<p>I've been accepted to these three schools for the Fall 2013 semester as a Aerospace Engineering (Buffalo), or Mechanical (Stony, Bing) major. I've been having a hard time deciding which school to attend. I want to go to a school with a strong reputation for engineering that will provide me with research opportunities and will allow me to get into a top grad school like UMich, UC Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA etc. while also providing a strong social atmosphere with much to do. I would like to major in Aerospace but considering Buffalo is the only school to offer it I've included the others on my list. At Buffalo I would most likely be doing a double major in MechE and AeroE. Stony and Buffalo have both offered me $2.5k/yr in scholarships. I'm from Long Island and it would be nice to get away and have a change of scenery, but part of me feels that Stony has been on the rise lately and may become the premier SUNY University in the future. So which school has the best program? The best quality of life? and the most opportunities?</p>
<p>I am also choosing from these 3 schools (among others - waiting for my financial aid package from Rensselaer and decisions from my last 2 schools) for engineering. I’m looking into Biomedical or Chemical. </p>
<p>However, I have already eliminated Buffalo from my list for a few reasons.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The location: I feel like if I went to Buffalo I would never want to come home because of the 7+ hour drive. And it’s not always convenient to take a train or bus. Also, I can deal with the cold of downstate NY but Buffalo would just be too much. It also just seems like a pretty gloomy place in general.</p></li>
<li><p>Buffalo’s other programs are weaker: I don’t plan on switching out of engineering, but you never know. I may realize it’s not for me and I feel like Buffalo’s other programs outside of engineering are pretty weak and that Stony Brook or Binghamton would give me better options.</p></li>
<li><p>Social atmosphere: I’m not a student at Buffalo and what I’m saying is based off experiences talking to people who go there, but basically if you’re not doing engineering or pre-med/pre-pharmacy at Buffalo, you’re there to party. I’ve heard stories about how most kids outside of the majors I listed slack off and don’t care. Again, I don’t go to Buffalo so this is all second-hand experience. I’m not totally worried about this since if I went to Buffalo, I’d be in honors housing and stuff but I’ve heard it’s hard to ignore.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I wonder if Binghamton’s engineering is really that much worse than Buffalo and Stony Brook’s. The people on here think you’re crazy if you go to Bing for engineering but idk. I definitely don’t think I’d fit in at Buffalo though.</p>
<p>It’s going to be a tough decision, Buffalo gave me $5k and honors, Stony Brook gave me $3.5k and University Scholars and Binghamton gave me nothing.</p>
<p>I think you should choose between Stony and Buffalo since Binghamton really doesn’t have much of an engineering reputation.
From what I’ve read, Buffalo has higher quality of life while Stony Brook has more research opportunities. I would give Stony a slight edge academically. It’s a tough decision to make.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about Binghamton’s Watson School of Engineering. It seems like Bing doesn’t have much of a reputation for Engineering so I crossed that off my list for the most part. </p>
<p>I feel as though you may be correct in your assertion of the party life at Buffalo. I joined the Class of 2017 Facebook group for Buffalo and a lot of people sound like they’re just going to party if they aren’t in Engineering/Pharm. </p>
<p>That being said, I feel like Stony is the complete opposite, having students commute and make for a dead campus on the weekends, accompanied by a boring suburban locale. I’m from Long Island so Stony Brook is really more of the same. Even though Buffalo may be colder I’d be able to deal with it, at least there is a somewhat sizable city within a few minutes from campus. A lot of my other options like Michigan and Georgia Tech are much farther away and the distance doesn’t really bother me personally. The only thing you listed which I find negative is the gloomy atmosphere, which is just another compromise I guess, considering pricing plays such a huge factor in where I attend.</p>
<p>It’ll definitely be a tough decision in the end, Buffalo and Stony both offered me $2.5k, and I’m waiting to hear about Fin Aid at a few other schools.</p>
<p>I agree with what you said about the social aspect (or rather lack of social aspect) about Stony. When I visited on the weekend it seemed like a ghost town and it seems like people are in and out and there is no true campus spirit like there might be at Buffalo, but I really can’t picture myself there.</p>
<p>If only Bing had a good engineering program, it’d be the perfect match for me. I mean, if you plan on going to graduate school (which I don’t know if I am yet) does it really matter what reputation your undergrad school had?</p>
<p>It does to a certain extent. I was doing some research on which schools hire Aerospace companies hire from, and for most big name firms, they only hire from a select list of schools for the most part. Also, at UB or Stony, there would be much more research opportunities and even more internships available (rather, they would be easier to find). I plan on going to graduate school atm, but that won’t make me compromise my undergraduate studies, aside from steering away from the more expensive schools.</p>
<p>Not sure where this stuff about Binghamton’s Watson School of Engineering not having a good reputation is coming from. They have great placement rates, and I know my son (as a junior) is fielding multiple internship offers for the summer. He secured his first internship as a sophomore. I wouldn’t count on Stony Brook surpassing Binghamton any time soon–just look at the objective measures for accepted students. Binghamton is way more selective.</p>
<p>I have always thought that Binghamton had the best SUNY engineering program. Stony Brook is right up there too. Buffalo has many engineering disciplines to choose from but Bing’s engineering program is definitely not the worst. </p>
<p>I have also been hearing how if one plans to go to graduate school, undergraduate studies at a certain institution is not as important as people make it out to be. I would love to hear some thoughts on that matter.</p>
<p>I believe the misconception with Binghamton’s engineering program is that it’s the newest of the SUNY’s(started giving degrees in the late 1980’s) therefore it’s maturing, has fewer alumni thus somewhat less known. The idea that one school is significantly better than the other I think is just false. The schools offer the same core courses ,use in many cases the same books, have the same percentage of good and bad professors (including those who can’t speak English). To industry it’s a SUNY degree in engineering(which is not a negative) verses a prestigious private school. I don’t think the prevailing sentiment with employers is that one school is superior to another. If you’re a good student from any of these three schools you’ll do fine.
