Hello! I have recently been accepted into SUNY Binghamton and UVM, and just found out that I have been accepted into both of their honor college programs. I’m curious about people’s experience with either school (and honors colleges potentially!), and which school would be better for me. I’m thinking about majoring in something like philosophy, legal studies, or urban planning and attending law school after…
Obviously Binghamton is the cheaper option but barring price, which would be a better college experience?
I’m more of a liberal “hippy” I suppose, so I’m looking for a school where I can make good friends and that is more party friendly. At the same time I’m quite serious about doing well at school and would never let socializing jeopardize my future. I enjoy studying in groups and want to be able to be in an environment where people celebrate academic achievement but help each other achieve instead of compete. I also want a school that will look good to either law schools or future employers. I come from a small liberal college town so Burlington sounds more up my alley than binghamton… but really I’m looking for pros and cons here. Both have their perks.
Substantial differences in student SAT scores can affect the classroom experience, and Binghamton’s are over 100 points higher across the student body in comparison to UVM. So be aware of this among the many factors that may be important to you.
The main thing drawing me to binghamton is the difference in test scores and such. With an ACT of 29, I felt lucky to get in, and astounded to get into the honors college. At UVM, my test scores actually probably helped some.
Binghamton has a major UVM lacks (philosophy politics and law. I also have this notion that it will look better to employers or law schools…but I don’t have anything to base that assumption on
Binghamton does have a certain impressive quality when compared to other schools, in that their students have higher standardized scores than any other public university in New York, New England, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. However, I would suspect that law schools and employers may be less aware of this than we are of it here.
You’ll probably like the vibe at UVT better, and the overall student preparation at Bing more. The fact you’re in Honors should mitigate this, but do check out what “Honors” entails at both - ideally, you’d want several honors classes offered each semester, honors dorm, priority registration.
All in all… it may come down to costs.
What’s you’re parents’ budget (from income and savings)?
If you calculate (tuition, room, board, fees) - (scholarships, grants), how much does each cost?
UVT is a mix of hippie and sorta preppy, definitely laid back/non competitive but with many prep school kids (Putney more than Deerfield), party-friendly, and in a great college town. So it seems to match OP’s wishes as expressed in post #2.
However it’s also quite expensive, which is why I ask about costs.
The honors college UVM does include two freshman seminars, and potentially others in following years. Binghamton has honors only seminars for all four years. And money isn’t an issue in this decision. I have $68,000 in merit aid at UVM which brings the cost down enough that my parents are willing and happy to pay the difference if I decide that UVM is the better fit.
Beatofopinion have you made a decision yet? My daughter is very much in the same boat as you. Her dad thinks Binghamton is the better school, but she likes the “vibe” at UVM better. Another option is Geneseo…not sure if you applied there, but it is a little smaller and different feel on campus than Binghamton. Not much of a city, but I guess you can’t have it all. UDell is also an option for her, but they didn’t give her as much merit $, so it’s def a little more expensive.
Your college major does not affect law school decisions. Many people believe that they should major in poli sci or something similar if they ant to go to law schools. Law schools don’t care what you undergrad major is. They are interested in your LSAT score and your gpa, period. You should major in something you like and do well in. Never visited UVM but we did attend an accepted students day at Binghamton. The students all seemed very happy. However, the town is really run down and there is nothing to do in the surrounding area. In the end you will be spending four years at whichever school you choose and you have t o be happy. Try to visit again before making your choice.
@AnxiousMomof2 I haven’t made my decision yet- I’m still waiting to hear from a couple of my reach schools (not hopeful though). I think between the two I’ll go with UVM. I got 68,000 in scholarship there and with benefits from my mom’s work the tuition comes down to somewhere between 7,000-11,000, either of which is doable for my family. I still need to visit (especially binghamton because location is important to me and I’m used to living in a nice college town) and so I think at this point it’d take a lot to convince me to choose it over Burlington.
UVM has a somewhat dispiriting admissions yield figure associated with it. At just 13%, it appears that relatively few accepted students ultimately enroll. Binghamton fares somewhat better at 21%.