Help me! I’m having a hard time deciding between bing and umass Amherst. They are both very similar but I did get into the honors college at Amherst+14000 per year. I’d be going into them as a political science major and eventually to law school! Any thoughts/opinions ?
@justalilconfused77 Amherst even with $14,000 per year merit aid is still going to cost about $34,000 per year versus about $25,000 per year for Binghamton. And UMass cost of attendance goes up each year considerably more than Binghamton does. (And your merit scholarship won’t increase to keep pace). Can your family comfortably afford that price difference and still be able to pay for your law school afterwards without you having to take out large loans and becoming in a lot of debt? If so, then pick the school that you feel is the best fit based on your visit and consideration of all that each school has to offer. But IMO UMass Honors and Binghamton are the same academically. And Binghamton is better than UMass without Honors. Your being a NY state resident (I assume) for pre-law Binghamton is a better return on investment and value for your money. It has a popular Philosophy Politics and Law (PPL) major and Harpur college is very strong in liberal arts so you will get great preparation for Law school. Law school is very expensive as you know, so it’s better to choose the less expensive school for undergrad. If you choose Bing you won’t be giving up anything academically. To get more viewers to weigh in on your question you should repost this on the College Search and Selection forum.
thank you so much! This was very insightful and actually helped me a lot and I didn’t really know that bing was better academically than UMass w/out honors. Oh and yes I will def repost in the college search forum ! Thank you again!
IMHO, it comes down to what type of student body you want to be surrounded by. Bing will be NYS residents with a high concentration from downstate (NYC, Long Island). Amherst will be MA students. I believe both campuses will be left leaning but Amherst even more so.
Personally I’d prefer the location of Amherst. Western NY does not appeal to me as they’ve suffered economic depression for years. Both schools will give you a good education. Binghamton has become the hardest SUNY school to gain acceptance to so I imagine you would find a high quality academic student there. Good luck!
Bing and UMass are roughly the same academically; Bing’s students have higher standardized test scores and UMass has some areas of strength that Bing doesn’t have + UMass honors is stellar. However to understand each college’s value we need net cost* at each. Also, where are ou instate?
(Tuition fees room board) - (grants, scholarships) =
Help me! I’m having a hard time deciding between Binghamton and umass Amherst. They are both very similar but I did get into the honors college at Amherst+14000 per year. I’d be going into them as a political science major and eventually to law school! Any thoughts/opinions ? Oh and I’m a NYS resident !
If finances are a consideration, Bing, hands down. I don’t see a huge difference in reps or quality of the schools, Personal preferences aside. I would not stretch to make payments to one over the other.
Money not an issue
@justalilconfused77 My post above discusses cost comparison and academic comparison. I didn’t realize that “money is not an issue”. Since for political science both schools are roughly equal then you should go to the school where you feel you will best fit and comfort. Which campus vibe did you like best upon visiting each? Would you like being in Honors at UMass and any of the benefits that are offered? Honors and the benefits of being in that program could be a difference maker. Consider also the college town of UMass versus the enclosed campus of Binghamton. Consider the academic and recreational and dorm facilities. Consider the fact that at UMass you can take classes in any of the Other four colleges of the five college consortium (Smith, Mount Holyoke, Amherst, and Amherst). And consider the sports —intramural and spectator sprint—UMass has an entertaining hockey team that many students attend games at and also has a football program and a more competitive basketball program. As you can see, if money is not an issue then other considerations can come into play to allow you to pick the school that offers a more fuller college experience, which in this case I think gives the nod to UMass. FWIW, both my kids considered Binghamton, likes the school, but they were able to get merit aid sufficient enough at an out-of-state public and private college that brought the cost down to where it was comparable to SUNY and thus their decisIon didn’t have to come down to cost as a main factor —and although Binghamton is a strong academic school, they chose the other schools that offered more of the fuller college experience. But everybody has different opinions and weighs aspects and factors of the decision-making differently. So consider all the factors and then go with your gut.
My daughter chose between SUNY Bing and UMass Amherst and chose SUNY BIng…because they were the most generous with IB credits.
If money is not a constraint, the school that appeals the most to the student should be the one.
In that case, I’d choose UMass Amherst: benefits of Honors college, MUCH nicer environment, opportunity to take classes at Amherst or Smith in particular.