<p>Which is the "better" school overall - dealing with academics, sports, socially, parties, city life, and frats?</p>
<p>These were the two schools that I were considering, in regards to SUNY. What I figure is, Stony Brook has a good location, and a good transit network. I'm from Upstate, and from what I hear, it's almost impossible to get to Syracuse/Utica from Binghamton without taking a bus to NYC. Also, from what I hear, Binghamton has a lively night life, while Stony Brook is more of a serious study school. Binghamton has a wider range of majors, but Stony Brook is good at what it has. Both are excellent values.</p>
<p>Yeah Keleso, I am from Utica and go to Stony Brook. It is quite easy to get back by taking the LIRR>Penn Station>Amtrak. I usually take Amtrak from Penn to Albany because it is cheaper and then it's just an hours drive. Not too bad, in my opinion. And it really depends on who you become friends with regarding "night life." With my friends, I feel that we know how to have fun mostly every night, but we also know when we have to study and such...</p>
<p>Well here is a list of pros and cons that I, myself, can think of about both school:</p>
<p>STONY BROOK:</p>
<p>PROS:
Beautiful Campus
Big school
Big student body(24,000 students)
Over 300 clubs
Tons of sports teams (We just became D1, still adjusting)
Tons of activities
Research facilities like Brookhaven Labs, and the Stony Brook Hospital.
LIRR can take you directly to Penn Station in the city, cheaply, and SBU students get discounts each month.
Science/Med school.</p>
<p>CONS:
Not the best party school
A lot of commuters, so it could seem "dead" on the weekends, even though there are still 10k students here during that time.
Not as much of a sports school, we do have tons of people go out to the games, but not the entire school.
A lot of students are foreign, and have bad speaking skills (No offense a lot of people don't like it)</p>
<p>BINGHAMTON:</p>
<p>PROS:
A party school.
More humanitarian type of school.
No foreigners (Yes people care about this sometime)
Has a campus.</p>
<p>CONS:
In the middle of nowhere, the city isn't that nice.
Cannot go anywhere, no trains or anything.
No research.</p>
<p>Some of the things I could think of. Overall SBU would be my choice.</p>
<p>It's a better school, more known, and more things to do, IF YOU ACTUALLY GO OUT AND DO STUFF.</p>
<p>Stony Brook actually has a ton more majors then Bing does Keleso.</p>
<p>Stony Brook is a lot better for medical at any rate. But then again, you can get the same- similar actually, education at either school. Binghamton, in all, is more prestigious. I say this because if you ask an ordinary bloke that lives in the state of NY about each school, they'd say "Oh Binghamton! What a fabulous school!" From what I hear- there are smarter kids at Bing, but thats just speculation, but to get in is a bit harder than Stony Brook (plus or minus 50 pts on your SAT lol) I don't know anything about the night life, i don't attend either school. All I do know are the statistics and what other people think about it. At any rate, you should go to the school that you like best via visiting. I hear the Business and Management departments are great at Binghamton, meaning top notch math? Then again, Stony Brook has great science departments. Its depending on your studies- but to be honest: If your going for sciences- either school would be fine, Stony a bit better. If your going for most likely anything else -usually-Binghamton would be better. I don't know which campus is nicer. My parents like both schools but they'd much rather me go to Bing as well as the retard illiterate aunts of mine. . . But i just think the professors are smarter at Stony. (Although I never visited Binghamton)</p>
<p>I'll put this in numbers for easier understanding.</p>
<ol>
<li> You say you can get the same education at both schools, which is incorrect. We are a more research related school, so any Science, Math, Medical field is a lot better here at Stony Brook. Bing just doesn't have the manpower, nor the facilities to compete on that level.</li>
<li> You say bing is more prestigious? That if you think of a school in NY it's BING!? That isn't true. Bing is one of 4 University centers, as is Stony Brook. I cannot say which is more "known" in New York, because I don't know the numbers. On a world wide scale Stony Brook is more prestigious, we have 40% of our students being international. Now tell me, do you think that they would come all the way over here if it wasn't a "prestigious, or good school?"</li>
<li> "Smarter kids at Bing" You cannot say that, without testing everyone's iq and making an average. Besides that they are different schools. Stony Brook is Science, and Bing is Humanities. That's comparing Apples to Oranges.</li>
