Just another thought- a lot of people are mentioning debt concerns. OP, you did not mention if finances are a concern, but if they are, try the Net Price calculators on private colleges’ websites. For example, on the Williams College site, it is called a “Quick Cost Estimator.” The nation’s top colleges offer amazingly generous need-based financial aid. Depending on your finances, you could end up paying less at Harvard than you would at a SUNY! These quality schools often are need blind, which means they admit students without considering whether they can pay or not. Then they often promise to meet the full need of every admitted student. In addition, many use only grants and campus jobs, no loans, to do so! All this info will be available on the website of each school.
Of course your child may prefer a SUNY because something about a particular SUNY school really appeals to him.
But as someone who is new to the country, as you mentioned, you might not be aware that only upper middle class and upper class students ever pay the full sticker price at many top US colleges. Most admitted students get financial aid from the college. Just look at the information on the website of each school.
Geneseo has a very well-respected bio program. Buffalo has a medical school. These could be good places to start.
Just a general reply here, I’m still figuring out how to use this site…
It seems there is couple of suggestions to look at Geneseo which I hadn’t considered. @TheGreyKing clarified my muddling of the terms LAC and humanities. Just “looking”. When we first applied to high schools he was considering computer programming. His high school has majors and he’s in the medicine one. We thought he was going to choose computer science. So Stony Brook looks good to me because its strong in both…and if he changes his mind or get “weeded out” it won’t be an expensive mistake.
I’ve been able to glean from responses that for the CUNY/SUNY schools, I should also consider Geneseo, Buffalo, Plattsburgh, Binghamton. I’m looking at the Sophie Davis Program, but he’s not a top top student. Also, from what I’ve been able to interpret from that program is that its preference is for under represented minorities that can serve their communities especially in primary care. I’m not sure we would qualify. Personally, Stony Brook looks favorable because its heavy in all sciences, Hunter because its in the city --definitely need more info on this school, I’m getting mixed signals from what I’ve read from students there.
Anyone with more personal insight on Stony Brook and Hunter?
Stony Brook is a strong college known for sciences, but I think it’s also a commuter school. A lot of kids seem to go home on weekends.
Stony Brook is a very good school that is known for the sciences, but it is a big commuter school. A lot of kids do go home on the weekends.
I used to work in the nursing school at Hunter - it is a very strong program.
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Stony Brook is a big commuter school
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Yes but that may not be a big negative for my ds, when I use to talk to him about going away for school he’d look at me like I was banishing him lol…
also, he’s varsity lacrosse, first string, so maybe he’d find some way to join a club team if he wants.
I AM looking at all possible public schools for the moment and branching out from there.
Stony Brook, Buffalo, Binghamton, Geneseo, Plattsburgh, and Hunter are the ones that come to mind and that have been mentioned. Without GPA and test scores it is difficult to offer any other schools ( for possible merit) and it is unclear which of these are safeties. This is certainly a good list to start with!
Two more schools would be SUNY Old Westbury- they have a biology major- and SUNY Oswego which has pre-health majors and the necessary prerequisites for a variety of programs including medicine. Good luck!
I grew up in the public school district (Three Village) that includes the village of Stony Brook and the university. Since your son is looking at the school, maybe he and you would enjoy hearing about the town. It is a nice area, with a quaint albeit overpriced town with an old historic mill and a mechanical eagle on the old post office that flaps its wings hourly. There is a park to walk through, and historic buildings turned into restaurants: the Three Village Inn and the Country House. The latter is rumored to have a ghost, ha ha. The Museums at Stony Brook display the art work of Long Island artist William Sidney Mount and the historic horse-drawn carriage collection of philanthropist Ward Melville. Within ten minutes of campus, in Setauket, he can visit the preserved colonial Thompson House, or lie in the sun and splash in the ocean water at West Meadow Beach. The next town over, also about ten minutes from campus, Port Jefferson, has an amazing tourist oriented town, that is great to walk through with friends, with a farmers market on the weekends and a ferry to Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Prefer a big mall or strip malls or chain stores? A wide variety of ethnic restaurants? All nearby if he knows someone with a car.
The Long Island Railroad has a train stop right on the edge of the SUNY campus. It can take him to Penn Station in Manhattan in just under two hours… one hour and fifty two minutes, to be precise.
The campus itself is huge and sprawling. There are buses to take across campus! It is a wooded campus. The buildings themselves are modern and… well, I guess beauty could be in the eye of a different beholder!
In high school I interned in a genetics lab at the medical health science complex at the university, and when my dad has his heart attack he was saved with cutting edge innovative techniques at the university’s hospital. It certainly is an impressive place for health sciences.
There are a lot of international students, of which my family played host to some. There are also a lot of kids from Long Island who commute, as noted by others on this thread.
My H went to Stony Brook and loved the village and the school. However, when we took our kids to visit it, the two middle boys would literally not get out of the car because they thought the campus was so ugly. One of them is at Plattsburgh now. I will agree that the village is very pretty still, We were recently out at one of the vineyards and stopped in to shop in town on the way out.
SB is still a big suitcase school.
Hunter is an excellent school as well.
To the OP - check out suny.edu. The website has a feature where you can search by major and it tells you what the ranges are for grades.
thanks @twogirls …hadn’t even heard of these.
@TheGreyKing Thank you for the lovely anecdote and introduction to your hometown! Years ago I dropped my son off at lacrosse camp at Stony Brook. It was a race in and out during pick up and drop off but I thought on first impression the campus was beautiful. I wish we had looked around some more but did not think that far. There weren’t any students as it was summer, although the kids directing us around might have been from the school. We did head to Port Jefferson for lunch though and it is a lovely little town.
The LIRR is not far from us so commuting is not out of the question IF he chooses to go to Stony Brook if he gets accepted. My son is at a Specialized High School and many of his classmates commute 2 hours to get to school everyday and back. Its insane what New Yorkers have to deal with to get a decent education.
Talking about insane, it looks like maneuvering around Hunters administration and picking classes is just that from what I’ve read. It does sound great for the right kind of student, someone who is persistent, organized and very savvy.
I’m loving what I am reading about Geneseo…and it looks picture perfect lol! It sounds like the perfect school for me! If I could only spin the clock back 30 years :D.
Getting to Buffalo next. I like that its a city.
thanks @techmom99, the website suggestion is very helpful, will look at it sometime today.