Geneseo vs Suny New Paltz honors program

Colleges and Universities A-Z SUNY - General
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<p>My daughter was admitted to Geneseo as well as to the honors program at New Paltz. Ordinarily I would think, strictly in terms of academic reputation, Geneseo would be the favored school, but not sure when you throw the honors program at New Paltz into the mix.</p>

<p>Also, we're from New York City (Manhattan) and some have counseled us that Geneseo would be primarily upstate kids --not at all that that wouldn't be just fine, but that she might feel a little more kinship at New Paltz. We have toured New Paltz, but haven't seen Geneseo yet, though we will in April. She does feel she wants to attend a small to mid size college.</p>

<p>We're aware that these are both good choices, but any feedback would be appreciated!</p>

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<p>I agree that the honors invitation is nice benefit.</p>

<p>As long New Paltz has the programs, courses, and activities that she wants and needs, I’d want to go where they want me the most. At this point, I’d imagne New Paltz looks good! </p>

<p>Nothing wrong with being a little closer to home too!</p>

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<p>Just my opinion: After living in Manhattan, I would be very concerned that your daughter will find Geneseo and the town way too small (and kind of boring). The nice thing about New Paltz is that it’s very easy to take a day trip into NYC. </p>

<p>Go back and visit the two schools (back-to-back). Be sure to factor in the winter weather at both places. Also, take into consideration traveling to and from the campuses during the academic breaks.</p>

<p>They’re both great schools. Go back for another visit and I’m sure you’re daughter will know right away which school feels right. Don’t make your decision based on rankings or the prestige factor. I’ve known kids who have attended many of the different SUNY’s and they’ve all done well. Good luck and congratulations on having two great colleges choices.</p>

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<p>I’ve toured both with my D. She really did not like Geneseo the town. (Liked the campus for the most part.) Felt it was too “stepfordesq” (go figure what a 16 yr old will come up with). It is a very small town and pretty isolated. Two of my sisters graduated from there. While it is more developed than it was 20 plus years ago (i.e. there is a Walmart outside of town now!), it is a very small town. New Paltz is a more “happening” place and its proximity to Poughkeepsie and ability to get to NYC is a definite plus. Geneseo has got to be about a 6 or 7 hour trip from NYC isn’t it ?( I live in Binghamton and it is about 3 hours away).
That said, Geneseo is very hard to get into. This means that the avg student’s gpa/SATs are higher, so it may be a more competitive environment. That is actually one of the things that turned my D off. The admissions person kept talking about how competitive it was and how it was “public ivy” etc. While D has the stats to probably be admitted, she doesn’t want a school with what she perceives to be a lot of type A students.
Your D really needs to visit both of them and see how she feels about the school, the town and the trip home.</p>

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<p>I will echo what nysmile said about being concerned that coming from NYC, Geneseo will be too rural an environment for your daughter. I have repeatedly heard that there is very little to do there. In comparison, New Paltz has a fun and funky college town that bustles on the weekends, Poughkeepsie is a 20 minute drive away and NYC is a 1 1/2 hour drive or bus ride right out of town. New Paltz will also have more of the diversity of NYC and the artsy vibe of Greenwich Village.</p>

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<p>Thanks to everyone for your great feedback. Would love to hear from any NYC students who are current or prospective students to either school.</p>

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<p>My D is a sophomore in the honors program at New Paltz. She’s very happy at the school. The program seems pretty low-key, not an extremely dominant factor in her life there. The honors director is very well-liked and accessible. We visited Geneseo as well (she got on a “select wait list” with guaranteed deferred acceptance and was taking a gap year anyway, but didn’t like it enough to go 4 hours further from home). Very unscientific impression based on our tour guides and acquaintances at both schools - student brain-function level not notably different. I don’t think any reputation difference is significant enough to affect your daughter’s future. She’ll be fine picking whichever she likes better.</p>

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<p>What is listed below was posted on another thread so I thought it was worth sharing. Its town may not be as “happening” as New Paltz but looking at the entire picture student profile, academics, residence life program, athletics program, quality of the campus Geneseo is hard to beat. A visit will help your daughter make a final decision. From what I have heard some NYC kids love the change others don’t. It really depends on the person. My daughter is pre-med and will be attending Geneseo. We are from Long Island. </p>

<p>Posted by Geneseograd:</p>

<p>Why choose Geneseo?</p>

<p>1) Geneseo delivers on what it promises which is providing a top rate affordable undergraduate education. </p>

<p>The academics are truly excellent. The Sciences, Speech Pathology, the Business Program, Education, the Social Sciences are all strong programs. The coursework is challenging but in a good way. I had Professors that taught at Geneseo and other local colleges and told us that they challenged us more because they knew they could. The Professors are approachable and want you to succeed. Will you study at Geneseo? Most definitely!!!</p>

