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Freshman Applicants

Welcome high schoolers! A quick note: these steps are designed for current high school seniors, but that doesn't mean you can't get familiar with the application process.

We make decisions on a rolling basis.

CUNY Application Requirements

Recommended application materials.

After you submit your completed application, the admissions review process begins. Mailed documents should be submitted to the University Application Processing Center (UAPC) with  your CUNYfirst ID#  to the following address: CUNY/UAPC P.O. Box 350136 Brooklyn, NY 11235

Admissions Decisions

Decisions are e-mailed on a rolling basis after the priority deadline. We examine your entire high school academic records, including difficulty of classes, GPA and grade trends. We also look at the strength of your standardized test scores (SAT, ACT, NY State Regents) and any additional supporting documents including the recommended essay, and letters of recommendation. Applications submitted after the priority deadline will be considered on a space available basis. You can check the status of your application by logging into your  CUNYfirst account  and selecting 'Student Center' then 'Admissions' then 'View Details.' You can also call the CUNY Welcome Center at  (212) 997-2869.

For further information, see CUNY's information on admission decisions here.

Macaulay Honors Program

Fall Deadline (no early decision or action) >> December 2, 2019 at 6:00 PM (EST).

Two-step notification process:

1) Beginning in mid-February applicants will be notified of their admission decision as General Freshman by all college choices listed on their application.

2) March 16 – Macaulay applicants will be notified of their admission decision into Macaulay Honors College by only one of the college choices listed on their application.

The  Macaulay Honors College  application is available online. The Macaulay application requires  test scores, two essays  and  two letters of recommendation.  If Baruch is your first choice for honors, make sure to list it as such on your application.

Students applying to Macaulay may also be considered for the Baruch Honors program and other merit-based scholarships. For more information please visit:  Baruch Honors.

International Students

The deadlines we have listed for the CUNY applications are Priority Deadlines for applicants within the United States. We suggest international students have their applications completed and sent in at least 4 weeks prior to the deadline. Applications will not be processed until all required documents have been received. Please refer to the  following site  for specific instructions. If you have graduated from a high school/secondary school outside the U.S. not listed above, you are required to submit your complete academic record (all years), as well as any national or government certificates earned. We accept photocopies of secondary school transcripts, diplomas, mark sheets and/or secondary external examination certificates. Please review the list of  Required Secondary School Credentials.

SEEK Program

The  Percy Ellis Sutton SEEK  (Search for Education Elevation and Knowledge) Program provides economically disadvantaged students with the tools they need to create their own success: to graduate and pursue fulfilling and productive lives, to develop an awareness of themselves and a sense of dedication to their community.

In order to be considered, students must indicate their interest in SEEK on the Freshman application. If academic requirements are met, applicants will be asked to submit supporting documents to prove financial eligibility. Refer to the following site for  eligibility requirements.

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You are here, undergraduate admission.

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Welcome to undergraduate admissions at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS). We're glad you are choosing CUNY SPS to complete your undergraduate degree and further your academic goals. 

Our undergraduate programs are designed to meet the needs of adult students who are returning to college, some after many years, to finish or transition into a bachelor’s degree program.

Before applying

Admissions requirements*.

• Applicants should have a minimum of 24 earned credits from a regionally accredited institution. Official transcripts from all previous colleges, universities, or proprietary schools you have attended since high school must be submitted, whether or not you intend to request transfer credit.
• For students who feel their prior college GPA is not reflective of their academic potential and may not meet our standard GPA requirement, CUNY SPS has an alternate performance-based application program called Jump Start .
• Jump Start Application Deadlines
• We accept a maximum of 105 Transfer Credits .
• To gain admission to CUNY SPS, students must satisfy the reading, writing, and mathematics basic skills requirements. CUNY College Readiness Requirements
• A personal essay of at least 250 words is part of the application process.
• Unless a currently enrolled CUNY student, to submit your application, you must pay a $70 non-refundable processing fee. Without payment, your application will not be sent to CUNY SPS. Veterans of the United States Military, active duty service members, and members of the National Guard or Reserves are eligible for an  application fee waiver .

*Following an initial admissions review, applicants may be asked to submit additional documentation.

How to Submit Official Transcripts

Keep in mind that your application must include an official transcript from each individual college or university you attended since graduating high school. As a courtesy we will attempt to pull your CUNY transcripts and you will be notified via email if we are unable to.

