New York City students at Geneseo

Colleges and Universities A-Z SUNY at Geneseo
1

<p>Hi, my daughter is considering attending SUNY Geneseo next year. We live in Manhattan. Woud love to hear from any current or prospective NYC students (or their parents) since the prevailing advice seems to be that it might not be the best fit as most Geneseo students are from upstate, and the change to a small upstate town could be too much culture shock. Having said that, although she's grown up in NYC, she doesn't seem to mind the idea of being in a small town environment. But maybe that could grow old? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>While Geneseo has extra perks for those upstate, there are many from the NY City area at Geneseo and love it. Surely it is not so busy as, well, any of NYC’s communities, but depending on your daughter’s interests, she may love it. It is a nice community for sure… bucolic, a tad cold, very safe, few distractions outside of school…</p>

3

<p>I’m a prospective NYC student (lived here all my life) and I’m a little worried about the transition as well.
First thing is to go and visit - there’s plenty of people who live in urban environments, say they wouldn’t mind a rural environment and then go crazy when they actually live there.
I personally see something like Geneseo’s weather an improvement from NYC’s (This might be an issue for others, though)</p>

<p>It really depends on your daughter. If she stays indoors a lot, the transition might go very smoothly. However, if she takes advantage of NYC’s opportunities often, it might not go that smoothly.</p>

<p>A lot of college students just stay on campus year round (even in cities), so they’re basically living in their own “small town”.</p>

<p>I personally don’t think the transition would be that bad, but of course you’ve got to get used to not having everything at your fingertips anymore.</p>

4

<p>Thanks bioblade and worldspirt for your feedbac. Bioblade, do you know many other NYC students at your school or elsewhere who are seriously considering Geneseo? </p>

<p>Worldspirit, what do you mean when you say it has perks for those from upstate? Are you speaking strictly in terms of location?</p>

<p>Would love to hear from any current Geneseo students who are from NYC. I believe I’ve read that the school charters a bus to NYC for breaks.</p>

5

<p>Regarding the benefits of Geneseo for those from upstate, I strictly mean location. For students from Western NY, 60 miles to Buffalo and even closer to Rochester + there is no better school in the region, what’s not to like? Geneseo itself has a tad of upstate culture, but because of all the downstaters there, there is actually a good NY cultural mix (though you may not find too many out-of-state students… yet…)</p>

6

<p>daisy,
due to my school’s natural inclination towards math and science, most of the students (that I know well) are considering Geneseo because of it’s 3-2 engineering program (as am I). Then again, I only know 5 of the students that got in and a good 25-30 got in. It’s not particularly difficult to get in from my school (I posted the stats on the accepted students thread somewhere), but I don’t know how many actually end up going. I vaguely know some of the rest of the people who got in, but not enough to say whether they are seriously considering it.
Nobody I know mentioned location as a deterrent, anyway. Or the size.</p>

7

<p>I am a current sophomore for NYC (I’m from midtown.) I hope i’m not too late in replying to this.
Like, maybe I don’t have that much school pride or anything, but really, its hard to adjust.
I spent most of freshman year a bit homesick and frankly bored. For the first couple of months, I was so happy being in an open environment without constant noise. There was fresh air, and people weren’t crashing into you 24/7. It was nice to walk around instead of hailing cabs or riding the 6/N train everyday. After a while though, you realize HOW inconvenient and restraining Geneseo is. Upstate culture consists of farms, and a run down bar with really bad music. There are also other places to drink + liquor stores, but as freshmen, you don’t really have legit access to alcohol anyway.</p>

<p>To put it simply, they really overexaggerate things on the tours. I really regret being here. </p>

<p>You will NEVER get as much culture awareness as you do back in the city. Sitting and waiting for a train in penn station while listening to underground music will give you much more cultural awareness than what you experience in this college town. </p>

<p>For those interested in challenging programs such as premed or predental, Geneseo may have good academic credentials for a SUNY, but its still a small school. If you apply to medical schools, dental schools, or even for a job back in the city, they’re still less likely to know where you’re from. </p>

<p>Oh, and if you’re used to taking advantage of city food (even miniscule things like Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Dean&Deluca, Max Brenner, etc) you’ll have a hard adjusting… you eat the same food everyday. I’m really not exaggerating on this. College food is renowned for being bad, but this is like a whole new level. The only edible thing is sushi and tossed salads, but even that gets old. Everything else is greasy and really unhealthy for you, and thats saying a lot because I’m not a health freak. I doubt you guys are going to have cars if you’re from manhattan, so you’re going to be kind of stuck… rochester is 30 minutes away, but you’re really limited by time unless you go with friends you meet here.</p>

<p>The school is affliated with NorthFork Express Bus for charter buses that take you to and from Geneseo on breaks, but if you book early, flying is a better option. It’s only about 20 dollars cheaper roundtrip, but its 5 hours saved. Theres also free airport shuttle service. </p>

<p>But seriously, the ones saying that there are perks being upstate are definitely not from the city. It’s REALLY inconvenient. People who go to NYC for the first time after being in a small town like Geneseo realize what they’re missing out on and they say they always want to go back. Socially, the people are nice, but there are little things that they say that make you realize how close-minded they are. Experience is knowledge, and new york city offers the best of that.</p>

<p>Oh, and if you want to talk on academic terms again, finding extracurricular things to are more difficult considering your options are really limited.</p>

<p>In my opinion, Baruch is better for business, Brooklyn Medical College is better for premed, and/or Bing or Syracuse is your best bet. Or if you want to live on a farm and get away from the city, come to Geneseo. but once you’re here, you’re stuck here. (:</p>

