<p>From what I've been able to determine there are fewer than 60 non-New York State students at Geneseo. I have always felt that an important part of college life is meeting people from diverse socio-economic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, as well as people from various parts of the United States. Geneseo may or may not do well with the first three, but it clearly falls short in geographical diversity. </p>
<p>I don't know what the percentage of international students is at Geneseo. Perhaps the size of the international community at Geneseo makes up for the shortcomings in geographical diversity. I've got to admit I have difficulty buying the "Public Ivy" line when all but a handful of students come from the same state and -- from what some have stated on CC -- the same part of NYS. I would welcome any dissenting opinions.</p>
<p>Let me get this straight - You have an issue with a NYS college having a disproportionate number of students from NYS. That’s a surprise. I assume you believe that most other state schools through out the country have more diverse populations then Geneseo, and while that is definitely the case at some of them I would bet that most fall in line with Geneseo. First rule of thumb state schools will primarily have students from that state. If diversity is an issue for you, which seems to be for you, then you are probably correct about Geneseo and that may not be the school for you even though I would not discount the overall diversity of the NYS population. It is one of the more diverse states in the nation. I'm not sure if you are going to find a state with more nationalities, cultures, religions etc. than in New York so I find it hard to believe that the student population does not reflect that to some degree. But you are right there won't be a lot of Non NYS students at Geneseo.
With regards to Public Ivy I'm not sure what diversity has to do with "Public Ivy" status even though I myself am not sure what the definition of a public Ivy is. But I would think a school, with high academic standards, smart student body and professors that provide a good education is what it's all about. If the students happen to come from the same state who cares it's about the education.</p>
<p>Dutch -- While I welcome dissenting opinions I was hoping for a slightly more civil response. I do notice you are new to this site, however, so you may not be familiar with the rules of engagement. </p>
<p>It would appear that you think I am casting aspersions on Geneseo, which I certainly am not. I am raising the question, however, as to whether or not the college experience at Geneseo suffers in this particular area because of its overwhelmingly NYS student body. I think that's a reasonable question.</p>
<p>I also think it is reasonable to assume that a significant majority of a public college or university's student body hail from the state where it is located. I would suggest, however, that students at public universities have much to gain the more they are exposed to diversity in the student population. At the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary, for example, the out-of-state percentage of admitted students is capped at around 30%. I would also note that not all SUNYs are as NYS-centric as Geneseo. Close to 20% of students at SUNY Plattsburgh are from other states. In an exchange on a SUNY Stony Brook thread this summer Chris, a SBU admissions officer who often posts there, indicated that some of his colleagues hoped to increase the percentage of OOS students at their schools, as well as expand admissions marketing outside New York.</p>
<p>When I think of an "Ivy" I think of a school with high academic standards, a smart student body and professors who are recognized leaders in their fields. I also think of a student body that reflects national, cultural, social, economic, racial and -- yes -- geographic diversity. I have no qualms about Geneseo billing itself as "New York's Honors College," but when it refers to itself on its website as a "Public Ivy" perhaps it is somewhat overstating the case. </p>
<p>I don't mind your disagreeing with me, but the accusatory tone wasn't necessary.</p>
<p>If you're willing to sacrifice diversity (although I would agree that NY applicant pool is pretty diverse!) for Geneseo over Dartmouth, you could use the extra $33,000 a year to travel the world over the summers and meet diverse peoples?</p>
<p>Hey all. (Yes, I check the Geneseo board a lot, as I'm a Geneseo alum.)</p>
<p>SUNY's just not as old and established, reputation-wise, as some of the other state systems that you mentioned, probably because our resources are spread so widely, as opposed to on one monster Michigan-Penn State-UVA-sized campus. (Which we don't want, believe me.) We (Stony Brook) will be about 15% OOS this fall, although I don't know the numbers for the other university centers.</p>
<p>You'll see the OOS population grow a bit at Geneseo, but not as quickly as it'll grow at some of the other places, just because of their size. They already get a lot of applications for very few spots; as much as they'd probably love more geographic diversity, it'll probably come at the expense of top NYS students getting in.</p>
<p>As far as the ethnic-cultural-socioeconomic diversity piece, Geneseo certainly has that. (Or at least, they did while I was there.) And if you're from, say, Long Island, people from -- for example -- Buffalo might as well be from Topeka, because we're barely speaking the same language. (I'll always, always, always remember the screaming match I had my freshman year with a girl from Grand Island who insisted that "orange" was pronounced not only with the long "o," which sounded idiotic, but with only one syllable: "ornj.")</p>
<p>Hudsonvalley -Boy, I quess we are a little sensitive. I tried to use a little sarcasm to make a point but you took it personal. Ill try to be a more sensitive in my approach next time.
