<p>I have to decide between Stony Brook and St Olaf. They cost my family roughly the same. I am not sure about my major but it can be math, applied math or economics. I also plan to go to graduate school. Can anyone give me some advice?</p>
<p>i’d go private, especially if it’s going to cost you the same amount to go to a public school. public schools are having a lot of trouble because of budget cuts and sb especially has been cutting sections and are getting rid of departments (like child and family studies, don’t know how much you care about that).</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about St Olaf, honestly, but it’s apples and oranges. Public/private, big/small, east coast/midwest.</p>
<p>Math has long been a strong point for us here at Stony Brook; we will be opening a $60 million math and physics center in the next year or two, so the resources are definitely there , and certainly will be for a long time. Stony Brook has NOT eliminated departments, and is making every effort NOT to cut sections of classes. (The poster above, although trying to be helpful, is not a current Stony Brook student.)</p>
<p>Chris</p>
<p>^ i was one until this semester and am in still touch with former advisors and friends, who have confirmed what i said.</p>
<p>half of my post didn’t post? anyway, to add to what i just said, chris is right in that they’re completely different schools and the math department at sb is pretty strong. but if it were me, pretending i never went to stony and was making the choice for the first time, i’d rather go to a private school if it would cost the same as a public school.</p>
<p>I’m just a parent lurking here because my kid is probably going to go to Stony. I’ve never went to either place, but do have a few comments.</p>
<p>First, you do realize that these two schools are polar opposites in many ways, right? One is a secular research university. The other is an Evangelical Lutheran Church-affiliated school emphasizing undergraduate education. While this church is not extreme, still you have a dry campus, out there in Minnesota, where they like to take care of their students.</p>
<p>Have you read the narrative comments at the students review web site (you need to put the dot com at the end and eliminate the space between students and review to get to the site)? I wouldn’t be influenced by Stony Brook having 48 percent positive comments vs. 67 percent for St. Olaf, because there tends to be a small college loyalty effect. But I would try to think if you were more like the students who like/dislike one school.</p>
<p>If you really still do not know, I’d question whether you are a self-starter at this point in your life. That might mean that you would be better at St. Olaf’s. Before you go to Stony for the greater freedom, try to make sure in your mind that you would not exercise your freedom by flunking out.</p>
<p>Ironicallyunsure, you are hoping that your Cornell reputation will mean something. It is not reputation of the college, but your college performance that will determine job search or graduate school admission. There are many bright students whose parents cannot afford to pay the private universities.</p>