My love/hate relationship with the CUNY BA program

The CUNY BA  program based at The CUNY Graduate Center in Midtown Manhattan is a interdisciplinary program opened to all students who have at least a 2.8 GPA and 12 credits and have an idea for a area of concentration to create their own major.

When I came across the CUNY BA program in my upper sophomore semester, I knew this program would provide me the freedom, flexibility and authority to decide what courses will become part of my major. The Thomas Hunter Honors program which is only opened to Juniors that have a 3.5 and higher, and only allows a student to create a interdisciplinary major at Hunter was not inclusive of students like me, and I wasn’t going to wait till my Junior year and apply to a competitive program to be able to take full advantage of my education in college. Which is why I was ecstatic to learn about the CUNY BA program. The process of applying was surprisingly very simple, and once admitted into the program, each student is provided with a personal advisor to help you with finding courses, internships, scholarships and other opportunities and help that you need with creating your own major. The benefit of having a personal advisor at the CUNY BA program compared to using one at the Fishman Center at Hunter is that the advisors at Fishman are technically “not allowed to tell you what courses to take” they can only advise you. When I first started at Hunter, and had no idea what courses to take, and what courses would I like that I would succeed in, I went to the Fishman Center, and usually I would get an answer that I could figure out on my own.

In my first year and a half at Hunter I was mainly taking care of my core requirement courses so I can then focus just on my major, while at the same time taking electives. I really had a pull for the Media studies and the Women and Gender studies program, in which I thought of double majoring in. I had decided to title my major “Media and Communication Arts” which provides me a introduction walk through journalism, advertising, documentary making, media literacy, film analysis and related subjects. In the program, you don’t need to worry about finding a name for their Area of Concentration because you can change the name multiple times and will also receive support from a team of staff at the CUNY BA office.

But there are rough parts to the program. Outside of a personal advisor at the CUNY BA office, every student part of the program needs to find a faculty advisor that will guide the student from the start of the program to the end. It can be hard to find a professor that is usually available to mentor a CUNY BA student and whose work is in line with my major. You need to decide with your faculty advisor 24-36 credits worth of coursework, internships, independent study and projects to fill up your area of concentration. The annoying part is one has to list the AOC upon admitted, but one can change the AOC as you go a long.

Since in the program you have limited room for courses you can take, as much as it is a perk for CUNY BA students to get around pre-reqs one has to go to the department of the school you want to take an upper level course and get permission to take the course before epermitting. One has to apply a few months in advance before the following semester, to then wait for approval both by the CUNY BA office and both the host and home school of your choice. Once you are approved, you need to be lucky if you find a class time that works into your schedule. As someone who isn’t a big fan of Hunter College, I would constantly look for ways to epermit, but I eventually end up staying at Hunter. I would reccomend to make an excel sheet to list the courses you want to take. The way I went about choosing courses is I would print out a list of courses part of a department I am interested in, I would then circle the courses that are in line with my major, I would make an appointment usually with the chair of the department and have them further advise me on the courses I am interested in taking, once I feel confident in the courses I have finally came across I would then enroll in them. As much as the process was tiresome and could be way more easier if I followed a standard major, I still did it because I enjoyed the freedom that came with making my own major, not so much the price that came with it.

Every CUNY BA student has to have a home college where they will be taking most of their classes. As much as I consider myself a Hunter student and have taken most of my courses at Hunter, the administration does not consider me at times as a student of theirs. Because of this I had been denied to apply to the McNair’s program, Jennette K. Watson fellowship and similar programs. Luckily CUNY BA students have access to private scholarships that provide small and large grants to study abroad, and pay for their tuition.

But I love how I’m able to incorporate internships, independent study, and projects into my major. So far in my major, I have been able to receive credit for a Journalism fellowship and internship at a LGBTQ Media literacy organization. I am currently enrolled in a emerging documentary program and a radio LGBTQ station as part of after school programs where I am receiving credit. I am working with the former head of the Middle Eastern Studies program at The CUNY Graduate Center to conduct research on how middle eastern Jews are stereotyped and underrepresented in Israeli cinema, and am also working on applying for prestigious fellowships like The Point Foundation, CUNY Pipeline program, Knight J Fellowship at CUNY Journalism school.

For a while and still at times I had feared how will my major translate to a career. I know the brilliancy behind the major I crafted and that I will be able to enter the media industry with a well rounded education that the average media studies major does not have. But in a world and a society that expects you to fit into one box, by choosing one major that will lead to one career track, I worried that my employer during an interview will not understand the hard work, and the intelligence that I have acquired through crafting my own major. But so many graduates don’t end up always entering a career that is in line with their major, and during our lifetime most people will switch over fields a few times, at least I’m having fun with my education. Whatever I do in the future, I have the leg up to have a well rounded education that will open many doors for me, I thank the CUNY BA program for providing me an education I am happy with.