<p>I'm a high school senior and these two colleges are my top two choices so far. My grades are well above the accepted average at both schools. My parents really want me to go to Stony Brook--mainly because it's so close to home. However, I visited Binghamton recently and I really fell in love with it. It seems like such a friendly and lively environment, and I don't see that aspect at Stony Brook's campus. I don't like parties very much, but from what I've heard SBU is dead on the weekends and I don't really think I want that. I plan on majoring in something related to science (maybe engineering, I'm not quite sure yet).
Academically, which school do you think has a stronger science program?
Socially, which school do you think is friendlier and easier to fit in to?</p>
<p>Hi queenmikasa,</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I think you may have to consider the relative weight of your desires here. To answer your first question, Stony Brook is significantly stronger in the sciences. In STEM fields, Stony Brooks’ programs rank between ~20 and ~50, while Binghamton’s rank between ~80 and ~160. Binghamton is not bad by any stretch, but Stony Brook is substantially stronger in the STEM fields. On the other hand, Stony Brook seems to have somewhat of a rep around these boards for the “weekend ghost town” feel. I can neither verify nor refute that reputation. I <em>do</em> know that Stony Brook has been making an active effort to increase social engagement on campus. It is definitely becoming less of a commuter school than it has been in the past, but I can’t say how it compares to Binghamton. Good luck with your decision; they’re both good schools and I’m sure you’ll end up enjoying whichever you choose!</p>
<p>I can’t weigh in on the weekend action either. Neither school would be described as having an electrified climate on weekends. I just looked at various ratings. Binghamton used to have a strong reputation as a smaller school with excellent humanities. The English Dept was outstanding and overall ratings for Binghamton were higher than other SUNYs. But that has changed over the past decade thanks to a university president who was beyond awful.While she was president resources went into sports not academics. She increased the number of students but not the number of instructors or available resources to handle the increase. For a long time the school rode on its rep from 15 years ago. That has changed. The changes have impacted on the reputation and I anticipate they will impact even more for several year until the ratings are based on what the school is doing now instead of based on its Harpur College days. Overall ratings on US News are identical for the two schools. But the fact that Binghamton still has a halo effect from Harpur is evident when you look at departments. As has always been true, Stony Brook out performs Binghamton markedly in each STEM area. But what is stunning is the change in in the humanities and social sciences. Stony leads there too now. And, while English is rated higher in Binghamton, not by much. This is a stunning reversal. And a predictable outcome of nearly 2 decades of increasing the number of students while pouring resources into sports. Defleur really took the school to a nose dive. How’s the basketball team doing lois? </p>
<p>The prioritization of atheletics over academics is anathema to the quality of a university. When I was a student at the University of Maryland, which I would argue is still quite a good school academically, the deference given to athletic events was constant and very disturbing. Conversely, when I was a post-doc at CMU, the University’s focus on academics and view of sports as truly “extra-curricular” was truly refreshing!</p>