Which college should I pick? Help please!

Paying for College
1

So I need to decide which college I’m going to be attending since there’s only a few more weeks left. My top choice was Stony Brook University but I won’t be able to go there unfortunately :frowning: I live about an hour away(Queens,NY) and if I take the train it would take too long to commute back and forth everyday. And if I dorm it’s too expensive since the financial aid package they gave me was only about $11,000/yr.

So I’m deciding between St.John’s University, City College, and Hunter College.
St. John’s is close to where I live so traveling wouldn’t be a problem. They also gave me a good financial aid package so that wouldn’t be much of a problem either. At city college I got into the honors program so I got a scholarship and wouldn’t have to pay much. And as for Hunter College I have an interview on the 22nd for a full scholarship but I feel like the 22nd is kind of late. Plus I don’t think they will tell you if you got the scholarship until after May 1st.

Which school would be better for the sciences? I want to go into either pharmacy or nursing. Thanks for your help :slight_smile:

2

The truth is, all these schools are good, well respected schools and you won’t go wrong with any of them. Geographically St. John’s is the closest and is a private school. City College and Hunter are public with Hunter being an easier subway ride away, City somewhat more involved by subway or car. St. John’s has a real campus, Hunter does not, and I believe City is in between. One final difference, St. John’s would have more Queens and Long Island students, City and Hunter would have a more diverse NYC population (all five boroughs).

Given that you’ll be commuting and all three are comparable I believe, unless you feel strongly about a campus or where the students come from, I would go with the best commute. By the way, that doesn’t necessarily mean St. John’s - in the winter driving is not always the best way to get somewhere - unless there’s a bus that can take you.

You can’t go wrong with any choice. Good luck!

3

@sybbie719 needs to chime in here with her opinion - she’s the resident expert on NYC schools!

April 22 is not too late, but you should ask them ahead of time when they expect to issue their scholarship decisions. In the meantime, visit all three colleges that are current contenders.

4

I am really surprised that there is an 11K gap for Stony Brook and you are saying that it is unaffordable , yet you say that SJU with its 57K COA/37K tuition price tag, known for not having good financial aid or meeting 100% demonstrated need is a more affordable option (you got 21k in merit, where is the other 16k coming from?). How much exactly is SUNY/SJU/CUNY giving you and what is the break down of your package (university grant, TAP, Pell, Loans?

The 22nd is not to late, so you have time to interview and talk about what you need want. While SJU has a campus, it is not an easy campus to maneuver. If op is commuting, it is going to be a couple of buses to get there to the main gate and a big walk uphill before you get to any buildings. Even the free shuttle that runs down union is on one of the far side of the parking lots.

Unless Op is in the PharmD program at SJU, Op would be better served attending Hunter/City. Hunter would definitely be the choice is you are going into Nursing as SJU and CIty do not have nursing programs.

City college honors program has the following perks:

CCNY scholarships of a minimum of $5,000 per year and consideration for up to $10,000 per year
General Education courses that offer exceptional intellectual challenges and rewards
Intensive mentoring and advisement from faculty and dedicated honors advisors
First-day registration privileges

What is your class rank? If you a finishing in the top 10% of the class at your high school, and you plan on being a STEM major, you could get free tuition at CUNY or SUNY. If you can snag some free tuition, then you can channel the scholarship money that you got from City toward housing.

City College also has housing
http://ccnytowers.com/about/

Depending on your package , you could ask if there for housing at Hunter (there is free housing if you are in the McCauley Honors program).

5

Can you check with Stony Brook to see whether there might be a mistake? Or did you by any chance forget to check the “live on campus” box so that they could package room&board costs into your financial aid offer?

I’m really suspicious about that St John’s offer. Their Financial aid offers are usually lousy. I am suspicious because I think they put things like “Perkins”, “Stafford”, “Parent PLUS” into your package without identifying them as loans… when in fact those are loans (and the Parent PLUS loans are in fact in your parents’ name!)

