El_Consejero

After an intense week of thinking about my decision, I've opted to go with CCNY. Thank you everyone for your advice!

Thanks for the input, lepetitfaon, and congratulations on your decision of Baruch! Your comments about class scheduling and being able to see your friends isn't something I'd previously considered - my significant other and friends adhere to much the same schedule, so that's something I'll have to consider that as well. Taking the weekend to carefully consider my decision - currently leaning towards CCNY. Thanks all for your valuable input!

I'm finding myself in a similar boat. I've been accepted to Fordham, NYU, Columbia TC, Hunter, and City. I've all but ruled out Colubmia and NYU because of cost, and find myself debating between Fordham, Hunter, and City. If anyone has any input, I would be much obliged. Here are my thoughts: Fordham: Offered me a 25% tuition scholarship, so would cost me about 60k in loans to attend. I went to a Jesuit high school and college, so I do appreciate that tradition and it seems to infuse the counseling curriculum quite heavily. I have friends and colleagues who have completed the school counseling program and have given it rave reviews. My current work has taken me to their campus quite a few times, and I have always come away very impressed with the infrastructure. They have a career counselor dedicated solely to helping alums of the counseling program find employment after school. This program would also, I believe, give me a greater potential to move on to doctoral-level study(I could see myself wanting to teach counseling someday as well as going into practice). If I were to take out these loans, I'd likely rely on securing a position with the National Health Services Corps to repay 50k, but it's scary to consider a huge variable like that being used for repayment. Total Loans: 60k+(maybe 5-10 more for living expenses) Hunter: Is the cheapest option because I could still work full-time in addition to attending class(at least during the semesters I am not doing internship). However, this is the program I am least familiar with. I didn't interview, and the website is a bit difficult to navigate, so it's been a little hard to figure out exactly which faculty teach in the mental health counseling specialization, and what their research interests are. I hear that the program is well-regarded, but I haven't had any first-hand encounter with the school or faculty (I am working on getting in touch with current students). The Handbook is online, but hasn't been updated since 2012. All I can really say about this program is that it's cheap, so if anybody has heard anything else regarding reputation, please do share. Total Loans: ~21k (+5-10) City College: This is a very small program(which appeals to me), and during my interview I felt I was able to connect well to the two faculty members I met. In researching the other faculty, I feel that, despite there being only seven of them, they have a diverse range of research experiences and theoretical orientations. The building itself was a little shabby, but then again all you really need to do counseling is a couple of chairs. It is a full-time program, so while I would be comforted by knowing it would be totally finished in two years, I wouldn't be able to work as much to pay rent, and would have to rely at least partially on loans to cover living expenses. Also, whereas the other two degrees are M.S.Ed, this is an M.A. program, and I've heard that may come into play if accreditation rules are tightened up in the future. One professor who interviewed me did say that it's rare for students of this program to move on to PhD work(but that it isn't impossible). The community seems to be very tight-knit, which strikes me as important for development as a counselor. Total Loans: Likely about 40k, assuming living expenses while attending full-time. Potentially fewer if I were able to save up during summers, but I am coming into this with no savings, having been an Americorps volunteer these past two years. I apologize if this is considered hijacking the original thread, but because both the original poster and I seem to have similar issues, I thought it might be appropriate to add to the discussion.