College Profiles - Brooklyn College

Overview
Founded in 1930, Brooklyn College is an innovative, four-year liberal arts college where students are given the knowledge, awareness, and experience to succeed. The College is situated on a 26-acre campus in the most dynamic New York City borough.

Brooklyn College enrolls 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students, offering 125 programs in the humanities, education, the arts, business, sciences, and social sciences leading to bachelor’s and master’s degrees and advanced certificates. As one of the eleven senior colleges of the City University of New York, it shares the mission of the University, whose primary goals are access and excellence. Emblematic of the College’s student success is 2006 Truman Scholarship winner Ryan Merola, one of only 2 students in New York State to win the award.

The tradition of academics is reflected in the accomplishments of the College’s graduates and faculty members. Brooklyn College ranks nineteenth nationally in the number of undergraduates who have gone on to receive Ph.D. degrees, and it has a faculty distinguished by master teaching and scholarly achievement. Ninety percent of the faculty members hold the highest degree in their fields. Among them are Fulbright and Guggenheim fellows, an Obie Award—winning playwright, 3 Pulitzer Prize—winning authors, and award-winning scientists and musicians.

The College has an ambitious program of expansion and renewal. The dazzling library is the most technologically advanced facility in the CUNY system. The College’s West Quad Building, currently under construction, is scheduled to open its doors to students in 2008. The building is designed to consolidate under one roof all student services—admissions, financial aid, scholarships, registration, and the bursar. Its plans also include state-of-the-art physical education and athletic facilities, including a swimming pool, competition and practice gymnasiums, racquetball courts, a fitness center, and teaching and research labs.

The Morton and Angela Topfer Library Café is the only CUNY facility that is available to assist students with their academic needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Equipped with computers, laptops with Internet access, and data management programs, the Library Café provides a tranquil atmosphere in which students can enjoy a coffee break while attending to their studies.

The newly redesigned Office of Services for Students with Disabilities provides counseling and other assistance to students with disabilities to ensure that they have complete access to College programs and facilities. College and departmental counseling programs provide students with academic and personal counseling. Career, preprofessional, veterans’, and psychological counseling services are also available. Other services include child care for students and a health clinic.

Location and Community
Brooklyn College is located in the residential Midwood section of Brooklyn. The campus is near the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and Prospect Park. Within a short distance are all the cultural, recreational, and entertainment facilities of New York City. All major IND and IRT trains are easily accessible from the College.

Academic Life
The liberal arts education at Brooklyn College consists of three kinds of study: the College-wide core curriculum, which provides a diverse educational experience in the liberal arts for all students; major studies, which comprise specialized, intensive study in one discipline or an interdisciplinary program; and elective courses, selected from more than seventy-five areas of study. The undergraduate curriculum aims to prepare students to make rational career and personal choices by developing their intellect in critical and independent thinking, their ability to acquire and organize large amounts of knowledge, and their ability to communicate in writing and speech with precision and force. Students pursuing a bachelor’s degree must successfully complete a minimum of 120 credits.

The Scholars Program offers students who combine academic excellence with initiative and inquisitiveness the opportunity to take classes and special courses that are open only to members of the program.

The Honors Academy comprises eight units: the Scholars Program; the B.A./M.D. Program; the CUNY Honors College Program, which consists of a challenging honors curriculum and cultural experiences as well as a full-tuition scholarship, internship opportunities, and an academic expense account; the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, a two-year program for members of minority groups who are considering scholarly study in the humanities; the Honors Academy Research Colloquium; the Dean’s List Honors Research Program; the Engineering Honors Program; and the Special Baccalaureate Degree Program. Applications for all eight programs may be obtained in the Office of Admissions.

Students who have completed college-level courses in high school may be considered for exemption, with or without credit, from equivalent college courses on the basis of Advanced Placement tests given by the College Board. Brooklyn College gives exemption examinations in subjects not offered by the College Board. Students completing 3 years of foreign language in high school are exempt from the College’s language requirement.