If you can’t get a reassessment from Stony Brook, I’d go with City. It’s got a campus, the science programs are excellent, and it should be easily accessible. (They have a dorm, too… if you applied for that?) Honors is great (congratulations!). Or are you a Macaulay scholar?

6

@dodgersmom I emailed and asked them when we would receive our scholarship decisions but they still haven’t replied. I’m planning on calling and asking on Monday. I just assumed it would be after May 1st because they don’t even send out financial aid packages until after that date.

7

@sybbie719 I said that Stony Brook is unaffordable because they didn’t offer me any scholarships. They offered $11,481(pell:4,025, tap:1,556, tuition credit estimate:400, and the rest was loans). Their total cost is about $20k so I would still have to pay about $9k.
SJU offered about $32k not including loans (pell:$4025, tap:$1575, 3 scholarships which totaled $24k, university grant:1,341, and another grant of 1,250 for choosing to live off campus).
City College CUNY offered me $5k a year, for getting accepted to the honors program. I don’t know how much financial aid they will offer me because CUNY won’t tell you your financial aid package until after you choose a cuny school. So I wouldn’t find out until after May 1st. And I haven’t received any scholarships from Hunter, but I have an interview for one on the 22nd. But I don’t even know if I will get the scholarship yet. And I applied to 2 or 3 other scholarships at Hunter last week, and they said it will take atleast 2 weeks to make a decision so I probably won’t find out if I got them until next week.
I’m trying to decide between City College and SJU. I visited SJU today for accepted students day and I really loved it. I don’t think the transportation would be much of a problem, my brother might be able to drive me in the morning or I could just take a bus. But the bad thing is that I would be majoring in biology, (they said it was too late for me to apply to the PharmD program), so after I get my bachelor’s I would have to then apply to a nursing program at another school and I don’t know how long it would take to complete and how much I would have to pay. Same thing at City. But at Hunter, they have a nursing program but the thing is I don’t know if I will get any scholarships or how much I would have to pay there.
I’m in the top 2% at my high school, I heard about the STEM program but they don’t have nursing or pharmacy listed as one of the approved majors.
I’m kind of confused about Hunter, if I go there as a nursing major then after 4 years would I be able to take the exam and get my license? Or would I have to go to a graduate school after?

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@MYOS1634 i did check the live on campus box when I applied to Stony brook. I thought they would offer me a scholarship but they didn’t. They only offered 11k, including loans. I wish I could commute but it would take more than an hour by train back and forth every day.
St John’s offered $32k in scholarships and grants. It wasn’t including loans because they listed student loans and the Parent PLUS loan at the bottom separately. So I would be paying about $5k/year and at Stony brook I would be paying $9k/year. Plus St John’s is much closer to where I live so it wouldn’t be hard to get there.
I didn’t get into Macaulay Honors, only the honors program at City. I didn’t apply for the dorms since I would be commuting. I’m deciding between City and SJU, but I would be majoring in biology at both, so after the 4 yrs I would have to apply to a nursing program at another school. But SJU is much closer and I really liked the campus.

9

I don’t think you should write off Stony Brook just yet. They have both a nursing School and a “new” Pharmacy School (6-year program). This gives you the option of applying to either their Phamramcy School after your first year (or maybe your first semester if allowed) or their Nursing Program after your second year. For Nursing School, your first two years at most Universities are typically devoted to completing your prerequisites and then apply to the Nursing Program (I think this is true of both Stony Brook and Hunter College).

I don’t think a 1-hour commute by train from Queens to Stony Brook is that insurmountable and probably a lot of current students make that commute daily. If you had to commute by train, is it a direct commute from your home or do you have to take a bus to the train? I know that the average CUNY Student has a 1-hour Commute by train and/or bus each day. You can use that time to read your textbook during your commute.

