Scott H.
Yelp
Fordham is an amazing school. I fell in love with the campus when I visited it while looking at prospective graduate schools. I'd already gotten in when I visited, so it was kind of a done deal once I experienced the campus firsthand.
I can't speak from an undergrad experience since I went to undergrad on the west coast, but I've found Fordham to be a generally friendly place, and all of my professors have been extremely kind and considerate of the students. They push you, most definitely, and I've heard this is not specific just to the realm of graduate programs.
Again, I'm sure the undergrad dynamic is totally different, but the graduate students here are overall friendly and unpretentious, which is maybe what I've loved more than anything else. I came from the Pacific Northwest and went to college with a large population of ostentatious hyper-intellectuals with superiority complexes, which was definitely a detractor in classroom settings. At Fordham, everyone is pretty much on equal ground, and there is a lot of emphasis on group interpretation and dialogue to come to collective answers. The emphasis on collectivity and collaboration is strong, and there is a surprisingly democratic feel to the way my classes have gone.
As far as location, we're in New York City, perhaps the greatest metropolis in the world, so the connection to world class institutions, companies, etc. is unmatched. The two campuses are different; Lincoln Center basically consists of a couple of city buildings on the upper west side, but there is a nice plaza there that's open to the public. Rose Hill is the original campus, and is without a doubt the most gorgeous campus I've ever stepped foot on in my life. It's Gothic, adorned with Catholic statues, sprawling lawns, trees, gardens, and every building basically looks like a castle. Comparisons to Hogwarts are definitely warranted. Did I mention the NY Botanical Garden and Bronx Zoo are in your backyard?
Yeah, yeah, Rose Hill (the main campus) is in the Bronx, but I really want to emphasize something here. I read on a college forum when I was initially researching the school that some woman had said her son was "so scared" of the area around Fordham that he wouldn't even get out of the car to visit the school, which might be the most disgusting and absurd thing I've ever heard in my life.
I have walked around the area late at night and never felt even remotely perturbed by anyone or anything; if you're an undergrad living on campus, it's even less of an issue--the only thing you have to worry about is one of your upper class peers on campus becoming unhinged. The security at the campus is strong, and the entire place is walled in like Fort Knox.
I suppose if you've never left your mommy and daddy's sprawling upstate mansion or your Connecticut boarding school, then yeah, the Bronx is going to be serious culture shock, but I'd like to dispel the notion that there is gang violence and murders and assaults happening on every corner here--there isn't. I am from Portland, Ore. and I can honestly say that I've witnessed crazier/more dangerous situations there on a regular basis than I have in the Bronx. In Portland, I've had loony drug addicts threatening to stab/shoot me to death in front of a convenience store, and seen crazy people dump containers of Chinese food on innocent seniors while riding the train. In the Bronx? Not even.
If you have an ounce of street smarts and pay attention to your surroundings, you will be fine. The idea that the Fordham kids have something to worry about walking around the neighborhood is a myth perpetuated by clueless white plutocrats, and it's absolute BS. At 3am? Maybe not the best time to be walking around drunk, but that goes for any big city in the WORLD.
If you can't handle the Bronx, you can't handle Fordham.