I’m currently a neuroscience major at Syracuse University but recently decided it’s simply not the school for me. I’ve decided to transfer to a SUNY to save money. I’ve currently deciding between Stony Brook and Ualbany. I got into UAlbany and am still waiting to hear from Stony Brook. Neither school has an official neuroscience major but has minors/tracks with their biology programs. I’m mostly interested in going into research or teaching. Are the biology programs comparable at both schools? I just don’t want to pick the wrong school again.
I would personally say Stony Brook. I’m biased though-- I do not know much about UAlbany, but my brothers attend Stony. One was a bio major (for pre-med, now biochem major) so I can tell you with quite certainty that the program is amazing. I also tend to think of Stony Brook as the more research oriented school, especially because of access to Stony Brook hospital. It seems Stony is more STEM oriented than Albany, which is what you’d want for biology. But again, I don’t know much about Albany so I could be totally wrong about their STEM programs! Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
Also, as for teaching, a lot of my best HS teachers did Stony Brook undergrad for their respective subjects (physics, chem, etc). I’m not sure what specific type of teacher (besides biology?) you’re looking to be, but those multiple teachers all valued their time at Stony Brook very much. That was over 20 years ago though 
Have you visited the two universities?
I haven’t I’m planning on doing that in two weeks during my spring break. I know they both have different atmospheres like I hear stony is a commuter school and Albany is a party type school.
Stony Brook really is the best SUNY for the sciences. If you get in, it should be a no-brainer. 
Also, see if you can get into the Honors College there.
@Ashdee218 DEFINITELY Stonybrook has the better neuroscience program. But the two schools are like two different worlds in my opinion. If you don’t mind me asking what don’t you like about Syracuse. My son is also going to be a Neuroscience major and has applied to Syracuse. He got into suny albany as well … the admissions counselor said he would have to major in Biology AND Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience…but that they compliment each other and there aren’t that many extra classes… We will find out more at scholars day on march 11.
@kristi4806 I just don’t really like the atmosphere of Syracuse. I don’t really click with the people here. Also, I’m lost some financial aid money due to my EFC changing but I’m still paying for college mostly by myself and so rather than putting myself more into debt for I school I don’t love I’m going to transfer. Also, I was originally attracted to su for the Newhouse school and since I’m no longer interested in that program there’s really nothing keeping me here. The SU program is similar where you can’t have neuro as a single major. You have to have another major that compliments it like bio, psych, computer science, linguistics, or communication disorders.
How are you paying for school on your own? Are your parents cosigning loans? Don’t do that.
Can they afford to pay for a SUNY without borrowing more than the federal student loan? If your family is borrowing much more than that, you may want to consider commuting to your local SUNY campus.
@austinmshauri I’m mainly taking out federal loans by myself. My dad cosigned a small private loan for me this year but most likely won’t be able to do it again. My parents never had a plan for my college and neither are really capable of paying for college. None of my local sunys are really that great. The closest one is a community college and then there’s Purchase but that isn’t really the school I’m looking for. I might end up commuting at Stony but that’s still an hour and half commute one way everyday.
@Ashdee218 if you have to commute to stony brook i would say go to U albany ! There’s always grad school… With a major like neuroscience you must be looking into med school or grad school no?
@kristi4806 Yeah I’m going to do graduate school. I’m not sure whether I’m more interested in a research program or med school yet so I’m trying to make myself eligible to do both so when I finally make up my mind I won’t have to worry as much. And the commuting thing is probably going to be the deciding factor I’m figuring. I know Stony has overcrowding and waitlists for its housing sometimes so I’m not sure I would get housing. Commuting just seems like a task I don’t want to deal with. I just wanted to make sure UAlbany was decent for biology.
@Ashdee218 from what i understand they have a new neuroscience building. And they have Albany med so i’d say they have to be pretty decent!
yes, Albany is decent for bio, but you’d really want to be in the Honors College. SB is better, but 1H30 commute is crazy, especially in NY winter weather. So if you can’t afford to live on campus at SB but can commute to Albany, it may be a solution. However, note that students who live on campus have better grades and are more involved (which translates into a better experience and better outcomes) so that, if you can avoid it, try to, not to mention the safety issue with commuting in the winter.
Commuting to Albany isn’t really an option either. That’s a two hour commute as I live in the lower hudson valley area. I’m trying to avoid commuting the only way I would consider that if there was no housing option at either college. Thank you guys for your input.
Ok, good. Because commuting from far away in NYS is NOT a good idea indeed.
Hopefully the FA package will make one or the other affordable, including R&B costs.
Also, I’m not sure I’m eligible to get into the honors college as nothing on the website says about transfer students being able to apply
Email the Honors College’s Dean, giving your college GPA and interest in … (academics) as well as … (community service).
You can apply to the honors program as a transfer. My brother is a transfer student this year (Buffalo to Stony) and was invited to apply. It is possible.
What did you ultimately decide? I started out at Albany years ago (Bio major) transferred to Stony Brook end of freshman year. My son is attending SB (SoMAS) and my daughter has looked at both Albany and Stony Brook during the break.
Stony Brook is one of the top public research schools in the world. The science programs are stellar. Look into the SCAN center on campus. Unlike UA where the hospital is a little over a mile from campus, UHSB is on east campus – very convenient.
Housing is tight at BOTH schools. I’ve lived on both campuses; tower rooms at UA are nice, suite style. Stony Brook quads are all different. I lived on Kelly, in a suite. It was like a garden apartment with a balcony. There have been upgrades as my son has informed me. If you get placed in Lauterber (the newest dorm) you will be pleased as punch.
Both schools have Div 1 sports, which you will pay extra for in your tuition.
My daughter is currently in college search mode and she preferred SB over UA.
@MomofBri I actually decided to stay at Syracuse. Even though tutition is much cheaper at the SUNY schools the small amount of aid they offered me made them more money than SU and that’s a major factor for me. I’m also starting to pull away from bio and I’m looking to either add a second major in the communications field or drop biology down to minor because even though I like it I’m not really sure if I want to do it my whole life and the Newhouse school is amazing here and I’m not sure I want to give up that opportunity by transferring out.