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Hunter (CUNY) 🇺🇸 Hunter College thread

This is f'n obnoxious. I just called Hunter and they said 4-6 weeks from today I should receive notification. F that, I had all my crap in in January. Same with UIC.

Additionally, I had emailed the program director, who gave the same timeline.
 
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tweezer13 said:
This is f'n obnoxious. I just called Hunter and they said 4-6 weeks from today I should receive notification. F that, I had all my crap in in January. Same with UIC.
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That's so bizarre! I have no idea why they would give you such a lengthy time frame beyond the april 1st deadline- wish you luck though
 
Don't get caught up in the school name, as long as it is accredited and in an area you would like to work post-grad, you will be fine.

The name schools will help somewhat if you are looking to work elsewhere once you are done school, but for the most part the name is just about a network of alums.

Planning school isn't something like an MBA program, where there are significant differences in the salary of the graduates by the "name" of the school. Whether you graduate from Columbia or Hunter, chances are your beginning salaries are going to be similar.

Some schools have stronger ties to certain areas. I know Columbia has great connections if you want to work for NYC Dept of City Planning, but Hunter grads can get jobs there too and spend 1/5 of the cost in tuition.
 
I amd going to Hunter this fall.
but the thing I am worrying is its requirement credits.
I know general planning programs require 36~48 credits.
but hunter is 60 credits.

"The degree requires 60 credits of graduate study. 45 credits must be taken within the department. With the approval of the department, 15 credits mat be elected from other graduate programs. " -hunter web site-

is there anyone who knows about it?
or do you have any ideas?

Can't I have a chance to write thesis ro paper?
 
hey cod21c I'm also going to Hunter in the fall- awesomeness

I am a little confused as the what you are asking- the 45 credits at Hunter include the 15 core credits (intro to urban planning, etc.), the studios (6 credits) an internship (3 credits) and your specialization courses (15-18 credits i believe) your remaining credits can be in your specialization, in another urban planning field or even in a completely different field (at the graduate level) like language, engineering, etc. the point is 45 credits have to be from the urban planning/affairs department no matter what- it's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me-

if this doesn't answer your question let me know, btw are you going to the end of year thing on the 19th?

I think you can def submit a thesis as well, I have been wondering about it because i may want to do a Ph. D- i believe the senior capstone is a project, but can also be a paper- ask the director if you need more help-
 
During the application process did you guys visit the school at all or talk to any alums? If you did visit, did you just contact the department or specific professors or...? Any insight you can give into the process at all would be helpful. I'm pretty set on applying here, just want to make absolutely sure that I'm making the right choice. Thanks!
 
I had not visited, but being from NYC I was looking for a school that was going to be a bang for my buck- the professors at my undergrad institution (U Arionza) highly recommended it as a practical program with great faculty, the website divulges alot of detail, talking to professors and the director via email is very informative as well. when i came down to it- Hunter has everything I was looking for in a program especially in terms of practicality, i've heard NYU and Columbia are more research intensive than I would like-

Keep checking it out- i wont be able to visit it until next week, but ill keep you posted.
 
Hi everyone, I'm a year out of college and looking into Hunter MUP program. I plan to apply for Spring/Feb 2010 admissions, and was wondering if anyone had any info on the programs selectivity. I went to a "narrative evaluation" liberal arts school (bard/sarah lawrence, ect.) so I don't have a GPA. I did well, so lets say my GPA is 3.3 at the lowest. I finished a senior thesis that received a stellar review. My degree was in the not-totally-irrelevant field of social science, but I don't have relevant internship experience.

Hunter is the best fit for me as far as program/location/cost go, and I'd honestly rather apply sooner then later. At this point, am I a competitive applicant? Should I consider bolstering my application with an internship or with non-degree course work? Also, are there any other affordable MUP programs in NYC I should check out? Thanks everyone.
 
I got into hunter for this fall straight out of my BA so i am not sure of the situation if you have been out of school for a long period of time- i am not sure about their selectivity overall, but i did have a perfect GPA in the geography major and GIS minor- I am a nyc resident who went to an out of state public university- my overall gpa was a 3.0 when applying- my bachelors degree was molded around pursuing an MUP- so I would definitely highly recommend internships and any work experience you can gain in the field- not sure where you are now or your technical background, but the NYC parks department is eagerly searching for unpaid GIS interns for the summer- great opportunity!

For this years MUP the director said 170 odd people applied and 44 were accepted-

In my opinion Hunter is great if you want a public based career- for my summer internship with the department of city planning all the interns who ended up being hired after graduation are from Hunter. NYU has more of a policy based program and Columbia is very academic from what I've heard preparing you for a Ph. D- but I am not sure- Pratt offers a masters as well- but in terms of cost and quality Hunter is the best option in my opinion-

good luck- call up Dr. McCormick she is very helpful and hands on for a director!
 