Your official transcript(s) should be sent to:  CUNY School of Professional Studies  Attn: Office of Admissions  119 West 31st Street  New York, NY 10001  We will also accept electronic transcripts submitted directly from the institution or by a company contracted by the institution through a secured system. Electronic transcripts will not be accepted as official if they are emailed from the student. Please request that your official transcript be sent electronically to  [email protected] .

For information regarding submitting transcripts from non-domestic colleges/universities, please visit Undergraduate Applicants Educated Outside the U.S.

Financial Aid 

Applicants who have not yet filed for  TAP or the  Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and plan on receiving financial aid should do so right away!

Undergraduate Degree Program Deadlines

Fall 2024 Regular Deadline: Monday, June 17, 2024

Priority Decision Deadline: Monday, April 6, 2020

Completing the application by the priority deadline will guarantee notification of an admission status weeks before the Regular Decision.

Students admitted through the Priority Decision will have an early advantage to:

• Start classes with the Summer 2020 session
• Receive a transfer credit evaluation
• Meet with an academic advisor to select classes
• Have more time to sign up for a tuition payment plan
• Learn of their financial aid award (for those who submit a FAFSA and are deemed eligible for grants)

The regular deadline for Spring 2020 has passed. The CUNY SPS Office of Admissions is offering interested students the opportunity to apply online with  Direct Admission  for the Spring 2020 semester. The Direct Admission application is designed only for transfers who are seeking admission to one of our fully online bachelor’s programs or one in-person bachelor’s program (excluding our BS in Nursing program).  

Can Anyone Apply Through Direct Admission?

For the Spring 2020 semester, only prospective undergraduate transfer students who were educated within the United States can apply through this process.

If you were educated at any point outside of the U.S., your international transcripts must be evaluated by the University Application Processing Center (UAPC), and you must apply for the Fall 2020 semester through the regular  admissions application . Students interested in our RN to BS in Nursing program for Spring 2020 will also have to apply through the regular admissions application .

Important Information for all Applicants

Please be advised that while you are invited to apply for the Spring 2020 semester with the Direct Admission application, your application will only be reviewed if it is complete and pending the availability of space in the program. Applicants will be required to upload an admissions essay and submit all official transcripts directly to the Office of Admissions . Please note letters of recommendation, high school transcripts, and SAT/ACT scores are NOT required for admission to CUNY SPS.  

While we cannot guarantee that your application will be reviewed for Spring 2020, note that as a courtesy your application will automatically be forwarded for the Fall 2020 semester.

(Accelerated) Nursing programs

The decision deadline for admission to the (Accelerated) Nursing programs is Tuesday, December 3, 2019 .

• RN to BS-MS in Nursing Education (Accelerated)
• RN to BS-MS in Nursing Informatics (Accelerated)
• RN to BS-MS in Nursing Organizational Leadership (Accelerated)

The Office of Admissions can help you with any questions you have about the application process.

Next Steps to Apply

Upcoming Events

Commencement 2024.

May 23, 2024

Online Information Session: Bachelor's Degree Programs

June 04, 2024

Online Information Session: Jump Start Application

June 06, 2024

Online Information Session: SEEK

June 11, 2024

Test Flight: Online Learning Simulation

June 12, 2024 to June 18, 2024

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English 2100 Fall 2023: What Goes Unsaid?

A Blogs@Baruch site

English 2100

Fall 2023 – Professor Sylvor

Essay #3 – What Goes Unseen:  Community Problems and Solutions

Final Project: Analytical Research Paper + Presentation

Analytical Research Paper

5-7 pages, 12pt type, double-spaced, with one-inch margins

This is an analytical research paper .  This means that you will not simply be collecting information about your topic; you will also be interpreting your research findings and drawing conclusions about your topic.

Topics:  Your first and most important task is to identify a PROBLEM that you’d like to explore.  This problem must be a problem that is affecting a COMMUNITY that you consider yourself to be part of.  In order to make this project meaningful, I encourage you to identify an issue that you yourself genuinely feel strongly about.  Ideally, this will make the research and writing experience less burdensome because you will be working on something that is important to you.  The problem you select should be one whose solution is not clear or obvious; this is where your own analysis will come in.

