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This is purely a matter of opinion. When you think of the best colleges in nyc, which ten are the first ones to pop to your head? This does not have to be politically correct. We are not concentrating on a major or anything such as that. I'm just curious, when one thinks of nyc, what colleges do they think of? If 10 don't pop to your head just list as many as you can in order of priority. I'll list what my conceptions were after a few people post.
I'm a Hunter girl so obviously, I'm going to say Hunter bc I just graduated from there lol But honestly I had a really great experience, academically and socially. I was really lucky to have had challenging professors and be around so many bright, intelligent people. Besides that I would say NYU, Barnard/Columbia, Baruch and Stony Brook (which is in Suffolk County I know but its a really good school). My best friend goes to Queens College, and she says it's overrated. My fiancee is doing an MS at Pace and she says it's like paying NYU money for a CUNY education. And I also heard that St Josephs is a good school.
On what you MAJOR in...this determines a lot: as once you are in some of these programs, there is limited flexibility & moving around.
You can go to any of the NY schools & either do very well for yourself, or not....depending on what you want to do with your life. I know many ppl who went to colleges that were lower ranked because of $$ and shined...they placed at excelled graduate programs & are often better respected than ppl who went to "better" schools.
Also, many places you apply to a PROGRAM in particular...this can influence how easy it is to get in. St Johns would be an example of this. By looking at statistics, you only get part of the picture.
Columbia & Barnard: Most ppl are familiar, let's talk about the others more.
Cooper Union is an excellent school & super prestigous: if you want to go into engineering, architecture, ect. Very small classes. Tough to get in.
NYU has really become a desirable place to go & the tuition reflects it. It is an excellent school & def. has it's niches. Stern business school is prestigious. The Arts education is amazing & the Science program feeds many a graduate school.
St Johns has an AMAZING 6 year program in pharmacy (5 changed to 6 recently...this is now a PharmD program). If you can get in (tough) & keep your scholarship (not easy to do)...it is very inexpensive. I believe it also has a strong P.A. contingent. It has a law school connection, but I'm unfamiliar with this.
Hunter has some strong specific programs. I believe they include physical therapy and education. I'm sure there are more.
Queens college is where I would go if I were interested in accounting or education.
Sophie Davis and Brooklyn College both had advanced medical/undergrad programs. Both attract excellent candidates as the tuition at both is dramatically lower/free than the other options. Again...very difficult to get in.
I'm sure there are some that I'm missing. I don't know much about the schools of the Arts & Law...so if interested: ask elsewhere....
BUT:
WHY focus on "top 10" without looking at the CRITERIA for that selection?
If you do well at the school & make a career for yourself...it is the TOP choice for you...
I favor Columbia (Dad and brother went there) as well as some bigwigs in all fields:
Would you have ever expected that:
Alan Ginsberg, Kerouac and other beats met at Columbia? They did.
With a Columbia degree, you've got a leg up on the other grads, that is for certain. And you will have some great contacts among the classmates and alum and the memories.
St. John's get on the list since there are not a great number of colleges for a top ten....
You get what you put in. Great people came from 'small colleges' (not where you'd expect). A college degree from Columbia gets your foot in the door which is what is needed now that a college degree is expected these days....
Columbia has great professors, known in their field, that is what makes them above the others. The same goes for Harvard although I think Harvard is very overrated. (That and I am not from Boston or I might think differently.)
St Johns has an AMAZING 6 year program in pharmacy (5 changed to 6 recently...this is now a PharmD program). If you can get in (tough) & keep your scholarship (not easy to do)...it is very inexpensive. I believe it also has a strong P.A. contingent. It has a law school connection, but I'm unfamiliar with this.
Actually, I think that St. Johns law school is even more prestegious than its Pharmacy program, its fairly highly ranked and the grads have a much higher than average bar passage rate and a good job placement rate as well.
Their business school is good but not elite. but is getting tougher than it once was.
The university itself is an increasingly popular school with increasing applications so the acceptance rate is gonna start getting lower and the schools academics tougher over the next few years.
Columbia, Barnard, NYU, Cooper Union, Julliard, Fordham.
St. Johns is not in Manhattan and definately not as highly regarded as everyone is making it seem, and Marymount Manhattan is mainly only for theater people. Hunter, Baruch, and Pace are decent schools. FIT and Parsons are top schools for design (fashion especially). Outside the state, not many people know of st. johns, the cuny schools, or marymount manhattan.
I definitely agree with znycgirl...it really depends on what you major in. While Columbia and NYU are at the top no doubt. But for business majors Fordham, Baruch, and Pace are good choices. Like znycgirl mentioned St. John's has a great Pharmacy program and I believe there is a 6 year program for those who want to go straight into the law school which is pretty good.
Engineering: Cooper Union is top notch. But off topic, cost wise, unless you gett a scholarship...I think the CUNYs (the top ones) offer great value.
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