<p>Ideally you are correct. It is important to have a school that is as close to matching scholastically, financially and socially (for lack of a better word. I mean by this that the overall atmosphere fits reasonably well) as possible. Not always easy to find, there is often some compromise involved. It just depends on which of those areas one chooses to make that compromise, if one must. That is a family decision that will vary. It is also why, should her D get more aid and Tulane becomes more obviously affordable, they won’t have to compromise since Tulane apparently fits the other 2 criteria very well.</p>
<p>As far as applying to Bing without having visited, many students apply to schools either before they can visit or in many cases they cannot visit. There are application deadlines involved after all. Better to apply and later rule it out if the visit goes badly rather than to visit and love it but have missed the application deadline. I think it is a little harsh to say it “wasn’t a good plan”. What did she have to lose by applying? The $$ involved are tiny compared to overall college costs, if there even was an application fee (Tulane doesn’t have one). I think it is a perfectly valid thing to have done.</p>
<p>The OP’s kid might want to try another visit to Binghamton if she is accepted.</p>
<p>I am a Bing alumna, many years ago (graduated in 1971 from Harpur College). There was a healthy party scene then and there’s a healthy party scene now. </p>
<p>It’s worth mentioning that Bing is 3 hours from NYC on the bus. Also (as mentioned by Rebeccar, a much more recent alumna), the college provides excellent bus service to surrounding areas.</p>
<p>Certainly if it works out that the finances remain an issue, another visit to Bing would make sense. But as far as the party scene, that is not only not a surprise, it would be expected. It has been well established that more rural schools have more drinking and drug issues than urban and suburban ones, since there is little else to do non-academically.</p>
<p>That is one of the great things about New Orleans; despite its Bourbon Street reputation, there is a lot to do that doesn’t involve drinking. And it isn’t 3 hours away, it is between 5 and 20 minutes away, depending on where in the city you happen to be going.</p>
<p>Having said that, my S went to a very rural school and while there was a lot of drinking (he even had to quit living in a house he was sharing with friends and get his own place because their drinking got so bad), there were also a lot of activities that the students created for their own entertainment that did not involve drinking or more moderate, social drinking. I imagine the same is true at Bing. I didn’t want to create a completely one-sided picture.</p>
<p>Small city in the middle of nowhere vs. vibrant city which is one of the music capitals of the world, with some of the best food in the country. I know which I would choose! If I were a bigger fan of winter sports or had some pressing desire to be in the northeast, I might choose differently. I do think college is a great time to get to know another part of the country and experience a different culture. You’ll get that at Tulane in spades. </p>
<p>All that said, $15,000 a year adds up to a hunk of change. Are there other schools for the Binghamton price that she likes better? My kids didn’t like any of the SUNYs so we just didn’t apply to them.</p>
<p>The other factor is the “sort of near home” vs. “far away from home”.
How independent is your daughter?
Will it be okay that you only see her at Thanksgiving and Christmas and spring break?
Do you have funds to pay for plane fare?</p>
<p>fallenchemist, Stafford limits for a dependent undergrad are $5500 freshman year, $6500 sophomore, and $7500 for subsequent years. So (assuming my math skills have recovered from the epic failure above ;)) $27k.</p>
<p>Slithy - LOL. Yes, your math skills seem to have rebounded. And I completely agree with you, $27K is about as high as I would personally recommend anyone go for an undergrad degree. I always said $25-30 in the past even when unaware of these Stafford limits.</p>
<p>bopper - Probably not even spring break. This year, at least, it overlaps with Mardi Gras. That isn’t true most years, though. There is no question that the distance factor has to be taken into account, although in this case the D clearly doesn’t seem to think it is something she will have a problem with.</p>
<p>I’m just a kid, so maybe I don’t belong here but…
Why is she having to choose between SUNYBing and Tulane if she doesn’t even like Bing and may not be able to afford Tulane.