Hunter MUP registration

Hello.

I am one of the students who will be at Hunter MUP for 2009 Fall semester.

Has anyone already register for the classes ?

I am planning to register from July 28.

I would like share information about classes for this Fall semester at Hunter MUP.

Take care.
 
ysh said:
Hello.

I am one of the students who will be at Hunter MUP for 2009 Fall semester.

Has anyone already register for the classes ?

I am planning to register from July 28.

I would like share information about classes for this Fall semester at Hunter MUP.

Take care.
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hey ysh,

i already registered for the fall- dr. mccormick is super helpful with everything and im really excited for the classes im taking- def wish i could take more!

im eagerly awaiting the orientation!
 
international planning

Hey All,

I'm considering Hunter for the Spring semester. So far I've heard all good things. I'd like to concentrate on international planning. Anybody from that concentration in the house? For those who are or were students there, how are the courses and schedule flexibility?
 
I have applied to Rutgers, UNC-CH and am looking for another school to apply to in the mid-atlantic that is both affordable and a slightly safer bet to get accepted to. Hunter seems like an ideal location. The program seems to fit my interests. I am most interested in economic development, physical planning and transportation planning. I guess I am most focused on TOD.

Can anyone out there speak to Hunter's reputation? It's caliber of student (compared to other programs in NYC), program strengths, job prospects, etc..? I will be visiting the Open house next monday 2/8. Thanks.
 
thecaptaincnr said:
I have applied to Rutgers, UNC-CH and am looking for another school to apply to in the mid-atlantic that is both affordable and a slightly safer bet to get accepted to. Hunter seems like an ideal location. The program seems to fit my interests. I am most interested in economic development, physical planning and transportation planning. I guess I am most focused on TOD.

Can anyone out there speak to Hunter's reputation? It's caliber of student (compared to other programs in NYC), program strengths, job prospects, etc..? I will be visiting the Open house next monday 2/8. Thanks.
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Please search the forum. Hunter's program has been discussed in the past and most of your general questions have probably already been answered. If you have more specific questions, then it might be worth starting a new thread.
 
Hi all,

So I applied to the MUP program at CUNY-Hunter, still waiting on the admissions decision, but I'm 99% sure I'll be going there come Fall if I'm admitted.

I chose Hunter because I did my BA at CUNY and loved it there, and I already have a first MA from a private school and didn't want to dig myself further into debt. Hunter is a great school as a whole, and is looked at highly here in NY, so it was an easy application to make a choice on.

So I wanted to get a sense from the planning community about the reputation Hunter has, generally, for their MUP program? I know that, in relation to the other NYC planning programs, it is highly practical and technical, which I what I like about it, but I'm asking more about the general reputation, especially since I'd like to move around a bit in my career.

What do you think?
 
Not a lot of interest in Hunter here, eh?

My thoughts (though I'm no expert) - If you are thinking of settling in New York, I think Hunter is a great option. If you want to leave, I would think the experience of studying/working/interning in a city like NYC should have considerable value elsewhere too. Plus the absence of debt.

Have you heard anything re admissions yet? I haven't...
 
No love for Hunter, it seems, ha.

That's kinda the idea I had, regarding the school. Seems that having NYC as your laboratory will be a benefit no matter what.

I haven't heard anything at all from admissions yet, unfortunately, and I doubt they've gone out at all since I haven't heard anything here or on gradcafe about it. My assumption is that they're pretty slow about it. My app went in before the Feb 1st deadline and I hand delivered my transcripts at that time, but the online app only reflected that they had my transcripts like 2 weeks after the deadline. So they're not moving with a real sense of urgency, I think.
 
Yeah, I have applied to the Hunter MUP program as well and I have yet to hear anything from them. I suspect they are just taking their time since I have experienced the same delay in their online application and supporting documents. I visited the school a few weeks ago just so some professors could put a face to my application and to sit in on some classes. I know they do offer some studios with NYC area governmental organizations, but the classes I observed seemed very academic based and valued research over say, a more applied and practical project-like approach. Though that could just be that I only saw a small sample of classes.

The low tuition costs is definitely one of the reasons I am considering the program, though I don't know much about opportunities of working with professors or research centers or professional internship opportunities. Does anyone know if such opportunities are available? Additionally, does anyone know about housing options at Hunter? I assume there's not a ton of student housing around the campus given it's Midtown-East Side location. If students are expected to find their own housing then that would no doubt drive up the affordable cost of the program.
 
I applied at kind of the last minute and it took forever for my documents to show up as accepted. I'm really hoping to get into Hunter for Fall. I was looking through old threads on here and I noticed that in previous years, people started hearing back from Hunter right about now.
 
