For me, I’m “freaking out” b/c last year by this time hardly anyone was accepted past this date that were deferred. While I’ve been waiting I have been accepted to SBU, Pitt, Geneseo and large scholarships from U Mass and BU that have outstanding science programs. Doing research Binghamton’s science is consistently low which makes me feel like. 1: why would I go to a college that has lower rankings in my field of interest? And 2: why would I go there if I applied in October and I am still waiting in March. Obviously they are not really interested in me.
So that’s just what’s in my head right now. Obviously if I do get in I would still consider Bing. I’m just slowly growing less interested I guess. Not really sure on anything though.
Geneseo’s yield is in the low 20’s-in the same neighborhood as Binghamton and many other schools. Geneseo’s freshman enrollment has grown by 20% (from around 1000 from 2010-2 to 1215 in 2014), which is a faster rate than Binghamton (from 2228 in 2010 to 2528 in 2014). The SAT range of Geneseo’s enrolled freshman has dropped as a result, from 600-690 CR and 620-700 M in 2010 to 550-660 CR and 570-660 M in 2014. However, Binghamton’s has not during this same time period: 580-670 CR in 2010 and 590-670 CR in 2014, and 620-700 M for 2010 and 2014.
Additionally, as you describe Binghamton’s as “busting as the seams” and its student-faculty ratio as “deplorable”, Binghamton’s 2014 student-faculty ratio was 20:1 while Geneseo’s was 19.5:1 in 2014. Additionally, 51% of Binghamton undergraduate classes (761 of 1476) had between 10-29 students while 49% (384 of 780) of Geneseo’s undergraduate classes were between 10-29 students in 2014.
This is not diverse opinion contributing to a healthy debate as you have suggested when others have taken issue with your criticisms of Binghamton. These are facts that can easily be obtained by looking at each school’s Common Data Set. As a parent whose child has been accepted to both schools, we have some important decisions to make in the next month and I’ve followed these forums carefully. Your criticisms of Binghamton are not unwarranted at times, but you seem to have a double standard and an axe to grind with Binghamton. Binghamton has undoubtedly put resources into new construction of dorms and sports centers (as well as academic facilities), as have schools across the country. I personally think they look great and am not convinced that they were built at the expense of academics. If so let’s hold our local community college as well as the new dorms at SUNY-ESF (a great school) to the same standard.
As a Binghamton alumni myself, I was angered with the scandal surrounding the basketball team five years ago. It was a misguided attempt to enter the world and money of big-time college sports. But as college sports scandals goes, it barely registers. Just look at this weekend’s headlines about the Syracuse basketball program (never mind Penn State, one of those highly touted “flagships”). I highly doubt that any prospective student and their family is going to be dissuaded from attending Binghamton or Penn State (Keith Olbermann not withstanding) as a result.
Does Binghamton over-sell itself, as you have criticized it for? Without a doubt, as does Geneseo by the way. But without a doubt it deserves to be considered among the top public universities in the country. With a focus on numbers rather than opinion, one can easily where Binghamton stacks up here:
. . .this ins’t entirely true. Money is a huge factor in choosing what school one attends. It’s a simple cost-benefit ratio that tells me Binghamton is a better option than a top private school I’ll be paying $60,000+ at. It doesn’t matter if I love that top private school. It doesn’t matter if it’s my dream school. Leaving college with $100,000+ worth of debt is not worth it for me. In that situation, I’ll choose Binghamton 10/10 times.
dcalbb, The scandals at Binghamton were far from all about basketball although none other were probably so costly. There were plenty of scandals but it is true that many, by no means all, were related to the former president who resigned in disgrace and of those, most involving her directly related to sports. It is true that many other schools have had each of the kinds of scandals that were true for Binghamton but it would be hard to find one school that had so many in rapid succession.
The faculty student ratios of schools have different impact depending upon the responsibilities of the faculty. It is possible that they are both deplorable. I know Binghamton’s are. There is a severe shortage of support staff and other employees. I don’t know if Geneseo’s are.
Both Geneseo and Binghamton may oversell-I don’t know-but I know that the “Public Ivy” campaign of Binghamton was disingenuous. It ran at the same time they were cutting the frequency of cleaning the bathrooms to cut costs.
Your opinion that Geneseo is “stronger school for most undergrads” due to Binghamton “trying to grow too fast” is not supported by the facts as presented in each school’s Common Data Set. Not only are student faculty ratios virtually identical at both schools, but slightly more classes (51 vs. 49%) are between 10 and 29 students at Binghamton. But you are correct that it depends on the responsibilities of the faculty. As you stated that Michigan “puts Binghamton to shame”, I looked up Michigan’s Common Data Set for 2014. While Michigan’s student faculty ratio is 15:1, considerably lower than Binghamton’s or Geneseo’s, the percentage of undergraduate classes between 10-29 students is very similar at 54% (1,983 of 3,676 undergraduate classes). Your claim that top New York State students are now choosing out-of-state flagships, such as Michigan, rather than Binghamton is doubtful as Binghamton has maintained its admission standards as it has increased freshman enrollment by 13% from 2010 to 2014. How many people can afford to send their kids to Michigan anyway? Out-of-state tuition is $41,811 this year. While my child’s academic stats fit Michigan’s (and other flagships’) profile, it’s not financially feasible without accumulating massive student debt.
