So you didn't get into Cornell...welcome to Binghamton

Colleges and Universities A-Z Binghamton University - SUNY
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<p>For those of you who attend or plan to attend Binghamton, this statement really should **** you off.</p>

<p>What should **** you off even more is that an orientation counselor cracked this joke during freshman orientation...at Binghamton.</p>

<p>A cursory search on Google also reveals this September 2009 issue of some Binghamton school newsletter: <a href="http://binghamtonreviewonline.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/september-2009-final.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://binghamtonreviewonline.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/september-2009-final.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It's as if Binghamton students are smart enough to crack what seems on the surface to be a clever and witty joke...but not quite smart enough to realize that the joke is ON THEM, and just makes them and their own school look second-rate.</p>

<p>I'd like to hear what the rest of you people think about this.</p>

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<p>First of all, the link is to the Binghamton Review which is the Conservative newspaper on campus. Every issue they do some sort of parody; this particular issue was the high number of Ivy-League (often Cornell) applicants that do not get into that particular Ivy end up at Binghamton.</p>

<p>No it doesn’t make the school “second rate” since many students have competitive stats for the Ivy schools and for one reason or another do not get in. It’s just making fun of the truth: That the Ivy admissions is a game of chance and that many fine, good, and competent applicants who would succeed any where can’t get into those schools. They go to other schools who are ecstatic to admit them. Binghamton is better off because many of their students are Ivy caliber. </p>

<p>It’s a joke. Relax. Perhaps the OA shouldn’t have made it but its not horribly offensive.</p>

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<p>That’s fine. I don’t actually have anything to do with Binghamton. I’m actually a Cornell alumni, ironically.</p>

<p>In any case, you can rationalize this any way you want, really. At the end of the day, if people who are actually FROM Binghamton don’t particularly care that stuff like this just makes them look bad, then I guess there’s no problem. :slight_smile: It’s not my alma mater, after all.</p>

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<p>Personally, I think it’s (mildly) amusing.</p>

<p>Binghamton is a fine school, my son will be applying there for sure.</p>

<p>But it had a 20% yield last year, which suggests, to anyone, that it is often not the first choice for many of its acceptees. It would be absurd for matriculated students to be unaware of this. But rather than knowing it and feeling bad about it, they have chosen instead to just poke some fun at it. By treating this humorously, at the outset, the subliminal message they are conveying, to me, is that admissions results are in no way a blow to their feelings of self-worth or the value of the education they expect to receive at Binghamton. “OK this happened, but that’s done, we’re here at a great school so let’s move on and prosper”.</p>

<p>Admissions results have become very difficult these days, with “crap-shoot” elements, there is no shame in getting rejected from a highly selective institution and certainly no shame in attending Binghamton, which is a fine school in its own right. They are just making light of the situation, not feeling bad about it. And not pretending the situation doesn’t exist, when everyone there knows it does.</p>

<p>Did you ever hear Cayuga’s Waiters sing “We Didn’t Go to Harvard”?</p>

<p>“(We didn’t go to Harvard)
But upon reflections cause we all got rejections…”
All right, buried in there, but still, it’s basically the same thing.</p>

<p>If you’re not Harvard there’s always some place some of you didn’t get in. But when the yield is 20%, it’s a lot more than some of you. Why pretend otherwise? Overtly making light of it from the outset, so that it can then be laughed at, dismissed, and collectively put behind you, is not a bad idea at all in this situation. IMO.</p>

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<p>Monydad is right, it wasn’t the first choice of a lot of students. It wasn’t mine although it was close to the top. I didn’t get into my Ivy first choice, oh well. I like self-deprecating humor. It makes life more bearable if people can learn to laugh at themselves. A lot of people on these fora could use a dose this.</p>

<p>So hahahaha, the jokes on me because Binghamton has students who didn’t get into their first choice, understand that they had the numbers for said college and could have done well there but didn’t get it and are now at great public school. Yes, I feel horrible about myself. Can’t you tell?</p>

