Is SUNY Geneseo really as selective as it claims?

<p>Although SUNY Geneseo has a name for being one of the most selective SUNYs, if not the most selective SUNY, I have personally noticed that I don't know anyone who has been rejected.<br>
If anything, people have been deferred admission to Spring or the following year, but I don't know anyone who has been rejected outright. What does this mean?<br>
Are the deferred admissions counted in the acceptance rate? My guess would be no...
Is it just me or is something strange going on here?</p>

<p>ps - A lot of the people I know who were rejected from Binghamton were accepted to Geneseo, either for the fall or spring. What is going on?</p>

<p>It’s just you. If you check the common data sets for both schools, section C, you see that Geneseo has a lower acceptance % and higher SATs.</p>

<p>The thing is, I was very suspicious about this, so my dad called Geneseo admissions. They said that the students they accept in Spring and for the following year are NOT counted in the admissions rate, therefore although they claim to accept about 35%, who knows how many people they take for spring or the following year off the records?
So my dad asked how many people they straightout reject, and they said 6%. Not 60%, but 6%. They say that 94% of their candidates are qualified, so they only reject 6% and allow the others to come Spring and the following year. HOW CAN THIS BE RIGHT?
How can a school call themselves highly selective if they only reject 6% of applicants???
Thoughts?</p>

<p>Geneseo rejects 58% of the students who apply for admission. It is right there in black and white on their most recent Common Data Set filing. </p>

<p>In 2009 10,412 students applied for admission. 3,631 were accepted. Another 780 were offered a place on the waitlist. That means 42% were either accepted or waitlisted.</p>

<p>My one quibble with the CDS figures is that Geneseo says NO ONE was admitted off the waitlist. This is patently untrue as I know three students personally who were offered either Fall or Spring admission off the waitlist.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>i dont know anything about this practice at geneseo, but if true this is an example where the common data set fails. delayed admits are not only allowed to be reported as rejected applicants, but their (typically lower) sat scores never have to be published, either.</p>

<p>[and geneseo reported an acceptance rate of 34.9% last year to 33.4% at binghamton.]</p>

<p>further, geneseo reports only one standardized test score for each of its incoming students (in fact, it only reports scores for 98% of its incoming fall class). binghamton, on the other hand, reports all received scores and thus has scores effectively totaling 123% of its incoming class. </p>

<p>in other words, geneseo is removing a submitted score for perhaps a quarter of its incoming class. dump the scores of the less-than-75th-percentile testers into the act pool (which few care about) and youre effectively erasing sat scores for a sixth of your students. effect? probably 10 points to the 75th percentile of both the math and verbal sections, resulting in a 20 point increase in the reported 75th percentile and a 10 point increase to the mid range average. (simply dumping the poorer score via a correspondance table, as probably happens, would result in somewhat less predictably dramatic results.)</p>

<p>Yes! I feel like the statistics are skewed. Also, I do not think they have a regular waiting list - all students on the waiting list are promised a spot, but at a later time.
How can they get away with securing almost everyone who applies (94%) a spot at some point and still calling themselves selective? Very suspicious.</p>

<p>My son was waitlisted at Bing and got into Geneseo. I thought it was a great school and would put it on my list for my daughter. I did prefer it much more than I did Bing. He decide on a different school.</p>

<p>Before we get into a discussion about how schools cook the books, there are specific directions on how schools must fill out the CDS so that you can compare schools. The info at Geneseo is developed no differently than that at any other school.</p>

<p>I agree with Erin’s Dad what Geneseo is doing is really no different than any other college…it’s all about enrollment management. Students graduate mid year or transfer out for whatever reason and this enables a college to back fill those spots. This keeps the college doors open and financially sound. </p>

