CUNY Schools...comparisons?

[lataylor1219]

I have seriously researching all of the CUNY schools because I need to do my post-bac work dirt cheap. A lot of the folks I have been chatting with are steering me toward City and Queens and away from Hunter saying that the quality of the facilities is a lot higher at Queens and City. That said, I can't even find the name of the pre-med adviser on Queen's website and I know Hunter has a large post-bac community and built in peer support to make up for the lack of administration attention.

Any CUNY alums out there? What do you think?

Thanks!!

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[Doc2B-Finally]

I have seriously researching all of the CUNY schools because I need to do my post-bac work dirt cheap. A lot of the folks I have been chatting with are steering me toward City and Queens and away from Hunter saying that the quality of the facilities is a lot higher at Queens and City. That said, I can't even find the name of the pre-med adviser on Queen's website and I know Hunter has a large post-bac community and built in peer support to make up for the lack of administration attention.

Any CUNY alums out there? What do you think?

Thanks!!

Queens College has a Bio professor acting as a pre-med advisor. Look up the bio dept. phone #, and ask the department secretary about the pre-med advisor. She will point you in the right direction. OR call Pre-Health Professions Advisor (718) 997-3470, located in Science Building B 338.
Good luck.

 

[grapeflavorsoda]

I have seriously researching all of the CUNY schools because I need to do my post-bac work dirt cheap. A lot of the folks I have been chatting with are steering me toward City and Queens and away from Hunter saying that the quality of the facilities is a lot higher at Queens and City. That said, I can't even find the name of the pre-med adviser on Queen's website and I know Hunter has a large post-bac community and built in peer support to make up for the lack of administration attention.

Any CUNY alums out there? What do you think?

Thanks!!

lol. facilities should not be concerned at all. you should have gathered more info on the quality of faculties and classes.

i go to hunter, and quite a few people in hunter post bac program actually have taken some courses in queens college or city colleges because they want to get better grades easier.

hunter has the best premed track record of all in CUNY(around 80% acceptance rate for post-bacs). But the courses will be tougher than any other courses in CUNY systems. there are butt load of post bacs and quite a few from ivy back grounds, who are determined now, and professors know this fact and they teach accordingly(which results in unfair education systems becasue it is geared towards post-bacs not undergraduates. for example, there were five As in my gen chem 2 class and all were given to post bacs).

Another thing alot of average post-bacs in CUNY do not know about is the hunter's linkage program with cornell and downstate. Every year 2 to 4 people are chosen from post-bac program to participate in cornell medical school(Weil's college) research program. But this is in essence an early acceptance to Weil's college; all the ppl who were chosen past 5 years all gotten into Cornell. And if you at the past years acceptance stats you will notice this obvious linkage.


http://www.geocities.com/hotsprings/resort/1411/stat01.html

Medical School attendance of Hunter College premed students accepted between 1993 and 1998.

Allopathic Medical School Number of Hunter Students matriculating bet. 1993 and 1998
SUNY Brooklyn 35
Cornell 23
Mt. Sinai 19
SUNY Stony Brook 15
Albert Einstein 14
UMDNJ 7
NYU 6
Pittsburgh 6
Columbia 5
NY Medical College 5
SUNY Syracuse 5
Albany 4
Temple 4
SUNY Buffalo 3
Rochester 3
Wisconsin 3
Yale 3
MCP Hanneman 2
Howard 2
Penn State 2
Tufts 2
U of Vermont 2
Boston U 1
Bowman Grey 1
Chicago Med 1
Harvard 1
Jefferson 1
Kansas 1
Kentucky 1
Louisville 1
Maryland 1
Morehouse 1
North Carolina 1
South Carolina 1
Tulane 1
U of Texas (Dallas) 1
UCSF 1
UCLA (Drew) 1
UCSD 1
Unknown 19



But the bad thing about the hunter or any CUNY premed program is cuny schools ovious do not command good academic reputations out of the eastern states in general. And this translates to the fact that you need to get 4.0 no matter what. So unless you are determined to get 4.0 dont apply to any CUNY post bac programs, especially hunter becuase you will be basically competing with post bacs, not dumb cuny undergraduates.

 

[lataylor1219]

Thank you - this information is great.

I am starting a post-bac as a career changer so I don't have a lot of information on which to base a decision about what program to choose. I have been looking for some posts from people in similiar shoes - I am leaving a successful but ultimately unfulfilling career to pursue a lifelong desire to study medicine. I am 2.5 years out of undergrad but need all of the science requirements.

 

[dok101]

unless you are determined to get 4.0 dont apply to any CUNY post bac programs, especially hunter becuase you will be basically competing with post bacs, not dumb cuny undergraduates.

Contrary to to what this poster wrote, you do not need to have a 4.0 out of the Cuny programs to be a competitive candidate. Of course, you must maintain a very high average but you do not need to be perfect. If you enter your post-baccalaureate career with this type of black and white mentality, you will have a tough time making it. Take courses at a pace that you are comfortable with and do the best that you can. Let the rest fall in place.

 

[nico05]

The premed advisor at Queens is no longer...the job was given to someone out of administration, I haven't met with her yet, but the previous premed advisor (the bio teacher) was much more responsive and helpful (emails, phone calls. etc)....about the CUNY schools, ahh, where to begin. A lot of talk has been going on about which CUNY school is the best for post-baccs. I went through the whole process about a year and a half ago and I have dealt with all three schools...Hunter, City, and Queens. I can't say which school is regarded as the "best", but I can tell you what lead me to where I am now and about each program and let you determine what is best for you.

