<p>Hello All-
My 16yo son is a senior in HS and is looking at a number of NY State Schools. Because of budget issues we are limited to SUNY schools, but from what I have heard the education at some is very good. My question is...what are his chances, based on his GPA and his SAT scores for admission. In NY they are only looking at the Critical Reading and Math sections...not the writing.</p>
<p>The schools he is interested in are (in order of preference):
Albany
Binghamton
Stony Brook
New Paltz</p>
<p>His GPA is a 3.1 out of 4 and he scored a 1230 on his SAT(for the 2 sections) So far in his senior year he is doing very well and is close to a 3.9. He is involved with a few activities;he is part of the school newspaper, is a player on the school varsity tennis team and is part of a couple specialized programs and clubs. </p>
<p>He turned in essays and supplimentals to all schools as well as very good recommendations. </p>
<p>I was wondering, based on your experiences (and your child's grades) if he has a decent chance at any of these schools. He has applied for Early Action, so we should know by late Dec. 2006. I think he can make it into Albany, but I think Binghamton is a stretch. </p>
<p>Also...if anyone has experience (and input) with the schools themselves..another words...are they good educationally as well as socially...that would be great.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your assistance from a nervous Dad
Rich</p>
<p>What does he want to major in? That will in part determine which campus is best for him.</p>
<p>I agree with your assessment that he's probably good to go at Albany, but Bing will be a stretch (although a kid with a 74 average was accepted from my daughter's high school last year). I bet he also gets into Stony and New Paltz.</p>
<p>If you poke around the CC archives using the search function, you will find numerous threads discussing various SUNYs and the SUNY system in general.</p>
<p>Glancing at our scattergram I'd estimate that at least 80% of the kids got in with weighted averages of 85 (probably unweighted 80) and SATs of 1200+.</p>
<p>Only two kids didn't get into Albany with scores over 1150 - they were both C students. New Paltz was similar except one student who didn't get in was a B student.</p>
<p>Stony Brook only two didn't get in with scores over 1200 however they were both B students.</p>
<p>If your son were at our school I'd say his chance were excellent. We are a large pubic school - reasonably well regarded, but by no means the top in the county.</p>
<p>I think your son has a good chance for all of them. I went to Stonybrook and I can tell you that it is very good in the sciences. It is a bit of a commuter school. Many of the students hail from Long Island or areas not that far away and so often leave for the weekend. That doesn't mean there aren't kids around or plenty to do. It is in a suburban area but there are nearby malls, movies, restaurants etc and the LIRR goes directly from campus to NYC. Binghamton is another college where students are in a somewhat suburban locale-it is a little quiet for some. Most of the kids I know love it there. Albany is considered near a city, has a reputation of being a little more of a party school (not sure if this is true, just reporting what I have heard from many). I have several cousins who went to New Paltz and they loved it too. It is not considered as competitive as Binghamton, Stonybrook or Albany. Those 3 are considered universities of the SUNY system and may offer more majors , research opportunities etc than New Paltz but it is a fine school too.</p>
<p>Well, I'm a SUNY Albany grad (20 yrs ago mind you) and strangely enough, I majored in Chemistry and minored in Physics while I was there. My time there was basically typical of the stories you hear from state schools. Larger class size as a freshman and much smaller in the higher levels. The school is what you make of it, forget the "impressions" "it's more of a party school, blah, blah, blah". You can find all the parties you want at any college if you're so inclined. The main drawback from my experience was there were limited opportunities for undergrads to be involved in research (at above the laboratory grunt level). Not a lot of chemistry majors, so that's a plus in that you can get beyond the face in the crowd even though Albany is a big campus. There are also some alternative ways to get in besides the front door, but based on what you say about your son, he shouldn't have a problem. Certainly no regrets going there, and I graduated basically debt free.</p>
<p>He may also want to check out Univ. of Buffalo. Though his SAT's are great, his 3.1 GPA (85 avr??) may not make him a shoe-in for Bing or Stony Brook. I think UB is a bit easier to get into.
SUNY also does have some "hidden" programs that most people do not know about. As your son is interested in chemistry, he may want to check out the Environmental School of Forestry. I believe it is housed at Syracuse U but as it is a state funded program, NY's pay SUNY tuition. They do have a chemistry major and other interesting sounding programs for the science minded.<br>
If you can get a hold of the SUNY viewbook, it is very helpful. It shows the different programs available.
My d is now a Sport Management major at Cortland. Going to SUNY was a good move for my kid. She is happy with the program, likes the campus and has made a lot of friends.<br>
Really try to get a copy of the Viewbook- it really is quite helpful.</p>
<p>This is great info...thanks everyone. Anymore input is greatly appreciated. I had my son read the comments and he was happy to see that he probably has a good chance of having a couple of choices. </p>
<p>I am familiar with Stony Brook, I used to live on LI...now in Middletown, NY. My parents are alive and live in the house I grew up in East Meadow. If he decided to go to SB that would be a good point for me to crash when I visited. </p>
<p>The only reservation I have with SB, being a commuter school is him keeping socially active on campus on weekends. I would hope that there are plenty of kids around the don't go home weekends...as he really wants to get involved with clubs, activities and tennis. He really likes Albany...but I want him to have choices and from what I am reading it sounds like he will.</p>
<p>P.S.
