I was recently accepted to Bing and I hear great things about this college. Without trying to sound arrogant or pretentious, I have worked very hard as a community college student to distinguish myself and get into a great college. I am also applying to a couple Ivies and top-tier private institutions. The problem is that I need to decide on Bing by May 1 or else lose my spot. Many colleges will not notify me of their decisions until after that date. Would I be selling myself short in any way by accepting this admissions offer to BU? Should I hold out, or is Bing as good as some say? Any advice is much appreciated.
i believe that you can pay your deposit at bing and then later if you get accepted to another college you like more, you can unenroll (probably no refund) and enroll at that university. not a 100% sure.
Thank you guys! @StanfordSwag, it matters in the sense of what this degree will look like to employers and where it will get me in the future because frankly, that’s all I care about. I’m 32 years old and am not really concerned with enjoying myself at college. Those days are long gone lol. I just want to go somewhere that will be well respected in the workforce. My head will be in the books the whole time, so being “happy” at a college isn’t really a priority for me. I’m strictly about a quality education and a respectable name. If I was in my early twenties, comfort and happiness would definitely be more of an issue.
pager27, don’t know your other options. The fact that you are older probably means you’ll be a more focused student. In terms of the school name and future opportunities, a SUNY is a SUNY. The 4 centers, ESF, and Geneseo may be viewed by some as slightly more rigorous then the colleges but even that depends upon the program. I doubt there is much of a difference in how the schools are viewed by employees. What are your choices?
I was admitted to Geneseo, Stony, New Paltz and Bing. I just got shutdown from Cornell and Colgate. I’m waiting to hear back from NYU and Columbia GS. Columbia is my dream school and I am so-so about NYU even though it is a great college. I know Bing is a great choice, but I am really hoping for Columbia to come through. When you say a SUNY is a SUNY, what do you mean? Is that considered a bad thing? I’m just afraid to make a bad choice. Thanks for your input
If you are on a waiting list and get in, you will be released from a previous commitment but you may lose your deposit. When I say a SUNY is a SUNY I mean that there is not a huge difference in how the degree from Stony Brook VS Binghamton is viewed. Or a degree from Buffalo or Binghamton. There are 4 centers. Historically Binghamton, because it was considerably smaller, was viewed as being slightly more difficult to get into then the other 3 Centers. Basically they got about the same number of applications but had fewer slots of fill and could be more selective. But that has changed. Binghamton is much more similar to the other 3 university centers than it is different. There is a lot of RP from each of these schools-I guess they are competing with each other-who knows why but I’m guessing that the administrators who already have swelled salaries some how benefit from attracting larger pools of applicants.
SUNY Centers are solid mid-sized public universities that offer a large range of degrees and majors. Columbia, and NYU are private schools and Columbia is an ivy leagues school. No, SUNY isn’t an IVY league of NY state. But, SUNY is considerably cheaper then the other options.
You will probably find the most kindred spirits at Columbia gs since most other students will be older and returning to school. The age factor might be a consideration for you. Naturally I don’t know if you would be moving to the school with a significant other or not. I would expect that you’d be most comfortable at a school where there are more older students or if not, where there is a reasonably sized population of older people close by, in the community. I don’t believe you’d find that at Geneseo or Binghamton. Binghamton has graduate students but they don’t have a huge presence on campus. So the 18-21 age student predominates in classes and also in the town, because there is simply not much in the town. You will find more older students at Stony Brook and New Paltz… Stony Brook has more graduate students then Binghamton and it is not isolated like Binghamton is. So there is more interaction with other academically oriented people who are not 18. The % of people older than 25 is simply higher for SB and NP. The difference in % of young people isn’t marked but it may seem like it because of the isolation of Binghamton and, well, Geneseo has no graduate students at all. If I were in my thirties, I’d rather be at Columbia, Stony Brook or New Paltz because I’d want to be around more peers.
I don’t know what you plan to major in, and that could be a factor, but by and large, Stony Brook and Binghamton are more alike then different. SB is closer to NYC so there may be more internship opportunities.
Thing is, left to its own devices, Binghamton housing might shove you into a suite with three 18 year olds. Which is likely to be little weird for all of you.
You might ask them what they can do to avoid that.