Shouldn’t the dichotomy be between two different schools . Did she not like any SUNY/CUNY. Did she not like any school other than Tulane?</p>
<p>I can’t really speak to the Bing part. Maybe that is just where she has been accepted so far and others are yet to come. As far as Tulane, as I mentioned earlier the financials are not settled yet. There could still be more FA coming, but they probably won’t hear about that until March. What she has so far is a merit based award that Tulane gives upon acceptance (if you get one at all) that is independent of need. So that financial gap may yet close some.</p>
<p>It’s not for me to decide how other people should spend their money, but if my D had the choice described by the OP, I’d spring for Tulane in a New York minute. Nothing against Bing, which I hold in fairly high regard, but it sounds like the student just doesn’t want to go there. Decision made, unless the cost of Tulane is just prohibitive.</p>
<p>Besides, New Orleans is one of a kind with its distinctive cuisines and musical traditions, and its unique blend of Creole, Cajun, Dixie, African-American, and Afro-Caribbean cultures. It’s a special place, in many ways the most distinctive of American cities. If my kid fell in love with it and wanted to spend her college years there, I’d jump on that bandwagon. If I could afford it, of course. But that’s just me.</p>
<p>Oh, and between a spiedie and an oyster po’ boy, I’ll take the po’ boy every time–much as I love a good spiedie.</p>
<p>I’m also a Bing grad and I’m with edad. I haven’t been back since I graduated and can’t comment whether life at the school has improved but back in my time the choices were bars and drinking, dorms and drinking, driving off campus, often doing the 4+ hour trip to NYC for the weekend, or shuttling to Ithaca and staying with friends at Cornell. While I don’t think Binghamton is a “regional school” that’s unknown outside the northeast–it seems to be known and respected here on the west coast-- it definitely does not have the more diverse student body that Tulane offers nor does it have access to a far more interesting city. If I were trying to make a SUNY/Tulane choice, I’d look at Buffalo. Granted it’s still in the tundra but proximity to Toronto would make it a more attractive choice, at least for me personally.</p>
<p>Sorry oldmom! You are quite right. I was talking geographically only. My memory of the place was that it was like scooping up a bunch of downstate kids and relocating them, high school groups intact, to the southern tier of NY. I was trying to break free of NY and instead I felt like I was being sent to another four years of high school.</p>
<p>(People make this complaint about many state schools, including those with “national” reputations.)</p>
<p>Both are great schools, and I am too showing my age, as I recall when Bing was Harpur College. Admitting a bit of bias here as y DS#2 graduated from Tulane, loved it, and is still in NOLA working. I agree with those who have asked if the $ difference is a big concern for you. And what does your daughter want to major in? How are these programs at each of the schools?</p>
<p>My S1 - who graduated in 07 from a small town PS in the NY Hudson Valley - also looked at both schools when he was trying to decide. He loved Tulane from the get go. We went down for a visit on a beautiful weekend and he couldn’t have been treated better. He was interested in everything about Tulane and New Orleans. When we went to Binghamton, it was a gray NY winter day, and he did not find the campus or the students there particularly friendly or inviting. We stopped at a local fast food place and some sketchy gang member type guys with tattoos were there and the whole vibe was depressing. Now I had encouraged him to consider Binghamton as one of the better SUNY Schools, but the visit kind of turned him off, even though it was just surface impressions. He also visited and applied to SUNY Geneseo, and really liked that school, even though it is pretty much the opposite of NOLA, being small and rural. But it was welcoming and he loved the facilities there. It all comes down to these surface first impressions, and they certainly can be misleading or just plain wrong. He got a nice merit award from Tulane and we knew that we were going to be moving to Texas, where our lower incomes in this state would help him qualify for substantially higher tuition grants. We did take out a loan for his first year, but after that Tulane did meet most of our financial need. He graduated with not an excessive amount of debt and felt he got a first-class education.
One thing to consider - if law school may be in her future, Tulane has a Tier 1 law school, and they do give priority consideration to their successful undergraduate alumni. S1 is now a 3Y law school student at Tulane, and he still loves it so much there that he wants to stay in NOLA.
I know people who loved SUNY Binghamton, and certainly if money is the overriding consideration then she will get a first class education there. But if you can swing it, Tulane is a wonderful school with many, many opportunities in a unique city.</p>
<p>Just to be clear, Tulane Law School is currently ranked #48 by US News. While that puts it (just barely) in the top quartile of the 203 American Bar Association-accredited law schools, it’s nowhere near the T-15 level. It’s a good law school, just not a top law school on a national level—something to keep in mind at a time when many law graduates are having difficulty finding jobs.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Tulane is the top-ranked law school in Louisiana, a state with a unique legal system based partly in Anglo-American common law and partly in the continental civil law tradition and the Napoleonic Code. That system looks quite “foreign” to lawyers trained exclusively in the common law tradition, as is the case at most U.S. law schools. So for law students intending to practice in Louisiana, Tulane is easily the top choice.</p>
<p>You already know I’m not a SUNY-B fan but I will enthusiastically cheer for the SUNY medical schools, which are top notch and reasonably priced. I don’t know if doing well in a SUNY undergrad program gives any sort of priority, but if it does, that’s something to keep in mind too.</p>
<p>SUNY-B has an early assurance medical school program affiliated with SUNY Upstate Med Center and SUNY Buffalo. You can apply as a sophomore. 3girls I tend to agree with you about SUNY Buffalo- it has a lot to offer and does not get the recognition it deserves. I tend to think it has more to offer than Bing, but Bing has a stronger reputation.</p>