Question about CUNY schools

U.S.A. New York

Published

I was under the impression that the tuition was the same at all the CUNY schools (Hunter, LaGuardia, etc.). As a non-degree student at LaGuardia I am paying $160 per credit. A non-degree student at Hunter is $250 per credit. I should be registered as a non-degree student, correct? I am there to complete my prereqs but I plan on going to nursing school somewhere else.

Any advice or input would be appreciated!

thanks

ali

CocoBella, I totally agree with you.

I initially planned to attend Hunter for my prerequisites and then apply to Hunter nursing and other programs in private schools. After I got my acceptance to Hunter, I had to give them a response (yes, I will attend) for them to evaluate my credits. I applied to many private schools at the same time and NONE of them did this. They told me right away which credits would transfer over. After I gave "yes" to Hunter, I found out that in order for me to complete all my prereqs on time, I had to take a Chemistry course over the summer. Since none of the CUNY schools had that course on weekends (I work), I applied to Nassau Community College to take just that one course. Beforehand, I wrote to the Hunter registrar to find out if the course at NCC would fulfill my requirement and they said they will not let me know ahead of time!!! I asked them how it could possibly be because I am about to spend time and money on a course that may or may not transfer over and I was told that I had to look at the description of the course at NCC and if it sounded similar to Hunter's course, then I can take it. I was speechless, considering there are multiple intro chem courses that all sound pretty much the same. So I used Hunter's grade equivalency search engine, which said that the course I wanted to take WAS the equivalent of the course I needed. So I paid the money, took the course and 2 weeks in I heard from a girl in my class that her friend who went to Hunter nursing and took chem at NCC took a totally different class. Even my chem professor asked me if I was sure because another course is usually recommended for nursing/medical majors.

So I got super paranoid, no answers from Hunter, I had no idea what to do and think. At this point I received my acceptance from NYU (where I can also finish all prereqs in one semester) and I said "screw you, Hunter" and I'm enrolling to NYU this fall. I can't believe what a mess the CUNY system is. Every time I had a question, it was like pulling teeth, like they are running some kind of a top secret organization. Yes, I will pay more for NYU, but at least they are beyond helpful with anything I asked and all the information was pretty much given to me on the silver platter. Nursing school is hard without having to go through all the BS of the CUNY system.

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I know how you guys feel, for me it just wasn't worth it. I went to Lehman College for a year and it was just ridiculous. First I had to take a block schedule (premade schedule for you) and I couldn't get a nursing block so I wasn't able to take A&P for the whole first year. Whenever I asked advisors (since you aren't given one in CUNY schools) they each told me different things. Then I feel like registering for classes is like a lottery system. Now I know all colleges register the students with more credits first and that's not a problem when you actually have enough seats for everyone. Lehman's chemistry class had about 75 people in it and I just couldn't see myself learning in a lecture hall for Chemistry. Not only that but their class times are crazy and I wound up having some five hour gap on some day.

To me it just wasn't worth the time, to go through all the aggrivation that they give you for a spot that isn't guaranteed. I would have been devestated if I didn't get in. They only accept maybe 70 or 80 out of about 300 people. So I opted to just transfer out. I go to a private university now (Long Island University) and I did have to take out loans and stuff and the tuition is steep but I pretty much have a guaranteed seat in the nursing program because they don't have a secondary nursing application. Not only that but the nursing school has it's own dean unlike at Lehman where the nursing program is run by the same people that run the rest of the college and you talked to the same advisors about Nursing as you did about Biology and English majors. I never have a problem getting my classes and they took all of my credits.

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2 year colleges are cheaper than 4 year colleges in the cuny system. Plus you should always be a matriculated student because it is cheaper.

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The CUNY system has always been difficult to navigate, all things run by the government are essentially screwed up in bureacracy. FYI the practice of nursing is difficult too Nothing in nursing is handed on a silver platter. I am a Hunter nursing grad 1984. Even then never once met an adviser, didn't know they existed. Best education for the buck if you have the fortitude. For those working and trying to go to school good luck keep at it. For those wanting a handholder consider a different profession

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The CUNY system has always been difficult to navigate, all things run by the government are essentially screwed up in bureacracy. FYI the practice of nursing is difficult too Nothing in nursing is handed on a silver platter. I am a Hunter nursing grad 1984. Even then never once met an adviser, didn't know they existed. Best education for the buck if you have the fortitude. For those working and trying to go to school good luck keep at it. For those wanting a handholder consider a different profession

I personally never require any handholding. But if I need a critical piece of information, I expect to receive it from a school, since there's no other way for me to know. I also appreciate efficiency and not making things much harder than they need to be. In addition, there's a difference between school and work. As a student in a school that I pay for, I am a client, a customer. Yes, I want the school to work for me as well, just a little. Granted, state and city universities are cheaper, but they are still not free, they are still a business. This is just my 2 cents.

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The CUNY system has always been difficult to navigate, all things run by the government are essentially screwed up in bureacracy. FYI the practice of nursing is difficult too Nothing in nursing is handed on a silver platter. I am a Hunter nursing grad 1984. Even then never once met an adviser, didn't know they existed. Best education for the buck if you have the fortitude. For those working and trying to go to school good luck keep at it. For those wanting a handholder consider a different profession

Yes, anything worthwhile will be difficult. But setting up your classes and getting common sense answers...from a COLLEGE...should NOT be difficult.

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