<p>So far I have been accepted to these four institutions, along with Vassar college, but I have trouble paying the tuition. Despite the fact that I am New York City resident, I still need to take out roughly 11 thousand dollars in loan for Binghamton and Stony Brook, while for Brown and Duke I only need to take out 18 thousands in loan each year. Since the the tuition cost doesn't really differ much, should I just go to Brown or Duke? </p>
<p>Yes go to Brown or Duke since there is not much difference in the amount of loans. They are much nicer campuses over the SUNY’s. However, have you considered the price of traveling to these colleges that might make the costs much higher.</p>
<p>You could calculate the payments on the loans using the financial aid calculator. I think it is a big difference 44000.00 compared to 72000.00. Don’t underestimate the significance of the payments. They last a long time. </p>
<p>It is hard to believe someone who got into Brown or Duke would actually ask such a question especially given the fact that the difference between the SUNYs and the two actual universities is relatively small. You will reap the benefits of the best choice for your entire lifetime. And, you’ll avoid the Where? or Oh yeah SUNY we have one in our town too. </p>
<p>At the current student loan rate of 4.66%…$44000.00=payments of $459.00 per month. $77000.00= $751.00 per month. </p>
<p>There is nothing I can think of, loans included, that would make turning Brown or Duke down for Binghamton. Outside of the state, even from faculty members of other universities, you will hear “Where did you say you want? Birmingham?”. It is not known anywhere but in NY. Unbeknownst to many New Yorkers, the SUNY system is considered pretty poor. What do you expect from a state that has about 66 campuses and no flagships. In contrast, tell potential employees you went to either Brown or Duke and you’ll get a “wow”. As great as the reputations are for those schools, you should not choose a college on reputation alone. The 4 year experience is important too. Spend a day at each. You’ll just want an hour at Binghamton. Yes college matters. It is worth it-for the rest of your life you will be a Brown or Duke Graduate or A Binga…what did you say again? graduate</p>
<p>Lostaccount I do not agree with you at all for several reasons:
- There are many many fields where the college that you graduate from does not matter. In all of my years of working nobody has ever asked me where I went to school. Not once. All they cared about was my license to practice. I have worked in major NYC hospitals where SUNY/CUNY grads were hired over and above Ivy League grads because of the reputations of these various departments.
- I know many kids who recently graduated from Binghamton and have landed excellent jobs in and out of NY. I currently know two grads who got accepted to Columbia for grad school, and one to NYU.
- If you think it’s easy paying back large student loans, think again. Having to pay back that much money can mean living in your parents house for many many years and not being able to start your life as a young adult.
- Very often it’s your personality that gets you the job, not the school on the diploma.
- My nephew just graduated from a top 20 university with a degree in engineering. He got 1 job offer. His friend graduated from SUNY Bing in engineering and got multiple job offers.
- Employers WILL ask for HS information ( especially in engineering). They want to know your HS GPA and ACT scores. The Binghamton grad who got a 35 on the ACT and graduated in the top 2% of his HS class will absolutely get noticed.
- Binghamton has internships in major cities across the US.
- Employers know that not everybody can afford a top 20 school such as Duke. They are well aware that students attend schools such as Binghamton even though they may have been accepted to Duke or Cornell. A Binghamton grad who takes full advantage of his available opportunities will be successful. </p>
<p>Attending a top 20 school such as Duke is wonderful and I certainly hope that my daughter has the opportunity to attend, but I know if she ultimately lands at Binghamton she will continue to be successful. It will all boil down to money and employers, med schools, etc know this. </p>
<p>@lostaccount, I think you’re reeeally making a lot of assumptions, none of which are based on anything factual. I have friends from Missouri, Florida, California, and Massachusetts who recently graduated-- all are doing just fine, either with jobs in their chosen fields or heading to great grad schools. My boyfriend has a paid internship at an extremely well-known company-- he is one of two interns, out of 400 who applied. My CS-major friend has a job lined up after she graduates next year with a $90,000 salary. Two of my friends are interning at NASA this summer, and I know of at least two people who just graduated starting Fulbright scholarships this Fall. I could keep listing examples, but I think I got my point across. It’s absurd to say that it’s either Ivies or bust when it comes to being successful, and shows a very simplistic way of looking at the whole college decision.</p>
<p>Lemme weigh in here: I’m currently working at Microsoft, after interning at JPMorgan and Amazon. To LostAccount’s first point: I do agree that almost no one’s heard of Binghamton. And with regards to people mistaking Bing for Birmingham, during an job interview, the interviewer <em>literally</em> made that exact mistake. People who I meet in bars, at work etc. really haven’t heard of Bing.</p>
<p>BUT! I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else even if I had the chance. I had to make a similar choice between Bing, Stony (with a full ride scholarship) and Cornell. First of all, going in to one penny more debt for accolations of your potential future co-workers seems insane to me. Your Quality of Life at Duke will be no better than at Bing (actually, I’d argue it’s worse! You’ll have to compete with your privileged classmates’ conspicuous consumption). Secondly, your future job opportunities won’t be any different, though perhaps dependent on the major. Third, it’s great wearing a chip on your shoulder. I remember sitting in orientation for JPMorgan as a sophomore in college, surrounded by people from MIT, Harvard, Stanford and knowing that I am just as good as them, without having to go to some fancy private school to prove my worth. Maybe this is just me, but being the small fish in a big pond and a representative to my alma mater compels me to be better. </p>
<p>Every college has great students, wonderful professors and boundless opportunities to enrich student learning outside the classroom. </p>
<p>In fact, the experiences that students have outside of class are probably more important than the degrees they earn. Every college offers work study opportunities, activities and sports teams. Every college offers an alumni network and career counseling, too, and many encourage study abroad, even if it’s just for a short term. </p>
<p>A designer degree doesn’t matter nearly as much in the long run as the things a student does while getting that piece of paper – especially the activities and jobs between classes and during the summer. Those are the things that will truly contribute to a depth of self-discovery, transforming college students into adults with not only education, but confidence, job skills and a global perspective, too. </p>
<p>Pay no mind to Lostaccount - that user has been bashing SUNYs and especially Binghamton in multiple threads here lately. </p>
<p>If your goal for college is simply to get a “wow” whenever the topic of where you got your undergraduate degree came up, and you have the $28,000 difference sitting in a bank account, then fine, but as someone who evaluates resumes and interviews candidates, that “wow” factor lasts about 10 seconds. I might discuss it for a minute or two during an interview to help break the ice, but I really want to see what that person can do for my business. Being in the engineering profession, courses taken, projects completed, internship and coops completed, work experience are much more important than the name of the school the person came from. Success in a given undergraduate program might demonstrate the ability to learn and a certain amount of work ethic, but it doesn’t do much to demonstrate the leadership, teamwork, communication skills, passion etc needed to be successful in the business I am in. And once you are hired in, where you went to school simply does not come up at all, unless it’s to talk about football or some other sports team around the water cooler. It is really irrelevant. It has zero affect on opportunities, promotions, or raises. I know other folks have different opinions on this and that’s fine, but that’s my perspective. </p>
<p>I’m sure going to Duke or Brown might open some doors that the SUNYs do not, but a student who can get into Duke or Brown will likely stand out much more at the SUNY schools which in turn will open doors to research opportunities, interships etc. not available to an average student at Duke or Brown. I know of students who turned down names as big as those for SUNY schools just for those opportunities. It is simply much more complex than school A is ranked higher than school B or school C has more prestige than school D.</p>
<p>The OP didn’t state what field of study they are interested in. That $72,000 is a huge amount of loans to be saddled with upon graduation. Even with an engineering degree, that will impact your lifestyle for years and years to come – with some other degrees it might be difficult to even get ahead of the interest on the loans. I personally believe that someone who is getting that much aid from SUNY would be much better served getting their education from SUNY instead of piling on more debt, probably at a higher interest rate, to get a particular school’s name on a diploma.</p>
<p>Does major matter? </p>
<p>Suppose the student wants engineering. Binghamton is ranked 129 for undergraduate engineering in US News and World Report. Brown 35; Duke is ranked 19th. How about economics? Binghamton is below the 76 rated departments Brown-19th of 76 ranked;Duke-19th of 76 ranked. so maybe rank does not matter. How about faculty student ratio? Binghamton 20:1, Brown 8:1 Duke 7:1. Well maybe ratio is not important. Where would you meet peers from all over the country? Most Binghamton students come from NY. Brown and Duke? Well maybe that isn’t important. </p>
<p>If you plan to go to grad or professional school, does the college you went to matter? Everything else being equal, a name school will help gain admissions to grad and professional schools. And, if you don’t go on, everything else being equal, it will give you a leg up for a job. But it isn’t equal. Being at an elite school will give you opportunities that you won’t get elsewhere. If those things are not important then I’d say it does not matter which you choose. For a good discussion of these issue read the Atlantic’s article entitled “Does it matter where you go to college?”. Keep in mind that the discussion of flagship universities does not include SUNYs but does include places like Michigan (AA), U or Wisc (Madison) UC Berkely</p>
<p>I’m not saying Binghamton is a poor choice at all. I’d simply choose an elite private school over a medium sized public school except if it is one of the best flagships. According to Parchment, when given a choice between Brown and Binghamton, 72% choose Brown 28% choose Binghamton. When the choice is Duke vs Binghamton, 78% choose Duke and 22% choose Binghamton. Duke 52 Brown 48… But a sizable number of students select Binghamton over Brown and Duke.</p>
<p>Undergraduate school does not make one bit of difference for almost all majors. </p>
<p>not true</p>
<p>The following fields are not impacted by where you went to undergrad school: nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, teaching, psychology, medicine ( I know two girls who got into medical school at top colleges despite going to an unknown undergraduate college that requires a 3.0 to get accepted), dentistry ( I know a young dentist who attended undergrad at SUNY New Paltz). Are there certain professions where an undergraduate degree might matter? Yes. Is this true for most fields? No. </p>
<p>My daughter’s honors chemistry teacher graduated from Duke. Guess what? She is working in the same school as SUNY graduates and is making the exact same salary. </p>
<p>Nursing students who get their degrees from Hunter College ( CUNY) are highly regarded at all of the NYC hospitals. Does that mean that a nursing student from Emory will not be highly regarded? Of course not. </p>
<p>I have a family member who just graduated from a top 20 school with an engineering degree. He got 1 job offer. 2 of his friends graduated from the U of Buffalo with degrees in engineering and got multiple job offers. Different kids, different personalities. It’s not always the school- it’s what you make of your opportunities while you are there, and that depends on the student and what he/she brings to the table. </p>
<p>Brown and Duke cannot be compared to SUNY schools!</p>
<p>I understand that Brown and a Duke can’t be compared to SUNY schools. What I don’t agree with is people who claim that students who graduate from SUNY Binghamton on the undergraduate level will be less successful than people who graduate from schools such as Duke and Brown. That is simply not true. Many students attend Binghamton because their families could not afford Duke or Brown. Those kids will still be successful because that is who they are- they are highly driven and motivated. </p>
<p>There are plenty of kids who were accepted to Ivy League schools but for financial reasons attend Binghamton. These kids do very well, get super involved, get great internships, and move on to become successful grad students or members of the workforce. </p>
<p>There are many reasons to attend Binghamton, lower cost is not the only reason to go to Binghamton. It is a highly ranked, nice campus, and many successful students attend. There is no reason to say that a Binghamton graduate is at any disadvantage. It is the individual that will succeed, not where the degree is from. </p>
<p>I agree with you 100%. Thank you. </p>