Stony Brook vs Pace vs St Johns

State Forums
1

<p>Im an incoming college freshman from long island and I've officially narrowed my college search down to these 3 schools, Stony, Pace and St Johns. I plan on majoring in journalism with a possible minor or dual-major in business. </p>

<p>Stony Brook
Pros:
very good journaLism school
Cheap tuition
5-year journalism degree and MBA program
Journalism school has small-school feel within a big school
Great reputation
Journalism without walls program allows me to get great real-world journalism experience while studying abroad
By far best school I was accepted to overall</p>

<p>Cons:
poor social life
I don't really want to live on long island anymore
Commuter school/a lot of students go home on weekend
Nerdy student body(not to be mean or judgmental, but that's kind of the feeling I get with this school)
Boring surrounding area</p>

<p>Estimated graduation debt: $25,000</p>

<p>Pace university:
Pros:
Location, location, location
It has always been my dream to live in NYC
NYC gives great internship opportunity
Great social life
Puts me in a place where feature stories are easy to find
Decent business school if I decide to go that route
Did I mention NYC?</p>

<p>Cons:
High tuition
Not a great reputation
Unsure about journalism program overall</p>

<p>Estimated graduation debt: $45,000</p>

<p>St Johns
Pros:
Awesome study abroad program
Nice campus
Collegey feel
Lots to do on campus
Generally nice dorms
Great sports teams
Pretty well-known name
Very close to NYC
Pretty fun social life</p>

<p>Cons:
Expensive
Unsure about quality of both business and journalism programs
Poor reviews online/unhappy student body</p>

<p>estimated graduation debt: $55,000</p>

<p>I would dorm at all 3 universities, so which would you choose? I feel like all 3 present me with 3 completely unique opportunities and all 3 are very different. Any input would be greatly appreciated as decision time is getting closer and I'm still not sure yet. Thank you.</p>

2

<p>My d is also considering Stony Brook for journalism, which has an outstanding program. She would select it in a minute if it weren’t for some of the concerns you cited. I know that they are trying to remedy some of that with residential colleges for the freshman - the first year experience. I don’t know if that will help - the location is still the location. If the only consideration was quality of the journalism program, Stony Brook is far and away the best of the three, IMO, and the choice would be simple.</p>

3

<p>You can take the Long Island Railroad to Manhattan from Stony Brook or you can take the bus and subway to Manhattan from St. John’s–it will take around the same amount of time.</p>

<p>Stony Brook is a much better school. Yes, there are plenty of kids that go home every weekend for mom to do their laundry, but there are plenty of kids left on campus. We were there last weekend and the kids didn’t look nerdy at all. My daughter (h.s. junior) texted a guy she knew who’s a freshman there to say that she would be visiting and he texted her back about a bunch of parties.</p>

4

<p>Actually it’s 20 minutes to manhattan from St johns and an hour and a half from stony. That’s good about the parties if it’s true. And thanks decisiontimemom, I’m glad somebody else sees where I’m coming from and why this is such a difficult decision</p>

5

<p>If SJU and Pace were teh same price, I’d say SJU but since they’re not, I recomend Pace. College would be a great time to live in NYC. I can see why you are reluctant to attend Stony Brook since it sounds like you grew up in LI and want to explore something new. Good luck with your decision.</p>

6

<p>Sounds like you want to find the best party school and really don’t care about the level of education or you would have taken the SB option already and commuted to whatever party you could find at the other campuses. If you wanted real parties and an urban atmosphere, you should have looked at schools in Boston.</p>