RPI v. Suny Buffalo v. RIT v. Suny Binghamton

College Search & Selection
1

So I am wrapping up my college decision and I’m definitely leaning the most towards Binghamton. I’ve had previous posts on this but I just want to make sure I am making the right decision here. Here is my opinion on the other schools I was accepted to and why I’m not going. By the way, just for financial info, I can afford $25k a year to graduate without debt. If a school is absolutely worth going to, I’m willing to take out some smaller loans. I’m going for industrial engineering.

RIT: the pros of this school are the excellent tour I got. I saw the huge emphasis on my department and there is a whole industrial engineering lab. I think the professors are awesome. Additionally, this was a safety school and compared to RPI and bing, I think I can pull off a good GPA here. Additionally, the internship program is so good. I am very concerned about getting internships and RIT is stellar. Now for the bad: this school is the most expensive. I am actually from Rochester and I would have to live home without a doubt. Without room and board, I will still pay $31k a year. This will definitely take away from the “college experience” I’ve always wanted and it could be isolating. Additionally, take this as you will, so many people from my class are going this year. Including many kids who bullied me in the past. I understand that it’s a large school, but I feel like I want to have a fresh start. Lastly, I don’t love that it’s a 5 year program. I understand bc it is a coop based school but as someone who wants to go to grad school this is super inconvenient. I also heard compared to the other schools it doesn’t have the reputation my other schools do. Lastly, compared to other people, I’m not the kind of person that feels at home here. I think I love the campus, but the fact that it’s my high school on steroids I’m more reluctant

UB: pros are that I got into honors here. I get priority registration, honors housing, and the honors lounge which I will take advantage of. It would cost me $19k per year. Out of all the sunys, UB is the most focused on engineering which is cool. I know here I’ll be successful because I’m at the top of the incoming class. My boyfriend also goes here which is convenient for us. Cons: I. Hate. The. Campus. I’m sorry but it’s so depressing. I also don’t like the housing. Additionally, I think the general student body is not as serious about academics as I am and there is a huge party scene. I guess that makes me shine??‍♀️ the size is annoying too, on my tour I could see how chaotic the halls were. The upside of this is that there is more diversity and I can get a smaller feel with the honors college. Another downside is compared to RIT, it is more difficult to find a job due to the lack of coop opportunities.

RPI: the reputation here is obviously amazing. Believe it or not, it would only cost me $25k to attend. Since this is probably the biggest bang for my buck, I’m conflicted. I like how the student body aren’t a lot of partiers, but I still feel like I don’t exactly fit in with the geeky vibe. I think the campus is pretty too. I do like the smaller class sizes too, but I feel that the student body is a little too small. For the size, I am impressed with all the organizations offered. the city of Troy is trash. I have been there when I toured and it’s not as bad as people paint it to be, but it’s not my dream location. It is close to many ski resorts and I have family in Albany. However, clearly my gpa will most likely be the lowest here. At a school like RPI, will that matter though? Also, I have read about the controversies with the current president and the lower opportunities with internships. But again, it’s RPI. It feels more like home than UB and RIT.

Bing: I feel so at home here. It would cost $19k to attend each year. The campus and housing is so amazing. I love the size and I feel like I can make an impact here. I have so many activities that I’m excited to join. It feels like the fresh start I need. Although the engineering department isn’t dominant in the school, this allows me to meet other types of people and if I ever changed my major, I would have so many great options. Tbh, the deterrent is the party scene but I know I can find my niche here. I feel like academically it will be challenging, but I think I can still get a good GPA

Overall, after touring all the schools, I think Binghamton is the best fit for me and it feels the most like home. When looking at colleges, I feel this is the most important. Is there anything that sticks out from the other schools that make it worth reconsideration?

2

My only comment is that you shouldn’t assume that your GPA will be lower at RPI. both Bing and RPI are populated with lots of students making the same decision you are.

I would also strongly weight the choices thart feel like home to you. That will help you stay on your schedule to graduate. But actually living at home will limit the college experience and might make it harder to get into the study groups that are helpful at crunch time.

3

If you feel at home at Bing and Bing is cheaper, go Bing!

4

Based on everything you say, I’d pick Binghamton also, because you need to pick the school that is the best overall fit. If you do well at Bing Watson, you will be able to get a good job when you graduate, just as you would if you were at RPI. It’s what you do, how well you perform, how persistent you are in tracking down internships and job opportinites, and not the school itself, that weighs most determinative in your outcome. But a few points: i echo the above poster in that you shouldn’t assume your gpa will be lower at RPI than at Watson Engineering. Watson (and the School of Management) are the most competive and difficult schools within Binghamton University to get admitted to. The top students academically at Binghamton are in both of those schools and many are academic grinds who are there because they have the talent to have gotten into but couldn’t afford to attend Cornell, RPI, WPI, Case Western or Stevens). And many of those students are not into the party scene. Be prepared to work just as hard to get a high gpa there as you would at RPI. Aside from that, Bing is large enough that you can find your group of people. Getting involved in activities you enjoy and which you share a common interest with other similarly involved students is a great way to meet new friends. I think the atmosphere is better at Binghamton than at RPI. For one, the male -female ratio is more balanced. And the student population at the university is more representative of the typical college student population as a whole compared to at RPI. And the suburban shopping along Vestal highway across from campus can provide an outlet if you want to get away for a short break on a weekend. I wouldn’t be concerned that RPI is closer to ski resorts or that you have family near there, because you will be too busy at school to take ski trips or visit family. Your family will visit you during homecoming weekend and you can visit them during the Fall break in October, or during thanksgiving or Christmas break. You won’t have time during the fall semester to do anymore than that, because you will be way too busy with academics and activities on campus.