TOCA (The On Course Advantage) offers eligible second-semester freshmen the opportunity to graduate in four years with priority registration and guaranteed availability of required courses.

The academic calendar consists of a fall and a spring semester. Two summer sessions are available. Classes are offered in day, evening, and weekend sessions.

The College has an outstanding faculty (483 full-time and 631 part-time) whose members have demonstrated excellence in teaching and scholarly research. More than 90 percent of full-time faculty members hold a doctoral degree or the equivalent in their field of study. Faculty members assist in the academic advisement of entering students and provide counseling to students majoring in their department. They also hold regular office hours and are generally available to support undergraduate as well as graduate student activities.

Majors Offered:
Brooklyn College awards the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Bachelor of Music (B.M.), Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), and Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) degrees.

Majors are available in the following areas: accounting; Africana studies; American studies; anthropology; art; art history; art studio; biology; broadcast journalism; business administration; business, finance, and management; Caribbean studies; chemistry; classics; comparative literature; computer and information science; creative writing; economics; education (childhood education, early childhood education, secondary education with certification in twelve subject areas); English; environmental studies; film; French; geology; health and nutrition sciences; Italian; journalism; Judaic studies; linguistics; mathematics; mathematics-computational; music; music composition; music performance; philosophy; physical education; physics; political science; psychology; Puerto Rican and Latino studies; religion studies; Russian; sociology; Spanish; speech; speech and language disabilities; speech-language pathology, audiology, speech and hearing science; television and radio; theater; and women’s studies.

Certificate programs are offered in accounting, computers and programming, and film; credits earned in these programs are also applicable toward a baccalaureate degree.

Students interested in economics and computer applications may apply to enter a 4½-year program that leads to both the Bachelor of Science and the Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.) degrees.

Brooklyn College and the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn offer a coordinated eight-year honors program that leads to B.A. and M.D. degrees. The program is limited each year to 15 qualified students who are admitted only in the fall term following their graduation from high school.

Professional options include the opportunity for qualified students to earn a B.A. or B.S. degree from Brooklyn College by satisfactorily completing all requirements for graduation (except 30 elective credits) and by also satisfactorily completing at least one year’s work in an accredited dental, engineering, law, medical, optometry, podiatry, or veterinary school. Students interested in pursuing an engineering degree may participate in Brooklyn College’s approved two-year coordinated engineering program. Students attend Brooklyn College for two years of pre-engineering studies and then transfer to Polytechnic University, City College, or the College of Staten Island for an additional two years of study to fulfill the Bachelor of Science degree requirements in a specific engineering field.

Facilities and Resources
The newly expanded and renovated Brooklyn College Library serves as the crossroads of the campus. Much more than a traditional academic library, it is a comprehensive and complex information center that includes substantial physical and digital collections, the College archives, a new media center, and both academic and administrative computing, all brought together in a single state-of-the-art building that doubles as the College’s information hub. The library’s physical collections total more than 1.3 million volumes and around 25,000 audiovisual units (sound recordings, videotapes, and DVDs). The library’s digital collections include 25,000 electronic subscriptions and works of reference, as well as several thousand electronic books. The new library comprises 277,650 square feet (6.5 acres), 2,317 student seats, 21.5 miles of shelving, twenty-two group-study rooms, five computer classrooms, and more than 600 computers for student and faculty access. Four of every ten seats include either a fixed computer or a net tap to which readers may attach their own laptops.

The Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College, which presents music, dance, and theater productions, contains a 2,500-seat auditorium, a theater, a recital hall, and a workshop theater. The Public Computing Lab is a state-of-the-art facility that supports student course requirements as well as research. Other special facilities include microcomputer learning centers, a language laboratory, art studios, an advanced color-television studio, an early childhood education center, a speech and hearing center, psychology laboratories, laser laboratories, an astronomical observatory, an optical mineralogy laboratory, a greenhouse, an aquatic research center, and a nuclear physics laboratory.