<li> Bing is harder to get into, but Stony Brook is harder to stay in, but does it matter which is harder to get into?</li>
<li> As I said prior we are a science and Math school, if you are looking for a related field then we are the better of the 2.</li>
<li> We aren't just a "little bit" better than bing, we are a lot better. We have a top math department, we just got 60 million dollars for a new math building, I guess if we weren't good we wouldn't get the money, huh? We are 14th in the Country for Computer Science, our Hospital is ranked top in the country. We have Brookhaven Labs which is a WORLD RENOWNED Laboratory.</li>
<li> We have one of the nicest campuses in the country, a lot of people can vouch this.</li>
<li> Our professors are smarter only because they are scientists. They are professors because they are conducting research here at Stony Brook, and to continue research they became a professor, for funding, and to continue it.</li>
</ol>
<p>I mean a lot of people might not know about Stony Brook, or their rep, but after researching it, A LOT, I find it was the best choice for me, and the most affordable. </p>
<p>I would check out the wiki page for more information on it:</p>
<p>Stony</a> Brook University - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<p>DAMN feisty much huh</p>
<p>Well sure. . . Penn State isn't that difficult to get into either but its one of the best public univeristies in the nation. . . </p>
<p>I still think it depends on what you wanna do</p>
<p>I think if social life and sense of community is important to you, Bing might be the better choice. Like the other said, stony is a big commuter school and for technical courses like comp sci and engineering, the classes are made almost entirely of foreigners and international students. </p>
<p>When your campus is in sort of isolated, you can't help but have a lot more school spirit and activities. I went to penn state, so I know what party and school spirit is like. Stony brook couldn't be more different. 95% of the people here don't know the outcome of football games and are more concerned with going to classes and hanging out with their existing groups. There are no greek type "frat" houses on campus. To be honest, I have no clue where the frats are located, so they are definitely not prominent.</p>
<p>You have to see which one is better for you--since you haven't told us your priorities, it is hard to help.</p>
<p>I think zuljian's response os very subjective.</p>
<p>--> Saying that the professors are smarter because they are scientists is nonsense. This is not a good criteria at all.</p>
<p>--> Stony is indeed a math and science school, in that sense, it is better than bing, but not in general. Overall, Bing is seen as more prestigious due to it tougher admission criteria (they require letters of rec and look at your EC's as opposed to accepting anyone with an average gpa and sat score).</p>
<p>
[quote]
We have one of the nicest campuses in the country, a lot of people can vouch this
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Are you kidding me? Stony's campus is infamous for being ugly and uninspired. The buildings here have horrendous architecture (the main library--need I say more?) and are brick style building similar to the apartment building you may see in queens or brooklyn. it has a very urban, functional feel to it--clearly not designed for asthetics. The walkways are extremely uneven and plagued by potholes everywhere. Two color,patchy asphalt is everywhere on the walkways throughout campus. Apparently, it is very hard to create an even surface in the contracting business. I have a road bicycle (the one with thin tires) and I have to ride very slow speed to avoid blowing a tire.</p>
<p>If you are used to cuny's and crap schools, then yes the campus is nice. but have you been at penn state/texas/uf/geneseo/UW/UG or private school? Our campus is on the ugly list, not on the top ones for sure.</p>
<p>I am very knowledgeable about math and physics programs. I will say this, you cannot compare the math and physics FACULTIES of Stony Brook and Bing. Stony Brook has a Nobel Prize winner, a Fields medalist in math and many many distinguished professors.</p>
<p>Stony Brook undergrad physics is fantastic. They get a lot of their students into good grad schools and get them involved with research projects and write them nice letters. Bing does not get their kids into top 10 PhD programs.</p>
