What You Need to Know About Applying to Macaulay Honors College

When you apply to Macaulay, you can only select one campus. If you don't get into Macaulay, you're most likely still going to get into that particular campus. However, if you apply to Macaulay at, say, Hunter College, you can't apply for a regular spot at Queens College (forgive me if I've mistaken). The application usually begins in November and is due early December.

The students applying to Macaulay usually have a strong academic record (high grades, challenging classes), and high standardized test scores. Here are the statistics from Macaulay:

However, Macaulay's admissions process tends to be unpredictable. Because many New York City students apply to CUNYs as "safeties," and thus apply to Macaulay since it's actually "up there," it's hard to predict whether or not Macaulay is a safety, target or reach. There are some campuses that are a lot easier to get into than others, though. Hunter College is usually the most competitive to get into because it has the largest pool of applicants (even though it accepts the most students into the Honors College). Hunter is especially attractive because it provides free dorming for the first 3 years.

• Accounting
• Biology
• Business
• Chemistry
• Economics
• English
• Finance
• History
• Mathematics
• Political Science
• Psychology

When you apply to Macaulay, you can only select one campus. If you don't get into Macaulay, you're most likely still going to get into that particular campus. However, if you apply to Macaulay at, say, Hunter College, you can't apply for a regular spot at Queens College (forgive me if I've mistaken). The application usually begins in November and is due early December.

The students applying to Macaulay usually have a strong academic record (high grades, challenging classes), and high standardized test scores. For instance, students applying in 2010 had an average GPA of 93.3 and SATs of 1384 out of 1600. Here are the statistics published by Macaulay:

However, Macaulay's admissions process tends to be unpredictable. Because many New York City students apply to CUNYs as "safeties," and thus apply to Macaulay since it's actually "up there," it's hard to predict whether or not Macaulay is a safety, target or reach.

There are some campuses that are a lot easier to get into than others, though. Hunter College is usually the most competitive to get into because it has the largest pool of applicants (even though it accepts the most students into the Honors College). Hunter is especially attractive because it provides free dorming for the first 3 years.

This list is ranked from most selective to least selective. However, this is based on word of mouth and personal experience so use at your own risk.

• Hunter College
• Baruch College
• Queens College / Brooklyn College
• Lehman College

Before deciding which campus you should apply to, take a look at their websites to see which fields they're strongest in. In addition, consider the acceptance rate of each campus, and your living situation (would you be dorming, renting an apartment, living at home?)

Over the years, I've heard interesting things about each campus so here's just my two cents (I know more about Queens, Hunter, City, and Baruch so feel free to ask me questions about them; not that much about Lehman or Brooklyn) about a few of the campuses:

Queens College

• If you want to become a teacher or do anything related to education, this is the place for you
• Relatively easy to get into for Macaulay
• Peaceful neighborhood

Brooklyn College

• My friends who wanted to be doctors applied to Brooklyn for Macaulay so check it out if that's your dream as well
• Not as competitive as Hunter for Macaulay
• Not as many applicants

Hunter College

• The largest of the campuses
• Unpredictable when it comes to admissions because they receive so many applicants
• Great for liberal arts and students who are "undecided" because they have a variety of fields, programs, majors, and opportunities
• Right near the train station so it's pretty convenient
• Dorms are not as beautiful as those of other schools. The dorms are all singles so it might be harder to meet people. There's a lounge downstairs in the building that's usually crowded at nights, and a tennis court right outside. Not everyone in the dorms are Macaulay students, by the way.

Baruch College

• Great for business, accounting, and related fields
• Students can also study journalism
• Easier to get into than Hunter College

Lehman College

• Pretty easy to get into for Macaulay
• Food court is good but I didn't like it
• Near train station so very convenient
• Near a few other high schools and colleges

City College

• Great for engineering, architecture, sciences, mathematics
• Harder to get into than Baruch College for Macaulay
• Neighborhood is very urban

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