Queens College Macaulay Honors program vs Stoony Brook

My daughter has got accepance letter from Queens College Macaulay Honors program with Biology as major. She has also got acceptance under “undecided” catagory from Stoony Brook. Her choices are ranked as Physics and Computer Science or Physics and Biology(she want to do double major). We could not really decide which is the best college. We don’t mind spending money for Stony Brook but it should be worth it. Why college has highly motivated students and good faculty. Appreicate any inputs on the above.

Both of these have lots of motivated students and good faculty. Don’t worry about that.

She needs to find out when she must declare a major at Stony Brook, and whether or not it is difficult to change majors at Queens College.

Macaulay is a great bargain and difficult to achieve. Congrats to your daughter!

I agree with the other opinion posted here.

I just replied to a different question, but I think this applies here too:

My son is completing his junior year at Macaulay Honors College - John Jay. He double majors in Political Science and Computer Science. He minors in Comparative/International Politics and Human Rights and I think also Russian. I don’t think he would have been able to have such a combination at many other schools. He gets a lot of support from his advisor who helps him navigate diverse interests. As far as work load, he (and his Macaulay friends) maintains the GPA even with the two majors, interning full-time at the United Nations and being an NCAA athlete. In my view, Macaulay Honors college offers a great education that can be crafted to your your goals. If your campus doesn’t have what your looking for, you have all the other campuses that may offer classes that fit your goals, i.e., my son takes his Russian classes at Hunter. The program is further enriched by internships, study abroad, and other experiential learning opportunities that help students realize leadership potential and graduate with little or no debt. (I like that last part.)

Also check out the numerous awards students have earned in only 20 years of Macaulay being around. It’s also Nationally ranked as one of the top 7 honors colleges in the nation and I would think its reputation has something to do with my son getting prestigious research opportunities, internships and study abroad opportunities.

I have no idea how much my son or his friends study, but they seem to be having a great time. Most have been abroad to really interesting places including Russia, Norway, Cuba, Greece, the Baltics. Most secured very prestigious research opportunities this summer (now nixed because of Corona), but from my view as a parent, it has been a great experience. My daughter went to a big state school and the experience, with regard to advisement, was not comparable.