This fall, Fordham welcomed nearly 200 first-year international students to the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses. The students come from more than 50 countries and study a variety of disciplines, including business, STEM, and communications.
From Aug. 24 to 27, the first-year international students settled into their dorms and explored the city. They began Global Transition with trips to Target and Bed Bath & Beyond, where they stocked up on supplies. They also attended orientation sessions that showed them the ropes around campus. On the final day of the program, they visited some of the most popular places in the city, including the Top of the Rock, Chelsea Market, and Central Park, located just a few blocks away from the Lincoln Center campus.
In total, there are about 700 international undergraduate students at Fordham, said Salvatore Longarino, director of the Office of International Services. The students come from nearly 90 countries, largely from China, India, Vietnam, and Brazil. This year’s total number of international undergraduates is higher than last year’s headcount, 662, said Longarino.
High School Sweethearts in Vietnam
First-year student Vanessa Mautone, GABELLI ’26, said she has lived in six different countries. Mautone was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and lived in Malaysia, Italy, France, Vietnam, and the United Kingdom. Her father’s job as general manager for an international company required their family to relocate several times, she said. Mautone had visited the U.S. only once in 2016—on a trip to New York City—and now the place that she explored as a tourist will become her home.
“I want to go into event organization in the future and heard that the Gabelli School of Business was an amazing school to study business in, especially at the Lincoln Center campus where I’m probably going to have a lot of amazing internship opportunities,” said Mautone.
Mautone’s partner, Huy Nguyen, who met Mautone when they were high school students in Vietnam, is also attending Fordham as a first-year student. Nguyen was not part of Global Transition because he holds dual citizenship in both the U.S. and Vietnam, but he was born and raised in one of the largest cities in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, where he said he has lived his whole life.
Nguyen, a theater major, said he was attracted to Fordham College at Lincoln Center because it stands out from every other campus in the city.
“I’ve always had an interest in performance, especially acting. Being located in the middle of Manhattan, I couldn’t have made a better decision. My ultimate goal is to end up in films, and I believe that the Fordham Theatre Program provides the most hands-on education experience,” he said.
A ‘Homey Feeling’ From India to the U.S.
Preeti Lamba, FCLC ’26, was born and raised in India. She said she attended a high school that shares the same Jesuit values as Fordham.
“I used to be in a Catholic school,” said Lamba, who attended Holy Child Auxilium School in New Delhi. “What I like about Catholic education is the discipline, values, and ethics that helped me to transform my life in the best way possible. … I feel like I can continue the same at Fordham. It gives me a lot of homey feeling.”
Lamba said she chose to attend Fordham because of its diversity, student-to-teacher ratio, and potential for networking in the heart of a global city.
“At Fordham, I seek a vision to build a good network and take part in activities, be a leader, and encourage others to stand for themselves. I want to be part of various clubs like graphic design and culture,” said Lamba, an economics major who hopes to become an entrepreneur or an analyst someday. “I also want to make everyone a part of the Ram family, bring change, and advocate for people.”
