SEEK for Counselors

Dear Guidance Counselor,

This section of the SEEK website is intended to provide you with accurate and up-to-date information regarding the SEEK Program at Baruch College. 

It was prepared by the counselors in the SEEK Program at Baruch College who want to dispel several misconceptions about SEEK.  Every year we meet students who could have benefited from being a part of SEEK but did not apply due to misinformation.  We feel that our SEEK Program has a lot to offer and has remained a well kept secret for too long.  Many students could have received great benefits from the Program did not even get the opportunity to be considered as candidates. 

We trust the particulars provided here will help you advise your students.

Please feel free to call us if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Angela Anselmo, Ph.D.
SEEK Director

Admissions Requirements

There are two major requirements to be accepted into SEEK. Students must be educationally and financially disadvantaged. The financial requirements are straightforward and listed are below. The academic requirements need further explanation.

Myth: SEEK Admits Only Students With Low Averages.

Each CUNY college differs with regard to its admissions standards, as do the various SEEK Programs.  As Baruch has raised its admissions standards, so has Baruch’s SEEK Program.  It is more difficult to be accepted as a SEEK student at Baruch than it is to be accepted as a non-SEEK student at some of the other senior colleges in CUNY.

According to the New York State Guidelines for Special Programs, the admissions standards for SEEK students must be lower than for regularly admitted students.  The difference, however, is not be substantial.  Thus, in 1997 the college admission average of a SEEK student was 79.0 as compared to the regularly admitted student’s average of 82.3.

It does not makes sense for the SEEK Program to abide by admissions requirements that are radically less competitive than Baruch’s-- because the standards keep increasing and a policy of no remediation has been instituted, it would be pedagogically unsound to accept students who would be unable to compete with their classmates.  SEEK would end up as a revolving door.

There are many bright students who did not live up to their academic potential in high school for a variety of reasons.  Many SEEK students, for example, had to work while going to school, others had different obstacles in their way.  They want to get their degree at Baruch but fall short of the requirements. If they have the economic eligibility that SEEK requires, they are excellent candidates for the SEEK Program. 

The following criteria can be used as a guideline when working with your students.  It represents Baruch’s admissions standards for SEEK and non-SEEK student.

top

Minimum Academic Requirements

top

Financial Requirements for SEEK Eligibility

A student is economically eligible if he or she meets the following criteria:

*Plus $4,350 for each family member in excess of 7.

**A student whose parent received public assistance benefits in the base year is automatically eligible for the program.

top

Important Facts About the SEEK Program at Baruch:

1. We are proud to have one of the highest student retention rates of all SEEK Programs in CUNY.  Our retention rates exceed those of regularly admitted students at other campuses in CUNY.
2. Our program enrollment fluctuates between 600 and 750 students.  We accept approximately 75 to a 120 SEEK freshmen yearly.
3. We have a small student to counselor ratio. Our program has 5 full time counselors as well as part-time advisors and peer mentors who work with students.  Counseling is at the heart of our program-- we believe that the one-on-one attention a student receives can make the difference between a his staying in school or dropping out.
4. SEEK students receive many benefits that regularly admitted students do not--extended financial aid, book money, exemption from payment of student fees, preparatory courses, a summer experience etc.. Please read our brochure for more details.
5. Our program has its own tutoring program which provides various forms of academic support –individual and small group tutoring, labs, supplemental instruction and workshops tailored to students' needs.
6. SEEK Freshmen are REQUIRED to attend the SEEK Summer Experience, a 6-week summer program that will prepare students for their college experience while immersing them in college-level coursework. This program requires students to be at Baruch four days a week for approximately six hours a day. Students must participate in this program if they want to attend Baruch in the fall.

We provide a comprehensive freshman year.  Most incoming students have a difficult time making the transition from high school to college.  SEEK's freshman program is designed to help students make this adjustment.  Students are put into a block program and move together from class to class.  They receive tutoring, enrichment and counseling.  At every step, they have the opportunity to bond with staff and each other.

top

Other Misconceptions That Need Clarification:

• SEEK students take different courses from regularly admitted students.  SEEK students take the courses identical to those taken by non-SEEK students.  Like all Baruch students, there are a certain number of required courses they must take, such as psychology or sociology, calculus and English composition, needed to fulfill the base curriculum of the Weissman School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Zicklin School of Business or the School of Public Affairs.     

• SEEK students are required to do things that other students do not have to do.  It is true that there are some things required of SEEK students that are not required of Non-SEEK students. However, there are not many.  For the most part, they involve tasks which are associated with proving financial eligibility for SEEK. Students will be required to submit certain documents, such as copies of tax returns.  SEEK is a program supported by New York State.  The State Education Law requires this documentation.  In addition, SEEK counselors require students to come in once a semester for program planning.  Counselors go over the student's curriculum requirements and help the student plan a program.  Students are very grateful because the curriculum is complicated and difficult to understand. Without this advisement, students can end up graduating with many unnecessary credits or running out of financial aid.  Finally, students with math problems are required to attend special math instruction, and students on probation must participate in a academic survival program.  The Program works diligently to ensure that students are given the academic support they need to succeed.