<p>My son is now leaning heavily toward SB as his #1 SUNY choice. Anyone have first hand knowledge if kids stay on campus during the weekend or does it become a ghost town. I know it is considered a commuter school by many....but do a lot of students stay?</p>
<p>Don't really know the answer. What I can tell you is that SB seems to be getting a bit more popular with the Long Island kids. A bunch of d's classmates were going there. We're from south shore Nassau County. A few years ago, very few kids from my district went to SB and usually did Bing- Buff and Albany etc.
I do think most of d's classmates were going to live on campus. Whether they stayed there on week-ends or came home-- I do not know.
I have been reading real good stuff about SB lately. Marine bio program at the old Southhampton campus--school of Journalism and a bunch of other new programs. I think SB sounds like a great choice.</p>
<p>Rich - Why doesn't your son schedule an overnight (or two) on the campus one weekend ... and see what it's like for himself? That's the best way to personally see what a campus is like for real.</p>
<p>RichNY, I live in the town next to SB, and I am ashamed to admit, other than what I know from "reputation", that I don't know the answer to your question. We keep in touch by email with friends from my son's baseball team(he no longer plays)--a few who have sons who are now playing for SB, and will see if I can get an insider's view to your question.<br>
SB has a fabulous reputation for math and science...know a few kids who went there (computer science) and landed fabulous jobs.<br>
If I'm able to get first hand info, I will post again.</p>
<p>We live in eastern Nassau County - about 45 minutes from Stony Brook. Most of the kids from our town and even those a bit closer to SB do live on campus. The ones we know best do come home fairly often, but definitely not every weekend. Don't know how it is overall, though. There is a lot to do in the area, though not necessarily within walking distance -- mall (and traffic) and tons of stores and restaurants a bit to the south, and the pretty old village of Stony Brook to the north. A car would probably be helpful -- don't know what kiind of transportation they offer.</p>
<p>i have a friend who lives near there...
about half of the student body leaves... don't let this discourage you though--there's tons to do on campus.</p>
<p>Thanks...he really like the campus and the chemistry program. He was online a couple of nights ago with SB admissions and students and liked the discussion...he was told that he should make it in without too much difficulty...now we just wait for the letter(s) to arrive.</p>
<p>RichNY
I used to live in the area and neice graduated from there two years ago.SB is more residential than it used to be,less commuter oriented. They've upped the activities/facilities on campus,many new building projects.The area is really nice but public transportation is an issue,small strip of stores within walking distance, and commuter railroad station to NYC on edge of campus..otherwise a car would be very helpful.The town of Stonybrook is nice,but "quaint". Kids looking for a good time like to head for Port Jefferson,or even NYC. Off campus housing is available but pricey for students.North shore beaches (LI Sound) are nearby.
I would highly recommend an overnight visit that includes a Thursday or Friday night.
One nice aspect of SB is its diversity.The medical center and med school are on campus.
Neice is now teaching in the NYC public schools (special ed) and her husband, a computer science major got snapped up immediately for a good job,has since changed jobs twice and doing very well in only two years.</p>
<p>RichNY
My D was at SB last year. She stayed on campus every weekend. We live 30 minutes away and she never came home. She might as well have been on the opposite coast! I asked her if many kids went home on weekends. She said many do go home, but many stay also. Her friends all stayed there. Many of the athletes are from other areas (the athletic programs have recently gone DIV 1) and they stay on campus. I would also agree that having a car is a good idea. The area is wonderful if you can get around, but there is really not much within walking distance. If your son gets a nearby job, he can request to have a car on campus as a freshman.</p>
<p>RichNY,
Our friend's son corroborated what the previous two posters said. It seems to be a campus in transition;there is a lot of building going on. He stays on campus most of the time, although he said about 50% go home on weekends. He said there is plenty to do on campus and they don't venture off campus very much. I agree with posters who said an overnight visit would be wise.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if there is a standing music performance program at Stonybrook with full-time faculty ???? I know they have that popular jazz group and one needs to audition , but are the professors accessible ? Is there a School of Music on campus with studio facilities like Fredonia ??? Please do not tell us about Purchase ( it's really more of an Arts/Theatre school than Music ) .</p>
<p>Just throwing it out - but doesn't SUNY Potsdam have the Crane School of Music?? As you just mentioned Purchase, I wanted to make sure you were not overlooking another music program within SUNY system.</p>
<p>Rich- there was a little blurb in Newsday yesterday about SB getting a lot of money to develop programs in Chemistry and other science research fields. Also some money was going to a professor who is doing some cancer research.</p>
<p>I would rather have him at Fredonia than Potsdam . Crane is a great music school ,even better for music ed. but two students we know there are very unhappy with their other courses outside of music --plus , they do not ski and do outdoorsy things like a lot of kids do up there ( they also do not have cars ) .</p>
<p>Stonybrook seems closer to civilzation and more along his line in terms of sciences and computer as well as music .</p>
<p>This is great info..thanks.</p>
<p>My son found out one of his friends brothers is in his senior year at SB...he'll be calling him for info. Plus he plans(assuming he is accepted) to spend an overnight in the area to see for himself. </p>
<p>He knows about SB's lean towards the sciences...that is really important to him...he wants to be a chemistry major with physics minor. </p>
<p>Hope the Early Action notifications come soon.</p>
<p>Easy
I'll give you the info I know,but its dated....D was looking for a Music Performance major for Fall 01,we're from LI. The School of Music at Stonybrook (yes, there is a full school of music) was at that point well regarded for a graduate degree, and undergoing some ferment, a changing of the old guard so to speak.Lots of new faculty coming in.Very well regarded studio teachers.The Staller Center is well equipped as far as performance space and practice space is concerned.Good music library(D has used it during summers with reciprocal agreements and is a p/t music librarian and says its decent).Active performaning arts schedule available at the Staller,I've been there many times myself.
D was looking specifically at that time for flute studio and found faculty elsewhere of more interest to her, and also wanted to leave LI..but she said she wouldnt mind looking there for grad level work..as it was her career path took her in another direction (musicology).I know funding across the board for Stonybrook has increased in the past 5-6 years.</p>
<p>Thank you , Cathy, I have hearing things about SB - and with family in NYC , he would have a place to escape periodically .</p>
<p>just to clarify,easydoesit...the "regime change" was seen as a good thing to be happening to the school of Music</p>
<p>I'm a junior at Stony Brook, and there's plenty to do on the weekends.</p>
<p>The proportion of people staying has increased drastically in the past couple of years, and the ghost town reputation is way out of date. Even some of the commuters I know hang out on campus on weekends; most of them live at home to save money, not because they don't want to be involved. People do go into the city, but not because of a dearth of options here.</p>
<p>I've been home fewer times this semester than my friend who goes to Brown, and my family lives on Long Island within daily commute distance (I actually did commute my first year). Most of my friends don't go home very often; if they go off campus on a weekend evening it's usually to see a concert or something, which I think is pretty typical for colleges everywhere.</p>