Hey everyone! I’m a freshman at Binghamton (currently procrastinating studying), and I’ll answer any questions that you ask.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Anyone is free to ask or answer questions in this thread. It is not the place, however, to ask for chances.
Thanks so much for the offer. I guess the two questions that I have are where do you think a freshman should live?. Also, how do you find BING in terms of rigor? My son got accepted to the SOM a few weeks ago and is very excited. I always wonder how cut throat BING is. Finally, with regard to the gen ed courses, any recommendations on courses to take etc and professors would be great. He knows to look at rate my professors, but he wants somewhat interesting courses so he can get off to a good start with his gpa. THANKS!!
When I attended big State U in the 80s, generally the liberal arts kids partied while the engineering/business school/pre-med kids studied. Have you found this to be the case at Bing?
@euve69 I live in Mountainview, and I believe that it’s the best community. It has huge suites that usually have 4-6 people, and you get your own bathroom. It’s really nice if you have a connection with your suitemates. If not Mountainview, I would probably live in Dickinson, but they have hallways rather than common rooms.
In terms of rigor, I would say it’s pretty difficult. I’m an engineering major, so some of the courses I’m taking require a lot of work. I’m currently taking Calc 2, which can be difficult for some people, but there’s a huge curve (an 87 is an A for this semester). I have Walter Carlip for the class, and he is pretty terrible in my opinion. The math department at Bing is truly lacking because most of the teachers are TAs, and you can’t understand a lot of them. It’s really a hit or miss, but everyone I know has had to teach themselves calculus.
As for gen eds, I am not taking any this semester because I’m taking all math and science courses, but freshmen usually get stuck with boring gen eds. We chose our courses at orientation, and there was nothing interesting. I would suggest getting a boring one out of the way, such as pluralism or global interdependencies because there are some fun courses for other requirements that you can take later on. I believe that most freshmen with a writing requirement take Writing 111, but a lot of the courses for certain majors give you it.
@laurclassof2021 I already made a thread regarding this question, but do you think networking and job/intern opportunities are substantial for Business Administation students (not just Accounting students)? In addition, I plan on living in the Old Digman Hall where he Health and Wellness Community is housed. I feel like there isn’t much info on the site regarding that community besides the fact that it’s a corridor-style room and that each floor 4 individual bathrooms within the public bathroom. Is there anything I should know about it?
@nodebtforme Bing is a huge party school, and I feel like everyone parties now, including the non-liberal arts kids. I know a lot of pre-med and engineering majors that go out every weekend.
@stechin The only thing that I’ve heard of about that community is that it’s gross, but that’s only the opinion of one person. I know that Old Digman is near the gym and some the TA offices, but I feel like it’s isolated from the rest if the communities.
I’m not in Business Administration student, but I believe that networking and internships are important for any major because it’s a great resume booster, and it’s great to make connections with people and companies as soon as possible.
@laurclassof2021 What about Hinman or College in the Woods? Since my family and I are really frugal, we’re trying to go for the cheapest boarding option (which happens to be CIW, Hinman, or Health and Wellness.) Although Mountainview sounds super appealing, I would feel like a terrible daughter basically draining my parents’ money for such luxurious lodging, so Mountainviee and Newing are definitely out of the question for me (the idea of a private bathroom sounds oh so tempting, I admit, lol.) I heard that a few years ago, many freshmen were forced into triples in rooms meant for doubles in CIW. Did this happen last year (to your knowledge?)
@stechin I know a lot of people who were forced into triples, but one of them moved out. I was in a double, and my roommate ended up moving out so I’m in a single right now. If you’re choosing between Hinman and CIW, I would go with Hinman because they have suites and a better dining hall. You’ll also have a private bathroom, which is always nice. You’re also right next to the lecture hall so you can wake up 10 minutes before class and still be on time.
So, the million dollar question. Do you think it was worth it to go to Binghamton? Would you choose anywhere else after going there?
@Tehblino I honestly love it here. I thought that I wouldn’t because it was my safety school, but I have had some of the best experiences of my life here. I have become so extroverted recently, and it’s definitely because of the people that I’ve met. For instance, my suitemates and I just walked around our floor asking random people to go to Denny’s with us at midnight. I would have never seen myself doing that. In addition, the classes are fun, there are a ton of clubs to join, and the food is definitely not as bad as people make it out to be. I would highly recommend coming here because in all honesty it’s a great university, especially for the cost. It was definitely worth it.