So it looks like it was pretty common for there to be a delay in the supporting documents appearing on the application.

What was it like going and speaking to some professors, Placemaker? Did it feel like a lot of students had done that? The most I did was have a few email exchanges with Profs Angotti and Chin with some questions about the program as it pertains to my own background. But that was before I applied. In hindsight, I should have done the same thing as you even if it's just to reaffirm the interest.

As far as housing goes, I thing you're right in that it's pretty limited. I'm from NYC, so it will be somewhat easier for me and I'll be coming in from Brooklyn/Queens. But for someone moving here for school, yea it does drive up the cost a bit, but I'm thinking it's still significantly cheaper than the surrounding private schools.
 
Informational Session

I received an email yesterday informing of an "informational session" (like an open house I guess) to take place April 4th. Asked to RSVP.

Probably doesn't help anyone, but if you're here that means you want info (and no one else has mentioned it). So just FYI.

I should add that I received online admission notice last week, and received the formal admission letter in the post yesterday.
 
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iamareyou said:
I received an email yesterday informing of an "informational session" (like an open house I guess) to take place April 4th. Asked to RSVP.

Probably doesn't help anyone, but if you're here that means you want info (and no one else has mentioned it). So just FYI.

I should add that I received online admission notice last week, and received the formal admission letter in the post yesterday.
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Thanks! Good to know. If you don't mind what were your stats.. GPA, work exp, GRE scores if you took them etc. I still have not heard back although I applied at the very last minute lol.
 
dylan, I was going to private message you my stats, but I don't see how to do that. I don't want to post them on a public forum.

I've added you to my friends list on the forum in hope that I may be able to then send you a private message.
 
dylan marsh said:
Thanks! Good to know. If you don't mind what were your stats.. GPA, work exp, GRE scores if you took them etc. I still have not heard back although I applied at the very last minute lol.
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Good to hear I'm not the only person who hasn't heard anything. I applied at the deadline myself, so maybe we are in the same pile somewhere.
 
I also applied right at the deadline. In fact, one of my recommenders had a computer issue and did not submit until 4 days before I received my decision. So I really don't think time of submission has a thing to do with it.

Have you tried contacting the department?
 
iamareyou said:
I also applied right at the deadline. In fact, one of my recommenders had a computer issue and did not submit until 4 days before I received my decision. So I really don't think time of submission has a thing to do with it.

Have you tried contacting the department?
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Wow, that's interesting...kinda worries me a bit. I haven't tried contacting the department though I'm wondering if I should shoot admissions an email inquiring about it.
 
I feel bad sharing information with you guys, because its main effect is probably to make you more anxious. But at the same time, I also understand wanting to know as much as possible, so I would also feel bad withholding!

Catch-22 for us all.
 
iamareyou said:
I feel bad sharing information with you guys, because its main effect is probably to make you more anxious. But at the same time, I also understand wanting to know as much as possible, so I would also feel bad withholding!

Catch-22 for us all.
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Oh don't feel bad. We're here for info, so thanks for sharing! End of the day, I feel better having some idea of what's going on than being out of the loop. In short order, we will all know where we are in this process - I'm just impatient, ha.
 
That's ok iamaryou, I don't think you can message on this site. My facebook and Skype are in my profile though. I'm still hopeful that I got in... it is def where I want to go! It's still only March too... April is usually the standard time for admissions decisions.
 
dylan marsh said:
That's ok iamaryou, I don't think you can message on this site. My facebook and Skype are in my profile though. I'm still hopeful that I got in... it is def where I want to go! It's still only March too... April is usually the standard time for admissions decisions.
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Hey Dylan...not sure if you saw, but it looks like some rejections are going out too, saw one on Grad Cafe this afternoon. Still haven't heard anything on my end though. How about you?
 
Just got mine today... not accepted. I shoulda taken the GRE!! My GPA from my previous college was probably just too low... 3.4 though at my current school though. I think the GRE's would have been a good addition.
 
Dylan- did they notify you through e-mail or an actual letter? I've applied too, and have been anxious since finding this thread a few days ago!



dylan marsh said:
Just got mine today... not accepted. I shoulda taken the GRE!! My GPA from my previous college was probably just too low... 3.4 though at my current school though. I think the GRE's would have been a good addition.
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I still haven't received anything from Hunter either.

I thought (read: hoped) today might be a big day for results, what with April (!) starting tomorrow and all.

Also, regarding private messages - I think you may have to have a certain number of posts on this site before you get cleared for more 'advanced' features. Feel like I read that somewhere.
 
driftwood said:
I still haven't received anything from Hunter either.

I thought (read: hoped) today might be a big day for results, what with April (!) starting tomorrow and all.

