What do you think about State University of New York (Stony Brook) ? (french student)

[kinLINY]

The school is a good University with a wide variety of classes. The local shopping mall is within 3 miles I'd say. The school provides free buses to the mall, wal mart and pathmark (grocery store) You can get to NYC driving in about an hour the train takes about 1hr 30-40 minutes and their is the quaint port town of Port Jefferson about 5 minutes from campus. You can also take the local bus for $1.50 to the mall, and surrounding towns every day except Sunday. The school also sponsors local field trips for students, however for a fee depending on the trip. (recent ones included a ski trip and a trip to the Bronx zoo) I think you will enjoy it, Stony Brook is on Long Island so in the warmer months there is plenty of Beaches and park activities to partake in and although the city is 1.5hrs away The train runs about every hour so you really aren't limited on time to do "touristy" things. The people are generally friendly and helpful and there is a large amount of international students on campus, largely from Asia, but of course from Europe as well.

[sheena12]

Actually, about half of the students live there.
A "commuter school" in the US, is one where most of the students do not live on campus, in dormitories. Mostly they live at home. I know that is common in other countries.
Stony Brook is in the top 2% of universities in the world!
With tuition so low, you can't go wrong.
It ranks as "highly competitive" in most American College Guide Books.
Just under "Most Competitive,
Best,
Sheena

[NYEconomist]

Originally Posted by RenaudFR

Hey Long Islanders
Next year I could go to this university for the foreign exchanges (I want to improve my english language abilities, particularly in Oral English).It's not decided yet, but some details could be great

Overall, it's a good school. Usually overlooked because NY already is top heavy with top schools like Columbia, Cornell, West Point, and NYU. Followed by a second tier that will rival any states first tier in Fordham, Rennselaer, University of Rochester, Yeshiva, and Syracuse. That doesn't include the fantastic line-up of regional schools that we have including Cooper Union, RIT, Merchant Marine Academy, Baruch, and many many others. Mind you, I didn't even get started about the SUNY system and the great resources and value they offer in-state students.

So, Stony Brook gets thrown into a mix of so many good schools. If they were in a state with less competition they would probably be ranked much higher. However, rankings aren't everything. I would be happy to send my children there, especially the hard science programs and medical programs.

As far as "traditional college experience," there isn't much in my experience. The school is a mix of commuters and science students, which doesn't make it the best place to meet people that want to drink and go to sorority parties. The students that attend are usually fairly serious students that want the resources of a strong research university at the cost of a state subsidized school. However, I wouldn't expect the personal touch that you might find at a smaller or private school. The classes, from what I've heard, are very large with intro classes counting into the hundreds of students with very little intimate exposure to the professors. I think they were ranked at one point in a survey of "schools with professors that you can't understand." Obviously not a very quantitative or respectable study, but it would be something to consider if you are trying to become better in the English language.

[OhBeeHave]

My son is there now; his entry level chem course did have several hundred students in the section. Those sections are further broken down. He was able to access the mid-western born professor very easily. Same applied for the lab. His other courses were also taught by people for whom English is their birth language, except for calc where the professor was Asian.

My personal experience as a returning adult student 10 years ago was that some of the math courses I had taken were taught by Asian professors. It can make it difficult for students who are prone to having a difficult time in that subject.

[Wonderful Jellal]

Thanks about that