<p>Is it possible to compare the two? Private vs Public?
If they were priced the same what would you choose?</p>
<p>I know nothing about SUNY Geneseo, but our local paper had an article recently about a young woman at SUNY Purchase who had been shut out of elementary Spanish classes that she needs to graduate for two years running due to lack of teachers. NY has a serious budget crisis and things are going to get worse for the SUNYs not better.</p>
<p>I would consider my major, as well as fit. I would consider scholarships awarded and the what ifs, such as, if I lost merit aid would I still be able to afford to be at that school? Both are good schools and I believe similar. What does your son want? Is he interested in either of these schools. If after aid, the price is the same, the decision should be his.</p>
<p>I also agree about the SUNY budget crisis, so that should also be a factor.</p>
<p>Gettysburg is reasonably popular around here as a low-key option for normal kids. I have a nephew right now at Geneseo, and he is liking it a lot, which is a huge blessing because he is a smart, high-strung kid, and he has gone through educational institutions like Kleenex (five high schools, three colleges so far). He was at a small upstate LAC and felt really stifled there; Geneseo has enough diversity of students and course offerings to keep him engaged and focused. It has been a really good option for a hard-to-please kid. (Bilingual, bicultural, has spent most of his life living in major cities on two continents, successful child actor for a number of years, but not always great judgment and a tendency to get bored and find trouble.)</p>
<p>theres no reason public and private schools cannot be compared. simply, public schools get government checks that their private counterparts do not.</p>
<p>the problem is that geneseo is somewhat unique in that it is a selective public school that does not generate research revenue. throw in tuition constraints, inadequate private fundraising and relatively poor state support and geneseos expenditures are significantly lower than you would expect for a school of its calibre.</p>
<p>the result? geneseo has a 19/1 student to faculty ratio. and without support from graduate students and post-docs, this means that about 65% of the classes a typical student will take contain at least 30 students. only 10% will contain fewer than 20. </p>
<p>on top of that, faculty salaries at geneseo are not competitive with its private liberal arts peers. the average teaching load appears to be relatively high, as well (2.8 classes per full time equivalent teacher). </p>
<p>compare these numbers with gettysburg.</p>
<p>11/1 student to faculty ratio. nearly 50% of classes taken will have fewer than 20 students and less than 25% will have more than 30. average faculty salaries are $6,000 higher for assistant professors with the differential increasing for those with tenure. and average teaching load (2.5 courses per semester) appears to be somewhat lower. </p>
<hr>
<p>does this automatically make gettysburg the better choice for every student? no. there are a myriad of reasons, academic and otherwise, for a student to prefer geneseo. but these arent trivial differences, either. the class size disparity is huge. and the differences in faculty salary make gettysburg more competitive in attracting and retaining high quality faculty. </p>
<p>of course, this often comes at a price.</p>
<p>Erica,</p>
<p>That really gave me something to think about. That was a really great comparison and gives me alot to think about. After grants offered at Gettyburg I think the difference in price is about 3000 more out of pocket for Gettysburg.
I will be going to visit both schools next week. As far as his major, both schools have similar offerings.
I am a bit worried about the SUNY budget and the future with that.
I do think he could get a good education at both schools but do wonder if Gettyburg would look better for medical school. Gettysburg is tied to Drexel as a medical school and Geneseo is Upstate medical. He is interested in physical therapy. Im not sure if that really matters much.
Thanks so much for your input and if anyone has anything else to add I would appreciate that as well.</p>
<p>JHS?
Was the small upstate school Vassar?</p>
<p>GCmom415 – I would worry less about how either school “looks” to grad school admissions and more about fit, finance and factors well articulated by ericatbucknell. So many students go into college thinking of a medical career until they encounter the realities of the standard pre-med academic sequence. It isn’t all that different than the first couple of years of the engineering tract in terms of degree of difficulty. Huge numbers of would-be engineers and doctors decide by the middle of sophomore fall semester that maybe their talents lay elsewhere. Hopefully your son will discover that his interests and talents converge. Good luck to you both. </p>
<p>FWIW, if I could go to either for the same price I’d opt for Gettysburg. But a family friend who had to make that decision last year opted for Geneseo. If at all possible your son should spend a day at both before deciding.</p>
<p>Thanks Hudson,
I will be going to both schools next week with my son. I think fit is very important. I am also very aware that he could opt to choose a different path and I would more than welcome that. Its his life. I think our visit will help alot.
