<p>Ok so I'm a senior right now in high school and I want to do pre med/pre dental in college. I'm mainly considering Suny Stony Brook, Suny Binghamton, and Suny Albany. </p>
<p>I want to go away to college to get a good education, but also party...a lot. I've heard that Stony Brook is pretty much dead on the weekends and that there are almost no parties. Is it true? Is it that bad that I should look to a lower ranked ( but still good) school like UAlbany? ( which is known for having a great nightlife/party scene).</p>
<p>Any help is greatly appreciated. I have a 101,5 weighted average and I'm ranked 3rd out of 800 with a 1940 sat so if you can recommend some other great academic and party schools that would be great.
Thanks!</p>
<p>If you’re interested in being premed, forget about partying a lot. Or party a lot but forget about premed. Among all students who hope to do the premed sequences, at least half are weeded out. (That’s just speaking about the first semester: the weeding out continues afterwards. Even among those who made it through their major plus the premed courses, half never get into med school.) So, even if you’re in the top 50% applicants, your risks of being weeded out are pretty high to start with; if you party more than on Friday/Saturday, it’s over. To give yourself a chance, you should attend a school where your stats (GPA+SAT scores) place you in the top 25%.
To attend a non-commuter school, check out what percentage freshmen live on campus and what total percentage students live on campus (it’s in college data).
Examples:
99% freshmen and 61% all students live on campus at Bing and Oneonta
85% freshmen and 60% all students at Stony Brook
99% freshmen, 54% all students at Geneseo
98% freshmen, 50% all students at Cortland</p>
<p>Also, the further away you are from a big city and college life depends on the college itself, the least likely you are to have students leaving on weekends.</p>
<p>For your stats and major goals, I’d check out U Rochester, Syracuse, Alfred, Union, Dickinson, Goucher. Perhaps Skidmore, Bates, etc.</p>
<p>I think that totally depends on what “a lot” means. I think “a lot” means every Friday and Saturday, but not necessarily during the week; I think a sufficiently disciplined pre-med student could party almost every weekend and still get good grades. Remember, it’s about studying smart - not necessarily studying all day long. You have to be getting work done.</p>
<p>I also don’t necessarily think that you have to attend a school where you are in the top 25%, because atmosphere can have a big impact on your studying habits. For example, I went to a college where I was clearly in the top 5% of applicants and won a large merit scholarship. I still got a 3.4 there. Why? Well, the emphasis at this particular LAC wasn’t necessarily on getting a 4.0 or studying hard; it was definitely a fun, laid-back atmosphere. On the other hand, I’m currently at an Ivy League for my grad program and the undergrad atmosphere is much more studious. Students do party on the weekends (usually Thursdays and Saturdays), but the week is pretty much exclusively a studying/doing work time. I remember one time the fire alarm went off on a Sunday and the firefighters seemed puzzled that there were so many students in the library!</p>
<p>Also, percentage living on campus may not necessarily be an indication of a commuter school. For example, at Penn State many juniors and seniors move “off-campus” to live in non-university-owned apartments in the surrounding neighborhood. They’re cheaper than living on campus and the students can ensure that they get their own rooms. So it may look like a large percentage are commuting from home, but in reality they carry on much as if they were living on campus and are within walking distance, so there’s still vibrant city life.</p>
<p>Some of these SUNYs - especially ones in rural areas that don’t have large populations that even can commute, like Oneonta and Cortland - may be like that.</p>