Baruch College students forgo the “real college experience” to graduate with minimal to no debt from a school that is well-regarded among New York businesses.
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The overall education at Baruch is indeed geared towards getting a job, and the school's name rings bells at all major businesses throughout NYC, and probably beyond,” says a freshman. Located in a central part of Manhattan, the college doesn’t have a campus or dorms, and students commute from around the five boroughs every day, accounting for the lacking sense of community that undergrads complain about. “
Baruch Campus is too small. It's nice and beautiful but too small. It feels more like work than school,” says a junior. About two-thirds of Baruch students major in a business-related concentration and often intern or work part-time while getting their degrees. Everyone is required to take two years of core classes before declaring their major. The courses tend to be on the larger side in business departments, but students often get one-on-one attention in smaller liberal arts classes. While Baruch has been voted “most diverse” in the nation and is only 30% Caucasian, different groups tend to stick together.
Students are definitely competitive at Baruch – from snagging a coveted internship (all students are required to complete an internship class before graduation), to staking out an empty computer station in the constantly crowded lab, to getting a spot in a class with a favorite professor. While the college maintains high standards when it comes to admitting students, it’s getting more crowded every year, which makes it difficult to register for necessary classes and graduate in four years. Therefore, the school is even crowded during summer and winter intercessions. Once students declare their major, class sizes decrease dramatically.“
In your freshman year, you will experience some classes in a 300 or 500 seat classroom since these classes are common for all incoming students regardless of your intended major. As you move up the academic ladder and by your senior year many classes are about 25-30 students each,”says a business major. Professors at Baruch often teach at Columbia and NYU, and for the most part make the liberal arts curriculum worth the students' while. It’s not uncommon for graduate students to teach small class sections. Evening classes are popular because a lot of students come straight from work. “
People at Baruch tend to be very driven because everyone here is here to earn their degree. Even in the prerequisite classes, the students tend to excel and participate,” says a freshman. Baruch has excellent academic and job preparation resources, with a comprehensive tutoring center, weekly workshops in the library and the renowned STARR Career Development Center, although the latter tends to cater more to business students. “
One experience I will always remember in Baruch are their networking luncheons, and the internship program offers provided by different companies,” says an accounting major.
Students agree that Baruch feels more like a job because there are no dorms or places to hang out on campus, so it’s difficult to make new friends outside of class. “
The Baruch campus itself is a little boring and dry and everyone is pretty isolated,” says a sophomore. Students tend to get to know each other through study groups, but once the semester is over it’s not common to hang out outside of school. “
I think a lot of people who have known each other since high school or from freshmen year at Baruch stay in their circle of friends and as people become sophomores, juniors, and seniors they do not care to meet new people at Baruch especially since Baruch is a commuter school,” says a sophomore. Economic and racial diversity are prevalent, but groups tend to self-segregate when hanging out between classes. To foster a community feeling, Baruch has introduced Learning Communities for first semester freshmen, where they are assigned a peer mentor and plan events and activities together. When it comes to dress, most students follow the latest trends, but aren’t obsessed with name brands. “
There are also those who work at firms and companies already so its not unusual that 40% of the people that walk around are sporting business suits and work wear. There are the occasional sweats but this is not a residential college and people tend to care a lot about how they look,” says a business major.
The cliché “college is what you make it” definitely applies here. Baruch has dozens of student clubs and organizations and is surrounded by a city where no one could ever get bored. Students who are involved in these activities maintain that Baruch doesn’t have to feel like a dry commuter school. There are weekly theater productions in Baruch’s impressive auditorium, and clubs and Greek organizations are always recruiting new members. “
The most important events at Baruch are the fashion shows, Cultural Shows, and the annual Relay for Life (cancer society) event,”says a member of the student government. Student-run organizations often host mini-parties on campus and fraternities and sororities are always promoting events during the two club hours every Thursday afternoon when no classes are held. The prevalent opinion is that
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The campus is virtually nonexistent and always overcrowded” so students often venture to nearby Madison Square Park for lunch or hit one of the many nearby bars after class.