He has an 87-88 average which I estimated to be a 3.1...I am probably wrong</p>
<p>I think Binghamton may be a stretch too ... but I do agree with Marny - check out the University of Buffalo. Most kids just love it and it has a number of excellent programs.</p>
<p>Your best source of info is your son's guidance/college counselor at his high school. He will have a good idea of what it takes to get into the SUNYs from this particular highschool. It can differ from school to school. I have found that the highschool counselor is the best source of info on chances for state schools, particularly if it is a public school and if there are a goodly number of kids applying each year to the state schools. Catholic highschools often have an inside picture of the state of admissions in the local catholic colleges, and those Catholic schools that get lots of apps from that particular school. There are a number of SUNYs and it seems to me that your son has a good chance at all of them, and an excellent chance at most of them. Binghamton can be very selective in some areas, however, and I have heard that there are selective programs in a number of even the less selective SUNYs, something you need to wå†ch. My good friend's son was not accepted to a school where practically everyone is accepted; he had applied to a highly selective departement in a non selective school. It was a great shock to them.</p>
<p>SUNY Albany also has the School of Nanotechnology. Seems like NYS is putting alot of $ into that program. I often overlook the Albany program as UB and Stony Brook seem to have a long established emphasis on the sciences- (even way back when I was at SUNY Oswego) but the Nano center at Albany maybe a place to give serious consideration to.
I strongly suggest your son get his applications in ASAP. Most of the campuses have rolling admission and the earlier the application is in, the more spots are available. My d had her Suny application in by mid October last year, and had a bunch of her SUNY acceptances by December. Good luck!!</p>
<p>Yes, we had the applications in since the 2nd week of October and his school finally sent out his transcripts this past Friday. All other required doc's have also been sent. </p>
<p>I called Albany's admissions dept and spoke with a counselor a couple of days ago to get an idea of his chances of getting in...the women I spoke with did not offer too much, which I completely understand, since they did not have all his paperwork. I really only wanted to get a quick view from admissions if his gpa and sat grades along with other activities would give him a fighting chance but she would not say...just that his school gpa and sat scores were average as ranked with a typical incoming class. That made me a bit concerned...guess it's time to just wait and see.</p>
<p>Rich, although there's no sure way of translating from one scale to another, 87.5 is much higher than 3.1. 3.4-3.5, maybe. Assuming it's unweighted, that's not a bad average.</p>
<p>From my son's HS on Long Island, 87.5 plus a 1230 would be pretty safe for Albany and Stony Brook. Don't know about New Paltz but I assume the same. It's borderline for Binghamton, though.</p>
<p>Being EA will help.</p>
<p>By the way, what if anything have you heard from Binghamton? Son sent in everything to them a good few weeks ago and has gotten no acknowledgment whatsoever, plus their Status Checker doesn't work.</p>
<p>I would consider also SUNY Plattsburgh, its like a large liberal arts college and has good natural science departments. Environmental Science is big at Plattsburgh so I gather the Chemistry Department is solid. Undergraduates reportedly have good research/internship opportunities.</p>
<p>Then student life is active, even though the North Country of New York is a bit remote. The campus is very near Lake Champlain, a gorgeous area and a environmental/ecological laboratory in and of itself.</p>
<p>
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He has an 87-88 average which I estimated to be a 3.1...I am probably wrong.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>fyi, from what i saw, it seemed to be a NY thing to have gpa's on a "100" scale as opposed to a 4.0 scale -- so most of the SUNY's readily provided info regaring admissions gpa based on that scale -- so for the purposes of the SUNY's you shouldn't have to try to figure out the proper conversion to the 4.0 scale. (at least that's what we saw when we were looking at several SUNY's a couple of years ago).</p>
<p>Rich
Im a LI'er (Melville now,used to live in Coram near theStonybrook campus)Neice recently graduated from there. Its not as much of a commuter school as it used to be, and has undergone much building/beautification.They even have a footbal l team and stadium now.I would reccommend a visit,just so your kid can contrast it to the upstate campuses.</p>
<p>We'll be visiting SB in the near future. He really does not want to be more than 2 hours or so from the house...which fits in perfectly with us. </p>
<p>I am hoping we hear from schools by the end of this month, but that may be overly optimistic.</p>
<p>SB is close enough to the 2 hour mark, plus my folks still live on LI so I have a place to stay when I visit my son....that helps a little bit with the costs.</p>
<p>My real concern now is paperwork and making sure that everything gets in on time for EA. He submitted everything he was supposed to but it seems each school is missing something. All are missing his transcripts even though the high school told us they sent them out a while ago. One of the schools says they don't have his SAT scores, but the other 2 schools have them. Today Binghamton told me they have not received his supplimental (part II)...and I know that went out...as I made sure by mailing it myself at the post office the day my son completed over 2 weeks ago. </p>
<p>Luckily I have a good point of contact at SB who has been working with me. Binghamton has been a bit more of a problem with paperwork and Albany has been good to talk to...but still missing his transcript. </p>
<p>Knowing how disorganized my son's HS is...I am going to have him go to his guidance counselor on Monday to make sure they really sent it out. I know I am a bit of a nut about this...but I want to make sure the kid has a fighting chance...and does not have an issue because of paperwork.</p>