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<p>Thanks for that simplystated - very eyeopening.
I definitely take advantage of much of what NYC has to offer and how much I’ll be giving up.</p>

<p>I’m still keeping geneseo as #2 due to the 3/2, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed more than ever for columbia now.</p>

9

<p>Honestly, before you mentioned it, I didn’t even know we had engineering here. Geneseo’s not that well known for any engineering programs; I’ve only heard good things about the education, premed, and predental programs here.</p>

<p>Columbia’s engineering program is amazing. What type of engineering are you interested in?</p>

10

<p>Simplystated: It is clear Geneseo is not the right fit for you. You sound so angry…maybe you should transfer. </p>

<p>Anyone interested in attending Geneseo from NYC I would believe would not expect the same type of “experience” otherwise there are many fine schools in NYC for them to consider. </p>

<p>But for some, including those of us from Long Island where everything was at my fingertips, Geneseo provided everything I was looking for and more. </p>

<p>Keep in mind I was also very active on campus and took advantage of those opportunities.</p>

11

<p>Geneseo doesn’t have any engineering program - sorry if I was a bit unclear.
However, after three years at geneseo, maintaining a 3.0 GPA and taking the required classes, I get a guaranteed transfer to columbia. I stay at columbia for two years and at the end of those 5 I get a BA in math from geneseo and a BS in engineering from columbia. </p>

<p>I want to major in operations research and minor in financial engineering at columbia so I’m hoping I’ll be able to take the probability and statistics courses I need at geneseo without difficulty. I was originally going to do aerospace, but I’ve since decided against that. I know columbia is MUCH better in stuff like abstract maths rather than “real” engineering, so that helps in my career choice (I think only around a third of columbia grads go into traditional engineering rather than consulting).
I’ve gotten into many other great engineering schools so far, but columbia has always been my dream, which is why I’m putting geneseo as #2.</p>

<p>I don’t think simplystated sounds incredibly angry in his post, I think he was just telling the truth. I for one am glad I could see a little behind-the-scenes thing (especially from a fellow new yorker), so I’m not in shock when/if I go to geneseo next year. Most of the things he said were just facts, and helpful ones at that.</p>

12

<p>I’m not angry, and yes I am unhappy, but there are other reasons why I’m here. I disagree, campus activities seem a bit… limited and typical, but that’s just my opinion.</p>

<p>I just learned not to believe anything you hear on tours. I still roll my eyes whenever I see non-bio majors giving tours of ISC. as if they know anything.</p>

<p>Bioblade,
Maintaining a 3.0 shouldn’t be too hard, considering your ambition and interests in a challenging field. If you’re offered that kind of deal and you’re willing to put up with the countrysides in 3 years, then that offer sounds tempting. Are you still waiting for RD results from Columbia?</p>

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<p>Simplystated…thanks for your thoughtful response. I completely get what you’re saying. I myself grew up in a small town in the midwest before moving to NYC, and I can honestly say I appreciate both settings, but my daughter has grown up in Manhattan. I appreciate Geneseograd’s feedback as well. Obviously different people are going to have different opinions–I have a feeling my daughter’s reaction would be somewhere in the middle. We since learned she got into Binghamton so now have that to consider as well. Bioblade: I think it’s incredible that someone your age has so much figured out already about what they want to do and how to accomplish it. Much luck to you. My daughter is a likely English or Communications major, or possibly psychology. If anyone has any feedback about those majors at Geneseo I’d appreciate it.</p>

14

<p>For psychology I would consult with simplystated.
Thank you Daisy for the luck. I’ve always been a math person so it wasn’t too hard a choice to make, but it still took a lot of pondering. Then again, what do 17 year olds really know about what they want to do in life? Maybe tomorrow it’ll be fireman :]</p>

15

<p>Hi Daisy and bioblade,</p>

<p>I’m a freshman at Geneseo who lives in the Bronx. I went to a private high school in Manhattan and was very much involved in city life for 4 years during high school. I too was pretty worried about the transition but after a year, I can say it hasn’t hindered my experience here at all. It’s a completely different environment, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s worse. While I do sometimes miss the city, I’m glad that I came here. </p>

<p>The academics really are top notch, regardless of how good the “value” is. I know a lot is said about the various lists that Geneseo makes for best value, best public schools, etc., but I think that they undermine how great classes are here. I’ve only been here for a year, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of my classes (which I’ve taken a pretty broad spectrum of, being undeclared). The difficulty is pretty substantial, but there’s a reason I chose Geneseo over Albany and a few other SUNY schools. </p>

<p>As for social life/culture, it’s not the greatest, I’ll be the first to admit. But just as NYC has a culture of its own, so too does Geneseo. Trying to quantify “culture” is useless. Diversity IS limited (and I kind of miss my more-diverse high school) and there’s certainly a lack of actvites to do compared to NYC, but in college, as in life, you get out what you put in. If you’re actively making friends, creating and finding things to do, and working hard, you won’t notice not having city life around you.</p>

<p>College food is college food, it’s not better or worse than you expect it to be. Honestly, it’s not that bad, but I’m looking forward to moving off campus my last two years and doing some cooking for myself. </p>

<p>I can’t speak to any majors/programs directly, but if you have any other questions feel free to respond or shoot me a message.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much TheNuge! I just sent you a private message as well with a question I have.</p>

17

<p>So bioblade, did you end up choosing Geneseo and are you currently enrolled at Genseo?
I am planning to do BA Physics and major Industrial Engineering with Operations Research at Columbia. How are the math (statistics/calculus) and physics classes at geneseo? And professors?</p>