Is Buffalo for my dd?

<p>We are from the state of Illinois
My dd received info from SUNY Buffalo. They even called us which impressed me.
I saw the tuition. It is reasonable for an out of state student. Our flagship school is the same amount
She is an LD student who has a 2.7 GPA. She is a junior and hasn't taken her ACT's yet
Would she have a shot of getting into SUNY Buffalo. She wants to major in biology. </p>

<p>How is their biology program? </p>

<p>How is the campus? </p>

<p>Would it be better for her to stay in Illinois? </p>

<p>I mean she has NY city a few hours away, Toronto is 2 hours a way..talk about being exposed to different things. That is what I would like for her....</p>

<p>Hi
Even though it is her safety, my D is seriously considering SUNY Buffalo for a variety of reasons, so we've been really looking closely at the school. My D is a humanities kid, so I can't speak to biology specifically, although I have heard very good things about all the sciences at Buffalo. The campus is large, there are two parts; the older part, more traditional buildings, nearer to downtown, the larger, newer campus in the suburb of Amherst. Student body is large as well, over 20,000 I think? Mostly in-state, with strong international contingent. It's true Buffalo is not far from Toronto, but New York City is a hike -- about 7-1/2 hours!</p>

<p>Buffalo to NYC is very easy and fast by JetBlue airlines
fares can be reasonable or overpriced, depending on date/time of travel</p>

<p>I should of probably rephrased that to say she is NY state with cultural attractions just a few miles away
How strong is UB's disabilities office. My daughter does have an LD</p>

<p>


</p>

<p>Because I'm not disabled, I don't know exactly how strong the Office of Disability Services is, but I do know that they provide a number of services to those who have properly documented disabilities. Read their website for more information. Disability</a> Services Index Page - Department of Student Affairs, University at Buffalo</p>

<p>Re: LD at Buffalo--(cut and post from the above link)
In other words, in grades K-12, the school was required to tailor education to your educational needs. In college, on the other hand, if you have a disability which must be accommodated by the university in order to ensure your equality of opportunity, you must identify yourself as a student with a disability, provide current and comprehensive clinical documentation of your disability, and request services or reasonable accommodations which are consistent with the known limitations imposed by your disability. Only equality of opportunity is ensured. No attempt is made by the university to ensure you a disability-appropriate education, and there is no assurance of your academic success-as is the case with all college students. If you formerly had an IEP or Section 504 Plan, it terminated at high school graduation.</p>

<p>You need to find a college that fits in with her LD. LD's range from mild attention problems to Asperger's. Take a realistic approach to finding a good fit. I know of LD kids in high school with a one on one aid who basically tells them the answers to homework and tests. It won't be like that in a regular college. Yes, you'll get help such as being able to print out class notes, maybe extended test times, and tutoring but the student must be able to work at the same level as the other students (unlike in high school). They're not going to provide the LD student with separate smaller classes, aides, shorter assignments, etc. as they do in high schools. Buffalo has classes with 100+ kids in it. One instructor to over 100 students. Her success depends on the severity of her LD. I'd look for a smaller college with smaller class sizes.</p>

<p>Agree with the above post.
As a biology major she will more than likelly be in with lots of Pre med majors. These classes tend to be 100 + kids in them. You have to go to TA hours to get any questions answered.
You need to research class sizes.</p>

<p>Out of all the kids in her LD class, she is one of the top ones</p>

<p>She also attends a very large HS in Illinois </p>

<p>For her senior year, she got accepted to the school district's frontier campus.
Classes are held away from the main campus in a space shared by District 204 and College of DuPage. Students take classes on a block schedule. As in college, the classes meet for three hours a week during two 90-minute periods on either Tuesday/Thursday or Monday/Wednesday. Fridays are "Flex" days where students can schedule meetings with teachers for tutoring or to make-up work missed during the week. Unlike college, if a student's cumulative grade drops below a "C", the student is required to meet with the teacher to receive extra assistance on Fridays. In short, Frontier offers a college opportunity in a college setting with the safety of high school. </p>

<p>Hopefully, she will get more interaction from the teachers in a small classroom setting</p>

<p>at an accepted students reception they said the undergrad bio/psych etc. could be in a lecture hall that holds up to 400 I believe</p>

<p>I attend UB (University at Buffalo) and have been here for 3 years. I'll try to answer some of your questions...</p>

<p>How is their biology program?</p>

<p>I'm not a Bio major, but I have taken Bio 101 and 102. These introduction classes are in huge lecture rooms and will begin with roughly 400+ students and slowly dwindle down as the semester wears on and people realize how annoyingly difficult and boring these courses can be... for an introduction course. However, if you're very interested in Biology and understand it, UB's Biology program is top-notch. I hated it, but then again, I don't like the sciences.</p>

<p>How is the campus?</p>

<p>It's huge. UB is split into 2 campuses. North (newer, in Amherst suburb, majority of majors here) and South (older, closer to the city, medical/dental students). As a freshman, you'll most likely be taking classes on North campus most of the time. If you continue with Biology, you'll most likely stay on North campus, since the Biology department and building is there. </p>

<p>North campus' dorms are extremely big. I worked as a student security/public safety aide for a year and had to patrol the dorms at night. It is about a 10-15 minute walk to campus. If you drive, parking can be a problem, but the parking lots are huge. Just make sure you get there early if you're going to drive.</p>

