acceptances! You have some wonderful choices! Allow me to give you some info on Fordham. My S is in his 2nd semester and has loved every minute of it since Day 1! :)

Fordham, as you know, is a BA program in a Jesuit university with a large core curriculum. If you are interested in a well rounded liberal arts education bc you have a wide variety of interests and feel that knowledge gained from courses outside of the Theatre department will help you in your character development on stage, then Fordham may be the school for you. If you are only interested in Theatre and Theatre related courses and don’t want to study anything else, then I recommend you go elsewhere.

Theatre students at Fordham are primarily happy but BUSY. 1st semester you will take Acting I with lab, Collaboration I with lab which is with all the Theatre majors in the class (Performance, Playwriting, Directing and Design/Production) and all the Freshman professors together. You will also be required to work 50 hours in the Scene shop to be scheduled as you see fit. This leaves room for 3 core classes…my S took English Composition II (he placed into II based on SAT writing score) which every incoming Freshman must take, Art History which was selected for him based on a preference survey and is tied to housing, and a Theology course. 2nd semester you will take Acting II and Collaboration II both with labs and you will be required to be on run crew for a show which means attending pre-tech and tech week and of course, all performances. I do believe that some students did run crew last semester and scene shop this semester and that this is assigned by the Theatre dept. Additionally, strike the sets are mandatory. This semester my S is also taking Playwriting (his double major), French and another English course that was required and preselected for him.

There are 20 Theatre students in the Class of 2014, 16 Performance majors, 1 Directing, 2 Design/Production and 1 Performance/Playwriting double major…my S! 19 of the 20 freshman are very happy with their choice. Only 1 has said that he would be happier if Fordham were more of a conservatory and less of a university.

Fordham has a highly reputable Theatre program. The Theatre professors are all outstanding and my S’s academic advisor is the head of the department…he has been truly amazing in mentoring and guiding my S. Several of his professors are very well known and also privately coach some VERY famous actors who have come in to Fordham to talk with the students. Last semester, Dan Lauria met with them.

The Lincoln Center location CANNOT be beat for a Theatre major! My S runs in Central Park, goes to the Met, gets plenty of free or student rush tix, goes ice skating in Bryant Park, etc. but he doesn’t limit himself to the Lincoln Center or Times Square area either and has been to the beach in the Rockaways, Governer’s Island and anywhere he pleases! He has also on occasion taken the Ram Van over to the Rose Hill campus for activities being held there.

There is one dorm at LC and it is apartment style and very nice. This year he is in a forced triple and there is still plenty of room plus nearly $4k was knocked off the room and board, and the second bedroom of the apartment is a double. Together the 5 of them share a full kitchen, DR/LR and full bathroom. Next year he will be in a 3 bedroom apartment that is larger and has 2 bathrooms for the 6 of them.

Fordham LC doesn’t have a typical dining plan although freshman are required to put $1600 on a declining balance card for the small cafeteria. The hours are not great and the food is primarily pizza, burgers, chicken tenders, etc. although there are vegeterian options and a terrific smoothie bar. You can add more to it if you need to and the money will carry over until you graduate. However, bc there is a full kitchen it is expected that you will be cooking for yourself which means you also will be food shopping. And groceries in Manhattan can be expensive. For that matter, so can everything else!

Fordham LC is a small but tight community. About 50% of the students are commuters though and they have to work a bit harder to feel like they are part of the community. Of course, people have been known to create drama and gossip but my S stays away from all that. He also stays away from drugs and alcohol. He doesn’t feel left out socially bc of it since there are plenty of other like minded people. He works VERY hard in all of his classes and very rarely misses any of them…Fordham is NOT an easy school…but so far it has paid off with excellent grades. He feels like the Jesuit administration has lived up to their promise of care for the whole person. They know him by name and go out of their way to assist with every concern no matter how small it might be. He has also gone out of his way to cultivate these relationships though and get involved in service opportunities and campus ministry as well. The Jesuit presence is certainly part of the school’s identity but they are welcoming of people of all faiths or none at all.

Hopefully some people with actual knowledge about the other two programs will chime in. I also recommend that you attend the Spring Preview which can really help you determine if Fordham is the school for you. Good luck! :)