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If you are looking for a decent education in the sciences or tech, at a good price, go to Stony Brook. It's a good school. And yes, campus is pretty big. On one side you have the large undergraduate campus, dorms, along with some graduate stuff there as well, a lot of hard science buildings are here. On the other side of Nicolls Road you have the Medical School, Stony Brook hospital, the cancer center, and just up the road is the Tech Incubator.
If you are ready to work, enroll. Just so you know, people who attend class, study, and don't goof off will graduate. Get past MAT123, phys, and organic chem, also learn how to write like an adult, and maybe you're fit for a STEM career, if that's what you want. A Stony Brook STEM degree has value.
I warn you, however, it's not a place to screw off. There are a lot of Asian and white students, a reasonable percentage of them are smart and study. The professors can, and will, fail you. I saw more than my fair share of first-years skip all their classes, smoke weed all the time, drinking on the weekend, lots of WoW and other computer games. A lot of these people flunked out or simply withdrew. This was most prevalent in the true science courses including physics, organic chem, and calculus, these were necessary weedouts for dopes. I lived on campus, and if you are there, you see what really goes on with lazy students. Can't tell you how many times people wanted to copy my homework answers.
So that is one reason I didn't mind the large lecture halls for first-year math, phys, chem, bio: the University knows there's going to be a bunch of washout do-nothings. Get passed the intro courses, and class sizes become smaller, you get more lab time etc. etc.
Would you know if this crowdedness is also the situation in Binghamton and Buffalo? Purchase? New Paltz?
Tuition in Fordham is >40K and SJU is getting close - the affordable alternatives to state education are getting fewer and fewer.
I attended Binghamton and the largest class I recall taking were Psych 101 and History 101 which had about 100-120 students in the lecture hall. Once I got to the upper level 100s (130/140/160) and 200 level classes, the sizes dropped considerably. My 200 level Poli Sci class had only 35 people. However even though my History 101 class had 100-120 students, we all had a "small" section that was led by a TA or grad student. These small sections (or "labs" as some science courses label it) had only 30-40 students.
Depending on your score on the AP test, you may bypass many of the intro level courses. At Binghamton, anyone who scored a "4" or "5" on the AP Bio for example, would get credit for Bio 101 (or whatever they call it now) and immediately go into Bio 102/202. I came in with enough AP credit to qualify for either 2nd semester Freshmen or Sophomore level standing (I came in with at least 16 credits), which allowed me to take a ton of electives in other majors that suited my fancy (including a stint in Europe for study abroad my junior year).
Even though Binghamton is a large SUNY, it does not feel large when it comes to class sizes because the minute you enroll, you are immediately placed into a community which you tend to stick with for most of freshman years and onward through soph and even senior year. Any other questions about Bing, feel free to message me. It is a great school and while it may not receive as much praise as Stony Brook in the sciences department, it does extremely well in humanities and placement for other graduate school programs and careers.
Even though Binghamton is a large SUNY, it does not feel large when it comes to class sizes because the minute you enroll, you are immediately placed into a community which you tend to stick with for most of freshman years and onward through soph and even senior year. Any other questions about Bing, feel free to message me. It is a great school and while it may not receive as much praise as Stony Brook in the sciences department, it does extremely well in humanities and placement for other graduate school programs and careers.
Or one can take undergrad in Binghamton and grad school in SBU - when classes are smaller.
But if Binghamton insists on keeping class sizes smaller, would it follow that more students will be drawn to it (and its modest tuition) and thereby make admissions a lot more competitive 10 years from now?
Or one can take undergrad in Binghamton and grad school in SBU - when classes are smaller.
But if Binghamton insists on keeping class sizes smaller, would it follow that more students will be drawn to it (and its modest tuition) and thereby make admissions a lot more competitive 10 years from now?
Class sizes in any graduate school tend to be smaller, but even my husband who did his UG and Post grad work at Stony Brook admitted there were 2 core classes every graduate student had to take which meant large lecture halls w 120+ students.
