Fordham University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Majors: Biology and Sociology double major on the pre-med track.
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Hispanic Straight Male
Summary
I am part of the Fordham University Emergency Medical Services (FUEMS), so I work on the ambulance crew on campus. I’m involved with the Minority Association for Pre-Medical Students (MAPS) and the Laennec Society, which are two pre-health clubs that help students get information on medical school and help do certain service projects regarding pre-health. I also do research on campus with the Chemistry department. I was also recently inducted into Alpha Sigma Nu, which is a Jesuit honor society. I do community service with them throughout the semester and it’s a really interesting organization that I’m proud to be a part of. I also used to be a patient ambassador at the Saint Barnabas Medical Center.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Private all-boys school in Bergen County, NJ with a graduating class of about 190 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Majors: Biology and Sociology double major on the pre-med track.
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I am part of the Fordham University Emergency Medical Services (FUEMS), so I work on the ambulance crew on campus. I’m involved with the Minority Association for Pre-Medical Students (MAPS) and the Laennec Society, which are two pre-health clubs that help students get information on medical school and help do certain service projects regarding pre-health. I also do research on campus with the Chemistry department. I was also recently inducted into Alpha Sigma Nu, which is a Jesuit honor society. I do community service with them throughout the semester and it’s a really interesting organization that I’m proud to be a part of. I also used to be a patient ambassador at the Saint Barnabas Medical Center.
Have any of your extracurriculars had a particularly big impact on your experience?
The research has been a huge portion of my undergraduate studies because it’s important for medical school. It’s something I’m passionate about and it’s great to learn more about it. Then the Alpha Sigma Nu honor society has really made an impression on me. I’m starting the medical school admissions process now and understanding the three tenants that organization is based around – scholarship, loyalty, and service – has helped me really understand why I want to go into medicine. Those are the three tenants that I have based my life around and that I think doctors should have in their practice.
What was the process of getting involved in undergraduate research?
Usually, when you are pre-med you take Biology and Chemistry together right away freshman year. I didn’t do that because of scheduling purposes and it ended up benefitting me in the long run because I took Chemistry I in the spring, so my professor for that was different than the professors who teach it in the fall that most people have. I did really well in his class, and over the summer he reached out to me and asked if I wanted to do research with him since I’d done well in his class and we had a personal connection. After that, we met, talked about his research, and then I joined the lab. That was my experience, but I’ve heard plenty of experiences where students will go to the faculty member and ask them for a position. Both ways exist.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your majors?
Once you get into three or four weeks into the semester, you pretty much have an exam every week until the end of the semester just all the subjects you have to take, like biology and chemistry, are really dense material and if you just cut it into midterms and finals it would be too much information. As far as homework, we don’t have many problem sets, we more so had to make outlines of the chapters what was taught in class to make your notes more organized.
As far as Sociology, my experience has been mostly papers and maybe a midterm and a final. Sociology is more discussion-based and has more student to student interaction and student to professor interaction, whereas biology and chemistry just have the professors lecturing and the students taking notes.
Is there anything you feel that your majors’ departments do especially well or poorly?
As far as Biology, it’s been a mixed experience just because there’s not a lot of change you can have with the major. You have a set course schedule and you don’t have a lot of leeway in terms of classes to fill that major. You’re going to be taking the same classes as the person next to you. There is not a great variety of classes. Also, sometimes I feel they are a bit dysfunctional in terms of accommodating students getting into the classes they need. There’s a set number of classes that you have to get into, and if you don’t get into a class it could set you back a semester or two, and sometimes they are not very accommodating.
As far as Sociology, I haven’t run into any issues like that. My advisor is amazing and is actually writing one of my letters of recommendation for medical school. I had her for a class last semester and she’s willing to work with me for classes outside of the Sociology department that will count for the Sociology major itself. I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with the Sociology department and they’ve been really accommodating and made it really easy. [See The Fordham Ram article, “Ramshackledness of Ram Registration.”]
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think Fordham is very similar to a family environment. I wanted that family feel going into college, and that was what attracted me to Fordham originally. In terms of the education style, I think it’s collaborative. Students work well together. Obviously, people are going to compete and people want to get the best grade they can, but I haven’t heard of a situation where somebody wouldn’t share their information with another student. Students feel like we’re all in this together.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re pretty accessible. They have office hours two to three days a week and if you need to reach out to them any other day they might be on campus or available by email. I haven’t had an issue where a professor isn’t that accessible. I’m personally not big on office hours, so the only interaction I have with my professors is during class or after classes. I have had a few situations where I had to go to office hours and they were totally accessible.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I chose Biology because I was pre-med and it’s the easiest major to finish while also filling out those pre-med requirements. In that regard, it was pretty much selected for me. I’ve come to enjoy Biology and I like the stuff we’re learning. I like how in-depth we go into the material and how much it is preparing me for a career in medicine. Then for Sociology, I wanted another major just to branch out from biology and the hard sciences. I had to take Intro to Sociology for the pre-med requirements and I fell in love with it. I thought Sociology had a great variety of classes and that it is an important topic in medicine, especially with public health and global health because of how socioeconomic backgrounds impact people’s health. I thought it would be a good fit and it’s turned out to be a good fit so far.
Reasons to Attend
1) The education you get pulls from a bunch of different disciplines and tries to craft you into a person who’s well versed in many different disciplines.