<p>OP: Yes, I’m being sarcastic but I don’t appreciate someone who has nothing to do with Binghamton coming into the Binghamton forum just to make fun of it. Some of us here actually like Binghamton and public education and find nothing wrong with going there. I don’t think you’d like it if I came on to the Cornell forum and started a thread called “You got into Cornell, the lower tier Ivy.” You’d be all indignant too, citing the larger student body size( account for a higher acceptance rate) and all the amazing attributes that Cornell has to offer in comparison to its peers in the Ivy league. </p>

<p>So chill out and quit pointing out the obvious: Bing students aren’t Cornell students and they don’t mind that.</p>

<p>Edit: Now I see you have exactly two posts. Both of which are in this thread. Quit ■■■■■■■■. It’s not nice.</p>

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<p>I don’t think OP was ■■■■■■■■, my guess is he has a kid looking at Binghamton, saw that and genuinely thought it was offensive.</p>

<p>But I could be wrong.</p>

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<p>I’m only calling ■■■■■ because (s)he has “no connection” to Binghamton which would not be true if his/her child was applying to Bing. In any case it’s still inflammatory.</p>

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<p>My son and husband toured both schools this weekend.</p>

<p>He loved Cornell and liked Binghamton. He is already aware of the whole nature of Binghamton as a “second choice” but he could picture himself being happy at that school.</p>

<p>I think it’s pretty much an open secret about this so why not poke fun at it? Odds are he won’t get into Cornell anyway-not because he is somehow inferior but just because they have so many exceptional applicants.</p>

<p>He could do a lot worse than SUNY-Binghamton!</p>

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<p>Honestly, Binghamton is a predominantly liberal campus, so publications such as the Review need to have a higher “shock value” to get people to pull them off the shelves. I mean, when they distribute them, they literally put them on the floors of the lecture halls and dining halls. It isn’t like Pipe Dream, where they have their own newsstands scattered throughout campus.</p>

<p>If the idea of going to a school full of Ivy-caliber students irks you, then perhaps you should reconsider what you’re looking for in a college. Keep in mind that although a lot of students attending Binghamton are flat-out “rejects” from Ivies, there isn’t a shortage of students who couldn’t afford those Ivies.</p>

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<p>"…there isn’t a shortage of students who couldn’t afford those Ivies. "</p>

<p>Excellent point.</p>

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<p>ok I’ll play Devils Advocate: I know kids who were accepted to Cornell with GT that matriculated at Binghamton and never left…</p>

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<p>How is that devil’s advocate? They were denied freshman admission to Cornell, hence they had no other option but to go someplace other than Cornell, at least for freshman year, and for that they chose Binghamton. Such people would be prime recipients of the “welcome to Binghamton” campaign, not exceptions to it.</p>

<p>Once someone is parked someplace else it becomes quite likely they will stay there, probably only a minority Of GT recipients act on it subsequently. Many find they like their current college too much to take the risk of “starting over”, socially as well as academically, elsewhere. Many probably find they are interested, it turns out, in something other than the specialized mission of the contract college that was providing the GT. Probably some of them do not wind up meeting the standards specified in the GT agreement.</p>

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<p>Ultimately, it depends on your major.</p>

<p>I picked the University of Illinois at Urbana over Cornell and Binghamton because UIUC has a better engineering college than both and their civil engineering program is number one or two in the country. I’m not going to graduate from an Ivy League school, but I think it was a good choice for me.</p>

<p>Binghamton will not open too many doors; certainly less doors than Cornell. But if you wanted to be an engineer, you wouldn’t go to Harvard, and if you wanted to be an accountant, then UIUC would be better than either Cornell or Harvard and of course Binghamton.</p>

<p>The trouble is, lots of students don’t know what major they want, or they end up picking a humanities, or business type major. Those come a dime 3 dozen. That’s when picking the Ivy League school over SUNY Binghamton is critical. The most popular major in the US is psychology. If you’re getting that from UIUC or Binghamton, you just wasted 4 years of your life. Get it from Cornell, and it might be a different story.</p>

<p>In conclusion, I think people focus too much on the school and not enough on what they will study there.</p>