<p>After Sophomore year, you can apply to live in on-campus apartments. I lived in one for all 3 years, since I was a transfer student. They are very nice to live in, for the most part. About a 5-minute walk to class.</p>

<p>The campus itself is connected. Meaning, if you know your way around North campus, you can walk to roughly 75% of the classes without going outside. Helps during cold, snowy days or even hot days. </p>

<p>The air is great. The winters can be brutal, but compared to many Northern/North Eastern states, it's not too horrible. Buffalo gets a bad reputation for their lake effect snow, but to me, I don't think it's nearly as rough as people make it out to be. The springs and summers here are great. I often bike (bicycle) to get some exercise when the weather's nice. There are gyms everywhere, but you do have to look for them. </p>

<p>Would it be better for her to stay in Illinois?</p>

<p>I have no idea.</p>

<p>About LD (learning disability, right?)...
Most courses I've taken, the professors mention that if you have a learning disability, you have to register with a certain department and let the professors know. They try to accommodate everyone with LD as much as possible. They usually let you take tests at different times/places or allow for more time than normal. Even though the introductory Biology classes are huge, if you get there early and sit in the front, it can be more personal and easier to concentrate in. And like I said above, the class size keeps dwindling down as the semester wears on. </p>

<p>Overall, UB is a very good school. The student body is extremely diverse. There are a lot of international students. Just from living on-campus, I've roomed with all types of people (Polish, Canadian, Arab/Spanish, African American, Caucasians, Irish, etc.) I myself am Asian (Oriental). </p>

<p>About proximity to Toronto and New York City...
Toronto takes a while to drive to. Not too bad and it could easily be a weekend trip, or even a full day trip (but you'll be tired). I've been there about 3 times. Great city. Very clean and populated. However, people in Canada cannot drive. Not being racist or nationalistic, but it's just from my experience. Be careful when you drive to and back from Toronto. </p>

<p>New York City takes forever to drive to. My family lives 1+ hour outside of NYC, so I make the trip often. If you drive fast, it might take you 7 hours to get to NYC from Buffalo. I highly recommend what another poster here said. Fly to NYC if you want to visit. He/she is right. Jetblue might be the best option (just make sure your luggage is under 50 lbs.). It takes about 50 minutes to actually fly to NYC. Waiting at the airports is another story. That might take about 1-2 hours alone. </p>

<p>The city of Buffalo itself isn't amazing (compared to Toronto or NYC). I only went there for the clubs and bars and one time to a concert. However, it can be fun and is about a 25 minute drive from North campus and a 10-15 minute drive from South campus. There is one particular "strip" of road in the city of Buffalo where all the action is at. South campus also has 1 street that has lots of bars at. Most of the time, parties are held in apartments or houses in the suburbs or at South campus. That's pretty much the night life at UB....</p>

<p>Good luck and I hope you make a good choice, where ever it may be. Hope this helped.</p>

<p>Oh, one more thing to keep in mind. UB's South campus is pretty dangerous. Lots of muggings and whatnot there. So walking around certain areas of South campus by yourself at night is HIGHLY not recommended. </p>

<p>However, North campus is pretty safe. In fact, Amherst is ranked amongst one of the safest towns in all of America.</p>

<p>Thank you for your help</p>

<p>Is it true if you attend UB for one year at out of state rate the 2nd, 3rd and 4th years you are charged as in-state? </p>

<p>We are from Chicago (by Lake Michigan) so we are used to the lake effect snow and the weather. Chicago winters are brutal</p>

<p>I understand there is no "safe" campus. Look at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. I attended the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was an urban campus. The campus is not in a great area. However, we were 5 minutes from downtown Chicago on the L. We were down the street from housing projects, so some stuff happened. My car window was smashed during my freshman year. People were mugged. Homeless people entered the student unions and begged for money. Even the rats got degrees! LOL But they changed the school alot ever since they tore down Maxwell street. </p>

<p>I told her when she got in college, she would have to adjust. She would have to sit in the front with tape recorders.</p>

<p>jenrik in #12 -As a NY taxpayer, I certainly hope not!!! SUNYs are already one of the cheapest publics for OOS.</p>

<p>North campus is located in Amherst and soth campus is located in Buffalo.</p>

<p>Please note that,there is a huge difference!</p>

<p>Amherst is a safe,affluent community.</p>

<p>But Buffalo is a very dangerous place. The adjacent neigbhorhood is extremely bad and dangerous,to say nothing of poverty.</p>

<p>I have lived int the Buffalo area for most of my life and would not say that Buffalo is a very dangerous place at all. My 2 teenage D go to shows in downtown Buff with friends, never had a problem. Yes, there are bad areas as with any city, but you need to be street smart and stay away from those areas. The University area around the south campus has had a decline in the past 10 years, but many students still rent in older homes across Main St. MOST of the undergrad classes are in the North(Amherst) campus.</p>

<p>Well,I come from a very safe city. At least,buffalo is really dangerous from my perspective.</p>

<p>Avoid Winspear ave,Bailey ave.</p>

<p>United</a> States cities by crime rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You can see that buffalo is a dangerous place.</p>

<p>Buffalo has the same crime rate as any other city.</p>

<p>Not going to a school just because it’s “dangerous” is stupid. Use street smarts and suck it up.</p>

<p>Im a high school valedictorian that got into Georgetown and I am seriously considering UB… its such a great school with so many pluses i can ignore it</p>