Rose Hill or Lincoln Center: Why Not Both?

One of the major decisions all Fordham applicants must choose from is which campus they want to go to: the beautiful and iconic Rose Hill campus in the Bronx, or the happening, city campus smack in the middle of Manhattan. Now let's admit it- that's a really hard decision. That one check mark on Fordham’s application is bound to determine your college experience for the next four years…or will it?

City Life Lincoln Center Campus

Iconic Rose Hill Campus

While students do have to chose between which campus they want to live and primarily take classes, there are a multitude of resources and opportunities on both campuses that can be pursued by all students. I believe that this is one of the most overlooked perks of Fordham University. Not only can students from each campus take classes at the other campus, but the dining halls, facilities, libraries, and study spaces are available for everyone. Essentially everything on both campuses is at most only a Ram Van ride from students’ fingertips.

Perhaps the biggest of these perks is the ability for Fordham students to dorm on any Fordham campus during the summertime, given they take an academic Fordham summer course or have an internship. This gives students the flexibility (and affordability) to take classes or work in Manhattan during the summertime. Additionally, it gives students the opportunity for a change of scenery from their normal campus and dorms.

Just a normal summer day in Manhattan

I am a Rose Hill student but this past summer I took full advantage of this opportunity and lived in McMahon Hall at the Lincoln Center campus while I interned at an advertising agency downtown five days a week. Not only did Fordham housing alleviate a long, long commute from my house in Connecticut, but it also allowed me to explore New York City even more than I already do as a Rose Hill Student. I ran in Central Park almost every day, went to so many new restaurants, attended summer concerts, and made new friends with other students living in McMahon for the summer.

Dinner and a view from my LC apartment 

It is possible to get the best of both worlds from the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses; students just have to utilize all the resources and opportunities that they are given.  As for me, I love living in the Bronx during the year but plan to switch over to Lincoln Center again for the summer months (despite the sweaty subway rides).



For more information on summer housing with Fordham University, click here. 

Honey, I'm Home!

While it is sad to leave home for the first time at the beginning of freshmen year, there is no doubt that you will make yourself right at home in Fordham's spacious and diverse residence halls! Each residence hall on campus has its own unique attributes, and you won't be able to resist the views from your window! Some dorm rooms are traditional two-person rooms, while many upperclassmen rooms on campus are apartment style; they include bedrooms, a kitchen, a living space, a dining room, and a bathroom! 

Below is a compilation of pictures from dorm rooms all across campus! If you were to come on a campus tour at Rose Hill, we do our best to showcase a freshmen residence hall. Here are some pictures from upperclassmen residence halls. While this post only features a few of the residence halls, descriptions of all the halls can be found online at www.fordham.edu. Enjoy!!!

O'Hare Hall Residential College: A traditional residence hall that includes double and triple rooms. Each room has its own bathroom! The hall has versatile social and study lounges throughout, and free laundry in the basement! There are multiple integrated learning communities (ILC) including: Wellness, Science Integrated Learning Community, Integrated Learning Community - Global Business, and West Wing: Integrated Learning Community for Ignatian Leadership and Civic Service.

Walsh Hall: This residence hall consists of apartment-style housing. About 500 students live in this 13-floor building, in two and three bedroom apartments. There is free laundry within the building, and many of the apartment have beautiful views of campus and of the city! Walsh Hall is only steps away from Edwards Parade and Keating Hall. 

Martyr's Court: This is a freshmen residence hall complex that consists of three sections: Lalande, Goupil, and Jogues. Each section is named after a Jesuit Martyr. This hall includes traditional double rooms and a small number of single rooms. There are 15 community lounges with kitchenettes throughout the complex, and 17 study lounges. There is also free laundry in each section of Martyr's Court. This hall also houses the freshmen Science Integrated Learning Communities in the Jogues section. The SILC is a great way to jumpstart your science career, whether you are majoring in a science field or are thinking about pre-med. The SILC offers tutors and a surrounding community that you can learn from.

Single room in Martyr's Court

Campbell, Salice and Conley Halls: The integrated learning community within these halls is designed to meet the unique needs of seniors and junior during the transition into the "real world." The learning community helps develop the special skills that are needed after college. These halls were erected in 2010 and consist of apartment style housing. Between 4-6 people live in each apartment in either single or double rooms, and each apartment has its own living space, kitchen, and bathroom. Plus, there is air conditioning and free laundry!