Clearly the more mature programs from Buffalo and Stony Brook will have the advantage of offering more types of engineering degrees and elective courses allowing for more flexibility in the choices you can take. But still Binghamton’s engineering program has been growing, becoming more popular and its overall rep , especially within the tri-state area, mitigates the fact that it’s not as well known as the others.</p>
<p>I’m also choosing between the three and a private. Strange how Stony Brook’s engineering is the easiest to get into, but pretty reputable and Binghamton’s is the hardest and not as reputable. Buffalo is too far and half my school is going there so I’ve crossed that off the list. So far I’ve visited Bing and Stony Brook. Here’s what I observed and what people tell me:</p>
<p>Stony Brook is a commuter school. It is in Long Island and people say that campus is deserted on the weekends since students go home, thus no school spirit. </p>
<p>Bing is more social. Bing is in the middle of nowhere, so you get a better sense of community. My sister went Columbia and transfered to Bing for financial reasons. She says the difficulty is just as hard. (Although she only spent her freshman year at Columbia and freshmen usually get intro classes so idk about this.) </p>
<p>I’m not too sure about the academics, so I won’t say but I suggest you guys visit the campus or go to accepted students day since you’re probably going to be there for four years. I’m probably going to end up going to the private school if I get a good enough financial aid package.</p>
<p>It depends, if you want to major in Computer Science, then it would be an insult to humanity to choose Binghamton and UB over Stony Brook. Stony Brook, when it comes to Computer Science, is entirely on a whole different tier when compared to its fellow SUNY brotherly institutions. Our faculty, our resources, our scale, is simply unparalleled. We have great campus recruitment, from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, etc. Stony Brook is a top notch program, which can be very stressful(hence the high suicide rate), however, if you are a party animal, then Engineering at Stony Brook might not work out for you, since it is incredibly demanding, in particular CSE – which is part of the Engineering school. Best of luck selecting, although like I said, if you are into CS, it is a no brainer, we are regional champions in Computer Science.</p>
<p>^
To be frank, CS has a lot more going on. A new $100 million building already being constructed, 80(plus more being hired)top-notch, professors from elite institutions(that’s more than most Ivy-leagues combined), CEWIT(a Computer Science research building). I mean, think about it, the president of SBU is heavily investing in CS, hiring top notch faculty members, and has 3 buildings devoted to Computer Science. That should tell you all a lot.</p>
<p>Do me a favor, and spent 20 minutes of your life on this site,</p>
<p>Then make an informed decision, and visit the course websites to see what we build. Why am I so patriotic of our department? Let’s just say 4 job offers, higher starting than most universities on earth, is NOT one of the reasons. :-)</p>
<p>We are strong, and have a reputation of being kick-ass. The president of Stanford is from our department of CS.</p>
<p>I used to be Computer Engineering, but I switched to CS, cause like I said, CS was more challenging, better projects,(more + better[imho])faculty, along with the obvious investments from the universities. They are building a new CS building, already have a building devoted to it, a new super computing institute, ongoing research with BNL, and then CEWIT. Having 4 buildings devoted to 1 major, tells you that the university feels CS is on the rise. Plus, I haven’t heard of Google, Microsoft looking for Computer Engineers, although if you search on Linkedin, most of our Computer Scientists are employed at very prestigious tech companies, for example, Facebook was on campus 2 weeks ago, collecting resumes of Computer Science students.</p>
<p>Most Engineers end up working for banks, from what I have noticed. Again, I am biased, and will stick for our department.</p>
<p>@QCstudent is there an advantage when an incoming freshman goes directly in to computer science at CEAS as opposed to choosing computer science after freshman/sophomore year?
Also what about computer science major makes it hard? Does it require a lot of work or is it like business where there’s an innate aspect that allows a person excel at computer science.</p>
<p>It’s not that it is ‘hard’ it is that it is challenging, and requires a lot of time and dedication. You will build things, you will apply your knowledge, you will have projects to show to your employers, you can build advanced video games, robots, and so forth. The curriculum is meant to be challenging, and you can visit the course web pages to see what students are doing.</p>
<p>The earlier you start, the ‘easier’ it would be, since you can take 1 or 2 course a semester. If you start in your junior year, or upper-sophomore year, you will suffer, and when I say pain, I mean it.</p>
<p>Given our massive scale, which I elaborated on earlier, it is an insult to mention Stony Brook Computer Science on the same sentence with Binghamton or UB. There is just no comparison. We are on a whole different tier/level, and our resources + faculty + alumni is our evidence. Our Computer Science facilities is probably the size of Binghamtons entire school of Engineer + another building, our faculty is probably the size of Bings EE and CS combined. Visit our faculty page, and see what they are doing.</p>
<p>Oh trust me I have been doing my research. I have visited the course pages and SB has a huge variety of CS classes. What I have read so far is that the essential ones to take algorithms, databases, operating systems and one other area that I don’t have in mind right now. </p>
<p>It seems odd that people say don’t fret about your major since you don’t have to decide until sophomore year. It seems that people who do that are at a big disadvantage though. </p>
<p>No need to explain SB’s CS, I have been on here for quite a while I have seen many of your posts along with CollegeKid90 advocating CS at SB. I forgot whether it was you or the other person but it was suggested that SB should be compared with top tier ivy league universities since the CS program has been a strong point at SB. Like every other reader, I was cautious but I looked around as well as asking former SB students and they have named CS along with premed and physics as SB strengths. Who knows, I may even be next in line reaffirming SB’s good CS program !! since you graduated this year and your visits to this forum will be dwindling.</p>