Your claim that Binghamton’s use of the term “Public Ivy” is merely an unwarranted public relations campaign is also false. Binghamton was listed as a “worthy runner-up” on Moll’s original list of eight “Public Ivies” in 1985 (This was the year after I graduated during the mythical “Golden Age of Harpur”). Binghamton was then included on Greene’s 2001 expanded list of 30 “Public Ivies”. Source:http://www.collegeatlas.org/public-ivy-league.html
You appear to be very knowledgeable about the college admissions process. However, I have taken the time to respond to you because I believe that your antipathy towards Binghamton clouds your judgment of the school and your posts often do a disservice to prospective students and their families.
I remember when my son was applying to colleges Geneseo was trumpeted as a “public LAC”.
So I was quite surprised when we toured there and found that the student: teacher ratio was same as other SUNYs,. A Prof I met there complained about the impact of budget cuts on class sizes. It struck me, rightly or wrongly, as being like the other state Us in terms of class sizes, but like an LAC in having relatively few programs and offerings. The worst of both worlds. The campus reminded me of a high school. Smaller" is not always an advantage. From my D1s experience I learned that a small school in a small town is not an optimal combination, in terms of social and extracurricular options. We both preferred Binghamton, by a long shot.
However, like most people, we were deciding based on brief exposure and research on both schools, consequently we may have drawn wrong conclusions, and in any event YMMV.
From reading other recent threads on CC, it seems that in the ensuing years Geneseo has experienced a significant drop in applications, consequently a significant rise in acceptance rate and lower incoming class stats. Why, I do not know.
“The scandals at Binghamton were …”
.Whatever they WERE, what they ARE is old news that current applicants don’t give a hoot about…
If Penn State is still on probabtion, you can care about that, if you are a college sports fanatic and are considering Penn State. But there is no constructive point of continuing to brood about Paterno and how bad he was. He is gone.
My daughter applied early action to SOM, deferred several weeks ago. Received an email Friday accepting her into Harpur. Seems like it’s very difficult to transfer into the SOM so she remains undecided.
My son applied to SOM early action, but was deferred. His college counselor just sent him an email saying that Binghamton’s admissions personnel suggested that he transfer his application to Harpur, as there “could be a slot” for him if he did so. He has already emailed transferring his application, and stating that he will attend if admitted. My question is, has this happened to anyone else? Does he have a real chance?
So Binghamton is the only university we are still waiting to hear from. Daughter has heard from all her EA and RD schools. While I understand the process of deferral it is mind bending that a student can submit their application in early October and still not have an answer. Status still states “Deferred to Reg Consideration”. I do not believe her application was looked at beyond her GPA and ACT scores. Her letter of intent to the college admission counselor is answered with a generic response. It seems to Binghamton she is not much more than a number. Yes, the in-state tuition would be nice but not sure it’s worth the savings if this is how she would be treated as a student.
@nymom64 My son applied to UB and Stony Brook at the same time. UB and Stony Brook were regular admission but we used the SUNY App so it went in late October with all the SUNY schools. Heard back from Stony Brook on Jan 9 and UB on Jan 26. Both gave him scholarships with acceptance. Both schools have been very good to deal with. Still waiting on Bing…still says “Deferred to Reg Consideration”. I know they have a ton of applicants this year but we got an email from Stony Brook that said they had over 30,000 applicants and they seemed to get it done in a timely manner. UB, being a much larger school, surely had more applicants to deal with.
@Robgal74 my daughter applied to UB RD and received scholarship with acceptance into their Honors College. I agree that UB being a much larger school would have more applicants to deal with but they are probably better staffed as well. The EA process at Binghamton seems flawed (at least this year) where a wave of acceptances went out in December and then seemingly every other EA applicant received a deferral in January (right at the notification date). Again, it seems to me that they looked solely at GPA and test scores and not the whole application. While my daughter’s stats are not through the roof, they are certainly well enough in the range given for accepted students. She is completing her senior year at the local community college while still maintaining her ties to her HS as a varsity athlete in two sports. She has a strong work ethic and her community service and her employment for the past three years mirror her career goals. If Binghamton is a college only interested in raising its ranking and not interested in a diverse, well-rounded student body then I am glad that my daughter fell in love with another university (alas out of state) and felt that her interests and goals (academically and otherwise) would be best met there. Luckily for us she received a very generous scholarship and although it still does not make the cost the same as attending a SUNY, my husband and I believe that it is the right place for her. Still, I am very disappointed in Binghamton’s admission process.
“For me, I’m “freaking out” b/c last year by this time hardly anyone was accepted past this date that were deferred. … 1: why would I go to a college that has lower rankings in my field of interest? And 2: why would I go there if I applied in October and I am still waiting in March. Obviously they are not really interested in me.”
So I think the freaking out part is natural. I also think you are going through what many of us are (both kids and parents): Preparing ourselves psychologically to accept the possibility of a rejection. We are all stressed right now wondering what is going on behind the scenes. My suggestion–one that I am having trouble following myself–is to wait to answer your questions until you hear from all of your schools.If you feel a school does not have a strong program in your field of interest that is one thing and valid, but don’t consider the timing of a response. Once you are into a school, no one will know or care whether you heard early or late, whether you were taken off a wait list or whether you are a transfer. It’s an even playing field once you are accepted.
In terms of a “flawed system,” I just wanted to mention that there are many other schools that defer early action and early decision kids and then notify them April 1st. Binghamton is not unique in that way. My child has gotten some deferrals and some acceptances–all came at different times with no real rhyme or reason. It’s just a crazy, stressful time for both parents and kids and we all have to keep in perspective that everyone will end up going somewhere they can do well and succeed.