Hey people,
My name is Sam and I’m currently a junior in Watson, majoring in electrical engineering. During my freshman and sophomore year, I lived in Newing. Like most students, I moved off campus for my junior year and I now live in UClub (also called University Plaza, or UP). I’m a part of the Binghamton University Scholars program, SWE, intramural volleyball, and the professional engineering sorority, Alpha Omega Epsilon.
Ask me questions so I can procrastinate studying and homework!!!
Can you give any insight about the Engineering Learning Community? My son will be a Freshman at Watson and wants to make sure that he develops friendships with a variety of people. Will being part of ELC limit his options? On the other hand, does being a part of ELC help connect the student with professors, enable early registration, etc? Looking for pros and cons. Thanks!
Here’s one: As an inbound freshman with no older siblings for guidance, what would you say my daughter should be looking out for so as to not to miss internship/research/experience opportunities? She’s going to be going in without much of an idea of what to do or expect, of course, and my gut tells me that in 2 years she might be saying “man, I wish I had done XXXX back as a freshman, it would have allowed me to do YYYY now”.
She’s majoring in Environmental Studies, not sure of the concentration/track as of yet.
@sfernan6 glad to see this post. My son will be in scholars & Watson as well. He will be CCS major. How do you feel the scholars program has benefitted you? Does it help promote chances of internships? And what else did you gain from it? Also how did you get your roommate? My son is a very quite kid & takes awhile to form friendships. He is not on social media and has no intentions of doing so. I believe he contacted the scholars program already to inform him of this.
Which residential community would you say is the best for freshman? I’m looking for the most social and diverse community and leaning towards hinman
Sorry this is so late, but finals and internships hit me hard.
@studentmom24 I haven’t heard much about the engineering learning community, but I assume that you’ll meet mostly freshman and sophomore engineers. That can be a good opportunity to know people in classes and you can get advice from older engineers about professors and classes. Otherwise I don’t think it has anything to do with registration which is based solely on number of credits. As an engineer, you don’t really have to worry about getting into core classes because there’s enough spaces for everyone that needs to be in the class. Gen eds would be the only “hard” thing to register for but people usually wait until junior or senior year to register for the fun gen eds.
@HankCT APPLY FOR EVERYTHING! that means jobs, internships, research and whatever else she can think of. It can be hard to get an internship so you just gotta apply to everything you see and DON’T STOP. Also keep your dorm room door open for at least the first month and don’t be afraid to talk to people. It’s the beginning of the year and everyone wants to meet people, especially other freshman. They’re all just as nervous and don’t know what they’re doing lol. Some other advice I’ve gotten over the years is to look up what research is going on at bing and email professors about it if it sounds interesting. They’re almost always looking for people especially freshmen/sophomores. If I can think of anything else I’ll update you.
@lovemycats I’m not gonna lie, the schools program is primarily a freshman/sophomore year program. People usually lose interest near the middle of sophomore year and stop going to events. BUT its a good opportunity to meet people and make friends when you first come to bing. Especially since you’ll have at least 3 classes that only have other scholars in them. Those classes are usually easy A’s that boost your GPA and try to get you to think of things in a new way. There’s a lot of community building (social) events and some community service events that happen all year too. The scholars program has a lot of leadership opportunities that you can get involved in almost immediately which is good, and since a lot of people lose interest in the program, once your in leadership you can stay there and become vice president, president, or a program assistant (arguably the highest position) relatively easily if you just stay involved. Putting the scholars program and any kind of leadership roles on your resume definitely helps with internships/jobs. You also get 24 ghost credits during housing and class registration so you can register earlier which is pretty damn nice. All of my friends freshman and sophomore year were scholars but I’ve branched out some since. My roommate of the last two years and next year is a scholar that I met at the scholars orientation (I forgot to mention that there are separate scholars orientation groups). My first roommate was randomly assigned and worked out well, but I think freshman housing changed since I was a freshman so idk much about signing up for that. Your son will be able to meet people at orientation tho and he can text more and decide to room with them if he wants. It depends on the year for how much social media use happens. My year people didn’t use it at ll, but the year after me pretty much knew each other before they even got on campus. I don’t think it’ll be a big deal though, since he’ll be living with and surrounded by the same people all the time. Should be plenty of time to get comfortable with people and come out of his shell.