5

@jmk518 @trackmbe3 I didn’t realize bing and RPI were the same difficulty for engineering. I didn’t mean to down play the difficulty at engineering at all these places, I know each one of them are so hard. Do you think I will have a better chance to get a better GPA at buffalo since I’m in UB Honors? I’m worried about getting to bing or RPI and struggling especially compared to my peers. I know it’s a part of college and I’m not going to be a straight A student, but I don’t want to sacrifice my GPA to go to bing or RPI if I’m going to be more successful at UB.

6

You’ve put a lot of thought and feeling into your decision. You know in your gut that Bing is your best fit overall. Don’t second guess it, just go for it. IMO there isn’t a huge enough potential difference in GPA expectations to choose a school you already know you won’t feel as comfortable at. Enjoy your 4 years there and make the most of your opportunities!

7

@karlee2510 My first response to you —before you found out about RPI— on your initial thread a few weeks ago was to recommend Buffalo for the main reason that I thought you had a better chance at succeeding there—scoring a higher gpa —-than at Bing Watson. And being at the top of your class there would enable you to get good internships and a job upon graduation. Also, Buffalo is more noted for engineering and has better facilities for it than at Bing. And I personally liked all of the academic and recreational facilities there better than at Bing. But you felt strongly about Binghamton at that time. And you still do. And that says a lot. Bing is definitely considered more “prestigious” than Buffalo because it is considered the best SUNY (along with Stony Brook, in my opinion) in terms of the caliber of student (the high stat kids) that go there. Part of the reason has to do with it being the smallest of the 4 SUNY research universities, so it can’t admit a lot of students to each school. Watson has smaller space/seats available for engineering students than Buffalo. So Watson can afford to be choosier and select the best of the applicants. It has mostly “A” students who have higher standardized test scores from high school versus “B” students who attend at Buffalo. Many “A” students —like my kids—don’t want to go to Buffalo because they feel they worked so hard in high school to achieve an A average with A-type extracurricular activities and student involvement, so they don’t want to go to a school like Buffalo that accepts a lesser student, many B students who didn’t work half as hard as they did in high school. So I get that. But for such a difficult majors as computer science and engineering, I think Buffalo’s reputation is very strong and high stat students like yourself have a better chance of success at a school where they are entering as the top 25% in the class. And with the perks of honors. Having said all that though, since your heart is set on Binghamton (over RPI, Buffalo and your other choices) why not start out there and see how it goes? You can more easily transfer to Buffalo but not as easy the other way around.

8

@karlee2510 there is nothing special going on at RPI that will make it any tougher than the other schools on your list. At any school you can end up with a class or professor that doesn’t click with you. I work with engineers/scientists from all of the schools that you mention, lots of others that many on CC will say are the “best” engineering schools. There are differences between individuals, but nothing in terms of engineering ability that I would attribute to the college that they went to. And most would say they loved their undergraduate experience. After working your first job or getting into graduate school, nobody cares where you did your undergraduate studies except the person still paying the loans.

Pick the school and major that you like best (and can afford) - sounds like Binghamton is the best match. They are all fine choices and you will come out with a practical degree that will get you a job or into graduate school. And remember that every extra year you take to graduate costs you another year in college expenses plus a year’s worth of salary which can be a 6 figure $$ penalty.

9

Can you visit RPI and Binghamton again and ask more questions about course difficulty? What math class did you finish in high school? that may help you gauge how much you will work in freshman year. If you have been exposed to calculus AB that should work for either school. It might be good to date a bit at your new school before settling down with a high school boyfriend out in Buffalo. If that relationship is meant to be, it will survive. Go out on your own to either Troy or Binghamton and find your way in life without a high school friend to hang with, will mean you will experience more personal growth and make more new friends.

RIT sounds like its both too expensive and too close to home for you. Its not better than RPI in my mind. RPI is your strongest reputation school and has fantastic options in industrial engineering. Visit one more time and see if it feels good to you compared to Binghamton.

RPI has the additional strength that it is male dominated, so you get used to working with men right away, which you will have to do as an industrial engineer. RPI does offer co op plans too and a summer ARCH program.

President Shirley Jackson is a kind person, I think the media overblows the controversy at RPI. Its cool to have a female President for all the women who attend RPI.

