John Buckley – Fordham Now

Office of Undergraduate Admission Test-Optional Policy Extension | August 2021

Fri, 13 Aug 2021 01:21:12 +0000

In May 2020, Fordham announced that for a two-year period, standardized admissions tests—the SAT and ACT—would be an optional element of the undergraduate admission application process. A year later, in May 2021, Fordham received commitments from high school seniors that should result in the largest, most diverse, and most accomplished entering class in the University’s history.

The University planned to revisit the policy again in May 2022, but, given the preliminary enrollment results associated with this new policy, as well as the need to inform prospective applicants of our intentions, we have decided to extend the test-optional policy for at least another year to include students applying for fall 2023 admission. That will provide students time to plan ahead and will enable Fordham to analyze multiyear data on student success and to refine application assessments in light of those findings.

Fordham has always subscribed to a holistic admission process. By not requiring standardized tests, we have improved access for students who might not otherwise apply to the University, and have done so while maintaining our commitment to academic rigor. We are confident that we can fairly evaluate applicants who submit test scores along with those who do not and offer admission to candidates who can thrive at Fordham.

We look forward to challenging and supporting the Class of 2025 as they embark on a journey of intellectual growth and self-discovery at Fordham. We know they will leave us as competent, compassionate, and well-grounded graduates who are prepared not merely for satisfying careers but for lives well lived.

John W. Buckley
Vice President for Admission and Student Financial Services

New Admission Center to Open at Lincoln Center

Taylor Ha — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 19:37:34 +0000

The Lincoln Center campus can now welcome prospective students and their families in style.

Thanks to a recent renovation, the second floor of the Lowenstein Center is home to a brand new welcome center for undergraduate admission, where potential Rams can learn about all that Fordham has to offer.

For decades, the admission office at Lincoln Center served as the place where staff greeted visitors and staged tours. But the space was confined to a few small offices adjacent to the second-floor lounge, and in recent years it had become difficult to accommodate a growing number of guests.

In the 2017-2018 academic year, admission staff welcomed more than 14,000 visitors to the Lincoln Center campus. That included nearly 6,000 prospective students—a 68 percent increase in student visitors from 2010.

The new welcome center, which remains on the second floor of Lowenstein, is designed to comfortably accommodate many more people than before. Its offices have been reconfigured, and the space has expanded to include a large presentation room with a state-of-the-art display screen, a workspace for student employees, and a new seating/reception area.

“The new space gives us an opportunity to greet prospective students and their families in a way that is far more gracious and inviting than we have been in the past,” said John Buckley, vice president for admission and student financial services.

The renovated center has replaced what used to be the second-floor lounge. But the University has taken several proactive steps to maintain the amount of study space available to students. A new lounge on the plaza level (PL-100) was recently opened and offers ample seating. And there are additional lounge options on campus, both in Lowenstein and in 140 West.

Three new seating areas are also currently being installed, said Frank Simio, vice president for Lincoln Center. In the west wing of Lowenstein’s third floor, there will be 24 new seats, along with electric outlets for laptops and phone chargers. In the Quinn Library, there will close to an additional 100 seats available in quiet study areas. And on the eighth floor of Lowenstein, there will be a smaller seating area, also with electrical outlets. The first two areas will be available to students before final exams begin.

The seats in the library will be in QuinnX (an abbreviation for Quinn Annex), an open stack area that holds more than 260,000 titles. It is located down the law corridor from the library entrance.

“Opening QuinnX answers the need for additional quiet study space for Lincoln Center students and provides for open browsing of the stacks, which is so valuable to faculty and researchers,” said Linda LoSchiavo, director of University Libraries.

The new admission welcome center will open for business this month. In celebration, the center will host a reception with refreshments for students and staff on a date to be determined.

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Exceptional Freshman Class Already Achieving High Marks

Fordham News — Fri, 29 Aug 2003 15:57:53 +0000

NEW YORK —In just one year’s time, the average SAT score of Fordham’s incoming freshman class has grown 20 points to 1201, while the acceptance rate has fallen three percentage points to 53.4.
“Academic quality is just one of many exciting dimensions of the exceptional Class of 2007,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University. “As a Catholic University, we dedicate ourselves each year to maintaining a diverse community of scholars where habits of achievement are developed and talent is nurtured.”
In March 2001, The Wall Street Journal touted Fordham as a “hard-charging” institution and predicted that Fordham College’s acceptance rate, which was at 63 percent the year before, would drop to 50 percent in five years. However, Fordham’s admission data from the last two years indicates that the University is outpacing the Journal’s prediction.
“The Class of 2007 is certainly indicative of how Fordham is becoming more selective and competitive, while still retaining a geographically and ethnically diverse student body,” said John Buckley, assistant vice president for enrollment.
According to Buckley, admission data gathered in late August shows steady increases in the number of students hailing from the Midwestern and Western regions, an increase of 16 percent and 34 percent respectively since last year. In addition, this year’s undergraduate applicant pool grew to 12,845, a seven percent increase from last year and the largest applicant pool in the school’s history.
Meanwhile, at Marymount College of Fordham University, applications are up five percent from last year, and the incoming class is seven percent larger than last year’s, according to Buckley.