SUNY, Of Course....Other Suggestions?

Parents Forum
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<p>A good friend's senior S has only two schools on his list....SUNY Buffalo and Binghamton. While he feels he could thrive at either and has a fair chance of admission (at least to Buffalo), in this college admissions year I'm wondering if he should cast a bit of a wider net. I offer some info about him to the wise parents of CC, and hope perhaps to receive some great suggestions in return.</p>

<p>Upstate NY public school
GPA 3.6 uw
SAT 1500 (3 parts, will retake in Oct. For some reason, although he's a great writer and also good in science, did not do well on first testing.)</p>

<p>Senior schedule includes 3 AP classes (Bio, Calc A/B, & Econ)</p>

<p>EC: Martial arts for many years, black belt, part-time instructor; NHS; ~200 hrs volunteer work, and a part-time retail job.</p>

<p>Excellent essay and great recs</p>

<p>Wants nursing or an allied health care field, so will need a school with a strong science program as well as nursing, so if he changes his mind about nursing he can still do chiropractic, etc</p>

<p>Although he is okay with a large state uni, wouldn't at all mind a smaller school. Must be in the northeast, and strongly prefers mountains and cold weather (is a winter sports enthusiast). Would prefer a diverse student body. (He's Hispanic.)</p>

<p>Lastly (we can dream, right?) if anyone knows of a great school that would be affordable, that would be wonderful. SUNY is a tuition bargain for NY residents; places like UVM, while undoubtedly amazing, are decidedly not.</p>

<p>Thanks for any help!</p>

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<p>Should look into Hartwick College in up NY. He would most definitely get in. They have a nursing program. Idk about their financial aid.</p>

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<p>If he is eligible for financial aid, the field is wide open at a lot of LACs. A school like Fairfield with a nursing school is a possibility. THough the SUNYs are the best priced option for him, schools like Mary Washington in VA, the state colleges in PA (Shippenburg, Clarion, Bloomington) York College in PA, small LAC and catholic colleges with a nursing program. URM status and interest in nursing is a plus for him. I am not sure what schools have nursing programs, and that is a definite need that he needs to check. Schools like St JOhns in NY or Wells College may be good options along with others I mentioned above, but if the school does not have his program, it is not going to help.</p>

<p>Just as a note, both Buffalo and Binghamton are tough schools in their medical prep programs. I know many kids who did not make it through those programs. A smaller, more nurturing program may be worth checking out.</p>

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<p>I knew a guy who went to the nursing program at LaSalle in PA (a few years ago) and loved it. He was a URM too.</p>

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<p>Hartwick is pretty generous with their financial aid and might be worth a try. He could also look at Misericordia University and University of Scranton. He should definitely try to prep for his next SAT and could also try the ACT. All three of those schools base much of their merit aid on test scores and HS transcript.</p>

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<p>Stony Brook which has a great nursing program and allied health. Is another "reach" school but worth the application.</p>

<p>As an upstater, he may like the change of location.</p>

<p>From my friends, I've heard that Scranton is great with merit as are many of the private christian schools. May be worth it too look into some more of them. Unsure which schools have nursing.</p>

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<p>Some others to consider are Nazareth, LeMoyne, College of Mount St. Vincent and Mount St Marys all in NY.</p>

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<p>Depending on how his CR + math numbers play out the student is below the middle 50% for both SUNY schools that he is interested in attending. </p>

<p>the middle 50% for bing is 1200-1375
the middle 50% for buffalo is 1120-1270</p>

<p>He should definitely cast a wider net.</p>

<p>attaching the admissions information summary so that if student is interested in SUNY his could pick reach match and safety schools within the system.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.suny.edu/student/downloads/Pdf/2009_Admissions_qf_stateop.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.suny.edu/student/downloads/Pdf/2009_Admissions_qf_stateop.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.suny.edu/student/downloads/Pdf/2009_honors_programs.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.suny.edu/student/downloads/Pdf/2009_honors_programs.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.suny.edu/student/downloads/pdf/2009_eop_profile.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.suny.edu/student/downloads/pdf/2009_eop_profile.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I cannot stress the importance of applying early in the cycle. He should try to get his stuff submitted by the beginning of October.</p>

<p>I am also attaching the link to the supplements so that student can start working on them ASAP (the sooner everything is submitted, the sooner a decision can be made).</p>

<p>Supplemental</a> Applications</p>

<p>Do you know if the student is HEOP eligible?</p>

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<p>Just a plug to keep Buffalo on the list. Their health professions programs are very strong and I am increasingly impressed with the school. (My humanities-focused freshman D is loving it.)</p>

