How to Write Fordham's New York City Short Response (2026-27)

Fordham University's wording, checked October 26, 2026
Your choice of one of three short response questions (300 words max) is meant to help you reflect on your personal growth and community impact. How will you continue to grow and impact our communities at Fordham and in New York City?
“Our motto is “New York is my campus, Fordham is my school.” New York City is a diverse and global city that provides Fordham students with a special kind of educational experience, full of both challenge and opportunity. What has prepared you to embrace the unique opportunity of living and learning in New York City?”

How to approach it

1Show the preparation: independence, curiosity, comfort with difference.
2Name how you would use the city for learning.

A structure that works

One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.

1What has prepared you, shown through experience.
2How you would learn from the city.
3Why Fordham is the school for it.

Where the 300 words go

Part	Words
Your first, most specific reason	about 110
A second reason, tied to your experience	about 110
What you would do or add there	about 90

Mistakes to avoid

Tourist highlights.

The checklist our grader uses for this question

When you check your Fordham answers, this answer is read against these 5 areas. Each comes back Met, Partly or Missing with a quote from your draft as evidence, and together with the 300 words limit they set its readiness verdict.

Area	What a reader looks for
Answers the question	The opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered.
Specific to this college	It names at least two concrete things that exist at this college (a program, course, research group, tradition, place, way of teaching) and could not survive a swap of the college's name.
Connected to you	Each thing named is tied to something the applicant has done, asked or wants, so the reader sees why it matters to THIS student, not why the college is good.
What you would do there	It shows how the applicant would use those things and what they would add (join, start, research, contribute), not only what they would receive.
Fordham's ask	Names what has prepared the applicant to take up living and learning in New York City.

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Questions

How long is Fordham's "B. Living and learning in New York City" essay?

Up to 300 words.

Is it required?

Optional: answer up to 1 of 3. Fordham's full set of questions is on the Fordham supplemental essays page.

Can I reuse an essay from another college for this prompt?

Not without real changes. Readers spot answers that would work for any college; at least half of this answer should be about Fordham specifically, tied to you.

Can Statementory write or improve my answer?

We never write or rewrite it: colleges ask you to affirm your essays are your own work. Our checker reviews it against the checklist on this page, quotes your own words, and asks the questions only you can answer.