Background - Current community college student in CA, looking for a change of scenery when I apply as a transfer. I’m hoping to have accumulated enough credits to receive Junior standing, or at least second semester Sophomore. I have approximately a 3.63GPA, and I’ve been working full-time for several years while going to school so I have a decent bit of work experience. I’m going to apply to schools in a few areas, but I wanted to eliminate some of the schools in NYC. My girlfriend is applying to Parsons, so please don’t suggest schools far away. I’m already going to be applying to schools in Philly, Providence, Boston, and Seattle as well.
My list as of now includes:
Lower Tier:
New York Institute of Technology
Pace U
Hofstra U
I ran a mock comparison of these 3 and it seems that while NYIT is significantly cheaper, it’s also not particularly known for academic standing, or post-graduation salary. http://colleges.startclass.com/compare/2800-2884-2893/Hofstra-University-vs-New-York-Institute-of-Technology-vs-Pace-University-New-York
My question is - I don’t want to apply for all of these schools, I want to eliminate two. I was thinking I should eliminate 1 high tier and 1 low tier but I’m not 100% on that. Do you guys have any input on these schools? I won’t be living on campus for sure, and personally I’m a pretty laid back guy (being from Cali), and I’m not a fan of super conservative/religious-types. As far as finances, that will depend. My parents may or may not have the money to support my education, so as long as the price is worth it, I’ll be taking out a loan to match whatever is not covered. My credit is above 800 and I might be emancipating so that could always affect my FAFSA or needs-based aid. Anyways-as always, any input is helpful!
NYU is one of the hardest business schools in the country. I would see what the transfer acceptance rate is. If it is even 5% I would be surprised. You need rock star stats to get into Stern.
NYIT forget, Pace forget. Hofstra leave but its over an hour by train to Manhattan.
Fordham leave on but again a tough school to get in, CUNY Brooklyn looks cheap until you factor in housing and food. It would not be worth going to IMO. If you want to try a CUNY School try Baruch.
Manhattan College has a great business program.
You should consider Rutgers New Brunswick and TCNJ. These two would be on par with Fordham and well, well above any school you mentioned except for NYU.
Wow Stern undergraduate admissions are only 13%. No stats for transfer but I don’t think I’m quite that special of a student to get in there. Are you sure about Pace. I know rankings aren’t everything but supposedly Pace graduates make more per year than Hofstra and the college is ranked slightly better on college lists.
Hofstra being an hour to manhattan is ok, I’d probably live somewhere between Hofstra and Parsons to split the commute with my girlfriend.
Pace Manhattan campus is terrible. Don’t come from California to go there. I would only consider Fordham, Manhattan College, Rutgers, TCNJ, Baruch (but the cost is high) and Hofstra with a gun to my head. The train from Rutgers to Manhattan is 45 minutes and there is a station on campus and Rutgers is a big-time national university.
I think you’re right about Rutgers. I’ll see if I can convince the lady to live in Jersey City so we can split the commute. TCNJ is WAY too far away though. What’s so wrong about Pace Manhattan’s campus? I thought it’s their main campus. I just saw so many positive comments about people who went there and how they liked it.
Can you afford these schools? It is rare to get merit aid as a transfer.
Some other random comments:
-I don’t think the lower tier schools are worth coming to NY for,
-NYU is a humongous reach and the school is known to be stingy with aid,
-Fordham may work but it has a huge core curriculum that may make it hard for you to complete and graduate in 4 years as a transfer
-Manhattan College is a very good suggestion, not sure if it also has a big core curriculum so check online.
-Agree that if you go the CUNY route Baruch has the best known business program
Nyu is out of the question you guys are 100% correct. Fordham business school has a higher admit rate than their average if I’m not mistaken so shouldn’t be too hard. NYC is just an area that my girlfriend and I can live together in. We are going on 3 years and would rather not split up
Hoboken and Jersey City are decent places to live and both will get you on the PATH train which is either an easy ride into NY or to Newark where you can change trains to go just about anywhere in NJ, including Rutgers-New Brunswick. Also, the Rutgers-Newark business school is not bad, might be an alternative to the New Brunswick campus. NB is better overall, but Newark is easier admission-wise.
Hoboken has a NJ Transit station. JC does not. Hoboken though is more expensive and totally gentrified. Apartments are priced in the millions there now. JC still has nooks and crannies that are much more funky.
Drop Pace (operates like a predatory for-profit school) and CUNY Brooklyn. Neither are worth attending if you’re from California. Rutgers and TCNJ, while good, aren’t equal to Fordham academically. Hofstra (from personal experience having applied there last year) is very average, often seen as a “this will do” school; rarely a top option for most applicants, and those who do have it as their top choice and consequently end up attending tend to be non-intellectual. And Baruch is good for business but weak everywhere else.
Well that’s what Pace and Hofstra were on my list, a sort of “this will do” type of outlook. Isn’t Cuny Baruch even harder to get into than Brooklyn college?
Rutgers seems to be a perfect idea if financially it works. If you go back to California you have a nationally known school on your resume. Socially Rutgers is always on the boil too.
Fordham is great too but the core requirements may muck things up.
Baruch has a lower acceptance rate than Brooklyn, yes. And it is a better school objectively and it’s considered the best CUNY school academically. But consider that the CUNYs have very self-selecting applicant pools; they appeal to NYC residents who really don’t want to leave the city, or NYS residents who want a taste of the city life. They tend to attract very few OOS students (even Baruch struggles with this), and any who are there only attend because they so desperately want to be in NYC for college (isn’t worth it for OOS unless you’re in the Macaulay Honors College). All CUNY schools are commuter and have pretty low four-year grad rates. Some are even on lists for colleges with the worst ROI in the country. Little to no campus life to speak of at any CUNY schools, and unless you can pay the ridiculous NYC-price rent then it isn’t worth it in general.
It’s 1500 for a 1 bedroom in the nice part of Oakland, CA my girlfriend and I live in. We split it, and I’m sure we can manage for that price in NY too. Being able to split a 1 br makes everything way easier.
Also to clarify, if CUNY schools are mostly for NY types, then it might be better to not have any CUNY schools on the list if I’m trying to get a job back in CA eventually huh?
My girlfriend is going to grad school and she’s got 5 schools she wants to go to. U of Wash, Parsons, RISD, Harvard, MassArt, and UPenn (She graduated from CAL). She stuck around here while I wrap up the junior college because it’s cheaper. Also I want to get out of the reaches of my parents they’re really starting to smother me. All of that is besides the point anyways. And then when I go to grad school i’m probably applying to schools in CA.