<p>Stony Brook math is a bit different. The younger, non full rank Professors will get involved with the undergrads as most of them do not have a lot of PhD students. But a lot of Stony students have gone onto top 30 PhD programs. From what I have heard, since Bing has a mediocre math faculty, they tend to get involved more with undergrads. But even still, at Stony Brook, undergrads can take lots of grad courses and have a good amount of research opportunities. </p>
<p>Rbasu91, I assume you are a younger student, so it's fine that you do not know these intimate details. But I think you are wrong. I have dealt with both departments for 4 1/2 semesters. I know where there students go. I have not heard of many Bing undergrads in math and physics going onto good grad programs. </p>
<p>Bing's faculty in math and physics is really really MEDIOCRE. Stony has people who invented theories. Supergravity was invented at Stony, and many of the mathematicians are involved in "hot" fields.</p>
<p>I think anyone reading this forum should ask the opinion of informed students, not students who have not taken anything past intro courses in physics and math, or any topic.</p>
<p>With all that being said, I think Bing in general, is tougher to get into. I think Bing has better programs for liberal arts type stuff as well. However, I think overall, Stony has a better math, physics, engineering, compsci, med, bio, chem, biochem programs for undergrads. The opportunities are greater in terms of research funding, faculty prestige which is directly related to how good your letter of recommendation will be, research opportunities, range of graduate courses and competition. I know that Bing is not as good as Stony in these fields, using how will a graduate admissions committee will view the applicant. The most important criterion is 1) letters of recommendation, 2) GPA and courses taken, 3) GRE scores. And letters of recommendation really depend on how good of a student you are (this should not change if you are Stony or Bing; if you are a hard working student, this does not depend on where you are) and how well known your recommender is.</p>
<p>I really do think Stony has more opportunity in hard sciences and engineering fields. Bing is probably better for business, economics, more liberal arts programs and prelaw type stuff. </p>
<p>But the numbers do not lie, Bing is harder to get into. Whether that is warranted or not, that depends on what major you want to pursue. For general employers, name of the school matters. But if you want to pursue graduate school, go with the school with better faculty, better opportunities. </p>
<p>I haven't seen Bing, but I'm pretty confident it looks much better than Stony Brook. Just the fact that Bing has a real campus means it's better in that respect. Stony has no campus. It's just a train station.</p>
<p>Parties really depend on who you know at Stony Brook. However, other schools it is much more available to anyone.</p>
<p>It really depends on what you want. If academics is key, then go to whichever school has the better UNDERGRAD program and fits your career goals. If you want more of the undergrad experience, it's probably Bing.</p>
<p>gettingggggggggggggggggggg feisty in here</p>
<p>Usually when you are a researcher/scientist, you have more knowledge of the field then someone who has just went to college and gotten a degree in the field. Just think, it makes perfect sense. That's like comparing someone who does a sport in college, and graduates to someone who is a professional, or an olympic athlete. There is no comparison.</p>
<p>Yes, it may be possible they could be smarter, but when you are a researcher, you are up to date on finds constantly, a lot being your own.</p>
<p>About our campus I think it's very nice. Stony Brook is always trying improve our look with trees and plants and such. Obviously buildings aren't going to make it look good, but our buildings don't make the campus look ugly either. From all the places I went to, Stony Brook had the best. Now it's not the best, I said it's one of the best, or maybe I should say, it's very nice, because I haven't been to a 23902803091 billion colleges here. I still find, whatever you think, that Stony Brook's campus is a nice one, and that are always trying ot make it look better. Buildings will always be there, that is obviously what is going to happen.</p>
<p>About our party life. We are a research institution, not a party school. The "Fraternity" houses are off campus, but they should be on Circle Rd. Also "Frat" is a derogatory term, please say "Fraternity" thanks. I'm not in one, but I have friends who are.</p>
<p>We have Greek life, it's just not as big as most other schools. Some schools will have like 100 members, we have around 60 per.</p>
<p>what does it mean to "have a campus"??</p>
<p>It depends what is more important to you.