<p>Geneseo most definitely doesn’t place 94% of their applicants in the fall or spring semester they don’t have the capacity to handle that. I think what the admission counselor was saying is that 6% of the applicants do not meet the minimal requirements for Fall admission which I believe is GPA over 90 SAT 1200. Students are much more savy with their college choices these days and self select schools that they believe they have a good chance of getting into. Geneseo tends to have a very competitive applicant pool but ofcourse you do have some students that apply with much lower scores and grades but for Geneseo that is a relatively small population. That is the 6% I believe they were referring to. </p>

<p>My daughter also has several friends who were accepted to Binghamton but rejected from Geneseo so it really just all depends…</p>

<p>Admission stats were also recently reported in the NY times…</p>

<p>[2010</a> Admissions Tally - The Choice Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010-admissions-tally/?ref=edlife]2010”>http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010-admissions-tally/?ref=edlife)</p>

<p>Of the SUNYs who reported, you can see that Geneseo has a higher admit yield as well as % of students who accept the wait list offer. It is a great school so I don’t blame them (Proud father).</p>

<p>The Spring XX admits are considered rejects because they failed to attain admission for the semester they designated their application for. Every school gets to “cook” the books that way.</p>

<p>Our 2009 valdectorian was rejected at Geneseo but accepted at Cornell & Univ. of Rochester!! I suspect that they have a “1200 SAT filter” on applicants.“Deferred admission” appears to be gaining popularity at Geneseo. I know that if a parent was an alumni they are much more likely to offer Jan. admission even if students stats are nowhere near students accepted for fall admission.</p>

<p>The aggregate reported data says otherwise, but FWIW, we looked at Naviance data for the last couple years at my son’s school, and from his school, based on stats only, Binghamton seems to be the somewhat tougher admit.</p>

<p>I am sure there is some cooking of the books like at every school. There are more important things to consider. When all is said and done, I think my daughter will prefer it over, for example, SUNY B and Stonybrook, because of size. So far, the schools she has preferred have been smallish to medium…</p>

<p>I have to look at Naviance…but I have heard that at my daughter’s school in Brooklyn, more kids go to SUNY B than Geneseo. I don’t know how much of it has to do with application and how much has to do with admission…</p>

<p>I attended SUNY Geneseo. I would not recommend earning your degree from this university. No one has really heard of it outside of New York State. Where does SUNY Binghamton rank on the U.S. News and world report-- 86. Damn that is pretty low for the best public school in New York State. Have you heard of any millionaires from SUNY Geneseo-- I sure as hell haven’t. They don’t have any alumni network. I would rather attend University of California, Riverside because of the sheer size of the population-- where there are bound to be some rich out of so many graduates per year.</p>

<p>krazydawgindave-That is the most depressing post I’ve read in a long time. Geneseo is ranked in USNWR, as well as having other media coverage. The schools (Bing-Geneseo) are quite similar in terms of admission standards. The main differences I saw are:

  1. The size of the schools, Bing being more than twice as many students.
  2. The diversity of the student body, Bing having much more Asian students and a more diversified mix in general, with all the good and bad that comes from that (I interviewed a University P.O.).
  3. The emphasis at Bing may be on graduate students and research, with professors that must publish and do research. The emphasis on Geneseo is on undergrads.
  4. The weather. For some reason (a valley?) Bing is in a very grey, dreary area. Geneseo may be just as cold, but seems to be sunnier.
  5. Getting back to the size of the schools, I did not/do not have a child in Bing, but I can tell you that the overall feeling at Geneseo is one of a welcoming family. I was, quite frankly, shocked at this. I have another son in another SUNY and the “feeling” of community is nothing like this. Quite the opposite. The employees of Geneseo, professors and otherwise, seem genuinely happy to be there. Many students have parents that attended, and many employees also attended. Maybe it is due to the lack of employment opportunities in the Buffalo/Rochester area, but they all seem happy to be working at Geneseo.
    Bing is better known, no doubt. I’m guessing it would have a better alumni network based on it’s size. I guess it all depends on the atmosphere you are looking for, and what you want to study.
    If we based every school admission decision based on how many graduates became rich, I guess if a person couldn’t attend an Ivy league school or a large engineering or business school, they should all stay home.
    PS-I went to three colleges for no more than a year each, received no degree, and retired at 48 : )</p>