I do agree that there are advantages for Geneseo to have more OOS students. My disagreement is with the premise that the lack of an OOS population significantly lessons the schools academic standing. You mentioned that other SUNYs have higher percentages of OOS populations and in particular Plattsburgh has 20%, yet Geneseo is still one of the top SUNY schools and by no way does Plattsburg rank academically with Geneseo. So I guess I just dont get the link on the academic argument. I do agree with Chriss point that they already have a large pool of smart applicants for a relatively small number of openings so there is most likely no motivation to pursue OOS students. Lastly, I agree that even though Geneseo is a very good school it most likely does not stack up with some of the mentioned Top public schools. I hear this argument all the time that top SUNY school X is not as good as top state/private school Y, the fact that is not always brought up is that top school Y is 2-3 times the cost of SUNY X. Therefore you have to assess if its worth the extra cost in choosing an out of state or private school over Genose education. Personally dont think so but thats just my opinion. The great thing in the end is that no matter what anyone says you have the freedom to pick and choose whats best suited for you. </p>
<p>One question for Chris does the Stony Brooks 15% number you mention for the OOS population also includes foreign students. If so, would you know the breakdown between foreign and out of state students? Just curious.</p>
<p>i also can't help thinking that out of state applicants who are thinking of applying to a public school in NY are more likely to be attracted to Stony Brook which is a relatively easy commute (at least by train, the LIE is another story! :) ) into NYC (which many people outside of NYS equate with "New York") than Geneseo which is quite rural and whose nearby "big city" is Rochester, about 45 minutes away. i am in no way putting down geneseo or the city of rochester. but it certainly is not the type of geographic area that i think is likely to draw out of staters to "NY".</p>
<p>as others have noted, the diversity of students within NYS is enormous.</p>
<p>Dutch -- I would agree with you that the lack of an OOS student population has no bearing on the academic standing of the school. My argument had more to do with "quality of life" issues on campus. I do believe that the SUNY's in general would be better places to study and spend 4 years of one's life in if a few more OOS and international students were competing for slots in the respective freshmen classes. As a NYS resident for the past 38 years I won't deny that NY has a diverse population, particulary in the NYC environs. I've lived in NYC and western NY as well as in the Hudson Valley and, yes, there are some distinct cultural differences that evidence themselves in the often-noted Upstate-Downstate divide. </p>
<p>As diverse as New Yorkers think their state is, however, we are also quite parochial. I can't begin to tell you how many times my D's friends and parents of her friends have reacted with incredulity that she is looking at colleges out-of-state, particularly in the "religious wacko South" and the "mind-numbingly dull" Midwest. (Conversely, we've hosted otherwise bright and rational high schoolers from the west coast who were shocked to find that our Upstae village was not a stop on the IRT and that we didn't have a bodega on every corner). Over the past (Fill-in-the-blank) years the country has been coalescing around a common culture driven by advances in communications and the mass media. Regionalism is still a fact of life, however, and I believe the college years are a great time for kids from diffrerent parts of the country to learn about and understand those regional differences.</p>
<p>I am curious, but how do they pronounce "orange" in Long Island. I laughed at your post. I am from Buffalo, and we do indeed pronounce it "ornje" or "ornge".</p>
<p>As the mother of an out of state student who is considering applying to a SUNY...an NYC typw atmoshere is NOT what we a re looking for. My on HATES NYC and is reluctant to visit his older brother wh olives there because he LOVES NYC..
What I'm saying is....that you can't make assumptions about what an Out of stater is looking for. My son is looking for the best education he can get at the best price.
UMASS...our state school offers a great education and my son may wind up there...but we are concerned about the size and he also has the misconception that he will wind up hanging out with all his old high school friends...or that everyone who goes there is a drinking partying townie...which is silly because 20.000 kids are at UMass.</p>
<p>I'm having difficulty understanding the difference between SUNY Binghampton and Albany vs New Paltz, Geneseo etc. They are all called SUNY's. In Mass. there are big state universities..and small state colleges</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm having difficulty understanding the difference between SUNY Binghampton and Albany vs New Paltz, Geneseo etc. They are all called SUNY's. In Mass. there are big state universities..and small state colleges <a href="fyi%20--%20no%20%22p%22%20in%20Binghamton">/quote</a></p>
<p>They are all called "SUNY" but Binghamton, Albany, Stony Brook and Buffalo are University Centers. Geneseo and New Paltz are SUNY colleges. (there is also a SUNY college in Buffalo, as well as the University Center). Perhaps to emphasize a difference, some of the universities try to emphasize that in the name they popularly use -- eg, Binghamton uses the name Binghamton University.</p>
<p>The Univeristy centers are larger than the colleges and have more extensive graduate programs. But within each category there is a range in sizes -- Binghamton is the smallest of the University centers, but still about twice the size of Geneseo or New Paltz. Binghamton is the most selective of the university centers, Geneseo the most selective of the colleges -- so people who just look at selectivity often look at both, but the are very different. When my older child was at info session for Geneseo, someone asked the admissions officer to compare themselves to Binghamton -- she rolled her eyes and said, we are a liberal arts college, they are a university.</p>
<p>If you are looking as an out of stater, I can imagine there might be a difference between the university centers and colleges as to how well known they are out side of NY -- but you'd probably know that better than I would.</p>
<p>A big distinction for my kid, who is interested in elementary ed, is that I think all the University Colleges (there are actually kind of four tiers at SUNY, University Centers, University Colleges, Technical Colleges and Community Colleges) but Purchase offer degrees in elementary ed, and none of the Universities do.</p>
<p>Bizymom, that's a pretty good overview of the differences; and muffy, that is correct about elementary ed specifically. All of us, including Stony Brook, offer secondary ed, though -- as do a lot of the colleges.</p>
<p>You can search by program, among other things, at suny.edu.</p>