good luck with that! sounds like your kids will all do well. Acceptances pretty much the same here with the exception of Cooper Union.
I want to thank everyone for their insight and informative posts 
It has been very helpful during this roller-coaster college ride. They have decided to go to Binghamton University - SOM, Accounting Program!
Hi! I am an accounting major at the University at Albany and I have done a ton of research on accounting programs.
Okay so lemme just start by saying that IT DOES NOT MATTER where you get an accounting degree. As long as the business school is AACSB accredited, then you’re good. What is important is getting the CPA license. After you get it, the college you attend becomes completely irrelevant.
I think recruiting is better at top schools, which may be why some people would consider accounting programs at one school better than another. Firms are looking for experience (internships), ECs, and good grades; whatever school your children can thrive at, send them there!
BTW: That list I saw on the first page of top accounting programs is kinda flawed. From my personal research, I’d say top accounting colleges are UTexas Austin, UIllinois UC, Brigham Young Uni, University of Notre Dame, Wake Forest Uni, etc. Ivy league universities don’t even have accounting programs.
For the sake of money, I’d send them to TCNJ!
Your insights are great! - @UAUKNOW. Have a feeling that the OP’s ultimate decision was based on more than money or rankings of undergraduate accounting programs. There is, after all, more to college than just academics. Wishing the OP’s kids much luck and happiness at SUNY Binghamton!
Oop – didn’t see their decision was made. They will love Binghamton! As you probably know, it is the best public university in NY and their SOM is arguably the best as well They will get an awesome education there; they must be really smart to have gotten in!
I think your girls will be very happy at Binghamton. My Son is a senior there in the Accounting program and will return next year for his Masters. He has an internship this summer and if all goes well, which we expect will then he will get a full time job offer. The SOM is a great program. If you have any questions feel free to message me.
Originally from Long Island, NY but live in North Carolina x20+ years. I have a son in the school of management at Binghamton University. I was worried it would be too far and too cold, etc. but he absolutely loves it there. My daughter is a HS Senior looking at a schools and besides Binghamton and some other SUNY’s she is interested in TCNJ. It looks like a really great school, perfect size, but I am concerned about how dead the campus is on the weekends. Any one have direct knowledge of what the exact percentage of commuter students are at TCNJ?
My niece initially attend TCNJ but transferred after her freshman year. Her main complaint was that the campus effectively emptied out on weekends. As do most State colleges, NJ public colleges draw heavily from in-state, in some cases upwards of 95%. TCNJ is no exception. This breeds a natural commuter population of students whose homes are close or in reasonable driving distance of their school. It saves room and board and is often deemed preferable. Am quite certain, quite soon that you will get other perspectives on this… 8-|
We just attended the TCNJ open house yesterday. My son is a jr in high school, but we want to start early. The campus is very nice and quaint. It reminds me of a private school actually. As far as it being a commuter campus, that is what I have heard, but we went on a Saturday, and it did not seem dead to me. Aside from the folks visiting of course. It is not a large school so it will not be bustling like a larger school, but I would think it would be fine.
Lets see. If 6500 or so kids go there, how many leave on the weekend? Lets say it is half, which aI cannot believe, that leaves over 3000 folks. It is not like you are on campus during winter break and nobody is there. But, that said, some students may want even more students on campus. To me, if you have a circle of friends, that is fine. Now, if they leave for the weekends, yes, that might upset some folks.
As far as the school goes, it is a very good institution. Is it Bing? not quite. But not much behind them, I can assure you.
They have a good business program and if you want accounting, all of the big 4 firms recruit from TCNJ and alot of other companies go there too such as J&J, Goldman etc.
We live in Long Island, NY so we will be applying to Bing as well but here is what I do not like about BING. You probably know this since your son attends Bing. It is extremely hard to get into the SOM. You can get in as a high school senior, but that is very hard unless your gpa is 95-97 with sat scores in the 1400 range. The old SAT SCORE OR A 32 or so on the ACT.
Now, you get accepted into Harpur, good luck trying to transfer to the SOM. You need a minimum 3.5 gpa as a freshman. That is on a good year. Some years you may need higher than a 3.5. That is not easy to do at Bing, or any university.
At TCNJ, if you are accepted and you declare business as your major, you are in, no questions asked. That is what I like about TCNJ. With Bing, you either better get in as a high scholl sr, or get a 90 or 3.5 gpa in Harpur your first year if you want any real chance of transfering to the SOM.
I love Bing, do not get me wrong, but they think they are Wharton, and they are not.
That said, both schools are excellent choices.