As far as Hunter College is concerned, their Nursing School is probably the most sought-after Nursing Program in New York City due to its prestige and cost. It is therefore highly competitive to get into when compare to the other 4-year Nursing Programs in the City. Of course CCNY and St. Johns does not have a Nursing Program, but St. Johns has a 6-year PharmD Program. IMHO, to minimize cost/time, you do not want to complete a undergraduate degree and then apply to either a Nursing or PharmD program. Of course you could transfer to Hunter or Lehman College (or NYU) Nursing School after two-years at CCNY.

10

You shouldn’t do 4-year degree PLUS nursing. So if you got into nursing at Lehman or Stony Brook, that’s what you should do.

Did you get Honors at Stony Brook?
In college, you get to pick your hours, but honors students get first pick. You’d have 2 or 3 classes per day, and you could decide to start at 10 am, so with the 1hour commute you wouldn’t leave earlier than today for school, and probably a bit later.
While I agree 1 hour each way is a lot though, you sit on the train (and read your textbooks), it’s easier than if you had to drive (1 hour each way driving is not a possible commute).

11

@Psata82 But Stony Brook’s pharmacy school hasn’t started yet, and plus it would still be too expensive for me. No, I wouldn’t have to take a bus to the train, it’s close enough so that I can walk to the subway. I don’t mind commuting an hour to CUNY, but I think Stony Brook would take longer than that.

So if I go to Hunter for nursing, after the 4 years I would be able to take the nursing exam and get my license right? If I end up getting the scholarship at Hunter, I will most likely go there. but I might not find out if i get the scholarship until after May 1st, and by then I’m already supposed to have chosen a school.

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@MYOS1634 I didn’t get into honors at Stony Brook.I wouldn’t really mind taking the train there, but I don’t know exactly how long it would take. I think it takes 1 hour if you drive, but I haven’t visited the campus and I don’t know how long it would take by train. I guess the only other option is to go to Lehman or Hunter since they’re the only other 2 colleges that I can go to that have the major.

13

Moved to financial aid since we are going to break down the $$

Tuition at SJU $37,870, fees 1110 = 38980
you will need 6789 to fill the gap (loans and a summer job) . If you take the max loans each year you will have $27,000 of debt.

You will still need to add books and transportation costs.
While tuition is frozen for 2015-2016 school year, the freeze is not guaranteed for future years (anticipate 4% increase each year).

About these scholarships;
Are they automatically renewable each year (many of their scholarships read like they are one time scholarships)?
Do you have to maintain a certain GPA to keep the scholarships
Other than TAP/Pell, will the university grants (hopefully based on need) be automatically given every year as long as there are no major fluctuations in income?

CUNY<
Tuition and Fees at CUNY are
tuition $6330
Fee ~ 320
Total $6650

TAP $1556 (being conservative)
Pell 4015

Gap for Hunter (41079 - not counting books and metro cards- $1165)

You would attend CCNY for free ; getting money back $3921- 1165 (metrocards) =$2756, which would cocer books and supplies

Either one of these options will leave you graduating debt free

Tuition/Fees Stony Brook $8,858
LIRR monthly ticket $3110 (based on current price of $311/month)
30 day metro cards $1165 (based on current price of $116.50)

tuition/fees/transportation $13,133 (would need $1652 to cover gap after loans). Would graduate with ~ 27k loans.

For the same 27k in loans, I agree with Psata82, and I would not write off Stony Brook because it would provide you with the most flexibility to do what you want to do since you are uncertain if you want nursing or PharmD.

14

@Hoodie299 did you ever think about Macaulay Honor College in the CUNY system? Is that the honors college at CCNY you’re talking about? That’s full COA plus a stipend.

$11,000 from SBU is great, PLUS you’re in-state and SUNY schools rarely give in-state residents much if any money. So, the tuition is really cheap. Is it too late to apply for residence? You should consider it and then commute home for the weekends. If you commute to SBU every day you would have to take a train from Jamaica to Huntington and then transfer at Huntington to a new train heading towards Port Jeff. Stony Brook is one of the last few stops.

