NYU vs. CUNY

[lena_zhang]

Hi fellows,

I applied to j-schools at Columbia, NYU and CUNY. I was rejected by Columbia, accepted by NYU with about 1/3 scholarship and accepted by CUNY with no word on funding yet. Now I am choosing between NYU and CUNY. Maybe you guys can give me some input?

Here are some facts about the two schools:

NYU-

pro- I'm applying to its Business and Economics Reporting program. Half of the classes are offer by j-school and half of them are offered by its Stern Business School's MBA program. As you may know, Stern is the top 10 business school in the country. I think that add more value to the j-school program. Also their class size is small. Student-and-faculty ratio is about 6:1.

con- Although with 1/3 scholarship, the NYU program still costs almost 3 times more than the CUNY program. 

CUNY-

pro- Since its a public school, the cost of this program is cheap, about $20,000 total tuition for in-state students. It also guarantees to offer a $3000 compensation for summer internship, which further eases the financial burden. Besides, CUNY j-school really emphasize a community atmosphere. They even have a writing coach to help students who are non-native English speakers. 

con- CUNY's journalism school is a relatively new school. Although they are try very hard to make a place in the field, I'm not sure if their network is as strong as NYU's. Also, their business reporting class is offered by the j-school and they don't seem to allow j-school students to take business class offered by CUNY's business school. 

Any thoughts?

[rising_star]

I'm not sure what the salaries are like for journalists but, will you be able to make enough money to cover the additional debt you'd take on if you went to NYU? If not, then you have your answer.