<p>Can anyone provide a comparison between the CUNY schools? I'm planning to apply Macaulay and can't make up my mind (mainly it's between City, Queens, and Brooklyn. Hunter seems too competitive as EVERYONE from my school is applying there for Macaulay)</p>
<p>What's the order of difficulty of the CUNYs for Macaulay? Which CUNYs are best for the biomedical/health sciences?</p>
<p>Does anyone know how the atmosphere/ social life differs from each of the CUNYs?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Hunter and Baruch are generally seen as the most difficult/best. Lots of people go to hunter for biomedical stuff from my school, but idk if its the best. Try Sophie Davis if u can. Atmosphere wise I don’t think Hunter and Baruch will feel much different. City, Queens and Brooklyn might be little more chill and have a campus atmosphere simply because they are further from the city.</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, where are you from? I only ask this because I know a few people who commute a couple of hours to participate in the Macaulay Honors program and the experience is different for them from me. I am a freshman Macaulay scholar at Baruch College and I have quite a lot of info to provide. </p>
<p>You ask for a comparison between the CUNYs? That is something you’re going to have to see for yourself by visiting each of the campuses. I can tell you this much, all of the CUNYs are large. Some are bigger than others. For example, Baruch has 14,000+ students but we are basically in two buildings; you can imagine how crowded and overwhelming it gets. Brooklyn, on the other hand, has like 12,000 and a somewhat more “traditional” campus, spread over a few buildings. This is a pretty vague question, what kind of comparison are you talking about?</p>
<p>I emphasize location and commuting a lot because there are a lot of events you will need to attend if you do get accepted and decide to participate in Macaulay. If you’re from far Long Island and you have to go to an 8PM opera, you won’t be home until 1AM. This kind of repeated event significantly changes your Macaulay experience. </p>
<p>As for difficulty, I know hands down Baruch and Hunter are the two most competitive. This does not mean you need to have perfect stats to get in, but yes, most students will apply to those school. </p>
<p>Are you planning on going on the pre-med track? If so, I surely recommend Hunter. They have the largest variety in your choice of majors and options for programs. Out of all the CUNYs, Hunter is definitely your best best for medicine. </p>
<p>I, too, plan on going into the biomedical field and therefore am withdrawing from Macaulay Honors, however I know this program inside and out and can tell you ANYTHING you want to know about it. Feel free to ask any more questions.</p>
<p>My younger daughter is a Freshman Macaulay student @ Brooklyn. She is in the BFA Theater program.</p>
<p>We looked at City’s biomedical engineering program for an older child at one point, and it looked like a decent program, but he applied elsewhere (not CUNY).</p>
<p>The Macaulay program is a great program - good luck!</p>
<p>I agree that Hunter and Baruch are the most selective of the schools in the Macaulay Honors College system.</p>
<p>Most choose the latter to pursue a business education.</p>
<p>Can’t remark on the “biomedical/health sciences” programs at Hunter, but the regular college is the most selective in the CUNY system.</p>
<p>Hunter is in the Upper East Side. Great location.
Dorms are farther away, but most of the best parts of the city will be more easily accessible to you.</p>
<p>I’m curious…what kind of stats does it often/usually take to become a Macaulay honors student?</p>
<p>GPA?
SAT?
ACT?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p><a href=“http://macaulay.cuny.edu/about/factsheet.pdf[/url]”>http://macaulay.cuny.edu/about/factsheet.pdf</a></p>
<p>Class 2012
Applicants 3,829
Accepted 874
% Accepted 23%
Enrolled 354
HS Average 93.4
SAT Total 1396
SAT Verbal 691
SAT Math 705</p>
<p>Does anyone know if a student applies to Macaulay and doesn’t get it, whether that student has to reapply separately to the college for general admission?</p>
<p>“Does anyone know if a student applies to Macaulay and doesn’t get it, whether that student has to reapply separately to the college for general admission?”</p>
<p>Students who apply to the Macaulay Honors Program are evaluated for admission to both the Honors Program and the regular college.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for answering questions. My D would not be commuting; she’d have to live in the city. In your opinion what would be the best college for her to apply to if her interests are (in this order) visual arts, linguistics, writing, voice? NOT science at all! 