Thanks for both response we will be visiting TCNJ next month; Regarding Binghamton eveu69 you bring up an excellent point , if you want in the accounting program or any business degree (other than economics) you absolutely need to apply to the School of Management (SOM) right from high school. The classes are quite difficult at Binghamton, not just calculus but micro and macroeconomics, etc. so it ends up being extemely difficult to transfer into SOM. If you are in Harpur and not SOM you can major in economics.
@Rich44 I have done a few years of research, yes a few years!! That is the shame with alot of these schools. An average 16 or 17 yr old, heck, even an 18 yr old will not dig deep like we would to know that if you do not get into the SOM directly, it is hard to transfer. The average kid says, yea I got into BING. I say, big deal. Like you stated, if you do not get into the SOM directly and cannot transfer later on then you have to take Economics? That is BS!! Then if you do not want to do that you have to transfer. That stinks especially if you like the university. If you hate it, then transferring is not a big deal obviously.
I say this to all high schoolers out there. If you want to do something in business at BING, whether it be Accounting, marketing, bus admin etc, when you apply as a high school sr, DO NOT PUT A SECOND OPTION!! That is correct. I know it is hard to do since it is all or nothing but here is my take. Bing likes to be a bit elitist so if you put down a second option, most of the time that is what you will get. Harpur or another school within Bing. Now, if you are a brilliant student or extremely extremely bright and know you will get a 3.5-3.8 gpa in your freshman year, ok, go for it. But I personally would never want to put that pressure on myself. Heck, go to Albany, or Buffalo or Baruch. They have excellent excellent business programs with great recruiting. There are many other schools as well such as ST Johns, Fordham, Hofstra ect that have great accounting programs. Do not buy into the hype of bing!!! Do not get me wrong, Bing SOM is a great school. However, the pressure to get in is just too much in my opionion.
Force BING’S hand when you apply as a high schooler. Let them say no, but do not give them an easy out to say, hey, you got into harpur, and with a little bit of hard work you too can get into the SOM. Please, save that crap for someone else. Yes, students do transfer in to the SOM. I am not saying it is impossible, but the odds are stacked against you.
If you have good grades, in high school and good act or sat scores, go for it. Yes, make it all or nothing. At least if you do not get in, a student can go to another excellent excellent business school such as TCNJ and know that if they do get in, they can start studying business.
@Rich44 Just as a side note. You are a 1000 percent correct. These poor students thing that in their freshman year they are taking easy general ed classes like english 101 and psych 101. Yes, they do take some of those courses, but what about Calc and Statistics and Eco? Not easy at all! Maybe I am just a wimp, lol, but I would not put that stress on myself. I would be living on xanax. If you are brilliant, sure, go for it, but otherwise, go to TCNJ or another great business school. In the end, you will get the same internship at another good business school if you do well there!!
True, plus a lot of kids getting into Binghamton , regardless of major, have already taken those 100 level type classes in high school (AP or IB) so they are taken advanced classes first semester freshman year. No grade inflation at Bing. SUNY Albany is also on the list.
I am sure the students at TCNJ are also coming in loaded with AP and IB credits. These two schools seem to draw the same type of kids, and there not the Jersey shore kids on MTV! LOL
Rich44, our son actually attends. Feel free to PM any questions you may have. He is a finance major, and likes the school very much. Just for the record he had opportunity and acceptance to several other highly notarized institutions and chose TCNJ (to my own surprise) and has turned it into a great opportunity. He is very involved socially with various clubs, professional frats, sports and has already had an internship. something like 97% of ALL freshman live on campus(fact) as well as one of the highest in country freshman retention rates of over 93%. It is most certainly NOT a commuter school , evidence the fact of the just recently completed new housing and they are in need of more. By junior year most kids get a off campus housing situation in the surrounding town(or son just did that for next year).
oh and I can absolutely assure you , it is difficult to get into the B program especially finance and accounting. TCNJ does not allow students to easily transfer majors after the fact either. In its case its often due to the smaller class size(which I think is its huge plus) making popular majors very competitive.
Stones3. Thanks for the information and offer. I figured that a good many of the students who weren’t on campus, had moved to nearby houses, just to get out of the dorms. I also am aware of the recently built campus town, so I felt that the early quote of 40% were all commuters was a little suspect in my view as I personally don’t consider students living in a house near the college as a “Commuter”. If you live at your parents house your a commuter. And there is nothing wrong with being a commuter it’s just if the campus was " dead" all weekend, that is a very different experience. You don’t just learn in the classroom.