Back in the Swing

The Fordham Campuses are quickly filling up with students once again as classes quickly approach. Here at the Rose Hill campus, students are looking forward to more than just classes. On campus there are already a variety of activities going on. Many students are moving in early to prepare for the incoming freshmen and to prepare for the university clubs and sports. And just as quickly as students are moving in, posters are already going up to advertise upcoming events like the Annual President’s Ball. 

Poster advertising the upcoming President's Ball on September 12th.

I am a senior with a double major in political science and women’s studies. I just moved into Campbell Hall on Wednesday. My on-campus apartment is located on the sixth floor of the building and I have a great panoramic view of the Bronx. I am lucky enough to be spending the next nine months living with my three best friends before we all graduate! It goes by so fast! I moved in earlier than the rest of my peers to participate in training for the Rose Hill Society. RHS consists of about 180 volunteer student ambassadors who become experts on the ins-and-outs of Fordham in order to share our knowledge with prospective students. At our training, the society hears presentations from a variety of departments on campus. We are always up-to-date on the most recent changes and campus happening.

 

My single room in Campbell Hall!

Along with the Rose Hill Society ambassadors, students who are New Student Orientation leaders, student athletes, and residential assistants are back on campus preparing for the upcoming year. Even with all of the orientations going on, students still seem to make time to hang out of Eddie’s.  I even had a free moment to check out the new freshmen dorm building, Loyola Hall. The building has been completed renovated in order to house about 120 incoming freshmen. It is BEAUTIFUL! The first floor study lounge is very Hogwarts-esque.

It is great to be back on campus and to be surrounded by my friends and peers once again. The Fordham community is outstanding and it feels good to have everyone back on campus. It feels like home. And what better to kick off the new school year than with the first Fordham football game on Saturday?! Fordham will be versing Saint Francis University this Saturday at home. Hopefully they can do even better than their 12-2 (wins-losses) record from last year! It is good to get back into the swing of things.

Students lounging on Eddie's in between orientation and training!

Home Sweet Home: the Basics of the Room Selection Process

It is already that time of year again when housing deposits for next year are due.  So for people who are not familiar with Fordham’s housing process, I thought I’d provide a little insight. 

For incoming freshman in June, you fill out a lifestyle survey and rank your preferences of which of the freshman dorms you would want to live in .  Residential Life pretty much takes over 

from there and notifies you of where you will be living in August. 

Finlay Hall, where I live now

After your freshman year, you have much more say over where you live; you can literally pick the exact room you’ll have for the next year.  The basic format for room selection is a lottery process, where students are randomly assigned a time slot on a certain day.  Groups are formed with people who wish to room together, and the person with the best time slot becomes the group leader.  The group leader is in charge of going online during the designated time and selecting a room for the group.  Seniors choose on the first set of days, juniors the next, and finally sophomores.  If students do not select a room during this time, whether because they chose not to select a room, there were no empty rooms available, or there were no rooms large enough to accommodate a group, these students are placed in Post Lotto.  If you are in Post Lotto, you are guaranteed campus housing; however, you are not guaranteed where you will be.  Residential Life makes every attempt to fulfill the requests of the survey you fill out with you building and roommate preferences, but you do not find out where you will be living until at least the middle of the summer.  

A panorama of my single in Finlay

Post Lotto may sound horrible, but I know many people, myself included, who have benefited from being in Post Lotto.  My friends who were not able to find a triple during the regular selection process were able to get a triple by taking a chance with Post Lotto that a group would withdraw.  I personally ended up in a nice single in Finlay Hall, and I have no complaints.  I mean, I have two closets and my own bathroom.  My advice about the housing process is not to worry.  If you’re lucky enough to get an early morning timeslot, then you shouldn’t have any problems, but even if you are forced to patiently wait through the Post Lotto process, I promise you it’s not as bad as it seems.  There have been multiple times when my friends have asked how I managed to get such a good room this year, and my reply is always “Post Lotto.”

The Manresa Progam: The Freshman ILC Experience

My freshman year, I lived in Jogues, which houses the Manresa Program. Fordham offers three unique integrated learning communities for freshmen, the Manresa Program, Queen’s Court, and a floor in Alumni Court South for science majors, called SILC. Although I had my doubts the summer before coming to school, the Manresa Program turned out to be exactly what I needed freshman year. While I love being a sophomore and I love living in Finlay Hall (the sophomore residence hall that I live in now, which is not an ILC), Jogues was the perfect fit for me, and I will admit that I get a little sentimental walking past it from time to time! Because it is smaller than your standard freshman dorm, it really makes the transition from high school to college a lot easier, and the friendships that you make through an ILC are strong and founded in mutual trust and support for one another.  