You can accept Bing but I agree that stony Brook with its large commuter population and larger “non traditional age” would be better. Would you be commuting or living on campus?do request a single if living on campus - as mentioned above, it’d be strange for the kids you’d live with, not to mention uncomfortable with regards to 18year olds of the opposite sex. Or perhaps you can live in town with graduate students, whose lifestyle is more likely to be closer to what you wish for.
If you deposit at a SUNY on May first then get into Columbia you can just inform the SUNY that you won’t be attending.
Honestly in your situation I’d rather go to Stony Brook.
IMO the differences in reputation between Stony Brook and Binghamton are not that material. Or even universally agreed upon.
There may be differences in housing & living costs though. It may well be that Binghamton may be the cheapest . You’d have to look into that.
But if it were me, even if it was somewhat more costly for the two years, if I could afford it I would go to Stony Brook.
In Binghamton you’d be surrounded by 18 year olds. And possibly living with them. There wouldn’t be much for you to do there, given that you wouldn’t want to do what the 18 year olds are doing.
Well, I am actually an accepted Student into Binghamton this year, for the Freshman class of 2019, and I attended Binghamton’s Accpeted Student day on April 19th, and during the opening speech, the head admissions director told us that they received over 30,500 applications for only 2,500 seats. Giving Binghamton an acceptance rate of a little of 12%. They also said that they will be becoming more and more selective in the years to come. So to answer your question, yes, Binghamton is a VERY good school.
If Binghamton would put as much money into instruction, classrooms, and technology as they do into PR it might be a reasonable university. Maybe that will happen. But getting more people to apply does not make it a stronger university. With the common app, more applicants does not even mean more students view it as a good option. As long as most students apply to all 4 centers via the common app, the smaller size of Binghamton makes it look “more competitive” but not necessarily better. Binging classrooms and technology into this century would be a better use of money then supporting more PR. And if they did that, maybe it would be a school that top students select to attend, not as a safety, at which point the endless PR would be unnecessary. That time has not come.
Who would the student be living with and spending time with? The campus is filled with 18-21 year olds. Graduate students don’t have much of a presence on campus. The school lacks the sort of professional schools that would make their presence more significant.
The town is relentlessly economically depressed. It is not like Ithaca where there is a cute college town area for hanging out in. You could live off campus but what would you do socially.Seems like a 30 something would be very isolated in Binghamton. Naturally there are university professors who will be this student’s age but may not welcome an undergrad hanging out with them. There is no vibrant town close by with professional 30’s hanging around unless you travel pretty far. The closest would be Ithaca at nearly an hour away or Syracuse which is even further. It is a different story if the OP is in a committed relationship where the other person will be employed in the Binghamton area. In that case a peer group with that person’s co-workers may provide a social outlet. But it seems unlikely that someone would move into the area for a job. The traffic goes in the other direction. Even a very serious student will find the isolation unbearable if they don’t have a peer group.
A 30 some undergrad at Binghamton won’t have an obvious peer group. Seems dreadful to be in that position whereas the OPs other options are likely to be in places where there are things to do outside the university. Don’t forget, educated people have exited the Binghamton area in doves. Unless you have housing vouchures in hand you may find few people in early adulthood who you can socialize with.
Thanks for all the opinions! I really appreciate the help. Social life is not that important to me and to clarify, I would never even consider Dorming at 32 hahahhaha. I will be getting an apt off campus and my GF and my dog would be coming with me. BTW, not for nothing, but I have so many friends at Community College. They are between 20 to the oldest at around 25. I am not uncomfortable at all. Does this mean I want to go out partying with them? Nah, not really, but have I hung out with them socially? Yessss lol. So I’m not really that worried. Worst case scenario, everybody hates me and calls me oldie lox and I just hit the books and go home. Best case scenario, I still hit the books and get invited to all sorts of parties that I will never attend because I just don’t want to be “that guy.”
Again, thanks for the advice guys. I really appreciate all the well thought out repsonses.
One of my best friends at Binghamton was 30! Like you said, if you find the right crowd like at community college, it can definitely work. Also, for what it’s worth, now in grad school we’re all in our 20s and there’s one 55 year old dad in our cohort… we all love him!