@college54 Don’t live in newing if you’re not in greek life or planning to be, in scholars, or an athlete that needs break housing. It’s not very social otherwise. I’ve heard mixed reviews for dickinson. Some people say its great for freshman and some say that they never see people outside of their suite/flat. They have dorm wars and mutant mania that are pretty big there though. If you’re not a big fan of weed or the smell of it then don’t live in college in the woods. Mountainview seems pretty social. Hinman is most likely the best freshman year community, but I think their closing half of hinman for renovations so idk how that’ll impact things there. Hinman has dorm wars and hinman hysteria which are taken very seriously and look pretty fun (idk I lived in newing).
Hi OP. How active are club sports, especially lacrosse?
@Lindagaf Sorry but I don’t know much about club sports besides that you can sign up for them at ufest
How is single dorms in Binghamton? Do you recommend them or is it better to live in double?
Hi. Is it true that laundry is free at Bing? Do the students just supply the detergent and softener?
My daughter has applied ea. Same major. What do u like about your major? What classes have you taken so far in that major? Class size? I suppose they are big and shrink as you become a senior? What do u do for fun on Friday- Sunday night? What other colleges did you get into if u dont mind sharing? Thanks
Hi everyone!
I’m a current student at Binghamton University pursuing a Political Science & Economics degree, hoping to become a lawyer in the future. I work on campus as well, so if you have any questions about that process, etc., please feel free to let me know!
Don’t be afraid to ask about…
Good luck to everyone applying, and I hope to see most of you in fall of 2020!
Hi @slytherclaw
My daughter is planning to be a Poli Sci major and possibly an Econ minor just like you. How have you liked your major/minor, the professors in your major and what poli sci internships have you participated in or plan to participate in?
Thanks!
SD
Same - interest in scholars program, political science major/econ, and club swimming. How is the transportation situation and things to do in the area - cultural activities, outdoor (snowboarding access), etc… if you don’t have a car? Transportation to an airport? Any should know for first year to make SUNY Bing a success?
I’m a current sophomore in SOM and am open to any questions you may have about the application process, the quality of the academics we offer, campus life, etc. I know this time can be stressful to parents and students, so feel free to ask me any questions that you may have.
How does housing selection work for new first year students? If one comes in with 30 AP credits does that kid get a better choice? Or is choice rank based on when one sends the deposit?
I absolutely love it because all of my professors have been great. However, there is a lot of coursework in terms of both reading and writing (there’s a stigma that it’s easy to be a poli sci major, but there’s a ton of work involved)! It really depends what professors you get, as they can affect your enjoyment of the class. And I plan on participating in some law-related internships at home over the summer. Your daughter should visit the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development if she’s interested in getting involved in internships at Binghamton or at home!
The transportation is really good for the area when compared to other colleges. I’ve had friends stay over who have went to MIT or Oneonta and are blown away by our busses. As a Binghamton student, you have access to OCCT (Off-Campus College Transport) and the Broome County bus system, free with your student ID. Both systems stop around campus, in the Vestal area, and in the Binghamton Downtown area.
We have a nature preserve if you love the outdoors, and a car is definitely not necessary to get downtown to go to restaurants, to the bars, etc. The bus station is also downtown too, so if you need to head to Oneonta for the weekend, you can always by a ticket and take OCCT or Broome Country transport downtown. There aren’t a ton of airports around, except for the Binghamton airport, which doesn’t have major flights flying in or out.
How do kids get to nyc?
There are many bus lines that run from NYC to Binghamton, vice versa. The Greater Binghamton Bus Station houses these lines, which is located downtown. Many of the blue busses have stops near the bus station as well!
@slytherclaw Does Bing allow students to request roommates? And if so how do incoming freshman typically connect with other students?