<p>Hi all. =D Does anyone have suggestions for safety schools for me? My college advisor was giving me names like NYU and UChicago, but no matter what my qualifications are I don't really feel comfortable saying those schools should be safeties for ANYONE because of their selectivity. I've posted info on my scores and grades before (I don't want to post them again and be repetitive and annoying, because they haven't changed).</p>
<p>Also, since I live in NY, which of the SUNY schools would you suggest looking at? There are just so many, and I don't know where to start... I'm mainly interested in physics, French, philosophy, and political science, if that makes a difference. I've heard Stony Brook is good, but it's on Long Island and I'm so sick of Long Island at this point. Haha.</p>
<p>Binghamton is by and by considered the best SUNY school. The only thing I don't really like about it (my sibling attends the school) is the pretty crappy surrounding post-indrustrial wasteland they like to call a "town." However, it is considered a bargain for the education you get there.</p>
<p>Binghamton University (formerly SUNY Binghamton, which sprang from what was once a private liberal arts college known as Harper College) is located in the town of Vestal, New York, which is bordered on one side by rolling foothills (covered with dissiduous trees) of the Appalachian Mountains, and on the other side by the Susquehanna River, which empties into the Chesapeake Bay.</p>
<p>Vestal, which has a population of about 27,000 people (most of whom dwell in single family housing, much of it built in the 50's, 60's and 70's), is traversed by the Vestal Parkway, a four-lane road lined with shopping malls and restaurants (most, but not all, of the fast-food variety).</p>
<p>The Town of Vestal (which "they like to call a town" for the same reason they like to call New York City a city) isn't for everyone. But it's hardly a post-industrial wasteland. It's a bedroom community that's become a regional retail center.</p>
<p>The City of Binghamton is located a few miles to the east of Binghamton University; its population is somewhere in the 45,000 range, down from 70,000 or so in its economic heyday in the 1950's. At one time, it was a small but bustling industrial city, with a lot of shoe manufacturing. Economically, its fortunes have declined with the rest of Upstate New York, where most of the other SUNY campuses are also located.</p>
<p>SUNY has four main University Centers (Binghamton, Albany, Stony Brook, and Buffalo), plus a dozen or so smaller colleges, one of which is also in Buffalo; most of the others are in fairly small towns.</p>
<p>Geneseo is another option. Equal to or slightly better than Binghamton. Gennie is really isolated, but I went to Binghamton and there is nothing in that community that will interest a college student. You can always apply to both and decide later if you need a safety.</p>
<p>NY Mom here and SUNY Oswego grad. You seemed to have gotten the "answer" already. The 4 University centers- Stony Brook-Bing. Albany and Buffalo may meet your needs better than the colleges. Geneseo is also highly competitive (but no one quite knows how that happened). Get a copy of the SUNY ViewBook. If you can't get last years copy at your HS office ( the admin. offices of your school may be open through the summer), you can view it on line at the SUNY.edu website. The ViewBook will give you info on each of the colleges in the SUNY System. The website will also link you to each individual school in the SUNY system. For what it is worth, a lot of kids from my d's school go to Albany and Buffalo because 1) Most LI kids do not want to go to Stony Brook and 2) they are not thrilled with the Bing. area. A lot of your decision may come down to personal preference. All the schools are good and a SUNY is a good choice for a safety. Good luck.</p>
<p>The only thing that is kind of annoying is that, being New York, the state schools could and should be better. Look at schools like UNC-Chapel Hill, the incredibly diverse UC system, Michigan-Ann Arbor, UVA, even Texas. New York is THE most famous state in the world. So why doesn't it have a better state school system?</p>