Why does an area like Long Island have such crappy Colleges/Universities?

[Coinnle Corra]

I guess there are no general 'superstar' colleges/universities on Long Island for reasons explained by the previous posters. Rather, almost each college has a select few highly-reputable programs.

Stony Brook is obviously great for science, math, and health fields. NYIT has some very good health science programs too. Molloy is excellent for nursing. C.W. Post has a very good speech pathology program. Hofstra is well-known for their performing arts programs and has recently made great strides in medical programs. St. John's University (while technically in Queens but has many Long Island commuters) has a great pharmacy and psychology program.

[Quick Commenter]

I would add that the Merchant Marine Academy is/was very well regarded in certain circles. I am not sure the OP was considering this school either.

I am still adjusting to the fact that Geneseo, Binghamton, and SBU are the stars of the SUNY galaxy. The idea that Stony Brook is among the top 80 universities in the entire country is in and of itself mind blowing. Geneseo attracts excellent students now - it is very difficult to get into. As a matter of fact it prides itself on being one of the most selective public colleges in the country in terms of raw numbers. Forget the party image of Stony Brook 30- 40 years ago in the 70's and 80's, Geneseo was completely - and I mean completely - off the grid back then!

(my apologies to U of B grads)

[sirtiger]

Originally Posted by Quick Commenter

Did you apply to Webb Institute? It is very highly selective and one of the finest colleges of its sort in the world? I suspect the OP is not familiar with it.

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

Webb is so highly specialized that the masses overlook it.

that is probably true.

Sorry, I was not an engineering major, so it wouldn't be on my radar.

[Coney]

Originally Posted by Quick Commenter

Did you apply to Webb Institute? It is very highly selective and one of the finest colleges of its sort in the world? I suspect the OP is not familiar with it.

I didn't apply to either SBU or SJU either. Or Hostra or Adelphi. I wanted to go away to school.
Now Law School or Med School would have been an entirely different matter. Even then.

At the time (1980) SBU was not considered a gem of the SUNY system. I think SUNY Albany was. My how times have changed.

Yes, I gave the same example in an earlier post as an example of how school reputations fluctuate over time. NYU used to be a bottom level school. Now look at it.

The advantage that we have here for any of our regional schools is our location. There will always be adjuncts and professors who have experience and connections to the top level institutions in their field in the NYC area. What difference does it make if your degree is from Adelphi University if some professor hooks you up with an internship at some prestigious institution that gets your foot in the door? Look at the long list of Hofstra grads who have been successful in theater, TV, and movies. Yet, their theater department is not on any type of level as Julliard or NYU. If you luck out through some sort of connection, your degree does not matter. Depending on the field of choice, our location alone provides access. I had a teacher who at the time lived next door to Bill Moyers. I was not interested in broadcasting or journalism so it didn't matter to me. The teacher (who did not teach in the journalism department) was friends with Bill Moyers who offered some summer opportunities (through his friends of friends) for any of the college teacher's interested students as a casual favor. Someone like Bill Moyers is more likely to live near NYC than Raleigh or Ann Arbor.

[S.I.B.]

never really crossed my mind. After all, it's not like we're talking about a large geographic area. And there's no shortage of quality schools within a very reasonable driving distance in NYC, Westchester, NJ, and CT (not for daily commuting, but not a 9 hour slog either).