Hunter - I met with the premed advisor two years ago...I told him I wanted to start in the summer and he advised against summer courses, they always do there. Apparently they are not aggressive enough with their post-baccs; a lot of students do attend as post-baccs and are happy there, I just came around the wrong time, I guess. Regarding the above post and the 80% acceptance rate, those numbers are from, at the earliest, 7 years ago. Keep that in mind. Med school application stats change, trends change...when those numbers were attained there was a lower numer of applications received by various medical schools...food for thought. The upper east side is nice though, I'll give them that.

City - did not work well with me...Yes, they are listed on the AAMC web site as a certified post-bacc program certificate issuing school, but it really means nothing. The area sucks first off. Parking is awful, subway is better. The advisor there is almost unreachable if you have a problem. Always voicemail, always in a meeting, always takes a while to get back to you. You think youre enrolled in a "program" but you are just thrown in the mix; they make it seem like they have something "special" to offer post-baccs, they don't . Now is not the greatest time for City or their science department; I believe they are in a transitional phase. The chemistry department is a mess, people are teaching courses they shouldn't be, professors are there because they are tenured and even though the school wants to push them out, their hands are tied. Politics...my point is that I think that there is way too much hype around City.

Queens - attending there now, like it a lot. Not a bad commute (I'm from the Island)...you will get preferred parking the farther away fro school you live as long as you apply for it early. The science department (all departments really) is really up and coming, contrary to City which is taking a nose dive. Professors are great that I've had so far (5 total) and the premed office is a big help (even though the new advisor has been kind of MIA, her assistant is knowledgeable and helpful). If you are a second BA student, you have preference as far as classes go; you are among the first to register so everything is available. I have done some recent research and found that Brooklyn (downstate) has had a fairly decent rate of matriculated students who have graduated from Queens...the highest of any CUNY school...I was impressed. Princeton Review also had a fairly complementary write up in it's recent report

http://www.qc.cuny.edu/nis/Releases/spring_2005/CUNYQueens.pdf

They really don't get the credit they deserve.

This is merely opinion but having dealt with all three institutions, this is what I personally have experienced. Best of luck 👍

Oh and no, you do not need to get a 4.0 coming out of these schools...by all means strive for it, but don't lose it if you get a B 😉

 

[2010 Hopeful]

I have seriously researching all of the CUNY schools because I need to do my post-bac work dirt cheap. A lot of the folks I have been chatting with are steering me toward City and Queens and away from Hunter saying that the quality of the facilities is a lot higher at Queens and City. That said, I can't even find the name of the pre-med adviser on Queen's website and I know Hunter has a large post-bac community and built in peer support to make up for the lack of administration attention.

Any CUNY alums out there? What do you think?

Thanks!!

I'm finishing my last semester in City's post-bac program. I am here to improve my GPA. I have to say that I have been thoroughly impressed with the program at City so far-but the real test of the program will of course come in the next year as I apply to med schools. To be fair, the premed advisor is often difficult to reach (frequently out of the office). I've found email is best but be sure to follow up if you don't hear back from her. She is very nice and she is very straight forward about where you stand and what you need to do. She also has given me solid advice on class selection. It will take some effort on your part to get to know her, but once you put the time in, she is a great advisor to have.

As far as classes and professors go, I have been happy. No problem getting classes and professors are fair and make their expectations clear. I easily found a lab to work in for research experience. All of my science professor recommendations will probably come from professors here. You will meet many other post-bac students, but the post-bac program doesn't dominate the undergrad classes and it's easy to meet people to study with.

The previously mentioned caveat of all the CUNY programs is their regional recognition, but if you plan to go to med school in NY or NJ, I strongly recommend looking into City.

 

[RogueRules]

It's nice to see that members from each branch of CUNY are posting favorable recommendations for their respective schools. I strongly feel that CUNY is possibly the most undervalued gem in this city.

I myself did my postbacc at Hunter, was very successful there, and just completed my first year at an Ivy League med school. I would recommend Hunter very highly, and while I most definitely can't offer you comparisons with the other CUNY schools, I can say that of the CUNY post-bacc programs, Hunter's is generally recognized as the strongest by medical school admissions committees, with City also being well-known and regarded. Perhaps because Queens College is still a younger program it hasn't quite earned that reputation, but if it is turning out strong students, that may well change over time.

Hunter certainly has its challenges - primarily administrative - but the education is phenomenal (if you are sure to seek out the top profs). Truth be told, the teaching there is far superior to that I've gotten in med school. One of the main complaints pre-meds at Hunter have had concerns the premed advising. The good news with respect to this is that Hunter is in the midst of a search for a new pre-med advisor. This should, with any luck at all, make things vastly better as far as advising and support goes. The current advisor is officially retired, but is still working on a consulting basis to support the new incoming advisor-to-be.

For more information on Hunter's post-bacc program, and to ask any questions you may have to post-baccs who are there, I'd recommend joining their post-bacc yahoo group at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PreHealthPostBacc/

Good luck! I'm sure no matter where you go, as long as you do well in your coursework, you will do well in your applications. Choose a school where you think you might like to spend the next 1-3 years.

I have seriously researching all of the CUNY schools because I need to do my post-bac work dirt cheap. A lot of the folks I have been chatting with are steering me toward City and Queens and away from Hunter saying that the quality of the facilities is a lot higher at Queens and City. That said, I can't even find the name of the pre-med adviser on Queen's website and I know Hunter has a large post-bac community and built in peer support to make up for the lack of administration attention.

Any CUNY alums out there? What do you think?

Thanks!!