The City University of New York Borough of Manhattan Community College
StudentsReview ::
The City University of New York Borough of Manhattan Community College - Comments and Student Experiences | |||||||||||||||||||
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1) No college will magically make you love it or learning.
You'll find the faculty here to be great as well as the students, decor, location, and student resources but none of that matters if you come into BMCC thinking it will be an easy ride or that you won't have to care. Expect to care and have the right habits to pass your classes. (If you don't have them, get them. The school has programs to advise you and help you get into swing of college.)
2) You'll understand people who understand you.
Most of the faculty here works in the real world and aren't going to be teaching you from a textbook or behind a wall of notes. Always be up front with your professor and you'll get an education you can relate as well as a mutual understanding that you can build on.
3) The median student age is 24.
Not only does the faculty work but so do many of the students. Don't expect this to be a lazy commuter school or a college pretending to be a stuffy frat house. You'll meet other students who have life experience and the maturity to help you out. If you want to make friends, you'll soon notice that a little bit of maturity and an ambition to make something of yourself go a long way.
4) You're going to a small town.
There are 6 locations for BMCC across Manhattan with a big library, huge cafeteria, pool, gym, basketball court, not to mention the many new computer labs. You'll forget that you're in a commuter 2-year college sometimes.
The main campus is two buildings so remember that room numbers can sometimes have a north and south version. The other large campus you have to worry about is the one at Murray Street which is several floors and new with dozens of computers.
5) Always stay on top of the paperwork.When you've got over 19,000 students and another 10,000 in distance learning, lines will be long no matter what. Take care of your Financial Aid, testing requirements, and registration as early as you can. Once you've been registered for the first time, you can register for your class in any semester after that using Panther, the online registration tool.
The school has computers everywhere, free for students to use anytime, and several computer labs where students can insert their disks or zip drives and print documents - up to 8 pages allowed per day. The cafeteria and library have great views of the Hudson River, and the main campus is situated next to a lovely community park and in a vibrant, thriving neighborhood. BMCC also has a beautiful pool and gym facilities that anyone can use. There are numerous clubs and workshops for almost any interest.
Many of the students I've met are enrolled in the Nursing, Human Services, and Accounting programs, but it seems that the majority are enrolled as Liberal Arts students. The school also has an excellent Writing & Literature program, and a wonderful Theater/Drama department (with three theaters, BMCC is also host to the Tribeca Performing Arts Center and plays a large role in Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Film Festival). Unfortunately, they no longer have a dance program. The Video Arts & Technology program is BMCC's best kept secret.
The VAT program received huge grants that enabled the department to acquire the best, state-of-the-art high definition digital equipment. Yes, the production studio has THREE high-def cameras, and high-def switchers and monitors, etc. The edit lab has all the top-notch, cutting-edge equipment and software as well (both Macs and PCs). It is common knowledge among working editors in the city that BMCC has the best-equipped college production studios on the East Coast - YES, BETTER THAN NYU & COLUMBIA! Hunter doesn't even have
high-def equipment yet. It is not just about filmmaking, but also broadcasting and corporate communications. BMCC has also participated in NPR’s Radio Bootcamp.
Of course, in any school, there are some teachers who are better than others, but most of the professors at BMCC are dedicated professional or scholars with Masters and Doctorate degrees who really want their students to succeed. The students that complain about their teachers, and how hard the classes are, are probably are "allergic to work." I mean, this is community college, not the Ivy League – for the most part, the courses are incredibly easy. I know that many students who need Science pre-reqs, to transfer into other schools for medical programs, take their Science courses at BMCC because they’re so easy.
That being said, however, BMCC also has a wealth of opportunities for students who need tutoring and/or remedial work in almost any subject. Both the Math and English labs are open late, and any one can walk in and get face-to-face help or watch an instructional video. There are study groups in the Library, too. I intend to tutor next semester (tutors must have at least 24 credits and high grade point average).
Now to the negatives... unfortunately, the worst aspect of going to this community college is the student population! It is the largest collection I have ever seen of lazy, whining slackers who expect to have good grades just handed to them after never coming to class or just doing the bare minimum of work. Most students are inner-city financial aid recipients and products of the lousy NYC school system. They have been passed and promoted in high school out of mercy–and they just don't have any discipline or the least understanding of how to cope with schoolwork or behave appropriately in a classroom. Cell phones ringing, people constantly talking during class (when they do show up), using profanity and poor English in the classroom, shouting out questions without raising their hands, copping a nasty attitude when they get bad grades, etc. Seriously, sometimes I see people come in to take a test that I don't recognize at all because they've attended class so few times–how do they expect to pass the test? One such young woman cursed the teacher out loud in the classroom when she saw her grade!.
These kids really ruin it for the serious student who cares and puts effort into getting an education. I have observed that the serious students who actually SHOW UP & DO THE WORK are mostly older or foreign-born. This is probably due to having a better appreciation of how the world works and the importance of getting an education. I don't know how some of the people I've met at BMCC ever graduated high school or got their GED. For those of you who care about statistics, BMCC is currently about 70% Black and Hispanic, and 30% Asian and White.
I've had conversations with other serious students like myself who are paying for their own education, and it is extremely frustrating for us to have to be in a classroom with the financial aid kids who don't give a crap–and why must teachers continue to give group assignments in such situations?!! These slackers usually drop out half-way through the semester, when they realize they actually have to show up, listen to the teacher, read, and study in order to pass. In every class I've attended, about half the students are gone by the end of the semester.However, I do see that BMCC has a great deal of great programs, opportunities, and resources to offer. The library is excellent and wa-a-ay underutilized. There are numerous courses available to take online as well as in the classroom, and a huge amount of clubs and student activities. BMCC is in a great neighborhood, and very accessible to most subways. I encourage the serious student to attend (the more of us there are, the better it will be!). Plus, BMCC has articulation agreements with NYU, Pace, Vassar - and if you earn an Associates here and transfer to a senior college within the CUNY system, your AA or AAS fulfills all the CUNY General Education Requirements. Best of all, BMCC is only $120/credit. So, ignore the slackers and go!
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