Help please? Is it worth it?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, so I currently attend a community college in San Diego, Ca. I'm looking to transfer next semester and I really want to attend in NYC. NYU was my first choice but I dont think I can afford it and my 3.5 GPA probably wouldn't cut it anyways. I'm still going to apply but I dont think so. Apparently NYU is the only school in NYC that is reputable, doesn't have horrible reviews, and is "worth going to." I know about CUNY, PACE and all that but is it really worth it to go all the way to NYC and go to a so-so school? I'm going to apply to UCLA and UCSD which ill have better chances with, considering they have "agreements" with California community colleges and stuff. </p>

<p>ALSO,
How do I find out if my credits are transferable or not... I looked online and apparently NYU and CUNY dont have course equivalences of ENGL 101...? That just sounds wrong.</p>

<p>Does anybody have any input or help on this please?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>send your credits now either way. Its hard looking up the credit transfer page thingy…each time I did it for the two colleges Id transfer to, the page would freeze.its weird…english 101 is fine…it shoudl go through. Apply to NYU, UCLA and UCSD.</p>

<p>it dont matter which college you go to to be honest. as long as you go to a school that is good in your major…Any school really! just not the crappy schools. Go to LSU, Texas A&M, University of Maryland, University of Michigan…those are good schools.</p>

3

<p>Yeah… I think I will send 'em in just to make sure which ones count. So you think I shouldnt even apply to CUNY ? You agree that they are not very good schools right? Thanks for your advice about the unis :slight_smile: I will look into more universities outside of CA and NY </p>

4

<p>I agree with “send them,” but sometimes a school will refuse to accept English 101 because they either want you to take 101 at their school and not a cc OR they want to examine your 101 curriculum more closely than they can before sitting down with the catalogue and their records on transfers from your particular cc. The stuff that passes at 101 at 4yr colleges is shameful let alone what passes at some cc’s.</p>

5

<p>BTW, there are plenty of good schools in NYC, including Fordham, but it’ll be very expensive. A rather inexpensive, easy-to-get-into, with-residence CUNY is CSI. You may qualify for Honors Program with your 3.5.</p>

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<p>Yes… I know about Fordham and I will apply just like I will with NYU but I’m still not going to get my hopes up since I dont really think I’d get accepted unless I got lucky. I’ve heard of alot of sort of OK schools in NYC like Pace? What do you think of that one? & sorry what does “CSI” mean? So you think CUNY is ok? I mean I just keep hearing nothing but bad about it so idk. Also, I tried applying to the honors but they only accept freshmen straight outta high school. Bummer. </p>

<p>Sorry lots of questions lol.</p>

7

<p>Before you waste a lot of time with transfer apps, do you know how much your family will pay?</p>

<p>If you don’t know how much your family will pay, ask them.</p>

<p>Transfers often get horrible aid, so if your family won’t pay, that could be an issue.</p>

<p>Calif publics do give decent aid to transfers THAT qualify. </p>

<p>If you need lots of aid, then NYU, Fordham and a bunch of other mentioned schools won’t work.</p>

8

<p>I know that my family can help a bit, likely enough, along with the small amount of financial aid and money I have saved up from work. I think it’d help. Even if I took out a loan, it wouldn’t be a large one. I wanted to apply to UCLA, UCSD and such but ive recently found out that deadline for fall 2015 is NOVEMBER OF THIS YEAR! And there are no spring admissions. I was planning to apply for spring since I’d have completed my 60 units by then. Whats really pulling me to the Unis in NY are that they dont require junior level transfer, so only 30 units or more.(although I doubt alot of those credits can be transferred).</p>

<p>So if I dont have that much to spend on school, you think only CUNY would work for me?</p>

9

<p>well, you need to do some calculations.</p>

<p>If you’ll be a junior when you transfer, you can borrow $7500. If you split your savings for two years, how much would that be? </p>

<p>What is your FAFSA EFC? (CUNY’s do not meet need nor do they give aid to OOS students)</p>

<p>How much would your parents give you each year? $5k? $10k? more? less? Ask them. </p>

<p>I don’t see any benefit of paying OOS costs at a CUNY when an instate CSU or UC would e be cheaper. What benefit would you get from going to a CUNY over a UC or CSU?</p>

