I need help with my college selection. I am between Bing and Boston and I need to decide asap. Would anyone mind listing pros and cons for each college or give their own opinion on which college to choose?
If you’re instate go to Binghamton! It’s much cheaper.
I’m going to major in biology on a pre-med track but I do not know which school provides a better science education
Binghamton is good for what you want to do – not to mention it’ll be cheaper!
The one thing that is holding me back from going to Binghamton is its lack of research compared to BU.
Both schools have more research than you will have time to involve yourself in. Binghamton isn’t lacking in that department. My comment about research isn’t simply to suggest BInghamton is the better school. I don’t think it is but it is cheaper. If money isn’t an issue, I’ don’t think there is much that weights on Binghamton’s side. Boston is a great place to go to school. The city of Binghamton is an economically depressed and (my opinion) depressing place.
Individual departments at Boston are rated appreciably higher than the same ones at Binghamton. The name recognition of Boston is much greater. Boston’s undergrad program in biology is 84, among their less strong departments. But at Binghamton it is 164. It is known as one of the weakest departments at Binghamton (although chemistry is 148). Someone is bound to say that these ratings apply only to grad programs. That isn’t true. They are ratings of the strength of each department as viewed by others at peer educational institutions. Since undergrad majors and grad students in a dept are impacted by the faculty and resources of that dept, the strength of that dept matters to both.
Research is conducted at both schools. That isn’t to say that the experiences are the same but there is certainly research going on at both.
Medical school admissions (not firsthand experience but with close friends, relatives, etc) seems to be far more about your GPA and your MCAT score than other factors. Of course, research will help (and would be a good experience anyway) but the key is to go wherever you feel most comfortable for you to learn and get good grades.
I know multiple folks who went to colleges you’d never hear of (not ranked in the top 200 nationally) who were admitted to Hopkins, Harvard, Penn, etc. The reason? Good grades and scores. That’s what it comes down too.
You can certainly go to any medical school you wanted from Binghamton. If the cost is a factor at all, consider using the money you would’ve saved from Binghamton for medical school. Either way, you have good options here.
On the research front- keep in mind that it will be important that you’ve applied yourself in research not so much the ranking of the department you are in. Standing out academically and meeting professors who would involve you in their lab is the best way to get meaningful work that will not only give you good experience but be informative to the medical admissions ppl.
What are the costs at each?parents’budget? Other possibilities?
People are confused about the ranking of departments. In this case the rank reflects what others in the field think of the biology department at Binghamton. Applying yourself is important everywhere. Applying yourself at a place that most professionals think is a good department might yield more than applying yourself in the same way in a department most professionals in the field view as crappy. Things that might make a department viewed poorly by professionals in the field might include having no known researchers, low productivity or less meaningful research, poor resources, internal conflict. Standing out academically at an outstanding school and conducting research in the lab of a well known professor might carry more weight than doing the same at a less strong department. If the point is that it is easier to do that in a less well known department I disagree. Binghamton pre-med students are fiercely competitive in terms of grades and opportunities. It’s not as if the other students would be clueless about what is needed to get into med school. They have their eye on credentials as their number one concern. Standing out would be equally difficult at both schools. But Binghamton is the cheaper alternative.
Pre-med students are fiercely competitive at every college and university in the country! The ones at Binghamton are not unique.
Med school is ridiculously expensive, so it almost always makes better sense to choose the less expensive undergrad program.
Unless you have a pressing need to be in Boston and money to burn, I’d go to Binghamton.
Cost for bing is 23k with loans but no scholarships, cost for boston is 44k including two scholarships/grants but I have submitted an appeal for financial aid reconsideration, and family income is 120,000+
What’s Bing’s cost without the loans?
And 44K for a family that makes 120k is way too much, but BU doesn’t meet need and is notoriously stingy with FA. :s
What are your other choices?
Never mind that was bings costs without loans and my other choice is stony brook
Is Stony Brook the same cost as Binghamton?
I’ve decided to go to BU even though it has a high sticker price. BU felt like a better fit for me than Binghamton in the end because of how lively the campus is including the city itself. Binghamton may have a lively campus but the area around it is dreadful. BU is more globally recognized than Binghamton so I know I’ll be better off with a BU degree; which will also give me an advantage when applying to medical school. Although, the debt is high it will be worth it once I earn an above average salary. I’d be able to pay off the debt within 10 years. Applying for a job will even be easier if I have an undergrad degree from BU as opposed to Binghamton. Even if I did go to Bing for undergrad and got a 4.0 GPA, it would be even harder for me to go to a top notch med school because it does not have a lot of rep and it is not as well known as BU. Even if grade deflation exists, I know I can work hard and get the 3.6-3.9 GPA because in the end it will all pay off. I hope that I made the right decision.
You can’t beat the Boston University location or the Bing campus life. What it comes down to is the typical “where you see yourself in 5 years” and all that jazz. If Bing has what you’re looking for, it may be worth the sticker price to really follow your dreams.
Congratulations. I hope you have a great experience. Good luck!