Hunter College

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Hallmarks and Quirks

If we're talkin' sports, I'm pretty good across the board, but it's not like my students walk around with banners or paint on their cheeks chanting "HAWKS! HAWKS!" on game days.
In addition to my grit, I'm really brainy. I'm one of only nine colleges/universities in the country to offer an interdisciplinary program in quantitative biology. If you're into bio, chem, computer science, math, or stats, you can add a quantitative biology concentration to the major. This choice guarantees tons of opportunities to apply for scholarships, as well as a coveted a spot in those (rare) small classes.
My Silberman School of Social Work is the oldest and largest publicly sponsored graduate social work program in New York. Yep, publicly sponsored. That's real. Like I said before, we're about truth here. Our social work motto even says so: "Real People. Real Solutions."
The real apple of my big apple eye is my creative writing program. It's the most competitive program in New York City, distinguished primarily by my low cost, small class size, and incredibly dedicated, talented writers and professors.

Your yoga mat or a meditation cushion. Trust me. Learn to like them. You're gonna need it in this horn-honkin', crazy, fast-paced, workaholic, loveaholic, artsy, energy-bursting city of amazingness.
A job or a loan. I may not be so expensive, but living here is.
A spot on student RUSH or student discount mailing lists: New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, a dozen Broadway theaters, sports arenas, museums, hair salons, delis, and fancy restaurants all offer discounts. People around here like students. They don't want you to skip dinner for a week in order to see a show.
A monthly unlimited metro card. You really never know how many times you'll need to hop on the subway per day, and the unlimited pass, while it seems expensive, saves you the stress of thinking about it. Ultimately, it saves you money, too. Just don't lose it. Get a zip pocket or something.
An inflatable mattress. Friends will call you asking to visit. People that say they're your friends (but who you can't remember to save your life) will call asking to visit. It's New York City. If you can clear a spot on your floor for a special person or two now and then, you'll be a celebrity.

I'm the biggest college in the CUNY system. Chances are, someone you know in New York went to me.
I consistently top lists of "Best Value" colleges. You shouldn't have to break the bank to get a degree.
I created the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities, responsible for coming up with ideas that allow cities to help restore the environment rather than killing it. There was a talk there recently about turning old subway trains into artificial coral reefs.

I'm all over the city. In fact, the only consistent thing is that I'll probably be taking a cab at least some of the way home. That or the 6-train.

Phoenix Park Sports Bar and Restaurant. As one of the only bars that serves food (if you dig tater tots, nachos, and wings) near Hunter, it's a great place to grab a drink after class or curb that moment of starvation after an epic study sesh.
Joe Coffee on Lexington. Not a Starbucks fan? No diggity. Joe Coffee is an NYC/Philly-based coffee shop with plenty of fair trade and organic coffee options. Oh, and the best chocolate donut in the universe…and the best glazed donut…and the best peanut butter cookie.
Neil's Coffee Shop. Not a coffee shop so much as a classic diner. Middle-of-the-road prices, killer pancakes, BLTs, and real live booths a la When Harry Met Sally or Diner. They also have a discount for Hunter students, so don't forget that stunningly handsome ID of yours.
On campus, the library and cafeteria see a lot of action. Eating, sleeping, studying, and gossiping—I mean, "intellectually conversing"—are top priority around here.
The square of benches surrounding the subway entrance is a prime spot for people-watching.
If you want a breath of fresh air, try my open rooftop on the eighth floor, complete with chairs, tables, little trees, and a stellar view of Manhattan.

You know Eleanor Roosevelt? Yeah, I do mean one of the most influential first ladies in history. Well, she dedicated the former home she shared with president Franklin Delano Roosevelt to me in 1943. I reopened it in 2010 as the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute.
Even though my alumni crowd is known for a lot of creative, artistic types, I'm the only college in the country whose alumni includes two female Nobel Laureates in medicine. Girl power is right.
I'm affiliated with my very own high school. These little city ducklings attend their own campus of gritty beauty a little higher up on the east side, at 71 East 94th Street. As you can probably guess, a high school that's run by a college churns out some of the best and brightest students around—so bright, sometimes, that the Ivies snap them up before I can get to them. Rude.

Grace Paley, poet and famous political activist
Bobby Darin, the "if I were a carpenter, and you were a lady" Bobby Darin
Ellen Barkin, actress
Sonia Sanchez, famous poet
Florence Howe, founder of women's studies at CUNY
Donna Shalala, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services under Bill Clinton

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