<p>It is likely true that Geneseo is not ubiquitously well-known outside of New York State, and I can well believe it doesn’t have a spectacular alumni network, out of its immediate area particuarly .</p>

<p>The SUNYs in general have done a horrible job of attracting interest from out of state.
With regard to Geneseo specifically, when I was applying to colleges there were four “flagship” SUNYs, and then there were the rest. Geneseo was among the rest, more or less a local teacher’s college from what I understand. I don’t know when they re-branded it into an “elitish liberal arts college” with more selective admissions, but this is of comparatively recent vintage, in the greater scheme of things. Most New Yorkers of my generation, particularly those who have not had to watch their own kids go through the college admissions process in recent times, would not think of Geneseo as what it has come to be now.</p>

<p>By contrast Binghamton was, back in my day, one of the SUNY flagships, was much more selective back then. It had generally stronger students on the whole, and more of them.That could logically provide a better foundation for having a more useful alumni network.</p>

<p>On the other hand, if there was a lack of school spirit and connection, due partly to larger size, that might dampen these inherent avantages, and the smaller school could possibly inspire more alumni loyalty. But there are fewer of such alumni, and maybe situated proportionally in locations and positions that might be less useful to you. Depending on what you are after.</p>

<p>Weather comparisons:</p>

<p>[Climatology</a> Comparison for Geneseo, NY - weather.com, NY&sfld2=Binghamton, NY&clocid1=USNY0547&clocid2=](<a href=“National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com”>National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com)</p>

<p>[Climatology</a> Comparison for Geneseo, NY - weather.com,NY&sfld2=Binghamton, NY&clocid1=USNY0547&clocid2=](<a href=“National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com”>National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com)
[Compare:</a> Climate Binghamton, NY - Geneseo, NY](<a href=“http://bestplaces.net/city/default.aspx?cat=CLIMATE&city=Binghamton_NY&ccity=Geneseo_NY&p=3606607&op=3628618]Compare:”>http://bestplaces.net/city/default.aspx?cat=CLIMATE&city=Binghamton_NY&ccity=Geneseo_NY&p=3606607&op=3628618)</p>

<p>(see “Average Climate” charts)
[Geneseo</a>, New York (NY 14454) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, sex offenders, news, sex offenders](<a href=“http://www.city-data.com/city/Geneseo-New-York.html]Geneseo”>http://www.city-data.com/city/Geneseo-New-York.html)
[Vestal</a>, New York (NY 13850, 13851) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, sex offenders, news, sex offenders<a href=“for%20Binghamton%20U”>/url</a></p>

<p>[url=&lt;a href=“http://www.homefacts.com/weather/New-York/Livingston-County/Geneseo.html]Geneseo”&gt;Geneseo, NY Weather | Homefacts]Geneseo</a> Livingston County New York average temperature, sunshine and precipitation data - Homefacts.com](<a href=“http://www.city-data.com/city/Vestal-New-York.html]Vestal”>http://www.city-data.com/city/Vestal-New-York.html)
[Vestal</a> Broome County NY historical weather trends - Homefacts.com](<a href=“http://www.homefacts.com/weather/New-York/Broome-County/Vestal.html]Vestal”>Vestal, NY Weather | Homefacts)</p>

<p>“4. The weather. For some reason (a valley?) Bing is in a very grey, dreary area. Geneseo may be just as cold, but seems to be sunnier.”</p>

<p>As I look at the charts in #19 above, the sunshine % is only materially different in June through August when the colleges are not in session anyway. The rest of the months, the averages only seem to vary by a couple %, in some case in Geneseo’s favor, others in Binghamton’s favor. But trivial differences either way.</p>