Why would you opt for Gettysburg?</p>
<p>No, I wouldn’t describe Vassar as a small upstate LAC, and my nephew would not likely have been accepted at Vassar, or lasted very long there if he had gone. The school he disliked was Nazareth. I didn’t mention it before, because I don’t regard his dislike as communicating much about Nazareth. This is a kid who has spent time at 8 educational institutions in the past 8 years, sometimes without earning any credit at all, and he has only liked two of them. That he likes Geneseo makes me think highly of Geneseo, but that he disliked Nazareth doesn’t tell me much of anything about Nazareth other than it’s small, a long way from NYC, and his mother chose it, not him. (Long story, not appropriate to tell, more than a little sad.)</p>
<p>Thanks JHS…
Well I am glad hes doing better at Geneseo.</p>
<p>Ok Im still struggling with this decision.
My son will have 4500 in loans a year at geneseo and 7000 a year at gettysburg.
Parent contribution will be 1298 at geneseo and 7000 at gettysburg.
Both schools I can do financially…but is it work the extra money for Gettysburg?
Gettysburg pros: would be class size. An easier commute for us. Having a heath sciences major
Cons: The price
Geneseo Pros: very selective state school, price, very academic
Cons: Very rural area, possible state budget cuts, large class sizes
I just dont know what to do…he likes Gettysburg better…any input would be appeciated.</p>
<p>GCmom415: I sent you a PM.</p>
<p>I know by this point the person who originally posed this thread has sent their son away to school, so this is for anyone else attempting to compare these two fine institutions.</p>
<p>Background: I was accepted to Gettysburg with an academic scholarship worth half of tuition, so I was paying about 24k a year but i was wait-listed at Geneseo. I attended Gettysburg my freshman year and transferred to Geneseo my sophomore year. I now pay about 18k a year, with no scholarship.</p>
<p>Why I transferred: Gettysburg was NOT what I was expecting. Almost no diversity. The only “COOL” thing to do on the weekends were frat parties and for freshman guys, this is not that fun unless you want to rush. </p>
<p>Class size was small but that just means that class participation is heavily weighted (My A went down to a B+ due to class Participation at 8am- Intro to Cultural Anthro).</p>
<p>So after a year I realized it wasn’t for me and I transferred to Geneseo after re-applying.</p>
<p>So now I am a happy senior math major at Geneseo. The teachers themselves I honestly believe are better at Geneseo because we have a reputation as the premier state school in NYS, while Gettysburg is know for what…Ron Paul?..being old?</p>
<p>The classes are more difficult at Geneseo (granted I only took freshman classes at Gettysburg) and the teachers are very accessible. Class size is only an issue if you want the teachers attention in your intro to Art History class (150+ CAP). Any upper level class is going to Cap at 25. </p>
<p>The only thing that I can genuinely say that Gettysburg was better at was the food. But is that really worth the extra few k a year?..I don’t think so.</p>
<p>So make your choice, but if you are an upper-middle class white kid with a popped collar, you already have your answer.</p>
<p>Gettysburg is also known for Ron Paul’s classmate and fraternity brother, Michael Bishop. </p>
<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>
<p>Funny how I started this thread so long ago. Well my son now is in his second year at Gettysburg. We did choose it due to them having a health science major. I love the campus and think we did make the best decision at the time.
Yes it has a strong Greek life. Hes not in a frat.
Geneseo was also a nice school and I would look into it for my daughter since it has a strong education program and would like to teach in NY.
Bottom line they are both great schools and if your lucky to have gotten into both be proud because its not easy to get into an SUNY. Good Luck to all!</p>