The sophomore class split into three groups to visit low-tuition CUNY colleges this spring. Each group was assigned one of the following colleges:

• Bronx Community College (BCC), a two-year college
• Brooklyn College, known for a wide range of majors
• John Jay College of Criminal Justice, focused on criminal justice and public service, a four-year college located in Manhattan

“These colleges are apart of a program called CUNY Explorers and I chose them because they have tours that are specific to young high schoolers,” says Aye Bah, the college counselor. She also says that the meaning of the trip is for the tenth graders to learn more about colleges and to see what CUNY has to offer.

John Jay College tuition is one of the affordable colleges and universities in New York. It has two buildings and a patio  where students can chill and hangout with their friends. The college has a library and has regular hours, but they add extra hours during exam week. Various clubs include Journalism and LGBTQ+. Majors include criminal justice, criminology, computer science and economics.

Zury Orellana, a sophomore who visited John Jay College, says “I didn’t really like the trip because I thought we were going to see the dorms and the college was very small.” She says the trip connects to her future because it gives her more options of what colleges to apply to and it gives her a vision of her future.

One thing that she learned is that college is going to be very expensive. “I would probably apply to the college because they have good tuition and they have a lot of benefits for my career,” said Zury.

Ariana Gonzalez, a sophomore who went to John Jay College, says “I was expecting the college to be like a lower- funded college and not a college that’s hard to get into.” On the website the college acceptance rate for the college is 57 percent and the tuition is $7,470. She says that it’ll be one of her options because she wants to become a criminal defense lawyer.

“I learned a lot of money opportunities to pay for my tuition like getting a job at the college,” she said.

Reina Cortes Ramos, a sophomore who went to Bronx Community College (BCC), says she didn’t like the college because it had more programs than expected and the campus was bigger than she thought it would’ve been. She says “It showed me many colleges I’d want to apply to later on and pursue my career in nursing.”