10

@Coloradomama your last paragraph made me chuckle as I don’t know anyone with real ties to the campus that thinks highly of her except the board of trustees- I’m glad your experience is to the contrary. Now Laurie Leshin…there’s a female college president that has done great things for women in engineering at the college level and created an inclusive, open, and fiscally solid college campus. And she used to work for Shirley at RPI…

11

I agree that RPI has the strongest reputation of the ones you are considering for engineering. And I liked what @blevine said about RPI on another thread. He allayed the concerns I had heard about career placememt and internship opportunities that a former RPI student had mentioned on another thread. It may be good to visit one more time each school before making your decision. Are there admitted students days coming up that you could attend?

12

@trackmbe3 thank you for your insight. I definitely agree with everything you said, especially with starting at bing and transferring later if I don’t like it. I’m going to the admitted students day at bing and RPI coming up :slight_smile: thank you for everything and being so helpful

13

@jmk518 Can you write a little more about the controversy with President Shirley Jackson? What I know is, she wants to raise more funds because RPI built a beautiful theatre for musical theatre students and she wanted to use the student center to raise more money so RPI could get out of debt. If you can shed more light, maybe helpful as I want to recommend RPI to local Colorado students, and not sure how to evaluate what I read in the Troy NY papers about this controversy. Is it dying down, for instance?
EMPAC is a really fabulous addition to the RPI campus for music and theatre performances
https://empac.rpi.edu

I still love RPI, (from NJ originally !)

14

@Coloradomama I definitely see what you mean about going somewhere new. I am definitely feeling Binghamton after all of this, and I definitely feel like I can eliminate RIT. Additionally, I will finish AP Calc BC this year. I really love math and I’m doing very well in it!!

15

President Shirley Jackson at RPI is a physicist,not an engineer.
RPI has one of the finest physics programs in the nation, too.
RPI has always had strong sciences from way way back and continues to do great work with Lake George,
a watershed in New York State-
https://research.rpi.edu/dfwi

For the price the OP can get an RPI education, it makes sense to take advantage of the private education.
Its an incredible price for an amazing education.

The state school experience will be fine too, and she will save a few thousand by going to Binghamton though
if she prefers a bigger state school environment.

16

It sounds like you’ve given it a lot of thought and have some very logical pros/cons for each. Binghamton sounds like the best fit for what you’re looking for, including the opportunity to switch career paths if you decide to do so (which many many college students do). I would agree with others to try to visit again and ask as many questions as you can but you have some great options and I think you already know what you’ll do :wink:

17

@Coloradomama Sure. Early in her appointment she secured what was at the time the largest university donation and she started several campus construction projects. EMPAC was one of them and it ultimately was significantly more expensive than planned. In addition, total donation was, to my knowledge, never fully realized because it was tied to investments. So the financial woes really started with her. She also insisted that the president’s residence be fully redone at great expense to the college. The last plans I heard were that the new residence was well over $1MM and close to 20,000 square feet (for 2 people). She also had a second home built by the college in the Adirondacks - a 10,000 square foot home on lake George.

She’s received a lot of criticism for being a member of over 10 corporate boards. The concern was the time commitment to support these other paid appointments while being one of the highest paid college president’s in the country. Last I heard her goal compensation package was in excess of $7MM per year.

She reportedly routinely has a personal security detail. While students and faculty have told me this, I have never seen them.

In the early 2000’s she changed the tuition structure for graduate students. When I was a PhD student there tuition, generally paid by the professor sponsoring you, was billed by the credit. Once the degree was paid for, students could go on “degree completion” if they were not done with their thesis. The cost was $50 per semester for administrative expenses, so the only cost the the advisor was whatever assistantship salary they were paid. This ensured the thesis was complete to the committee’s satisfaction and the student could get additional research experience. With the change, grad students paid full tuition even if they were not talking any credits. This caused a rush to get students out the door.

Shortly after this (around 2006) the faculty had a no-confidence vote in the president and about 10 years ago she responded by having the faculty Senate suspended. But the board of trustees renewed her contact sending a strong and divisive message to the faculty.

Most recently, she has made a move to wrestle control of the student union away from the students. Control of the union has rested with the students since it was started about 140 years ago.

I was part of the RPI campus from 1992 to 2006.

18

All the above has not impaced an undergraduate’s experience much, except maybe those few who would participate in running the union (which is very unfortunate). Profs seem engaged with students, despite negativity experienced from Pres Jackson. Having studied the same major as my son at RPI, I am really impressed with his education.

19

^^^ agree - everything with the leadership of the university does not take away from the education. It does raise questions among students if the financial state affects the college’s ability to provide aid to the students. Wikipedia points out that her compensation package alone amounts to $1,000 per student on an annual basis. They did have a round of layoffs a few years ago that was announced between the end of the fall semester after the students left and just before Christmas. So I think students and alumni do see what is going on, but the delta over a four year span of education is probably not noticed.