Looking for recent CCNY (City College of NY) vs Hunter Post-Bacc Info

[andresx]

I am considering CCNY vs Hunter for post-bacc. Does anyone have any recent info on the "quality" of the programs?

I personally believe that both school are at the same academic level, at least for natural sciences. Some may say that Hunter is harder, but the bottom line is: Do MD schools really consider CCNY and Hunter at different levels?. If two identical candidates show up, one from Hunter the other from CCNY, will they grant admission to one versus the other just because they attended a different senior CUNY school? I don't think so.

Anyway, can anyone here provide some insight?

Are class sizes bigger at CCNY or Hunter?
Where would a student have a better opportunity at establishing a relationship with a professor for a possible LOR?
Is class scheduling and availability better at CCNY or Hunter?
Where is school advising better?. where is peer support better?

I visited CCNY, and got the following impressions:
1. There is a less than optimal advising situation going on. They have a new director, whom I believe is well-intended but possibly (imho) adjusting to the new position, and trying to get things in order.

2. I was a CCNY student, and I can tell that class sizes aren't incredible large, but sometimes faculty are more interested in their research than the students. Not the norm, but happens.

3. Their acceptance rate went down dramatically last year for post-bacc since the previous director went to Hunter. I've heard great reviews about her, which is the main reason I am looking at Hunter as well.

The bottom line: you can't beat CUNY tuition, specially if their acceptance rates are better than the national 42-43%. I am simply trying to decide which of the two..

Comments? Opinions? Advise?

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[MBHockey]

I'd be interested to hear about this too. I'm looking at enrolling in Hunter as a non-degree student to pick up classes for med school (i've only got a few i need to complete; they said I am not a candidate for a full blown post-bac).

But presumably, I'd be in the same classes as the people in the post-bac so I'd like to hear anything about this.

 

[droveto]

Hello, first post from me. I'm also looking into these programs, as well as UConn's. Uconn is my first pick, followed by Hunter and then City College. I expect to get into Hunter's program, but Uconn has a really high success rate of their post bacc's getting into med school. From what I've read about Hunter vs City College it seems that Hunter is more helpful in getting their post bacc's into med school which is why I have it ranked higher in my personal assessment.

This seems like a great and valuable forum and I'm looking to get all the info I can on my journey.

 

[puchi]

I would say go to hunter (Im a post bacc there). As for the class size, yes the classes are large but if you think about the size of the student body...

Advising is pretty great. Hunter does offer a committee letter for post bacs. You hand your professor an evaluation sheet at the end of the semester then the professor sends it to the premed office and a committee letter is written for you. Once again I can't say much about city college because I don't go there.

The classes are a pain sometimes but if you are aggressive with ESIMS you will be ok.

 

[andresx]

Made CCNY my first choice. Hunter second.

1. CCNY class sizes aren't incredibly large. I spoke with Hunter's post-bacc director, and she mentions that BIO classes usually have 700+ students. I don't require a lot of hand holding, but 700+ is pushing it.

2. Summer session at Hunter offers little to no classes. CCNY's actually offers some of the pre-reqs.

3. I am a CCNY graduate (engineering). Familiar with Campus, area, some professors that might help with LOR or other input.

Statistics are in favor of Hunter (65% admissions rate for post-baccs) vs CCNY (43%). But in my overall assessment and personal situation CCNY is a better option. If anything I can always take a class at Hunter to find out if they are much harder, or transfer in Spring09.

Good luck to all.

 

[a0thersummerday]

great thread! i think a lot of us are interested in the hunter/ccny debate...

does anyone know what bio and chem class sizes at ccny are? and is the program at ccny called post-bac, their website is ultra confusing!

 

[puchi]

I don't think that the ccny program is specifically a "post bacc"... meaning I don't think it has a program name. Try checking out their pre-health website.

As for hunter they do offer a good amount of pre recs during the summer, except for Bio 1+2. If you really want to go for smaller classes go for ccny. Both are good options in my book.

 

[PostBaccPreMed]

Hello, I just joined this site today, and I also enrolled at Hunter's post bacc pre med program. I hope I'm posting this in the right place.😉

My experience so far has been - People are nice and friendly, but a lot of miscommunication going on. Admissions, pre med program, etc. all seem to have incorrect information about what a post bacc pre med student needs to do. But the tuition price is worth it I guess.

So far, I haven't been able to registrar because the classes I need are all full. Are there any hunter post bacc pre med people here? If anyone has any advice or want to share their experience on how to get classes as a non degree students before they're all full, I'd be grateful.

Also for full time workers 9-5 M-F has anyone been able to finish the post bacc program in 2 years? Because I see that a lot of science courses I have to take are not offered after 5pm.

*P.S. I'm also international, any international post bacc pre med students out there? (can you get to med school without a greencard?)

 

[puchi]

Hi! I attend Hunter. There are tons of classes that are offered after 5pm, especially the freshman courses (Bio I,II, Chem I, II, Physics I, II) and the labs run pretty late as well. As for getting into classes, thats where the problem lies. I had to register as a "matriculated" 2nd degree student so I can get an earlier registration time. You can go to the admissions office to ask how that is done. Its quite beneficial, you qualify for financial aid, and your classes are a cheaper. You can surely finish the program in two years by going part time, just know that this will require you taking some classes over the summer.

The trick to getting into classes is you have to stalk ESIMS on the first day of classes (thats when they purge the system from people who have not paid their tuition) thats how most post-baccs do it. You can get tons more info from the Hunter post-bacc group. Just go to yahoo groups and search for hunter college pre-heath post-bacc.

Hope this helps!

 

[H0ldenCaulfield]

Made CCNY my first choice. Hunter second.

1. CCNY class sizes aren't incredibly large. I spoke with Hunter's post-bacc director, and she mentions that BIO classes usually have 700+ students. I don't require a lot of hand holding, but 700+ is pushing it.

2. Summer session at Hunter offers little to no classes. CCNY's actually offers some of the pre-reqs.

3. I am a CCNY graduate (engineering). Familiar with Campus, area, some professors that might help with LOR or other input.

Statistics are in favor of Hunter (65% admissions rate for post-baccs) vs CCNY (43%). But in my overall assessment and personal situation CCNY is a better option. If anything I can always take a class at Hunter to find out if they are much harder, or transfer in Spring09.

Good luck to all.

Curious as to where you found the admissions rates for each program, could you please post or provide a link? Thanks a lot.

 

[HUSU]

i applied to hunter as a 2nd degree transfer student and the post bacc program but havent heard back if i've been accepted to hunter yet! i rec'd a letter indicating that i will know if i get into hunter no earlier than 10/15. has anyone found out if they've been accepted into the post bacc program for the spring 2010 semester?

i'm getting antsy waiting!