<p>Hi--my son is a rising HS senior & considering Stony Brook (just applied today). He wants to major in computer science but has (unfortunately) heard some negative things on places like princeton review re: the lack of student life/activities/school spirit at Stony Brook as well as a somewhat 'clique-ish' student body.</p>
<p>I'm encouraging him to perhaps visit to get a better feel for the place (& see if there are positives to outweigh prior negative info). Is there some way he (& perhaps a friend) could visit & do more than the traditional tour/admission-info-session? I've heard some schools allow prospective students to stay overnight, or shadow a student or otherwise get to know the current students and understand the college experience more completely.</p>
<p>Thanks for any thoughts!</p>
<p>We do that in the spring for admitted students -- the volume would just be too big to invite every applicant.</p>
<p>Chris</p>
<p>Okay! That makes sense! He was going to visit this fall, but if things get tight, time-wise, maybe it would be better to wait until (if!) he is admitted in the spring. Could I ask if it's very busy re: visitations at that point? Would it perhaps be better to get a feel for the school/students to do it in the fall if there are fewer crowds of prospective freshmen..?</p>
<p>Does he know anyone at Stonybrook? If so he could stay with them for a visit this fall. I agree that an overnight visit is a great way to feel if you fit in on a campus.</p>
<p>If he has no current contacts at Stonybrook, and is a bit bold, he could post on the SUNY "Stonybrook class of 2011" or "Stonybrook 2012" facebook groups saying what he wants to do. He may very well find a current freshman or sophomore willing to let him (and a friend) sleep in a dorm room on a school night.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether or not your son can shadow any student, you should visit in the Fall (if it's not a huge hassle for you guys to travel to Stony Brook). I mean it's important to see what the school is like. Visit the compsci department especially, ask about previous undergrads: where did they go to grad? How about ones that did not go to grad, where did they end up? Are there research opportunities? How about internship opportunities? You get the idea pretty much.</p>
<p>Also go to one of the dining places and ask people what they think about the school, don't be shy. It's no big deal since nobody is going to remember that your son asked them questions a year ago. </p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>Thanks to you both! Son doesn't know anyone at Stony Brook. He's not big on going up to strangers/taking the initiative, which is why I was hoping we could arrange something via the admiss office. But, once he's done his apps, we'll check out those facebookgroups. Maybe someone there went to his NJ HS.</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Might also be worth contacting the undergraduate computer science club to see if they could set him up with someone (The</a> Stony Brook Computing Society); they're a pretty fun, friendly bunch of people, and I'm sure they'd be happy to help! Definitely skew towards the dorky end of things, but most CS people do :-P</p>
<p>Thanks for that idea, Pseudonym! Will definitely keep it in mind!</p>