• By Sunday, November 19th, post three possible topic ideas to our class blog.  All three should be issues that you are genuinely interested in.  You can identify three different problems in a single community or share ideas that relate to different communities that you consider yourself to be part of.
• On Monday, November 27th , you will bring your selected topic with you to class in writing either in the form of a one-paragraph articulation of the topic, a traditional outline, or some combination of those two formats. This should include a description of the problem you will be researching as well as an explanation of your particular interest in this problem.
• By Wednesday, November 29th , you will submit a preliminary list of sources via Google Docs, by placing your document in your individual ENG2100 folder. 
• Monday, Dec. 4th – Drafts Due :  Bring three hard copies of your draft with you to class
• Presentations:  You will be sharing your research with the class in presentations on Wednesday, December 6th and Monday, December 11th.
• Essays Due: NO LATER THAN Friday, December 15th.   You will be submitting your finished essay by placing it in your English 2100 folder and giving it the title “Your Name Research Paper”.

Additional Information:

Essay Organization : 

Your essay should be organized simply, using the following basic structure:

• Description of the problem.
• Identify source(s) of the problem.
• Possible solutions.
• Your recommendation.

In researching this paper, you must draw from a minimum of four sources.   You will cite your sources in accordance with the MLA guidelines (9th Edition).  We will be reviewing the guidelines together in class, and you will receive a separate handout with more detailed instructions about using and citing sources.   One of your sources should be a source that you access through the Newman Library Databases (I will be showing you how to use these.)  and one of your sources should be a “non-traditional” source.  (This could be a personal interview, a social media post, a photograph – anything other than a typical written text.)

The last page of your essay will be a  Works Cited page that lists all the sources you refer to in your paper.  (This page should say “Works Cited” at the top of the page.) This is different from a bibliography; a bibliography lists all the works you’ve consulted, but a Works Cited list includes only those sources you’ve actually quoted or referred to in your paper.  You will be following MLA 9 th Edition (2021) guidelines in formatting your entries.

Presentations: 

You will be sharing your research with the class in presentations on Wednesday, December 6th and Monday, December 11th.  We will be picking names from a hat to determine the order of the presentations.  You should be prepared to spend no more than five minutes sharing your research findings with the class in whatever format you think will be most interesting and effective.  Do not worry about creating fancy slides or sophisticated audio or video.  Your presentation should describe the problem you’ve researched, share some of what you have learned about this problem, and offer your recommendations about how the problem ought to be addressed. These presentations will happen before you have submitted the final version of your essay, so you may get information from the presentation that will help you with your revisions.  Attendance at both of these sessions is mandatory.  

Essay #2: Literary Analysis

4-5 pages, 12 pt type, double spaced

Choose Text: Start by deciding which text you’d like to write about. Your choices are: 

Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl”

Junot Diaz, “Fiesta, 1980”

Z.Z. Packer, “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere”

Tim O’Brien, “On the Rainy River”

Draft Due : In class on Wednesday, November 1st  (Bring 3 hard copies with you to class.)

Essay Due : Sunday, November 12th (by midnight).  Give your file the name “Your Name – Literary Analysis” and place it in the Google Docs folder you shared with me earlier this semester.

In a thoughtful, focused analytical essay exploring any one of these texts, respond to one of the following prompts:

1. In all four texts, we encounter characters who are struggling to figure out who they are, either in terms of what it means to be a man or woman or in some other sense.  Explore the relationship between gender and identity in your chosen text.

2. Use the title of your text as a lens through which to approach its main concerns.  What, in your view, is the central significance of the title?  How does it instruct us to read the story?

3. We come to understand ourselves better through our relationships with others.  Each of the texts you’ve read features important encounters between two people.  Choose one of these relationships and explore its significance. 

If none of these prompts speaks to you, you are welcome to formulate your own paper topic.  Please share it with me before beginning to work on the essay! 

These prompts are your starting points.  Once you have chosen a prompt and a text, find a way to articulate your topic in the form of a question. (It can be very simple, like “What does “Fiesta, 1980” have to say about masculinity?”)  Then think about the body of your paper as an attempt to answer the question you’ve posed.  Once you’ve written your draft and figured out what it is that you have to say in response to your question, you may find that it makes sense to go back and rewrite your introductory paragraph in a way that lets the reader know where the paper is headed and what your central claim is.