Is Hunter the best for her? Since Hunter is harder to get into, in your opinion, what is the best college that isn’t Hunter for her major? I’m asking right now purely for reputation of the school, not for aesthetics or lay-out of the campus. But I hear you that some schools are just a couple of buildings and that can be overwhelming; thought we’d tackle one thing at a time. Her stats are 800 verbal, 620 math, top 5%, top 100 in nation in Linguistics, top in state in Latin, several art & poetry awards (several first prize, several in tri state region), All State in voice (top in NJ). Does Macauley consider these things or do they just care about hard-core academic stats? Thanks so much.</p>
<p>During the application process, are in-state, OOS, and int’l students evaluated evenly? Or is there preference for in-state, then OOS, then int’ls?</p>
<p>Hoveringmom, my YDD is in the B.F.A. Theater program at Brooklyn College. Brooklyn also has a conservatory with a B.Mus. program, a B.F.A. in Creative Writing, and a B.F.A. in Art. Macaulay is not exclusively focused on the sciences.</p>
<p>They give the kids free tuition, a laptop, and will pay for a semester abroad or an internship.</p>
<p>^^^
How is Macaulay funded?? Thru a big endowment? thru the state?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Macaulay</a> Honors College - Frequently Asked Questions](<a href=“http://macaulay.cuny.edu/prospective-students/faqs.php]Macaulay”>http://macaulay.cuny.edu/prospective-students/faqs.php)</p>
<p>I don’t know if they are evaluated “evenly.”</p>
<p>As far as their funding - it is privately funded. They do have an endowment but are always actively raising money.</p>
<p>hoveringmom, macaulay DEFINITELY looks at things other than just stats. they look for well-rounded diverse kids. there were many students from my HS with magnificent GPAs/SATs denied because their stats were simply all they had. I, on the other hand, did not have the strongest numbers but had many, many other things to back me up and I got in. focus a lot on the 3 essays that are a part of the application.</p>
<p>mgm1- I’m from the northwest part of queens, and I’m quite familiar with Queens College.
I’ve visited brooklyn, and been to city. Yeah, I know that Hunter and Baruch are the closest to me, but I wouldn’t mind going to QC because I’m really familiar with the commute.</p>
<p>I want to go the premed track, and especially want to do research (since I’ve done it in HS and really liked it).</p>
<p>I don’t have the stats to get into Hunter Macaulay, and I don’t want to take a gamble. I checked the stats of the incoming freshmen, and for some reason City has the highest incoming ave (95), but I don’t know if it’s because they’re including Sophie Davis kids in there.</p>
<p>I’m applying to SD, but I’ve decided I’m not going to apply to Brooklyn biomed, (only because the only school you’re guaranteed admission is SUNY downstate, you have to take the MCATS anyway, and half of the students fail out.)</p>
<p>I know that Queens has a science honors program, but I don’t know the quality of it.</p>
<p>If you don’t mine me asking, mgm, why are you withdrawing from mac?</p>
<p>Oh, and now it’s only 2 essays.</p>
<p>susgeek- How does your daughter find Brooklyn? How are the professors? Are they decent? How about the atmosphere? How’s the commute from the BK campus to manhattan?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>She loves Brooklyn! She is having a blast! She has found the professors to all be very nice. She is taking one of her classes - the Macaulay seminar - at Baruch. She takes the Q train from Avenue J. It is not too bad a commute.</p>
<p>Good luck!!!</p>
<p>susgeek- Glad to hear your daughter’s experience is good so far. Are the class sizes small and professors accessible? Do you think the campus is too isolated?</p>
<p>Nine of her credits are in theater, as she is in the B.F.A. Theater program.</p>
<p>She is taking an English class @ Brooklyn and, like I said, her Macaulay seminar @ Baruch. So all I can really comment on is her English class as far as Brooklyn - and she likes the class overall (although she finds it very easy as it is not honors). The teacher has been very nice.</p>
<p>She is renting an apartment a block and a half from campus in Midwood/Flatbush, so for her it is not isolated - but maybe if she had to commute from Queens she might feel differently.</p>
<p>Brooklyn College actually sounds like the best for my D., besides Hunter, but I’m frankly very worried about it’s not providing housing. I’m originally from the New York area, and know how difficult it can be to find reasonable housing. Susgeek, is your D at home, or in an apartment? How hard is an apartment to find? (I realize this is a pretty broad question, but any info on this would be helpful.) Finally, how do the logistics of the award go–how much money do they give that could be used for housing? That is, will the student have to pay more out of pocket for a college like Brooklyn than for Hunter, which does have dorms? Thanks so much.</p>