Stony Brook has some major pros academically, whereas Binghamton has major pros socially speaking. Stony Brook is a suitcase school, and Binghamton is a LOT more campus life oriented... </p>
<p>Additionally, I personally think Binghamton's campus is prettier than Stony's... but I'm very biased also because Stony Brook happens to be on the Island, which I was trying to get OFF of...</p>
<p>Perfectedxchaos........</p>
<p>I PM'd you</p>
<p>Old thread, I know. I had to comment on it, though. Stony Brook University cannot go toe-to-toe with Binghamton University…
Look no further than the yearly rankings, average SAT scores, percentage of students who go on to graduate school, etc. I live right by Stony Brook, its definitely considered a good school, but, perhaps like Binghamton, the location is just awful… everyone commutes. Someone mentioned that everyone at Binghamton is from upstate. Yet again, that statement is false. Binghamton has less people from New York than any other SUNY school. “The best public university in the Northeast. Period.” Oh, its also the only SUNY school to be named a Public Ivy. Go Bearcats…</p>
<p>Stony has considerably greater international impact and outreach. You cannot argue this.</p>
<p>Each University is good in its own things.</p>
<p>If you are thinking about Science field or health profession, Stony is better than some private schools. Undergrad at Stony has access to grad research programs. But good luck trying Harvard grad. from Harvard under, or NYU under at 4th street trying access to 25th street at NYU medical or dental. How are you going to have research experience at Bing?</p>
<p>If you were very well qualified professor and want to raise your children, would you be at Bing or Long Island? I know many young people at Cornell get very bored in the middle of nowhere and spend much time drinking. You have direct access to NYC by LIRR from Stony. Young people should take full advantage of NYC in everyway. </p>
<p>I have been in health field profession for more than 20 years and I was glad when my child chose Stony even though he was accepted to “prestigious” private schools.</p>
<p>"If you were very well qualified professor and want to raise your children, would you be at Bing or Long Island? "</p>
<p>That depends… can you afford to buy a house in a good neighborhood in Long Island on the salary the university is paying you? To get the same purchasing power to a salary of $75k in Binghamton, you’d need to be paid $112k in long Island. If the numbers worked out, I’d rather be in long island. But I’m not sure all junior profs, lecturers, etc, get paid a ton of money. I can imagine some people may prefer binghamton for economic reasons. The ones most affected would be the more junior ones, who would be most likely to be teaching the undergrads.</p>
<p>“I know many young people at Cornell get very bored in the middle of nowhere and spend much time drinking.”</p>
<p>I think it’s safe to say I know more people from Cornell than you do, and the vast majority I know or knew do not get very bored. Actually, many people love it there. The experience of being a student in a community of 20,000 other students (who do not clear out), in a college town geared to college students rather than wealthy suburbanites, is vastly superior to life as a college student at a commuter school, where the dorms empty out on weekends and there is no school spirit or vitality.</p>
<p>IMO.</p>
<p>“But good luck trying Harvard grad. from Harvard under”</p>
<p>You are mistaken, evidently. Read posts of CC poster Molliebatmit, currently a biology graduate student at Harvard. She makes frequent reference to undergrads working in her lab.</p>
<p>“How are you going to have research experience at Bing?”
[Binghamton</a> University -](<a href=“External Scholarships and Undergraduate Research Center | Binghamton University”>External Scholarships and Undergraduate Research Center | Binghamton University)</p>
<p>Access to graduate school programs is not absolutely necessary in any event. Even liberal arts colleges with no graduate school whatsoever find ways to support undergraduate research sufficiently to further the subsequent objectives of their students.</p>