SUNY EDITION
SUNY Albany: DOWN
City left a lot to be desired. A lot of homeless in and around campus. Campus itself is not bad, but somewhat dreary. Guide was a normal kid but didn’t seem excited about the school. Majors offered were impressive, but we didn’t get the sense the school really had a great reputation in any. Good school, but not great. 2 hour from NYC, which is a plus.
SUNY Oneonta: SAME
Nice rural location. Town is very cute and close, with some very interesting shops and restaurants. Guide was great- like the kid next door. Campus is nice, but somewhat hilly. Nestled near the mountains. They seem to have a niche in education and music which was great. It is FAR from NYC though, and not the easiest to get to. Good school. Middling, not in a bad way, reputation in tri-state region. Great place for a NY kid who is middle of their class.
SUNY New Paltz: UP
Great location not far from NYC- can day trip easily. Town is fantastic. The best of any SUNY I have seen yet. Kids are creative and hippy. Majors are broad and they seem reasonably reputable in all for a small school. Campus is really beautiful. Some dorms rival private schools, some remind you it is and has been a public school…a long time. This is a VERY liberal campus. It might not appeal to everyone. Fashion sense, musical preference, sexual preference and politics are all out and loud…and sometimes not in the smart way it might be at more academic schools. Some of the demonstrations of difference are done for shock value in an immature way. Seems like a good school to go in undecided and find oneself. This is not for a buttoned down preppy, or religious conservative.
Trend has been upward for a long time now- school benefits from proximity to NYC, surrounding town and a academic reputation which is on the rise. Really a SLAC within the SUNY system.
SUNY Cortland: DOWN
I wanted to love this one but didn’t. It is pretty remote. It feels like jock and greek life dominate. The kids seemed to be there for the party, or because they HAD to go to some college, so why not here. Campus is reasonably nice, but runs along a single road, with steep hills. Not easy to get from one end to the other. Town is a little bit scary. Really in the middle of nowhere. On the plus, best athletic center in SUNY hands down. Really incredible (built for the NY Jets). Athletics facilities look like D1. Very strong in education, PE in particular. Not our cup of tea though.
SUNY Binghamton: SAME/UP
We expected the best caliber of kids here and that is what they are. Smart, driven, capable of being successful at "more “prestigious” schools. These kids will all do well. But there was this feeling that some resented being there because they didn’t have the resources to go to higher ranked schools they got into. Not exactly a chip on the shoulder- more like bitterness. Campus is all around good- but not yet up to snuff to make this a flagship on the level of UVA, UNC. Probably has similar quality of kids, but campus will need big improvements to attract OOS like those ones do.
Town of Vestal sucks. Really. The campus is all they have up there.
It is not an easy jaunt to NYC, which makes it a bit isolating with no real surrounding town.
Special note to OOS: This school truly is a special value. The quality of education is on par with public Ivies, and this is no secret on the East coast. The graduates are sought after. For the value, this one ranks very highly with some well known flagships as their COA goes in the high 50’s and 60’s. I would consider this a very good alternative to UT, UCB, UCLA, UVA as their increases start to put them out of reach budget wise for many families.
SUNY Stony Brook: WAY DOWN
I will keep this one short. Overly competitive kids, with no sense of community who go home for the weekend. Great and highly ranked STEM school. Go here if you simply want to be educated, but have no expectations for a college experience beyond that. Campus is dreary, remote and lifeless- really uninspiring. About 1.5hrs on RR to NYC but it looks like no one does that, but to go home for the weekend.
NOTABLE OMISSIONS: my be good add on to this posting for those looking at SUNY.
SUNY Buffalo- large university that is well regarded.
SUNY Geneseo
SUNY Plattsburgh
SUNY overall has some plusses and minuses. For NYers, you can find any type of school and it will be relatively affordable- all in at 30,000. For out of state students, add 10,000 which still makes them a good deal. Really good. On the minus side, they are in NY and most are not in the part of NY an OOS wants to be (read 4-5 hours from NYC), so there is that.