Also, regarding private messages - I think you may have to have a certain number of posts on this site before you get cleared for more 'advanced' features. Feel like I read that somewhere.
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Ahh, well hopefully we hear something then - tomorrow is April and I'm wondering when they are expecting admitted students to respond by.
 
Yes they send you and email saying:

"Dear NAME,

Your application decision is now available online. You can view it by logging into your online application account and clicking on the decision link on the bottom of the front page. You can access your online account with the PIN below. "

...then they give you your PIN and when you log on you click a link with your decision letter. I hope everyone has better luck than I! :D
 
Thanks Dylan.

I called the admissions office yesterday and was told that decisions hadn't been made yet, which is clearly not true for some people. I checked the online application page and there is nothing beyond 'application submitted'.

I'm assuming at this point they're waiting to see who from the first round accept the offer. Has anyone gotten an official waiting list announcement?
 
hopeful said:
Thanks Dylan.

I called the admissions office yesterday and was told that decisions hadn't been made yet, which is clearly not true for some people. I checked the online application page and there is nothing beyond 'application submitted'.

I'm assuming at this point they're waiting to see who from the first round accept the offer. Has anyone gotten an official waiting list announcement?
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That's what I'm thinking. I haven't gotten a waitlist notice or anything, though it's not out of the realm of possibility that they have a 'secret' one that they're going off of now without telling anyone who's on it.
 
Aww... I'm sure you will all hear real soon. Oh and my email came at around 11:30 AM if that helps.
Anyone here apply to NYU Wagner for MUP as well? I'm kinda thinking/hoping I'll get in there... seems like some of the students that have been accepted already have had sub 3.0 GPA's which I am def higher than. Going to have to take the GRE's now though :(
 
Man, they're really killing me here. Anyone else hear back this week? Anyone else tried calling? For people that got in, did they give you a deadline when you need to accept by?
 
hopeful said:
Man, they're really killing me here. Anyone else hear back this week? Anyone else tried calling? For people that got in, did they give you a deadline when you need to accept by?
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I know how you feel! Nothing yet for me either. I've been checking the website too, since I know some people had been accepted/rejected but never got an email, but alas, nothing. In a day or two, I may email the dept and check in. Who knows, it may help.
 
Last week I called the admissions office not the department, and it didn't get me anywhere. You should give them a call and post their response.
 
You guys must be on the waitlist. It's weird they would drag notifications out so long, especially since they had the info session Monday.

I will most likely be turning down their offer (still haven't quite made the commitment), so hopefully that will clear up a slot for one of you!

The decision deadline is April 15th (no, I don't plan to wait that long).
 
iamareyou said:
You guys must be on the waitlist. It's weird they would drag notifications out so long, especially since they had the info session Monday.

I will most likely be turning down their offer (still haven't quite made the commitment), so hopefully that will clear up a slot for one of you!

The decision deadline is April 15th (no, I don't plan to wait that long).
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I think you're right about the waitlist. Well hopefully some spots open up as the April 15th deadline approaches!

Out of curiosity, where will you be going instead of Hunter?
 
I got an email today from John Chin, the program director, asking us to respond ASAP to our admission offer so they could admit people on the waitlist.

I declined my admission tonight (I will be going to Rutgers), so hopefully that helps you and others in limbo! Good luck!
 
HM006 said:
I got an email today from John Chin, the program director, asking us to respond ASAP to our admission offer so they could admit people on the waitlist.

I declined my admission tonight (I will be going to Rutgers), so hopefully that helps you and others in limbo! Good luck!
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Sweet, that answers my question. Keeping my fingers crossed for something positive!

I wonder how many people decline the offers from Hunter regularly. Judging by the people on this board, it seems like a safety school for a lot of people, so I'm wondering if a higher number decline the offer.
 
I emailed the program's director and he responded that I had indeed been wait listed. They will start notifying people as spots open up until maximum enrollment is reached. So yeah, basically what was expected, but it was nice to have it confirmed.
 
hopeful said:
I emailed the program's director and he responded that I had indeed been wait listed. They will start notifying people as spots open up until maximum enrollment is reached. So yeah, basically what was expected, but it was nice to have it confirmed.
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You probably received the same email this morning, but for those who are interested, John Chin, the program director, sent out an email informing those of us who still haven't heard anything that we are on the wait list. He apologized for the wait, thanked us for our patience and asked that anyone who has already decided not to attend Hunter to send him an email so they can get through the wait list faster.

I'm debating sending him an email simply reaffirming Hunter as my first choice, that if accepted, I will definitely be going there in the fall and just mentioning that I have accepted a research fellowship at a transportation policy nonprofit (I got it after the application went out and couldn't update it). Does that make sense?
 
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