<p>marny1: You make a good point, but don't we need to do both? To provide for our best students we need to have excellent options along with good ones.</p>
<p>Im the marylander going to UB :D
there weren't very many schools in the northeast that had what I wanted to major in (urban planning or something related to it) so that was one of the reasons I applied to UB... I chose it because I prefered the major I'd pursue at UB much more than the one at UMD.. and UB turned out to actually be a little cheaper than UMD because of my scholarship.. and simply put I wanted to get out of maryland and had always like new york.. so I feel UB does have a lot to offer and even though maryland is more well known and seen as more prestigious, I know I'll be getting a good education at UB.. as said earlier in this thread there are many new york state students who go to UMD.. I feel like I'm just like them and would prefer to go to an out of state public (especially since it has what I want to study and my in state school doesnt really)</p>
<p>Welcome to NY ajr62807! Good luck at Buffalo!</p>
<p>Thanks for responding ajr- I am not kidding, it is SO refreshing to get some positive feedback about SUNY especially from an OOS kid. </p>
<p>mythmom- I am not too sure anymore. When this thread started, I was all for creating a Flagship or two- But -- let's just say UB is the flagship. ALL of the best and brightest kids apply there. Your kid just misses the cutoff and is "relegated" to go to Bing or Albany. That experience may make your kid feel worse, as he was closed out of the flagship school.
At least this way, your kid has a decent shot at one of 4 university centers and numerous colleges. And if your kid really wants urban planning- then he should go UB- or if interested in Public Policy- the Rockefeller school at Albany-- or Sport Management--Cortland (where my kid goes).
I don't think one Flagship can incorporate ALL the programs that the SUNY system currently has.
case in point- when d # 1 was applying 4 years ago, she applied ED to UVA and wm and Mary. She was thinking of majoring in psychology. I was very unimpressed with the course offerings and psychology curriculum at those schools. Though both schools have wonderful reputations, the psychology offerings were not very impressive. I don't think the course listings were a hell of alot different than SUNY Oswego 1972. With all the advances in research with cognitive/brain science, I just did not see any of that in the UVA course offerings. To be honest, when my kid did not get into UVA, I wasn't terribly disappointed. I think if my kid was going to be a psychology or "science" major, they would be better served at a school like Stony Brook than UVA.</p>
<p>"But -- let's just say UB is the flagship. ALL of the best and brightest kids apply there. Your kid just misses the cutoff and is "relegated" to go to Bing or Albany"</p>
<p>that's no different than now. Except now, since there is no flagship school at buffalo or anywhere else in the system, the parents for all those best and brightest kids, who pay their taxes just like you do, have to pony up to send their kids to a private college at 40k+. Because there is no elite school in the system whose profile matches the abilities of their kids.</p>
<p>The kid who will just miss the flagship cutoff then is the same kid who will get rejected at some of the tony privates now. Either way he's going to Albany. It's just a question of whether the school that tuned him down is an elite SUNY flagship or an elite private.</p>
<p>But don't complain to the parents of kids who got turned down at U MIchigan and are going to Michigan State.</p>
<p>Or the parents of kids who get turned down at flagship U Illinois-Urbana Champagne and are consequenly attending another branch of U Illinois.</p>
<p>Meaning this already goes on elsewhere, and people deal with it. </p>
<p>But at least the highest-achieving kids in these states have a viable option within their state U system to accomplish their educational and career goals. So the taxpaying parents in those states needn't feel as pushed to squander all their savings on private education that matches, in public perception as well as fact, the capabilities of their highest-achievers.</p>
<p>I see your point, but a kid is disappointed if s(he) is rejected at any school; he just has to go to the next choice. I guess I think the impetus behind this thread is that NYS students should be able to feel as much pride in our options as a kid at Chapel Hill fills in hers. I don't feel committed to any particular way to achieve this.</p>
<p>I found it sad thhat my D thought UMASSAmherst was a much more attractive option than Binghamton even though it is much more expensive. As it turned out, she didn't attend either, but I would have had a very up hill battle had I tried to convince her to go to Binghamton for financial reasons.</p>
<p>My Dad was always enormously proud of his City College education. He graduated in 1940 at 19.</p>
<p>Is it really necessary to compare SUNY to California, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Texas or Virginia? Other than Stanford, none of those states have a research university on par with Columbia, Cornell, Rochester and NYU. </p>
<p>How about states such as Oregon, Ohio, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Iowa or South Carolina? Buffalo, Stony Brook and Binghamton are pretty much on level with their flagships.</p>
<p>As for Iowa & Nebraska: having recently moved from the "western midwest", I can say that people there don't feel that their schools are second rate. Whether they actually are, on a national scale, or not. They do not think so much on a national scale; more like a "Big 12" scale. They think that their universities are "plenty good enough". The culture there is such that it is not at all unusual for top students there to go to the state U. Along with everyone else.</p>
<p>They're more inclined to stay local, and their flagship Us are the best schools that are local. So the top students can still go there and not feel dissatisfied, so much.</p>
<p>Whereas in NYS, The SUNYs are not regarded, these days, as among the best schools that are local. And also a higher proportion of students do not feel bound to stay local. It is a somewhat different mindset there.</p>
<p>NYS parents tend to have different sets of schools in mind than their midwest brethren do as their primary reference points when gauging relative education quality. Due to proximity no doubt, but also perhaps somewhat differing cultural values.</p>
<p>Additionally, by standards such as population & national impact I think many NYS residents would think they should be more in company with Califonia or Texas than Nebraska and Iowa in their thinking.</p>
<p>(sorry if that was already posted)</p>