2) Being in New York City is huge. I didn’t have much experience with it and I’ve come to appreciate it a lot and it’s nice to live there for a short time. It’s a very nice way to see it if you haven’t lived in a city before.
3) If you’re on the pre-medical track, there are a bunch of students and you are going to know everybody in that track, and people are willing to help you out. It can be competitive, but once you find your group of friends, they’ll be willing to help you through the tough times that come with being a pre-med student.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) The facilities for pre-medical students aren’t the best. The labs are outdated and the lab techniques are outdated.
2) If you don’t want a small school feel and want to be more anonymous.
3) If you want Greek life, we don’t have that. But, I feel like the clubs and sports clubs do a good job of filling that void.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Martyrs’ Court with one roommate. It was pretty small, but it’s freshman year so you’re at the bottom of the totem pole.
Sophomore: O’Hare Hall with one roommate
Junior: Walsh Hall, which is apartment-style living. I had one direct roommate and two other roommates, so four total.
How do you like going to school so close to your hometown?
I enjoy it. I’m an only child so being close to my family has always been important. Being able to see my parents easily if I want to is nice. It is also very cheap to go home because I don’t have to take a plane or train.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
The Bronx is not the best area but Fordham does a really good job of keeping the campus safe. At every entrance, they have a security guard 24/7 and they make you scan in with your I.D. I’ve felt very safe on campus. Around campus, we have gotten emails regarding burglaries and muggings, which is what comes with living in the Bronx. But, if you’re smart and don’t walk alone, there’s a good chance you won’t encounter those experiences.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
The biggest nightlife is heading to the bars around Arthur Avenue. That’s pretty much what I go for since I’m not 21 and those bars will let you in if you have a Fordham ID but won’t let you buy drinks. People will also throw house parties and apartment parties off-campus because of [Fordham’s alcohol policy]. When you’re 21, you then have access to the bars in Manhattan and people take advantage of that. Tuesdays are a big night for students to go out, and then Fridays and Saturdays. Sometimes people will go out on Thursdays, as well.
What is an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a weekend activity or nightlife?
People like going to the Italian restaurants around the Bronx and people will also stay in and play card games and stuff like that. Once you get to the apartment-style living, it’s a lot easier to hang around on campus within your apartments.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Fordham? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
There’s not really much I would change. There’s so much to do in New York City that if you get bored of going out near Fordham you can change it up by going down to Manhattan and spend a day in the park. You have so many options that you can’t get bored.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
My closest friends I met through my major and being pre-med. Being pre-med, you’re limited in time because you spend a lot of time studying with the people that are studying as hard as you are, so meeting people in your major is ideal because they have the same schedule as you. They’re not expecting you to go out as much as you normally would if you were part of a less rigorous major.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Fordham?
I think a lot of people meet and get involved in clubs, sports, and intramural sports. They’ll get close with those people, they’ll do events together, and the people in that group will bring other friends and that’s how you meet other people. One of the biggest social spaces when it’s nice out is the middle of Eddie’s Parade which is right in front of Keating Hall in the middle of campus. Once it’s nice out, everybody’s out there studying, listening to music, and playing games and it’s a great way to meet people as well.
How has the urban environment impacted your social experience?
It’s definitely been awesome. Fordham is right next to Metro-North, so being able to hop on that right into Manhattan has been awesome. I’m a huge Yankee fan, so being able to go down to Yankee Stadium easily has been a great experience. I personally don’t go to the city every weekend, but I do a good job of getting down there enough. There are people who go every single weekend and have a great time down there. It’s a great experience to go to Manhattan pretty much whenever you want.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think there’s a great amount of diversity on campus and we do a great job of incorporating everyone. The biggest time you don’t see that is with commuters and the people who live on campus because the commuters aren’t on campus at night and it’s hard to get on campus to do weekend things. As far as sexual orientation and race, we do a great job of mixing that up and making sure people feel included. [The undergraduate population is about 57% White, 15% Hispanic, 10% Asian, 4% Black, and 9% international. See The Fordham Ram article, “Commuter Students Address Challenges on Campus.”]
How would you describe the Hispanic community on campus? How strong is it?
It’s decently strong. We’re not the biggest population on campus, but I think that if you want to surround yourself with other Latinos or other Hispanics, I think you can easily find others and form a friend group based on that. I’ve always been mostly around White or African-American students, so being around a lot of Hispanic students isn’t something I’ve needed. But, if that’s what you want, I have friends in those groups so it’s definitely possible.
How do you like the size of Fordham in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 9,600] students?
I think it’s pretty much perfect. Coming from a smaller sized high school, I don’t think I would have done well at a large university with large lecture halls. I think I’d do better in 20-person or 30-person learning environments. I think that we have just enough people that you know almost everybody in your grade and it creates for that family environment that I don’t think would be possible on a really big campus.
How strong is the Jesuit presence on campus? How has it impacted your experience?
The Jesuit presence is strong. I think they definitely push their ideals. The biggest ideal is cura personalis, which is caring for the entire mind, body, and soul. I feel that the education is based around that and some clubs are based around that. They push for that, but it’s not in your face to the point where you have to go to mass or church. I personally do because it’s something that I’ve been brought up with, but they don’t push it in your face. If you want to get involved, you can.
Careers
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
The Physics labs have taught me a lot more about Excel than I knew coming into Fordham.