<p>Did you know that the OOS cost for a CUNY is $37k per year???</p>

<p>Do you qualify for Cal Grants for Calif schools? </p>

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<p>Are you sure CUNY is 37,000 a year? Im pretty sure its 15,000… for OOS and 5,000 for NY residents… Wow these are alot of good questions… I need to do some research. The reason I cant do UCs is because I’m only about 40 units in and I cant transfer before 60 units whereas NY unis only need 30 units… thats the only thing. Also I’d have to wait till fall 2016 to transfer to a UC since their deadline is 1 whole yr before fall admission… atleast UCLA is…</p>

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<p>“Apparently NYU is the only school in NYC that is reputable, doesn’t have horrible reviews, and is “worth going to.””</p>

<p>Um, I heard there is a school in NYC, Columbia, that’s not too bad. May want to check it out. And Barnard if you’re female…New School is actually excellent, as well, and building a “headquarters” anchor building near NYU on Washington Square Park, and there are others, depending on major.</p>

<p>Seriously. Go to your college transfer office (make an appointment). The UC application is really straightforward- like filling out a job application with a couple of short essays tacked on. No recommendations, no official transcripts. It’s a few hours’ worth of work and not due for something like seven weeks. And UC’s know you are applying with still some credits ahead of you. If you check out IGETC requirements and fulfill even most of those by the beginning of Fall semester, you are good-to-go. If you have 40 units now, you will have 60 by September 2015, no? Your timing is perfect.</p>

<p>Do this face-to-face with a transfer counselor while you are sorting out NY. At least you will have a backup in place. And UCLA and UCSD are two of the most sought-after UC’s, so acceptance is more competitive than for other UCs (Berkeley is about as competitive as UCLA).</p>

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<p>See the problem is that I dont know if The New School or Pace or all those are good or bad. Because I live all the way in California, Ive never even heard of those. I only know of the UCs and the big popular schools. I know about Colombia but the acceptance rate is like 6% and I don’t think it applies for me.</p>

<p>And for the UC application, to transfer it says you need to have finished the units by that spring. & I actually have like 36 units. I just rounded up. Idk im just really stressed out because I want to go to a good school like UCLA that I can afford etc, etc and it feels like its really hard to do that for some reason.</p>

<p>But yes I do have a counselor appointment this tuesday :)</p>

<p>Thanks so much :)</p>

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<p>You need to have 60 units by September. if you have 36 by now, you should have 60 by september - if need be, add a summer class.</p>

<p>You’re confusing Macaulay (the university-wide honors program) with each individual university’s honors program. CSI is like a CSU, it’s a middle level 4 year university on Long Island, about 30mn from Manhattan, and it has its own residence halls (housing is a big problem in NYC, which may double your costs) and its own honors program, to which you’d qualify since you have 3.5. You can also apply to CCNY, it’s better than CSI, and it does have housing.</p>

<p>Do apply to various UCs as they may be your best bet. </p>

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<p><<<
Are you sure CUNY is 37,000 a year? Im pretty sure its 15,000… for OOS and 5,000 for NY residents…
<<<</p>

<p>You are quoting tuition prices, and you’re a bit low on those. Unless you are going to be pitching a tent and grazing off the lawn, you need to look at the TOTAL cost to attend a school.</p>

<p>Tuition and fees--------------------$16,449 <— this is for current year…each year will increase. </p>

<p>Room Only------------------------- $13,848 <----does NOT include a meal plan or food allowance.</p>

<p>Books and supplies ---------------$1,360 </p>

<p>Estimated personal expenses ----- $4,106 </p>

<p>Transportation expenses ---------- $1,020 </p>

<p>Estimated Total--------------------- $36,783 </p>

<p>Maybe right now you are commuting from home and don’t have Room&Board costs.</p>

<p>I just noticed that the school doesn’t include the Board (food/meal plan) costs in their budget, so you need to add $3k-4k to the costs. So, now you’re closer to $40k per year. </p>

<p>Unless your family is going to pay out a whole bunch of money, I don’t see how a CUNY would be affordable. </p>

<p>BTW…New School and Pace are also very expensive and give lousy aid. </p>

<p>You really have to be more realistic about costs and how things are going to get paid. </p>

15

<p>What about a CalState school?</p>

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<p>I just called UCLA admissions office and they told me I have to have completed my units by the end of spring, not summer. So thats basically out of the picture for me, unless I stay at my cc for another 2 years, until fall 2016, the next admission date. All my options are slowly fading away, I dont know what to do</p>

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<p>Call SDSU or Cal Poly SLO, some of the best CSU’s. Call other UC’s to see what their policy is.</p>