<p>I'm kinda in a dilemma over choosing between at deciding on where to- Stony Brook vs Binghamton. I know both schools are great schools in the SUNY system. I plan on majoring in Biology and hope to later apply to dental school. I want to which one would better prepare me for dental school. Whereever I go i know I will do my best but I want to know where i would have better opportunities to prepare myself. Such things include professors, are there research opportunities, shadowing/volunteering opportunities and if they have a predental club/society. Whereever i go i want to maintain atleast 3.5-3.6 gpa. Which school would have committed teachers and students who are willing to help me get into dental school???</p>
<p>also explain to me dorming. is it like based on interests or just random dorming?
also this is just a unrelated question but what happens on the first day of college at Binghamton and how does moving in work.</p>
<p>I would DEFINITELY recommend Bing, it’s not for no reason that they’re considered the Ivy and flagship of the SUNY system. Besides the better academic value, there’s better name recognition. Although both schools are more less the same price, Bing is, at least IMO, the better choice.</p>
<p>As per Biology specifically, there’s both a Bachelors and a Masters, so you have the option to stay right on for your masters right away; there might even be a combined program where you can get both in 5 years.</p>
<p>As for dental school, I don’t know too much about that, but I do know that Bing is a better choice for most other programs, so the pattern probably continues.</p>
<p>OH and I forgot. While you work on your Bio courses, there’s a huge 190-acre Nature Preserve right on campus; I’ve never heard of any other college campus anywhere with something like that. The preserve is a fantastic location to study nature and is in fact used in conjunction with many research programs.</p>
<p>Once you have your deposit in and get your Bing email and whatnot, sometime in April will be freshman housing sign-up. </p>
<p>You’ll be asked if you:
Want to do chemical-free housing, which requires an extra agreement to not participate in drinking or drugs on or off campus.
Need break housing which are dorms meant for students (usually athletes or internationals) who cannot go home on school breaks. If you are in these dorms, you have the right to stay in those dorms during any school break during the school year (not the summer though)
Want to join a living-learning community, a floor or two that is dedicated to a specific purpose (for example, the pre-law community in College-in-the-Woods which I was a part of my freshman year). You will be contacted if you pick this option so that you can go through the process of picking learning community classes and whatnot.
Lastly, you will rank the order of the communities (in order of preference).
They are:
a) Mountainview (all suites, built circa 2003)
b) Newing (corridor rooms with semi-private bathrooms- I think all the old buildings will be gone by next fall, built circa 2010)
c) College in the Woods (mix of suites/corridor and you will be assigned randomly to one or the other- you cannot pick, built circa 1976)
d) Hinman (all suites, built circa 1965)
e) Dickinson (corridor rooms, built circa 1955)</p>
<p>As a freshman, you cannot live in the apartment communities. In Mountainview, you can be assigned to freshman only rooms (4 person suites and designed triples) as well as the regular 6 person suites. In Hinman and CIW, you can be assigned to live in the RA suites which are usually freshman only. CIW’s RA suite is just a shared semi-private bathroom and no common room. </p>
<p>As for the other issues, Binghamton is fine for pre-dental. I believe we have a pre-dental society here as well. You will not be at any disadvantage if you choose to go to Binghamton over Stony Brook. I also have found that many people prefer the social life here at Binghamton over Stony Brook.</p>
<p>i do not have personal experience with this – but with respect to research opportunities – what i have heard is that since binghamton has a relatively smaller graduate school, there are more research opportunities available for undergraduates.</p>
<p>at either school there will be a lot of students interested in going into medical professions (med school and dental school).</p>
<p>in terms of what happens the first day – i think you may really be asking about orientation. they generally have a few different orientation sessions over the summer. you request the session you want (there are separate dates for harpur and for the other schools). you go for two days during which you register for classes – prior to that you have a chance to meet with advisors. if you can’t make one of the sessions over the summer, they also have an orientation session a couple of days before classes start.</p>
<p>freshmen move into the dorms usually a day before upper classmen are allowed to return (though they don’t have to return then), which is a few days before classes start. there are people to help carry your stuff into the dorms (enjoy it while you can – in future years you are on your own ) there are various activities scheduled you can participate in during those days prior to the start of classes. </p>
<p>when the first day of classes arrives, you attend classes. :)</p>
<p>have you visited both schools? if you are still unsure, consider visiting again even if you already have – as an accepted student you can view things differently and make a point of getting the information you need to make a decision.</p>
<p>Bing is simply ranked higher and simply has stronger programs. Only reason you’d choose Stony Brook is if you’re going for the Math Honors program. But a lot of the more intellectual students there are unhappy since Stony Brook is known to be (here on Long Island at least) a wild party school.</p>
<p>thanks everyone for the responses
i actually did go on a college visit to both and liked stony brook better. When I went to Binghamton it was a saturday October 30th and it just seemed be a dull place. There was like no one outside and everyones just sitting inside. It didnt seem be the school I expected to be.
can you also explain what are some of the best clubs on campus and like major activities that happen on campus such as a festivals/spirit days</p>
<p>Each community has its own “spirit” type competitions. CIW has Woods Olympics, Mountainview has Salamander Days, Hinman has Hinman Hysteria and so on. There are also community specific festivals (Woodstock, Woods Jam, Semi-formal etc). </p>
<p>As for clubs, again, it depends on your interests. I like philosophy so I am a member of the Binghamton Philosophy Club. If you have a cultural interest, you can join one of the many cultural clubs on campus. We have several magazine and newpapers. And so on. It’s what you make of it. </p>
<p>And as for your visit, it can be very cold in Binghamton- even in October. By that time, we had a few weeks of cold weather and everyone had moved inside for socializing. If you had visited in early October or late September, you would have seen something different. </p>
<p>If you truly prefer Stony Brook, go there. You aren’t at much of a disadvantage for pre-med.</p>
<p>first of all, this may not be the best place to ask that question because many people here, including myself, would tend to favor binghamton out of a natural bias. however, u can take that as a positive because a higher percentage of students at bing enjoy college and have good social lives compared to at stonybrook. bias aside, i generally hear stonybrook is better for the sciences and may better prepare you for dental school. however, you will probably get a more well-rounded and overall better education at bing.</p>
<p>Because you have an interest in med school, I’d suggest Stonybrook. I’ve gathered from friends that as far as the medical area is concerned, Stonybrook has a slight edge over Bing. It’s a great school (though tbh, I didn’t apply), and has a good reputation.</p>
<p>However, a general disadvantage of Stony is that I’ve heard it gets dead on weekends, and many people tend to leave. I wouldn’t know for sure if this is true, but that’s just the general impression I get when I talk to people about the school.</p>
<p>As a few people have pointed out, Stony Brook may have an edge on the pre med route only because its surrounded by more prominent med schools, at least in my opinion. What Binghamton does have is a far superior pool of research opportunities. For that reason alone I have chosen Binghamton.</p>
) there are various activities scheduled you can participate in during those days prior to the start of classes. </p>