Is Binghamton a boring school? I have the grades to apply and potentially get into better NE schools. I’ve looked at Boston College and Villanova but the price tag is way too high and my hopes for aid (financial or merit) are pretty low. I’m pretty much left with Bing as my option for an affordable, quality education school but I’m worried the location doesn’t fit me. Partying is fun and all but I’d prefer to explore a city or find something fun to do and Binghamton does not seem like the place for that. I obviously don’t know because I’ve never attended so looking for people who have, thoughts?
My son is there right now. He is not much of a party animal and is pretty busy with the workload at Bing as a pre-med which does not leave much time for partying or exploration. He barely has time to such innocent activities as an hour of co-rec football a day, some tennis and then once a week, the university union puts on a late night activity with movie, games, contests, etc. it’s true that the university is sort of a middle of nowhere and while Binghamton city does have some stuff going on, it’s not comparable to Boston (I have been to Boston a few times) and I really would not advise going out in Binghamton very late at night. If you prefer a more urban setting, you won’t be happy at Bing.
I always felt like I was busy and entertained. On a typical night I was watching a movie on campus, attending a club meeting, going out for ice cream or Starbucks, seeing a show, or just doing work. Typical college stuff - like babysladkaya said, you’re not going to be jetsetting off to the Guggenheim or world-famous steakhouses, but there’s something to be said for just a normal college campus experience. I also thought I wanted a city, but you end up getting so busy with everything else that you definitely aren’t sitting there bored to death all the time. When I went to grad school in Philly, it was nice to have restaurant options on the weekends, but I was hardly spending all my time visiting museums and concerts and new places every day. I probably should have taken advantage more 
But in the end, college is college.
Binghamton so not the most exciting place in the world, I will be honest. Some people like the more laid back atmosphere (compared to NYC), lower cost of living and access to nature but others don’t.
If you feel like Binghamton is your only option for an affordable school? There are plenty of places that will give you merit aid if your grades and GPA is high enough and it sounds like it is. If you want to go to a school in a urban and not small City or suburban like bing environment consider cuny macauly honors. Also apply to Drexel and northeastern since they might give you money.
Born and raised in Binghamton, couldn’t wait to get out of there when I graduated HS and haven’t been back much since then. Don’t get me wrong, Binghamton is a nice enough city but it really depends what you are into. I hear really nice things about the school and its come a long way since I lived there and I think as schools go its a good quality education. But, Binghamton is not the most exciting city to live in. I was back in town last year for the first time in a long time and not much has changed from what I could see.
If you haven’t already, you really need to go visit and spend some time looking around outside of the campus area. You should get a good feel for if the area is for you or not. Growing up there, I spent most of my winters going to the hockey games (not sure if they still have a team) and spent most of my summers at Chenango Valley State Park. Most other things we did were away from Binghamton. Used to go skiing a lot at Greek Peek which isn’t too far away.