The Manresa Program is designed for about 150 freshmen, which is small compared to other dorms. You take a version of one of the core classes in the dorm with the other kids that you live with, and you have a variety of choices based on your interests. Because our dorm is an ILC, we receive more funding for programming, in which almost all of the kids participate. Programs such as trips to the Brooklyn Bridge, thrift shopping, kayaking on the Hudson river, and even in-dorm programs that involve cooking and movie nights were always highly-attended. Community bonding is really stressed in the Manresa Program, and I can honestly say that I was comfortable with every single person in my dorm, and would have no problem knocking on any of the doors on my floor just to chat or hang out, even if they weren’t in my group of friends.
 
This isn’t the style of living that is for everyone, but personally, I absolutely LOVED my experience and wouldn’t change a thing about it. I made all of my best friends through Manresa, and formed close bonds with deans and professors that I would not have if I didn’t have the opportunities offered to me through this program. Community service trips were often throughout the year, and while you weren’t required to go, most kids just wanted to participate, because those are the type of kids that are attracted to the Manresa Program. If you’re interested in a strong community-based style of living, then I would strongly suggest considering Manresa, or any of the ILC’s offered at Fordham. Chances are, you won’t regret it. I definitely didn’t!

Some friends and I from Jogues after a Manresa service trip!

“The Voice of the Residence Halls”

As a Student Government organization, Fordham’s Residence Hall Association (RHA) allows a governing body from each residence hall to serve as the liaison between the resident students and the administration and to form a community within the hall that they serve. Each residence hall has a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and programmer.

Last year, as a freshman, I was elected secretary in Martyr’s Court Jogues. Throughout the year, I planned programs for my residence hall and attended weekly meetings. Some of the programs that we held throughout the year include a meet-and-greet, midnight breakfast, sporting events against other residence halls, Easter Egg Decorating, reverse trick-or-treating, lunch with Father McShane, an Oscar’s viewing party, and an End-of-the-Year Superlatives party. All of these programs helped to foster a bond between each member of the residence hall.

Getting involved with RHA was an extremely rewarding experience that allowed me to meet some of the greatest people at Fordham and form lasting friendships. As the secretary of my hall I felt that I played a very important part in shaping a lasting community.  

Freshman Dorm Profile: Queen's Court Edition

Queen's Court is the best place to live as a freshman.

Few will tell you this, especially if they never lived there. They might tell you about the "Queen's stereotype" -- that Queen's kids are studious and straight-edge homebodies -- but even they do so with a glint in their eye. They know that's not the whole story. It's not even a quarter of the story.

Queen's Court is the wellness housing for freshmen who apply and promise to maintain drug- and alcohol-free lifestyles. You can see why stereotypes might develop from this. But the people I found at Queen's were among the nicest, most diverse kids I met at Fordham. During my freshman year, at least, Queen's Court housed musicians, taekwondo-ers, poetry slammers, baseball buffs, stand-up comics, and artists of all kinds. 

Best of all, we got to learn these things about each other through Knight Court. This program assigns each person a time slot during the year in which they will give a 5 to 10 minute presentation on literally anything they want to share about themselves, or anything they find interesting. We were only asked to attend twice a week (there were two presentations a night from Monday through Thursday), but some students actually attended more often. 

I chose a double in Queen's as my first choice on the housing application. Sure, I was attracted by the amenities -- the possibility of a private bathroom, extra-large room, or walk-in closet thrilled me, and no other residence hall has a study lounge as beautiful or as Hogwarts-like as Bishop's Lounge -- but I also thought I'd find like people at Queen's Court. And I did. I befriended many of the girls on my floor (shout-out to John's 3rd!), and we still hang out now that we all live in O'Hare.

One of the best parts of Queen's for me, though, was my room. As someone who tried to find photos of Fordham dorms online before freshman year started, I know that they're scarce. I hope you find these photos helpful! You can click each one for a larger view.

There weren't any outlets in this little nook by the front door, so I turned it into a vanity/coatroom space.

Christmas lights = cheap, pretty, and great for mood lighting!

A bit blurry, but it's the only photo I took that encompassed my roommate's side of the room! Our room had tons of natural light.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of our walk-in closet--only a photo of the closet door. The closet was incredibly spacious. We had more room than we knew what to do with!

