Strong College Applications: Guiding Students through the Process
CUNY APPLICATION COMPANION
The City University of New York (CUNY) is the nation's leading urban public university. Serving 540,000
students at 24 institutions in New York City, the University includes 11 senior colleges, 7 community
colleges, the William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, the Graduate School and University Center,
the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the CUNY School of Law, the CUNY School of Professional
Studies, and the CUNY School of Public Health.
For questions/help contact:
CUNY Office of Admissions Services (OAS): 1-800-CUNY-YES
Counselors can call OAS Staff or the counselor helpline at 212-290-5607
General Application Notes:
A few general reminders:
 The CUNY Application is online ONLY at www.cuny.edu. Students should create a log-in for the
CUNY Portal.
 Students can save and return to application before submitting. If student needs to make
changes after submitting online, must call OAS.
 Application cost is $65 for first year students; $70 for transfer students.
Regular Application Timeline
 Application filing dates:
o Fall deadline—February 1
o Spring deadline—September 15
o The more competitive the program or college, the earlier a student should apply.
 Honors College deadlines: Regular Admission—December 1. Macaulay Honors no longer offers
an early decision option.
 LaGuardia and Kingsborough Community Colleges have a late start cycle for spring semesters—
they start in March rather than January.
 Processing time: Depends on time of year. It generally takes 8-12 weeks to get admissions
decisions.
 Decision notifications: Students will receive letters from each college about acceptance or
rejection.
 Students applying late in season, i.e. just before semester is starting, will probably do best to
apply directly at one college for speedier process.
Submitting Test Scores:
 Students applying to four-year programs must submit SAT or ACT scores.
 Applications including four-year programs that are not followed by a score report will be held.
Special Program Applications:
 Sophie Davis Biomedical Education, Brooklyn College Articulated Medical Program, and
Macaulay Honors College programs have additional or separate application steps. Extra steps
include essays and letters of recommendation. See CUNY website for instructions.
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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students through the Process
Undocumented students can
check the box labeled “I do not
have a Social Security Number.”
If a student has a SSN, they
should enter it. Doing so will
help connect the parts of their
application.
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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students through the Process
CUNY distributes a limited number of fee waivers to high schools. Fee waiver requests for students
not in high school can be made to the community liaison at CUNY OAS.
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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students through the Process
Students must indicate how
long they’ve been at their
current address, NYC, and
NYS. They should make
their best estimate.
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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students through the Process
 If you cannot find a school name
using the search function, try
entering only part of the name.
 CUNY uses the OSIS number to
automatically access NYC DOE
student transcripts.



Non-DOE high school students and graduates should request that a transcript be sent to UAPC.
GED recipients can send a copy of their diploma.
Students educated abroad may need to send word for word translations of their transcript.
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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students through the Process
College Choices:
 Students can apply to up to 6 schools for $65.
 It is important to list the colleges in order of preferences, as some schools use placement as a
deciding factor.
 Check the footnote section for instructions on required supplements.
TRAINER TIP
The order in which colleges are listed is especially important for transfer students. Transfer students can only
choose 4 schools and will only hear back from the first school on their list which has admitted them. They
will not hear back from all schools on their list.
The order in which Macaulay Honors College is listed is important for all students, not just transfers.
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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students through the Process
 Students who are interested
in applying to SEEK or CD
must indicate interest on the
application and complete all
pre-screening questions.
 CD programs are generally
under enrolled, so it’s worth
applying if student is
financially eligible.
 A student must be in CD if
he/she hopes to later
transfer to SEEK or EOP.
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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students through the Process
These questions are
optional and not
used for admissions
purposes.
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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students through the Process
These questions are
optional and not
used for admissions
purposes.
Students must list
all secondary
schools attended.
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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students through the Process
©2015 Options Institute – For information on reproducing these materials, contact optionsinstitute@goddard.org