<p>POST WAS WAY TO LONG AND WASN'T ALLOWED TO ANSWER IN FULL. HOPE IT TAKES IT ON HERE!!</p>
<p>Freshman son is very happy at UB.</p>
<p>Stats when he applied last fall-
31 ACT- all areas similar scores. 29, 31, 31, 32 I think. Very bad writing score!
3.84 GPA in fall of Sr. year when he applied.
7 AP's and 1 college class
Top 23 percentile. (competitive LI high school where many students take numerous AP's before senior year which really push up there GPA)</p>
<p>Accepted all schools.
3K/year merit (Looks like they may have raised it to 5K this year for those accepted but unsure).</p>
<p>He had applied to about 15 schools, half of which were computer science (well all had that major) and the other half he applied for engineering. He was accepted to all so he had a lot of schools to consider (though the non-engineering schools became a non entity as he decided to remain in engineering. </p>
<p>He got great merit $$ from the non-engineering schools (privates give more money than publics but cost a lot more) and less money from engineering schools. He actually liked Binghamton the most, followed by Buffalo. Syracuse was "OK", RIT- didn't care for it, Delaware "OK"..... The only schools that really thrilled him were the two SUNY's. He was impressed with what he saw at Buffalo in regard to engineering. The student projects there were able to view on accepted students day just blew him away. Binghamton does not have a great Engin. program so he had to get over that (since for some reason he loved the school so much.) </p>
<p>USNWR ranking- although Buffalo is not in the top 100 (as Bing and other schools he applied to are) the engineering program is in the USNWR 50's ranking (along with delaware, RIT, Syracuse- forget where else at this point). VaTech was ranked higher but likely a 5 year program and one that weeds out the freshman.</p>
<p>I wanted my son to succeed at a school and not go in at the bottom of the pile. The work load is big though he manages well (good organization skills help). The curriculum is layed out pretty well so he knows what to take when. There is not much time for electives. He is planning to take 4 online courses this summer to get them out of the way- World Civ 2 (took World Civ 1 in the fall term), English and two others.</p>
<p>He went in with 45 credits but for engineering it makes no difference as you have so many required courses.</p>
<p>Campuses- he decided on Buffalo late and we paid the deposit close to May 1. because of that, he was put on South campus (all classes are on North). Everyone loves south campus and the dorm is fine so it has not been an issue at all. The buses run all day and night so he hasn't had a problem. His plan is to move to North campus so it will be more convenient to classes next year. South Campus is much more convenient to town (shopping center and triplex movie theater right across the street) and metro on campus.</p>
<p>Classes- first semester engineering- They give you a schedule. Within that, a small group (14 or so) are in all the same small recitation sections so you meet kids and can form study groups if so inclined.</p>
<p>My son has not had one negative thing to say about Buffalo.</p>
<p>Nice activities on campus, speakers, bands, etc... Socialization for the most part seems to take place in the dorms.</p>
<p>Husband and I are very happy with UB. Easy to fly up from 3 airports in NY/LI. Son seems to always have lots of work (difficult schedule) but is doing incredibly well grade wise. Since our son is at UB, we have met a huge am't of graduates (our friends, friends kids) Seems like a huge network out there.</p>
<p>PM me if you want more specifics...</p>