Binghamton has always been (and hopefully continue to be, even though it has slid in USWNR rankings recently) a competitive university. For its tuition, its very attractive and offers lucrative opportunities (I was selected to intern for a federal judge in law school purely because at my interview he admitted his own daughter was a sophomore at the school). While BU tries to keep class sizes smaller, they don't always achieve it. It seems like the past decade, they have incoming enrollment swell to a degree that theres no way to avoid having at least 2 or 3 major lecture hall sized classes every semester (particularly entry level courses).
One has to remember that Bing, Buff, Albany and SB are all SUNY centers and thus will have greater student populations across various disciplines and in various colleges..Binghamton has the School of Management and a Nursing school in addition to the liberal arts Harpur College. If I were concerned about smaller class sizes, I would have enrolled at SUNY Geneseo instead..OP should come back to this thread and update us on what specific info he/she is seeking...
I don't know about science classes at Binghamton. It seems to have a stronger draw for other majors.
Stony Brook is an excellent school and offers great opportunities. But it is a public university and there's only so much $$ to go around, at least for now. It's understandable that they will save the money for equipment use with the higher level classes. It's not that less material is covered with the big weed-out introductory science classes or that the students are short-changed. but for these classes, the labs are no-frills.
The graduate classes I took at stony brook had no more than 40 students.
In my experience, Stony Brook grades on a strict curve at the undergraduate level. The bottom 15% will get a C+ or below. I received my first (and only) C there.
Yes there is a no-frills element here, and I think some of the large undergrad classes are designed to weed out weaker students. But if you're a strong student in the right major for you and you apply yourself, you will get a quality education and your degree will be well regarded.
Although many people have ivy league aspirations for their children's college education, I'd be fine if my children went to school at Stony Brook. I've already got enough in their 529 plans to cover the projected in-state tuition for 4 years, so with more saving in the years ahead, I aim to cover grad school too. I'd love for my children to graduate with no student loan debt.
That said, the 4 SUNY centers (SB, Buffalo, Binghamton, and Albany) are all solid choices.
Yes there is a no-frills element here, and I think some of the large undergrad classes are designed to weed out weaker students. But if you're a strong student in the right major for you and you apply yourself, you will get a quality education and your degree will be well regarded.
Although many people have ivy league aspirations for their children's college education, I'd be fine if my children went to school at Stony Brook. I've already got enough in their 529 plans to cover the projected in-state tuition for 4 years, so with more saving in the years ahead, I aim to cover grad school too. I'd love for my children to graduate with no student loan debt.
I would like kids to attend state U as well what with Fordham and SJU now costing an arm and a leg. But 200(?) students in a class as important as fundamental calc or org chem seems a bit overwhelming - might work for social studies but technical subjects 101 are a different matter. And if they don't absorb the material in the fundamental classes (even if they can pass), how much can they handle the more advanced classes?
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Originally Posted by Coney
I don't know about science classes at Binghamton. It seems to have a stronger draw for other majors.
I was curious about Binghamton's industrial engineering major. I majored in a similar field and appreciate the interdisciplinary and problem-solving nature of the curriculum (math+computers+engineering). As a background, it was created to supply employees to IBM's facilities upstate, but now has other uses. It's a good preparation for grad school.
My son is currently upper division courses as a UG in Marine Sciences. 19-20 to a class.
His and my experience st SBU was similar to what others have stated -- the number of students in 100 level courses was in the hundreds for lecture. The serious students moved forward and classes became considerably smaller once the dead wood was eliminated.
Hmmm...you may have given a good idea. I think Geneseo allows x-enrollment at RIT.
My lil' sis is a Geneseo alum. Very affordable, lovely campus, solid education with small classes and well kept dorms. Definitely worth looking into!
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). While BU tries to keep class sizes smaller, they don't always achieve it. It seems like the past decade, they have incoming enrollment swell to a degree that theres no way to avoid having at least 2 or 3 major lecture hall sized classes every semester (particularly entry level courses). 
