Uni in the USA: A British Guide to American Universities and Colleges > All New: Colleges and Universities Added in 2009 > Hunter College (new review!)
Upper East Side, New York
Undergrads: 15, 700
Grads: 5,100
How many Hunter students does it take to change a light bulb?
One, but he can do it on the subway on the way there.
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Do you want to wake up in a city that never sleeps? Do you want to make those little town (little island?) blues just melt away? Come “be a part of it” at Hunter, NYC’s cool commuter college. A public “City” university in both the official and urban sense, Hunter has a long history of educating the residents of America’s greatest metropolis, no matter what background they come from. Nowadays, it continues to give folks from all walks of life a chance to engage in one of the most exciting college experiences on offer –study in the heart of New York.
The Campus
If you wanted to study in America because of the beautiful, open, tree-filled campuses, then Hunter is not the place for you. The college revolves essentially around the junction of 68th St and Lexington Ave in uptown Manhattan. The college buildings on all four corners of this intersection are regular New York fare – tall and oldish, and two of them are connected by a neat glass tunnel suspended above the road below. The non-stop traffic and general urban buzz means that Hunter provides no collegiate seclusion from the city, a positive for most students (though a few say they would prefer a more traditional campus).
Inside the main buildings, however, things are much more pleasant, and a friendly, university atmosphere pervades. Students gather in the corridors or “the bridge” to talk over a coffee, or grab a lunch at the third-floor café with its outdoor terrace.
Apart from a seven-storey library (housing a lot more than seven stories!)facilities are never much better than adequate on the Hunter campus itself, and often in dire need of renovation. But in some ways Hunter students profit from the best facilities in the world – all of New York City. The subway stop right on Hunter’s doorstep whisks students off to all corners of this vast city every day, though some attractions, such as Central Park and a few awesome bars and restaurants, can be comfortably walked to. Don’t be surprised if many of your classes are in world-famous museums (Hunter is not far from “the Met” – one of the most prestigious art and history museums in the world), but also don’t complain if you have to commute to find a decent gymnasium.
There’s only space for about 600 students (about 3% of the total) in the university’s sole residence hall, and most of it is reserved for honour students. That means you’ll probably have to find accommodation somewhere in a big scary metropolis in a different hemisphere – potentially a daunting prospect for a young Englishman (or woman) just out of school. But once the necessary adjustments to New York life are made, it’s easy to warm to the thrill of the experience. Be warned though – the city is not cheap, though if you’re used to London you won’t be too shocked.
The Hunter Student
Hunter is as diverse as New York itself (“it’s the city condensed into a little space,” as one student put it), with people from every conceivable economic and racial background, as you can tell from the various national student organisations (Polish, Colombian, you name it). Some rank it as high as 3rd most diverse in the country. People here are use to every form of individualism and craziness, not necessarily from the student body itself but from the people they see on the streets every day. “Nothing phases you after you’ve been at Hunter for a while”, said one junior.
The college certainly doesn’t feel typical of America; it’s more of a multi-cultural mish-mash which conforms to no set values or stereotypes, again like the city itself. Even traditional student demographics like age go out the window here – you’ll be sharing classes with 35 year olds with half their careers already behind them, as often as you will with wet-behind-the-ears 18 year-olds. The resulting environment precludes all possibility of cliquiness; people are very accepting of each other, and integration of even the most socially awkward (or, of course, international students) can be wonderfully smooth.
Unfortunately, however, the nature of the school is such that it’s difficult to create a close community, since the majority of students leave campus every day after class to far flung homes around the city. This can make it hard to forge relationships, and some students barely interact with each other at all outside of classes, because they already have plenty of friends in the Lower East Side or Williamsburg or wherever they live.
This is not to say students are unfriendly or antisocial – far from it. Students frequently mention the welcoming, friendly nature of their peers as one of their favourite things about the school, and you just have to hang out around the cafeteria at lunch time to feel the warm-hearted vibe that the worldly, confident students exude. You can also make friends easily at one of the student or college run organisations, and of course during classes.
Hitting the Books
Academics are the selling point at Hunter; the small, intense classes are “challenging and motivating”, and occasionally stressful, especially the competitive ones. The “helpful” professors are usually of a high quality (with one or two outliers), good at motivating students and generally approachable outside of class. Work ethic is strong, owing to the large numbers of students who are studying for professional reasons and are dedicated to their work (the highest proportion of such students can be found in the night classes), but there are also those who expect easy grades and will slack if given the opportunity (and suffer with a much duller experience).
As already mentioned, the city provides lots of exciting bonuses for classes – field trips are common and it’s easy to get real experience of what you’re learning about. If you’re doing a film course for example, you can interact with the media hub in midtown, while scientists can use Central Park or the Hudson River as their very own laboratory. Coupled with this are the enormous range of easy-to-secure internships at whatever job you want to get started in. Hunter students have positions at CNN, the Natural History Museum and many other internationally prominent places.
The college is academically well-rounded, though stand-out courses are in media studies and performing arts, as well as nursing, languages (including classics), and public service.
Social Life
There may not be a huge campus life at Hunter, but with New York City effectively serving as the greater campus, get ready for a social life to end all social lives. What there is on campus can be pretty fun though: a good number (150) of interesting groups with reasonable popularity, college-organised parties about once a week, one or two sports (try the fencing), an excellent Model United Nations team, student media and government and a small Greek life.
Once you get out of the college (not hard to do!), the options become so plentiful and impressive that it can be hard to choose. NYC has the best of everything – shopping, eating, drinking, parks, museums, famous sights, waterfronts, music, theatre, comedy, art – all a big hodge-podge of excitement, diversity and urban bustle among the ridiculously tall buildings on every street. The question is, what’s not to do?
Be warned, however, that as great as it is, especially for youthful students, New York is not a place for those who require hand holding. It can be an anti-social, cutthroat city, and Hunter is not going to be guiding you through it step by step. The whole experience at the university allows for a lot of personal autonomy, and is very open to individuals’ creativity, which makes the city life all the more heady and exhilarating. But shrinking violets might want to think twice before plunging into the Big Apple.
Getting In
Hunter is a CUNY college (City University of New York), meaning that local NY residents are massively subsidised. This in turn means huge numbers of impoverished folk apply here to avoid the big price tags of NYU or Columbia, and consequently competition for places is very high, with only about one in four applicants earning a place. Strong applications are in order.
As for fees, Hunter is one of the best value-for-money schools in the country, with a basic rate of tuition for non-NYC residents at around $10,000. You may want to factor in living expenses before selecting Hunter because of its price, however, as they are a lot higher than at colleges in other cities. There is some merit-based aid, but no needs-based aid for international students.
Be warned that Hunter has a reputation for having an application system full of red-tape. Some bureaucratic problems may have to be endured.
Famous Grads
Nick Valensi – guitarist for indie rock band The Strokes
Gertrude Elion and Rosalyn Yalow – Nobel Laureates in medicine
Marjorie Morningstar – eponymous heroine of the classic Herman Wouk novel