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<p>The health profession programs are very, very strong at Buffalo. That may be an issue. I would suggest that he look at all of the SUNYs for nursing programs. If any of the smaller ones have such a program, that may be a better alternative for him, depending on how much self direction, motivation and academic background he has.</p>

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<p>Look at the Wegmans School of Nursing at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, heard good things about it...</p>

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<p>Lots of nursing school options out there with hospitals but they are not the traditional college experience that it sounds like this kid wants. I know friends whose kids are in the same boat. They want to go into nursing but also want to go to a traditional college. My experience has been that nursing is not an easy course of study. Many of those science courses are similar to the pre med studies and kids who are not excellent students in the sciences bomb out in large numbers. For kids at risk for this, a smaller school can make the difference.</p>

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<p>Neighbors daughter is at Catholic U in DC in their nursing program. Her brother is there too. They both go very good scholarship money. Worth checking out. (Maybe merit plus financial aid will work out.)</p>

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<p>HelimomNYC....Those stats sound quite low to me when looking at the averages that the schools advertise for admission. I definately say retake that SAT and ACT. A 1500 on all 3 parts means an average of 500 for each part. Many schools give a number of 1150-1300 average but they only look at the 1st two parts meaning an average of 575-650 on each part. Many people do not realize that they are looking at two different sets of numbers.</p>

<p>The best tool that I have found is the "Academic Tracker" found within the Collegeboard website. If you haven't used it yet, have your friend go to the site and pull up the child's profile (he should have one if he has already taken the SAT once). </p>

<p>Click on the Academic Tracker in the lower left side of the page after sign in. </p>

<p>Plug in the classes taken and taking, the current GPA, the SAT scores, etc. </p>

<p>You then pull over a school of interest and click on "how do I stack up"?</p>

<p>This will pull the students stats over into a graph to see where they are in comparison to the averages that they admit.</p>

<p>When going through this exercise with a couple of my son's friends, it was a HUGE eye opener. </p>

<p>Good Luck :)</p>

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<p>That is why I am hedging about the Sunys. The kids in those programs have pretty high stats. A smaller, less known program may give him the best chance, not just for entry but for succeeding. The College of New Rochelle is a nursing school, I know. St Vincent's is another good choice; has more of a regular college feel to it. Look for the smaller schools.</p>

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<p>I am following all these replies closely and I know the young man's mother is as well. Yes, the low SAT is a problem and we are hoping he can get each section above 600 on the retake. I also mentioned the ACT as an alternative. I know that Bing is a safety for many high-achieving NYS kids (it was one of my S's), who sort of throw off its stats, and that Buffalo, with its new semi-flagship status, is getting tougher. The family would probably qualify for need-based aid at a private, so I wondered about a school like that. LOVED U of Scranton's website...I had never heard of it, but it looks like an impressive place....with, I must add, an impressive price tag. There's no thread for it in the Colleges section...anyone have any experience with their finaid dept? Size, location, nursing program....everything about it looks wonderful except for those pesky $$$$.</p>

<p>Looking at other SUNYs, I might suggest the family look at Plattsburgh. Perhaps that could be his safety...any thoughts?</p>

<p>Again, appreciate all input.</p>

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<p>Binghamton may be tough for him to get accepted to. I'd suggest Quinnipiac in CT - he will meet lots of girls at this school if that his one of his objectives. Anoter popular local NYC nursing school is the College of Mount St. Vincent in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.</p>

<p>Also, has he considered community college? I have a friend who went back to Westchester Community College (I believe it's SUNY) and earned a 2 year nursing degree. She does have a BA as well. She's been a nurse for 3 years and told me she earns over $80,000/yr at a local hospital. </p>

<p>He then could transfer to a 4 year college after completing this program.</p>

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<p>Do any of the smaller SUNYs offer nursing as a major?</p>

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<p>According to what I could make out on the SUNY website, these are the colleges with programs leading to a BS in nursing:</p>

<p>Binghamton University<br>
Brockport, State University College at<br>
Buffalo, University at
Farmingdale State College<br>
Plattsburgh, State University College at
Stony Brook University </p>

<p>I looked at the EOP data; I believe the family income is too high to qualify. I am sure they, like many of us, will faint when they first encounter "EFC".</p>

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<p>Farmingdale may have what you are looking for. It has only 6,500 undergraduate students. It is located in Long Island. Sine you live in Upstate NY, it is a good change of scenery. Your kid SAT is the top 75%. Therefore the chance is much greater than Binghamton and Stony Brook. Brockport and Plattsburgh are more selective than Farmingdale but are easier that Binghamton and Stony Broo. Thereby you can use them as your match.</p>

<p>For nursing major, I believe that SUNY is the bargain that you will seriously consider before you apply to a private or out-of-state university.</p>

<p>Hope this will help. :)</p>