Successful papers will do the following:

• Use  the introduction to lay out the question you’re asking and provide a road map to the rest of the essay.
• Start each body paragraph with a topic sentence that expresses an idea about the text.
• Use direct quotation and paraphrase in order to illustrate your ideas.
• Refer to the text you’re writing about using the present tense.  (i.e. Dina meets regularly with Dr. Raeburn.)
• Have a main idea/central claim/thesis that is analytical , rather than descriptive .  One way to test whether your claim is analytical or not is to ask, “could a reasonable reader conceivably disagree with what I’m saying?”  You want the answer to be, “yes!”

NOTE:  These essays should be close readings, based solely on your own ideas about the text and the conversations we have had about them in class.  Please trust your own ideas and resist the temptation to consult any online resources for help with your essay.  This includes, but is not limited to, scholarly secondary sources, study-aid websites, online term paper sites, and artificial intelligence platforms like Chat-GPT.  Keep in mind that submitting work that contains any words or ideas that are not 100% your own without crediting them to their source is a violation of Baruch’s code of Academic Integrity and has serious consequences.

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Archived Academic Calendars

The academic calendars are subject to change. Please visit this page periodically for the most updated information.

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SPRING 2024 ACADEMIC CALENDAR

Spring 2024 academic calendar january 25 – may 22, 2024.

Updated 4.22.2024. This calendar is subject to change at any time by official action of the University.

SUMMER 2024 ACADEMIC CALENDAR

Updated 5.21.24. This calendar is subject to change at any time by official action of the University.

Regarding refunds for 4 week Session 1 and 8 week Session classes: Courses must be dropped by 11:59pm on June 2, 2024 in order to avoid any tuition liability charges (receive 100% refund of Tuition and Fees). Courses dropped after this deadline will incur a tuition liability charge of 50%-100% according to the drop date.

Regarding refunds for 4 week session 2 classes: Courses must be dropped by 11:59pm on July 7, 2024 in order to avoid any tuition liability charges (receive 100% refund of Tuition and Fees). Courses dropped after this deadline will incur a tuition liability charge of 50%-100% according to the drop date.

FALL 2024 ACADEMIC CALENDAR

Fall 2024 academic calendar august 28-december 21, 2024.

Revised 4/2/24. This calendar is subject to change at any time by official action of the University.

SPRING 2024 Final Exam Schedule

Following existing procedure, most final examinations will be given during regular class meeting times, in regularly assigned classrooms on:

Final Exams:

• Thursday, May 16: final exams for Tuesday/Thursday classes and all Thursday-only classes. 
• Friday, May 17 : final exams for all Friday-only classes. 
• Saturday, May 18 : final exams for all Saturday-only classes. 
• Sunday, May 19 : final exams for all Sunday-only classes. 
• Monday, May 20 : final exams for Monday/Wednesday classes and all Monday-only classes. 
• Tuesday, May 21 : final exams for Tuesday/Thursday classes and all Tuesday-only classes.
• Wednesday, May 22 : final exams for Monday/Wednesday classes and all Wednesday-only classes. 

Departmental Final Exams (exams which incorporate all sections of a class and/or which need longer than the regular class period to administer:

• Friday, May 17 : departmental final exams for BIO and CSC 126 (day sections only)
• Monday, May 20 : departmental final exams for CHM
• Tuesday, May 21: departmental final exams for MTH given during Club Hours only (2:30-4:25pm)

Please click here to see the department schedule:

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After Anti-Israel Speeches, a Law School Curtails Graduation Traditions

CUNY Law School is known for its diversity and activism, and lately for strongly worded pro-Palestinian commencement addresses. This year, the administration canceled its annual student speech.

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By Maia Coleman

For the past two years, commencement speakers at the City University of New York School of Law have made support for Palestinians and opposition to Israel a focus of their speeches.

The backlash was intense.

So this year, well before other campuses across the United States faced upheaval over pro-Palestinian student demonstrations, the CUNY law school administration took a new tack. In September, before the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the school announced that there would be no student speaker at all at this year’s commencement ceremony.

The choice is now drawing its own backlash and has brought more controversy to the event.

This spring, several students at the school sued university officials, saying that the school was suppressing speech and infringing on their First Amendment rights by not allowing a student-elected speaker to give an address. Two guests who had been scheduled to speak — Deborah N. Archer, a civil rights lawyer and president of the American Civil Liberties Union, and Muhammad U. Faridi, a litigator — recently withdrew from the event.

The ceremony will now have no outside speakers and no keynote address, the law school said.