Campus Life
Brooklyn College’s students participate in more than 140 chartered campus groups, including academic clubs, service and honor societies, athletics groups, special interest groups, and performing arts organizations. Special lectures, concerts, and events are scheduled throughout the year. On the campus quad and in the Student Center, fraternities and sororities provide social and community service activities. The Hillel Foundation, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, and Newman Center are among the many special interest clubs on campus. Student publications include newspapers, magazines, and journals. Students also operate WBCR, the Brooklyn College radio station.

Sports / Varsity Athletics
Brooklyn College competes in Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The college fields ten teams - five each for women and for men. All students, whatever their level of athletic experience, have the opportunity to be part of a team.

To compete on a team, students must be in good academic standing. Brooklyn College’s student athletes are motivated to do well in their studies and to achieve their educational goals.

In addition, team interaction among students of diverse backgrounds fosters understanding of both cultural differences and commonalities, leading to personal growth.

Expenses
New York State residents paid tuition of $2500 per semester for full-time attendance (12 to 18 credits or the equivalent) or $190 per credit for part-time programs. Non—New York residents and international students paid tuition of $390 per credit without a limit. Tuition for the summer session was $190 per credit for New York State residents and $360 per credit for out-of-state and international students. The College is a commuter institution and does not have on-campus housing.

Financial Aid / Scholarships
Admission decisions and financial aid and scholarship decisions are made independently of each other, and an application for aid does not hinder a student’s opportunity for admission. Financial assistance is available for eligible students through state and federal grant, loan, and work-study programs.

New students are encouraged to apply for annual scholarships, especially those with strong high school or college academic records and SAT scores. Continuing students may qualify for one of the more than 400 scholarships, prizes, and awards that are given each year to Brooklyn College students. The requirements vary for each award, but recipients are chosen based on academic performance, financial need, and various other criteria that may be stipulated by the donors. Scholarships range from $100 to $4000 per year.

For more information, students should contact the Office of Financial Aid at 718-951-5051 and the Office of Scholarships at 718-951-4796. Both offices have Web pages that are accessible online at http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Admission Requirements / Application
High school students, students who want to transfer from other institutions, and adults returning to school are encouraged to apply. Freshman admission criteria involve a combination of a student’s GPA, academic units, and SAT/ACT scores. Senior high school students applying as freshman applicants scoring 1100 or better on the SAT (composite math and verbal scores) are automatically admitted. Freshman students should demonstrate successful completion of at least 12 or more high school academic units (of which at least 5 units must include 2 or more years of English and 2 or more years of math). The recommended high school preparation for the College’s curriculum is 4 years of English, 4 years of social studies, 3 years of mathematics, 3 years of science, and 3 years of a foreign language. Students seeking admission to the Scholars Program, CUNY Honors College Program, or the B.A./M.D. Program must present a high school average of 90 or better, exceptional SAT or ACT scores, letters of recommendation, and an autobiographical essay and have a personal interview. Qualified high school juniors may apply for early admission. Students with special educational needs may qualify for admission into the Search for Education, Elevation, Knowledge (SEEK) program.

Application for admission to the undergraduate program for the fall or spring semester should be made on a standard CUNY application form, available from the Office of Admissions at any CUNY college or at http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu. Application forms for the Honors Academy, including the Scholars, CUNY Honors College, B.A./M.D., and coordinated engineering programs; the Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship; and the summer session are available only through Brooklyn College. Although applications for admission are processed by the City University on a rolling basis, applicants who apply before January 15 for fall admission and before October 15 for spring admission receive prompt notification of their admission status and have the best opportunity for comprehensive advisement and course registration. The CUNY Honors College Program applicants are required to apply by November 1 (early decision) and December 15 (regular decision) for fall admission.

For an application form, additional financial aid information, scholarship information, and brochures, students should contact:

Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Office of Admissions
1103 James Hall
2900 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11210

718-951-5001

E-mail: adminqry@brooklyn.cuny.edu

http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu