<p>My son is a sophomore at Hofstra, is involved in school and is doing well academically.
He applied, on a whim, to Binghamton as a transfer student. His thinking was that if he saved college tuition, he will have money for grad school. That is our agreement: we pay private school only or state school plus grad. He was accepted for Spring 2013 at Binghampton. He is now having doubts about transferring because he is comfortable where he is. I, on the other hand, am really liking the Binghamtom monetary value/education. He would not have gotten in as a Freshman, so that was not an option. Do I encourage him to finish the last 2 1/2 years at Bing (even though we can pay for Hofstra- Im really liking the tuition at Bing!) or keep him where he is, since he is doing well and likes it.
Thank you. Your input is appreciated.</p>
<p>If he does well at Binghamton, it will reflect well in his grad school applications. Since it’s a real university, he might even be able to stay at Binghamton for grad school. SUNY-B is a definite step up, academically. If he’s too hesitant to rise to the challenge, it might mean you won’t be confronted with the grad school issue any time soon. If it’s giving up his friends and social life that’s bothering him, the two schools are not so far away from each other that he can’t go down to LI for a weekend.</p>
<p>Binghamton has a much better reputation. I would be all over that transfer if it were my kid.</p>
<p>Has he considered Stony Brook? My D’s BF attended SB and transferred to Binghamton to get off Long Island. He came back because he said the education at Binghamton was not rigorous enough. I know that’s not the common wisdom, but that was his experience. He was in the math department, so that might make a difference.</p>
<p>He did go on for a masters in math and is now doing well as a programmer in NYC living in Brooklyn, so he never did get off LI. He could wait to go Fall 2013 at Stony Brook, or perhaps he could defer his admission to Binghamton one semester is he is not ready.</p>
<p>As for not being able to go to grad school from Hofstra, that’s just not true. Hofstra is a university with graduate departments.</p>
<p>I would not over-emphasize Bing being superior academically.</p>
<p>Morty Shapiro, who became president of Williams College and is now president of Northwestern University is a Hofstra grad. So is Mary Matalin, Bush’s campaign manager. (I’m a Democrat, but that’s an impressive cred.)</p>
<p>Financially, Bing is a better deal, no doubt about it, but it isn’t if your son isn’t comfortable there and doesn’t do well.</p>
<p>Kids can be scared, but they can also be psychic. </p>
<p>BTW: I am on LI and teach in the state university system, so if you have more specific questions, PM me.</p>
<p>My wife, my sister, and my niece all graduated from Bing. Students are generally happy there, involved in the school and the community. The social life is good and their grad school admission rates were great last time I checked. If he is happy at Hofstra, odds are he would be happy at Binghamton.</p>
<p>They do have the habit of complaining about the locals (loudly and nasally as I recall). As a NYer he should know some students there. He can look at it as a $100/day job to transfer to a superior academic school and put up with the change.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for the insight. He boards there (we don’t live on LI) and at at 40K- which is our out of pocket, I’m starting to not see the value in the Hofstra education, even though Hofstra is my alma mater.</p>
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<p>In this particular case, the emphasis on Bing or Stony if that was part of the discussion makes a lot of sense. Both would be a substantial step up academically.</p>
<p>As someone who grew up and still lives in the NYC area, the conventional wisdom among many NYC area locals was that Hofstra was for well-off academically marginal/mediocre suburbanite HS graduates who couldn’t get into a higher-end SUNY/CUNY school and yet, didn’t want the “stigma” of attending a state school. Something which never made sense to us city folks as it was well known that Hofstra’s academic rep was at best, equivalent to the bottom-tier of state/local public colleges at a private school price. </p>
<p>Most parents of middle/working-class kids wouldn’t even allow their kids to put Hofstra on the application list as if that’s an academic match/reach, those parents felt state colleges were just as good and in cases of schools like Stonybrook or Bing, much better academically without the private school price. </p>
<p>Moreover, speaking of Hofstra grad schools, I know several graduates of their law school. With the exception of a single individual, the rest have been unemployed/under employed with around $200k of law school debt hanging over their heads. That single exception was a military vet, decade of prior work experience in the area of law he was going into, and was an exceptional networker with connections to various parts of the country that most law grads couldn’t match. Despite that, even he said if he had to do it over again, he would have opted to go elsewhere if he knew what he knows now about Hofstra.</p>
<p>OP:is there a specific major involved? I agree that $40,000 over Bing is a bit steep unless there is something at Hofstra that he cannot get at Binghamton…</p>
<p>to the above poster:.not playing devil’s advocate here, but, I know of a bunch of Hofstra Law Grads who are extremely successful…</p>
<p>back to our regularly scheduled program…</p>
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<p>Are most/all of them post-2006 graduates?</p>
<p>^^No, definitely not…didn’t realize you were referring to recent grads…</p>
<p>There are unemployed/underemployed JD’s all over the place; not necessarily only at Hofstra…but I see your point…</p>
<p>A better school for less money seems like a pretty great deal. I would only worry if he’s very shy and you/he anticipate that it will be hard for him to make friends as a transfer. It’s not easy to come in mid-year, though maybe he could live with a group of fellow transfers.</p>
<p>I would take that transfer acceptance right up to the financial aid office and ask if there was any merit aid available to make staying at Hofstra more attractive. Hofstra does give merit and you never do know what is available from a dept specific or donor. I suggest you make the appointment together and go with your student.</p>
<p>Silly question perhaps, but has he been to Binghampton? If not, perhaps seeing it would help him decide? Many moons ago I had a friend who was a grad student in the CS dept at UVA. He was brilliant, and tons of fun too. Good combination- maybe all the kids will seem so to him.</p>
<p>" the two schools are not so far away from each other that he can’t go down to LI for a weekend." - It’s not all that easy. I’ve lived in Binghampton and have relatives on LI. A weekend trip could be arranged (especially with a car or carpool), but if I recall correctly it is 4+ hours each way, some of it ugly driving.</p>
<p>I go to Binghamton so I’m probably biased but I think it’s definitely a better choice over Hofstra, even without money coming into the picture. From my experience, transfers do well here. It’s a social campus and there’s something for everyone-- people who stay in, people who party, people who want to be around other people but not drink, etc. And as far as coming home is concerned, I don’t know if he has a car but there’s a bus that leaves 3pm for LI every Friday and returns Sunday night, $60 round trip. It’s not ideal but it’s nice knowing that if you really have to or want to go home for the weekend, the option is there. Feel free to ask any other questions!</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. Going back to Long Island is a non issue, we live 1 1/2 away from LI/ he just likes Hofstra, made friends, is very involved on campus, etc.
Binghamton will not guarantee on campus housing but he could live in University Plaza.
What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>I don’t want to minimize the social stress of transferring, but someone who successfully got involved and made a bunch of friends at his first school is likely to do so again. Living with other undergrads is a high priority for me – private dorms may work just as well as university housing for that.</p>
<p>Not to piggyback on the thread, but I have a question-</p>
<p>I’m sure some of you have heard of the “Back door method” to find out if you’ve been accepted before actually being accepted. If it allows you to login to pay the deposit, you’re in, and so on. Some have said that it’s not the case, but the only people who have ever said that are bing representatives, who I’m sure aren’t actually allowed to disclose this method as being accurate. Now when I go to the page it won’t let me log in and says I’m not eligible to pay admissions deposits. But then I click the link that says “if you already have a BU account, please visit student accounts web payments to make a payment on your account”, which brings me to a sign in page again, and I can successfully log in. I didn’t pay anything just in case, but it is allowing me to. Does this mean that I’m in for spring 2013?</p>