The school also announced in April that it would host its May 23 ceremony off-campus, at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, in a departure from the ceremonies of the past two years, which have been held at CUNY facilities. The Apollo requires guests to have tickets and has a smaller capacity than the school’s previous venues, the law school said.

In an email to CUNY students announcing her decision to withdraw, Ms. Archer said she felt compelled to decline “under the circumstances.”

“I cannot, as a leader of the nation’s oldest guardian of free expression, participate in an event in which students believe that their voices are being excluded,” Ms. Archer wrote.

The fervor over CUNY’s graduation comes as many colleges have in recent weeks adjusted — or altogether canceled — their commencement ceremonies after weeks of student protests.

But the New York City public law school, which is the most diverse in the country and has a reputation for fostering lawyers who go on to work in the interest of the common good, has long been a hot spot for pro-Palestinian activism.

The lawsuit represents the culmination of a simmering conflict over politics related to Israel that has been building for almost two years.

The complaint , which was filed in Manhattan federal court at the end of last month, was brought by eight plaintiffs, all of whom are current law students or soon-to-be graduates of CUNY. It claims that the school engaged in viewpoint discrimination and retaliation when it decided to bar students from nominating a peer to speak at graduation and from recording or livestreaming the event, breaking with tradition.

These decisions were made in response to the commencement speeches of the two prior speakers and reflect a “repression of speech related to Palestine,” the complaint says.

“I think for these plaintiffs and their peers, to speak out about the injustices, the catastrophic state violence that Palestinians in Gaza are facing is critical,” said Golnaz Fakhimi, the legal director of Muslim Advocates, the main organization representing the students.

Each year, the graduating law students select a member of their class to give a speech, a custom since at least 2016, according to the lawsuit. In 2022, they selected a Palestinian student, who is not named in the lawsuit. Her speech included statements criticizing Israel and drew the ire of some public officials, who called it antisemitic. Around that time, one City Council member withdrew a small amount of funding to the law school over the faculty’s support for a boycott movement against Israel, the lawsuit notes.

Last spring, students chose Fatima Mousa Mohammed, a Yemeni immigrant and an activist devoted to the Palestinian cause, as their speaker. Ms. Mohammed’s speech, like the one before it, denounced “Israeli settler colonialism,” but it ignited a firestorm of criticism , making Ms. Mohammed the subject of months of international tabloid coverage.

Lawmakers criticized Ms. Mohammed’s positions, and at least one advocacy group called for Sudha Setty , the law school’s dean, to resign. A couple of weeks after the speech, Mayor Eric Adams, who had spoken at the graduation, condemned the speech’s “divisiveness.” Later, the CUNY chancellor and board of trustees disavowed the speech in a statement , calling it “hate speech.”

In September, Ms. Setty said that the 2024 graduation would not include a student speaker, according to notes taken by a student government representative who attended a faculty meeting. In April, students learned that the ceremony would not be livestreamed.

The school has held commencement ceremonies that did not include student-selected speakers in the past, the law school said.

In a statement, Ms. Setty said that the law school was “working hard” to hold a commencement that both honors its students’ achievements and “meets the needs of our entire community.”

“The public controversy surrounding graduations and the protests we are seeing across the country should not overshadow their amazing accomplishments — the world needs more lawyers who serve the public interest — and we are looking forward to giving them a joyful send-off,” the statement said.

The plaintiffs have said that the school made the changes to its usual commencement plan because of the content of the previous two speeches, and their claim of a First Amendment violation hinges on this point. But one legal expert said that such an argument was shaky and unlikely to succeed.

“I don’t think it’s a strong free speech claim, legally,” said Burt Neuborne, a professor of civil liberties and the founding legal director of the Brennan Center for Justice. “I think that students don’t have the right to choose their commencement speakers any more than they have the right to choose their teachers or other participants in the academic life.”

Since the fall, some law students have asked administrators to reconsider the removal of the speaking slot, including in public letters, but those attempts have been unsuccessful. The plaintiffs also say that the pro-Palestinian activism on campus in the months since Oct. 7 has caused administrators to dig in their heels further.

“I really think this lawsuit is an opportunity for CUNY to stand on the right side of history,” Nusayba Hammad, a third-year Palestinian American student at CUNY and one of the plaintiffs, said. “So far, they have just chosen the wrong side over and over again.”

Because of an editing error, an earlier photo published with this article showed students gathered near a building on the campus of City College in Manhattan, not the CUNY Law School in Queens.

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