<p>2) There is an insatiable sense of campus pride. It is catching! Geneseo students know that they are at a top rate public college and are proud of it as well as they should be. Geneseo students compete just as well as many of the top privates in national competitions the Federal Reserve Challenge is just one example. </p>

<p>3) Plan to attend graduate school? Over 40% of students attend graduate school. Geneseo students are well prepared for graduate school. This school places allot of emphasis on developing well rounded students with strong writing and critical thinking skills. </p>

<p>4) Geneseo has created a state-of –the-art Student Affairs program that has been nationally recognized as a best practice in American Higher Education. So having things to do on campus is a priority here. </p>

<p>5) Gold Student Leadership Development Program – Geneseo’s innovative program is available to students to help prepare them for leadership roles and responsibilities in service to the college and the global community. Students get involved in personal development programs, institutes, leadership certificates, service learning, and volunteer work. </p>

<p>6) Geneseo is committed to Community Service. The college was once again named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor roll. The award recognizes colleges and universities for their impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice. Geneseo has been on the honor roll every year since the recognition was launched in 2006.</p>

<p>7) The campus is one of the best out of the SUNY system. It is a mix of old and new buildings which maintains the history and charm of the campus. The views are beautiful especially from the gazebo overlooking the valley. I always enjoyed the small town feel of Geneseo and how involved and connected the college was with the local community. I also took advantage of the skiing opportunities in the winter, biking, camping and hiking through Letchworth State Park (The Grand Canyon of the East, they say), trips to Rochester if I wanted to get out of town, and of course visiting friends at other colleges. I always enjoyed my trip back home to Geneseo. I am a Long Islander, so I did the long haul to Geneseo but actually began to enjoy the trip when accompanied with friends. Some of my best memories were those road trips back to SUNY G! </p>

<p>8) SUNY Geneseo’s Athletic Programs reflect the same level of excellence as its academics. The intercollegiate athletics program is comprised of 20 teams. The Hockey and Basketball games are probably the most popular. 2008-2009 season Geneseo finished second in the Commissioner’s Cup standings for overall sports performance in the SUNYAC conference. Within the SUNY Athletic Conference, Geneseo has earned 43 out of 134 Chancellor’s Scholarship Athlete Awards since 2003 (Nearly 1/3 of all awards). Geneseo has less than 10 percent of the total undergraduate enrollment of SUNYAC colleges. This level of academic performance is pretty amazing. For the recreational athlete, the college provides 23 intramural leagues and an all-weather outdoor track which was a recent improvement. </p>

<p>9) As for the Rankings US News, Princeton Review, Fiske, Kiplinger, did I miss one? All they do is reaffirm what we already know about Geneseo. The school is consistently recognized for its focus on undergraduate education and providing value for the dollar. That definitely is worth recognizing and Geneseo deserves all of the honors and accolades it receives. It once was a hidden gem now it is just a gem!</p>

<p>10) As a successful hospital administrator I can tell you that I owe a lot of my success to Geneseo. I breezed through graduate school because of the skills and learning opportunities made available to me at Geneseo. I still stay very connected to Geneseo because I see the value of a Geneseo education. Students who work hard in high school should be able to receive a quality, well rounded college education at an affordable price. This is what Geneseo promises and delivers. </p>

<p>Because of all of the budget cuts across SUNY Geneseo is actually reducing its enrollment by 75 this year in order to maintain quality. Even though the college will lose tuition revenue they do not want to jeopardize the level of academic excellence. That to me demonstrates this college’s commitment to its students and what they promise.</p>

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<p>nysmile- just curious… were you brought up and raised in nyc?</p>

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<p>No, I live in a little town way out on eastern Long Island. Almost at the tip of eastern Long Island in a town of about 4,000 people. The graduating class at the local public high school ranges from 65-75 kids.</p>

<p>We come from a very small town, yet our son felt that the town of Geneseo was way too DEAD for his liking. This is coming from a kid who lives in a town without a McDonald’s, mall, movie theater, bowling alley, etc. The nearest big city is NYC and that’s a 2 hour drive away.</p>

<p>As I said in an earlier post, the main building at Geneseo where a lot of the lectures are held, is almost identical to the elementary school in our town. When we went into the building, it was almost creepy how similar it was to our small local elementary school building.</p>

<p>We walked the Main St. of Geneseo on a typical Sunday and it was completely dead. The only place open was a small store which sold Geneseo t-shirts. </p>

<p>After the visit, Geneseo was wiped off son’s list. </p>

<p>Fatherli: You’re pretty much trying to glamorize the school. The fact is that you can get the same academic results at many of the SUNY’s and have the advantage of being in a less remote location. It’s a personal choice. </p>

