I have no pony in this race either, but, from what I have observed on these forums, if the OP or their parents can afford the EFC of a T20 college or university, they should consider themselves extremely lucky. A school like Hamilton is so much more than the sum of its parts; it is the sense of community; it is the dignity of the surroundings and the deep sense of history they provoke; it is the seriousness with which that last vestige of youth, during which both the mind and body take great leaps forward. IMHO, if the finances work, go for it.
with which they take
Stonybrook isn’t ASU. Come on folks. And no one walks around with their middle 50% t shirts on - so you can tell the difference.
It’s such a crock to think the 29 act kid and the 33 act are so dissimilar as to be recognizable. If the OP is the star of the math department at SBU. Good for them.
And the sum of the SBU parts are greater than the whole as well. The students there certainly aren’t Neanderthals and Hamilton kids aren’t all the next Stephen Hawkings.
OP. I would choose Hamilton personally. Because of the beautiful campus. The generally nice feel of the place. And wonderful academics.
But please don’t go out of some sense of elitism vs SBU. That you are obviously so much smarter than the SBU students. Bet you’ll find out very quickly that’s not the case if you attend.
The head of CS at Hamilton went to UMass Amherst.
You don’t have to be at a top lac to show your chops in math and science. You’ll do that or you won’t.
I grew up in the school district that includes Stony Brook University’s location and took a class and worked in a lab at the university during high school. Many of my teaching colleagues and my son’s high school classmates went/ are going there.
I also visited Hamilton during my son’s college search and it was one of his favorites.
Stony Brook is primarily a commuter college, filled with commuting Long Islanders who leave the campus after classes. It is huge. Classes are huge. There are many smart students there, but there also are many average students there.
If you were interested in a subject like engineering that has a major at S.B. but not at Hamilton, I would say to choose S.B.
If you dislike small, pretty, rural colleges and would prefer a gigantic, sprawling, suburban university about 90 minutes from NYC, pick S.B.
If you have a highly defined research interest and there is one or more professor(s) at Stony Brook who specialize in it, pick S.B.
If your particular STEM interests are better met by the particular offerings at S.B., pick S.B.
Under any other circumstances, it’s Hamilton all the way!
Hamilton is one of the nation’s top colleges, with a tight-knit community, and a learning experience immersed in the world of ideas surrounded by peers who love learning as much as you do. You will interact much more with both your professors and your classmates. You will be part of a true on-campus community. It is a much, much different experience from what the experience at Stony Brook would be.
But, if you are drawn to Stony Brook, let me reassure you that it is not “near a city.” It is in a suburban area with more charm than some other suburbs— on top of the usual strip malls and big box stores, it has a charming historic district, historical significance, and many pretty older houses. And it has north shore beaches nearby— rocky, but pretty. And the campus has lots of trees. And Stony Brook is far from the city! We townies visited NYC seldom; it is 90 minutes away. Growing up there, I visited NYC only about once a year. However, there is a train station on the edge of campus if you want to go to the city on a weekend.
Good luck with your decision.
Thank you so much for the advice!
How to pretend to be balanced and fair while subtlety and not so subtlety ripping a fine university in 10 easy lessons. “Largely a commuter school…huge and sprawling suburban campus…
Op. It’s bigger than Hamilton sure. It’s not psu asu psu or UCD huge.
But I really love, paraphrased, if you don’t like really pretty and wonderfully perfect schools - somewhere like SBU might be good for someone like you.
If you actually do like a school that’s urban for some strange reason. SBU isn’t even that close to the city.
It’s like the perfect negative characterization. The worst of all worlds apparently.
Who wouldn’t love to send their child to the lifeless, soulless, suburban strip mall dystopian sprawl of school where you can sit friendless by yourself on the weekend and hang out with the occasional engineering nerd. Sounds wonderful.
With respect to academics, if in the rare case you have already completed a majority of upper-level math courses in topics such as real analysis, modern/abstract algebra, functional analysis, complex analysis and topology, then you might require graduate department classes to further your studies.