Thank you for your input. Now here’s to hopefully getting accepted soon! lol
Thank you so much for making this thread 
I have a couple of questions to ask. Do you think as a freshman, is it better to live in a suite with 4-6 people or have a single roommate and a shared public bathroom? Also, do you have any tips on finding roommates with the same interests as you or sleeping habits? I heard there is a survey you take of all your habits and you are matched up with someone. My last question is, how is the diversity in this school?
@krisxlife It honestly depends on the type of person you are. Personally, I prefer a suite because I’m not confined to just my room, and I sit in the common room and do homework with my suitemates. However, my suitemates were my only friends until we decided to socialize with people on our floor. I feel like CIW has more of a social aspect to it because you’re forced to leave your room to meet new people, but you also have to share a bathroom with a ton of people which is annoying. It’s really up to you and what you like about each community.
The survey asks questions relating to how clean you are and how much you want to study. It’s nothing really personal. I went random, and my roommate was terrible. She moved out after a month so it worked out, but I’m getting a random roommate next semester. You write a bio about yourself in the housing application so you can kind of get a feel for what people are like based on that. Maybe you can use the Facebook group that your class will make or you can try to meet someone on accepted students day (a girl from my school met her suitemates that way).
It’s a pretty diverse school. You can just search “diversity Binghamton University,” and the stats will come up. It’s definitely one of the more diverse SUNYs though. There are also many clubs for different ethnicities, and I believe each residential communities has a VP of Multicultural Affairs for each building. They’re elected in the beginning of the year.
do you know how many undergrad business administration majors there are under the school of management ?
@altoqueen I’m not really familiar with SoM. I’m sorry that I couldn’t help.
Hi. Thanks for making this thread! What is your overall assessment of Watson and what advice would you give for an incoming freshman admitted to Watson. Thanks!
@bracchium I think that Watson is a great engineering school. We don’t go into our specified majors until sophomore year, and they give you time to decide what major you actually want. There are two two credit Watson courses that you take the first semester (Watson 111 and Watson 103). 111 consists of a lecture (twice a week) and a two hour lab (once a week), and it is honestly the easiest class that you will ever take (the final was easy too). No one paid attention in lecture, and the final was still ridiculously easy. Watson 103 has a lot more work though. For the first half of the semester, we make games using Arduino boards (Simon, Laser Tag, Fortune Teller, Pong, Tetris, Rock Paper Scissors, and Reaction Time). Do not choose laser tag. My group did laser tag, and the circuitry is extremely hard. Also, don’t buy an off-brand Arduino board because it will make the project way more complicated than it should be. You will spend the majority of your time in the engineering lab when this project is in progress. Also, you choose your group on the first day of class. Make sure that you have a strong group because only half of my group worked on the project, and it affected my final grade in the class. The second project is the reverse engineering project, and you have to turn in a 50 page paper for it. There’s barely any writing, and it’s mostly CAD drawings. It takes a lot of time too. I cannot tell you how many nights I slept in the engineering lab because I had to design 15 individual parts of a coffee machine and assemble it. It’s a really annoying project honestly. When choosing the device that you’re going to reverse engineer, choose one that seems easy to make a CAD drawing of. The coffee machine had a lot of terrible angles, and some parts would take up to 5 hours to make. Overall, it’s a pretty interesting course, and it definitely helps you decide what major you’re going into (I switched from mechanical to electrical because of it). I think that the one thing that you should really take out of this is the fact that you need to find people in your 103 section before the class and establish a great group. It really makes a huge difference. I hope this helped!
@laurclassof2021 You mentioned earlier that Bing is a huge party school. Do you think someone like me, who is not into the whole party crowd, would be ostracized for it? Or do you think people are still welcoming even if you are not into that? I’m the kind of person who would prefer to study, watch Netflix under the covers, read, or hang with friends casually at a coffee shop during the weekends.
In addition, Id like to ask about required freshmen courses. What classes are absolutely mandatory? Are those the Gen Ed classes?
@stechin I actually live in chem free housing so it’s pretty chill. My suitemates and I are getting a projector and having movie nights every weekend next semester, and we’re also bringing board games. People still party in chem free because most people fill out the form just to get into Mountainview. There’s also Late Nite Bing, which is held every Friday and Saturday in the Union for people who don’t go out.
It really depends on what your major is. A lot of people will get their gen eds out of the way, but for some majors you should take certain classes (i.e. Chem 107/108 for bio majors). If you google Binghamton University Bulletin, you can select your major and see the typical layout of classes for your specific major.
Bulletin:
http://www.binghamton.edu:8080/exist/rest/bulletin/2017-2018/index.html