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<p>You do have a point that picking a program your university is strong in is better than just picking a great university, but I would pick Binghamton (or Baruch) for accounting. SOM is a great business school. </p>

<p>Yes, a humanities degree is “common” and getting from an Ivy is a nice plus, but you haven’t wasted four years of your life. Humanities degrees have value, in learning communication skills, writing skills, plus whatever you’ve majored in. Getting a humanities degree from Bing, I have a good solid background that I can use to head on the grad school (where ever that may be) or use towards a job. You don’t need to go to an Ivy for that.</p>

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<p>was in a suite of 6 my frosh year, 3 of us were accepted to Cornell out of hs, 2 were GT’s that believed they would leave for Cornell when the year started and decided to stay at bing because they loved it so much. Bing may not have the prestige or brand name recognition of a Cornell, but it’s a great school in its own right and a fantastic value for the money. I think the orientation advisor might have made this joke because they are in fact secure with their decision. Furthermore, they are not afraid to poke fun at misconceptions by ignorant outsiders that the decision between Cornell and Bing is always so cut and dry. As an accounting major, I’m not sure Cornell would have offered me advantages that would amount to the substantial price difference between the two schools, and I know there are many other students who struggled with similar decisions.</p>

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<p>“…I know there are many other students who struggled with similar decisions.”</p>

<p>Indeed, only 61% of those accepted to Cornell CALS (home of its accounting major) choose to attend, so that means plenty of people (39%, to be precise) don’t.</p>

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<p>I loled when I read that article. Binghamton review is a love/hate publication; it’s either going to offend someone or make them laugh. I laughed because the guy was absolutely right! I didn’t get into Cornell so Binghamton was the next best thing. I’ve met manywho were in the same situation. As the time went on, it just becomes a thing of the past. We’re more focused on our grades and future, not many want to transfer, especially since the credit conversion’s a *****.</p>

<p>Although, it would’ve been pretty nice to have Cornell University on my resume. Anywho, what’s done is done.</p>

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<p>What bothers me about all those people who could afford Cornell, and picked Binghamton because they did not get into Cornell, is why they settled on Binghamton. This country is huge; there is more to it than the northeast and NY state.</p>

<p>I bet half the people who picked Binghamton over Cornell because they did not get into Cornell could have gotten into UC Berkley(3rd best university in the world according to a major Chinese university), UT Austin, Cooper Union, UCLA, Northwestern, U Mich, Georgia Tech… the list really goes on and on. I can understand it if your family is cash strapped, though frankly, anyone can get low interest federal loans. If you have the money; and Cornell was not a major reach; why would you go to Binghamton?</p>

<p>In the engineering world, nobody has heard of Binghamton except local employers in NY or thereabouts. It really does make a difference that surprised me. Multiple computer science majors have told me that Microsoft takes 2.8 GPA students from UIUC, while a student from Binghamton would have to be perfect to get into that kind of job. The reason I mention this is because I knew people from my highschool who were just as smart as myself, if not smarter, and picked Binghamton.</p>

<p>I’m sure it’s a decent school, but if you’re an achieving highschool students, with a high GPA, look beyond the borders of New York, there are opportunities galore.</p>

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<p>^
You’re absolutely right. Engineering at Binghamton is not that well known. I too have run into students who I felt they could’ve done better than Bing. I think the reasons are largely that it’s cheap and that it’s close to NYC and Long Island. Keep in mind that the overwhelming majority of students are from NYC and Long Island.</p>

<p>As someone from NYC, I think it would be a major hassle to go to a school like UC Berkeley.</p>

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<p>Think of it this way, I wasn’t ALLOWED to apply to schools farther way from the NYC area than 5-6 hours driving time. </p>

<p>It leaves me the Boston-NYC-DC triangle and whatever I thought of in NY State and Pennsylvania. UC Berkeley, although nice and great and well-ranked is not 5 hours driving from Long Island. Binghamton, a great school (especially for my PPL major) IS. And that’s why I picked it. </p>

<p>And yeah, going half-way across the country or more is a major hassle.</p>