<p>Our older son attended a lesser known SUNY and will be graduating in May. He actually transferred to the school after attending his freshman year at a very expensive tier 1 private school. He’s graduating in May with Summa Cum Laude honors, has had 3 of his political science research manuscripts published, has been inducted into 3 different honor societies, was a founding father to a fraternity which he and few other guys brought to the campus, and has had fantastic mentors (via professors). He’s all ready been accepted into 4 solid graduate programs for the fall of 2010. Two of his friends who have all ready graduated from this lesser known SUNY have gone on to post-graduate study----one at Syracuse Law School the other at Columbia University. In other words, even the lesser known SUNY’s are great stepping stones and prepare students well for post-graduate work.</p>

<p>I know that people want to portray Geneseo as the best academically and want to view it as a prestigious college. The truth is, that one can find equal academic challenges at many of the SUNY’s. For some kids, Geneseo is perfect. However, I also know many kids that have changed their mind about attending after visiting the school and the area. </p>

<p>Again, Geneseo is a wonderful and academically sound college. However, so are many of the other SUNY’s. My suggestion is to make a visit to Geneseo to see if it’s right for your kid before putting it so high up on one’s college list. It may appear perfect “on paper”, but no so perfect when you actually are on the campus and experience the area. </p>

<p>I’m not bashing the school. It’s wonderful. What I’m trying to say is that there are many other SUNY’s to choose from and it’s important to make the decision based on the reality of the fit (feel of the campus and surrounding area, location, size, academic programs, professor accessibility, dorm life, campus life, etc.), rather than any false sense of prestige. For many, Geneseo is the ultimate. For others, after their visit, they realize it’s not.</p>

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<p>Future success is not limited because of which SUNY one chooses to attend.</p>

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<p>D is a JR at NP in the Honors program, also accepted at Geneseo. When he dad took her to visit Geneseo he absolutely LOVED it and she absolutely HATED it (same comment aout the elementary school)She wasn’t sure about NP, but after visiting and sitting in on an honors seminar class she was sold, and has said many times since that she is very happy about her decision.
I think if you visit both back to back, your daughter will have a sense of which one feels better. It isn’t strictly about reputation, standings, and academic environment. If your D isn’t comfortable she won’t succeed. Bottom line, what you get out of your education is primarily affected by what you put into it.
My D has had a fantastic experience at NP both academically and socially. She has had Pulitizer prize winning prof’s, prof’s who are known to be highly rated in their fields, prof’s who are working in her field and can guide her. She has been able to study abroad in Florence and Barcelona due to the cost of SUNY vs. private, and even did volunteer work with a group of 15 kids from NP last spring break in Guatemala which they organized, fund raised for and got funding from the school. She is hoping to get a grant this summer to work on a project with her prof and have her work published. The honors program offers opportunities for those kids, and the director is excellent.
Good luck with your decision and congratulations to you and your D on being accepted at both!</p>

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<p>Thanks again for everyone’s responses, they are very helpful. Vahevala, sounds like your daughter’s experiences have been tremendous. Can anyone speak to the job placement assistance/ internship connections available at either school? That is something I do worry about in terms of a better known private vs a suny school.</p>

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<p>To those of you in the honors program: you applied and already received notice? How long after the honor’s program application went in did you get the acceptance?</p>

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<p>Imprezz, not sure which school’s honors program you’re referring to, but as far the one at New Paltz, there was a separate application. My daughter applied EA so found out sometime in Jan that she was admitted, but she didn’t apply to the honors until late Dec (we didn’t actually realize they had one until then), and she found out probably in late Feb that she was accepted to it.</p>

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<p>Have you made the back-to-back visits to the two campuses yet? Once you do that, your daughter will know right away which school is right for her.</p>

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<p>Thanks - No, we’re planning on visiting Geneseo in April. We toured New Paltz last April.</p>

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<p>Go NP. Geneseo is way too smart.</p>

<p>I’m smart, but not super smart. Because everyone else here is as smart, if not smarter than me I have to work my butt off for a 3.2. Huge shock to me because I had a 95 avg. in high school doing 1/4 of the work I do here at Geneseo.</p>

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<p>^ Do you say Geneseo is academically as competitive as Georgetown?</p>

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<p>Ummm I’m not sure. I can only give a first hand account of Geneseo, but I know someone who went to Geneseo and then transferred to Hamilton-a similar school to Georgetown.</p>

<p>He told me that Geneseo and Hamilton are both academically challenging in terms of professor’s expectations and curricula. However, believe it or not, he said there is a very apparent difference in the the type of kids that go to each school. He tells me that Geneseo is full of bright students, but there is also a good amount of kids that make one wonder “How did HE get in here??” He said he never gets that thought at Hamilton.</p>