We had a great view of the Queen's Court courtyard--and also a perfect spot for spying on the many weddings that occurred at the University Church right next door!

Life in the Dorms

Campus is always full of activities, especially the dorms.  Each Resident Assistant (RA) creates programs for the building to establish a sense of community for those who live in the building to get to know each other a bit better.  In the residence hall O’Hare, cool activities are always going on!  It could be just watching a movie in a lounge or even playing in a poker tournament.  My favorite programs are ones that are centered on food.  Not too long ago, it was National Banana Bread Day and to celebrate we had all different kinds of delicious homemade banana bread. The one’s filled with Nutella were my absolute favorite!  Because the city is so close, the RAs try to make as many programs involve city trips.  There are always programs to go see Broadway plays, like How to Succeed in Business, or even shows like the Blue Man Group!

If you come to Fordham and live on campus, I highly suggest for you to attend as many programs as possible.  It’s the best way to make friends who live in the same residence hall as you.  You also get to do a lot of cool stuff, whether it’s on campus or in the city.  These programs are created for us, so why not take advantage of them?

The Life of a Resident Assistant

Being a Resident Assistant, a Residential Life live-in staff member, is both a blessing and a curse. I'm living in a freshman dorm this year, and being back on campus with freshmen has been endlessly rewarding: I am cried on, loathed, laughed with, poked, prodded, teased, relied on, and loved. Granted, I am also pulled out of my bed to let residents into their locked rooms at all hours of the night, required to meet various conditions so that Res Life has favorable statistics at the end of the year, and responsible for sending overly-drunk students to the hospital, which, at one particularly poignant moment, happened while I was dressed up as George Washington and NOT on-call. That's the thing about being an RA: you're always on-call. Even when you're just taking a stroll across campus on an average Thursday night, sipping lemonade, dressed up as George Washington, with two staff members back in your dorm officially on duty for the night. There's just no escaping it.

The RA Staff of Alumni Court South this year.
Photo c/o Erin Swide/Caitlyn Pedone

Aside from my list of bizarre RA experiences, though, there are some pretty cool things about the job. As I like to put it, the responsibilities of Resident Assistants essentially fall into three categories: 1. Creating programs/events for students to attend (this includes, but is not limited to, organizing, budgeting, marketing, and facilitating said programs); 2. Appropriately confronting and/or referring counseling/psychological concerns; and 3. Making sure that students are following University/state policy, and documenting the situation (i.e. telling your boss about it) when they aren't. You'll notice that these duties all contribute to the same goal, that is, making sure that residents are having an awesome year. Providing fun (and sometimes free!) stuff to do, encouraging -relatively- sanity, and ensuring safety and moderate tameness can only enhance the good times, right?

My flyers from RA-ing last year (sample programs)

Of course, I encourage you to take my sanity comment with a grain of salt; this founding father's perception of "relative sanity" is very, very relative.

Learn all about it! Fordham's Integrated Learning Communities

Fordham students at the Rose Hill campus can choose from a variety of residence halls intentionally designed to pursue their goals, which integrate our renowned intellectual tradition with experience-based learning. We call these special places Integrated Learning Communities (ILCs) and the number and quality of these ILCs are expanding.

Texas native and International Political Economy major Jean Beagle shares information about The West Wing ILC for Ignation Leadership and Civil Service while sophomore and business major Alexandra Anello thinks globally with a little help from the ILC-Global Business.

And be sure to check out Fordham's Freshmen Integrated Learning Communities here.

First Look: New Resident Halls

The office of Residential Life offers a video tour of the Rose Hill Campus new resident halls, Cambell Hall and Salice and Conley Halls.

Take a sneak peek into the dorms which open this fall.

"West Wing" Integrated Learning Community

This fall marks the debut of “The West Wing: Integrated Learning Community (ILC) for Ignatian Leadership and Civic Service," a new dorming opportunity for sophomores and juniors from Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) and the College of Business Administration (CBA) to live in the west wing of O’Hare Hall. There, they will focus on political affairs, international relations and domestic policy through an enhanced lecture series, community service projects and special trips.

Read more about it at Fordham's enewsroom

Dorm Rooms with Bragging Rights: Rose Hill

The New York Times City Room section published a piece today on college dorm rooms with bragging rights. Though Fordham is included, we have plenty more to brag about than just this!

Dorm Rooms with Bragging Rights