15

I just did a quick search on Google maps, and it said it’s a two-hour subway/train ride from Queens to Stony Brook. You should check the train schedules yourself, though, and figure out if that’s accurate.

That’s a long commute. Not impossible, but it really restricts your flexibility as far as choosing classes or attending any activities outside of class. I don’t know what the possibilities are for getting more aid at Stony Brook, but if you can appeal, you should.

16

I took that train ride out to Stony Brook last June; you had to change trains to get on a different line AND I don’t see how you get over to the campus once you arrive at the Stony Brook station, Maybe we were just going to a distant part of campus, but it was more than walking distance. Not seeing that as a reasonable commute from Queens.

17

@Hoodie299: I did look at the Hunter College pathway to the Nursing Program and Freshman apply to their Nursing Program in the first semester of their Freshman year, essentially using their first semester grades and ultimately, their second semester grades to determine acceptance into the Nursing Program. With their “New” Generic Program, you start the nursing Program in the Fall Semester of your Sophomore year.

*Students are considered for admission to the nursing program in the spring semester of their freshman year, after completing pre-requisite course work and an application to the School of Nursing. Only those admitted to the School of Nursing are allowed to declare nursing as their major. Admission to the School of Nursing is very competitive. At present, 100 students are admitted annually and no one is guaranteed a seat into the program. Students are required to attend the program on a full-time basis.

Composite score for admission to the nursing major is as follows:
· Cumulative GPA (50%)
· NLN Pre-RN exam score (50%)

The composite scores of all students applying for admission during an academic year are rank ordered from highest to lowest. Students will be accepted for admission based on this ranked composite score and the completion of all other admission requirements. Applications that do not include all admission requirements will not be reviewed. Students must have a GPA of 3.2 or better in order to apply.*

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/nursing/admissions/undergraduate/new-generic-pathway-program

So, when you complete your 4-years at Hunter, you will be able to take the NCLEX exam to become licensed RN.

When you go for your interview for the Hunter Scholarship, remember, it is like a job interview, so act and dress accordingly.

As mentioned before, if you attend CCNY, you could do two years doing the prerequisites for other Nursing programs and apply to places such as Lehman, SUNY Downstate or NYU, etc., where you will enter their Nursing program and complete 2-years, graduating with a BSN and be able to sit the NCLEX exam. I think (not sure) you could apply to the PharmD at other Schools if you were able to complete the prerequisites for these programs.

BTW, CCNY has the well respected Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education Physician Assistant Program, which might be an alternative to Nursing/PharmD. This is something you might want to keep at the back of your mind as you move forward. Admission to this PA Program requires that you complete 60 credits (~2-years) of prerequisites prior to applying to the program. This program will be transitioning to a graduate degree program in the very near future, where students will graduate with a Master’s Degree as oppose to a Bachelor of Science in Physician Assistant Studies.

http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/sophiedavis/pa-program-requirements.cfm

18

@sybbie719 I’m planning on getting a job this summer.
Two of the scholarships are renewable but I have to maintain a 3.0 gpa at the end of every yr and the third scholarship is also renewable. the university grant and the other grant for choosing to live off campus are both automatically renewable each year.

For Hunter, where did you get the 41079?

I don’t think that I will be able to attend Stony Brook, it’s too far to commute there from where I live. And if I dorm, I would have to take out almost 14k in loans/year.
I think City or Hunter would be a better choice but I’m still deciding between the two.

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@jdschooled5 I applied to Macaulay Honors but I wasn’t accepted. No, the honors program at CCNY is different from macaulay honors. Instead of full COA, they offered $5k a year

But the $11,000 from SBU was including loans. They didn’t offer any scholarships. Excluding loans. they offered about $5,981 and their total cost is around $20,000. I’d have to take out almost $14,000 in loans.

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@dodgersmom I searched google maps too and hopstop and they both said it would take about 2 hours. I don’t think I will be able to go to Stony Brook and even if I appeal, I don’t think I would get much more aid. It would still be too expensive