<p>Anyone out there deciding between Towson and SUNY Binghamton? We were set to go visit Binghamton for accepted students' day but decided not to go. I called Binghamton admissions and was told they had 3,500 students apply to transfer to their school of management for 1000 spots. Although Binghamton sounds like a great school, I thought that paying out of state tuition is not worth the risk if my son was not accepted to SOM at Binghamton. Is there anything else I should be considering? We went to the Towson undergrad b-school presentation and were highly impressed.</p>
<p>I think SUNY Binghamton is closer to the state flagship side of things, and Towson is more like a 2nd or 3rd tier commuter school.</p>
<p>Are you in-state for Towson?</p>
<p>The SUNY system is actually not outrageously expensive for OOS students. Towson OOS would cost more than Binghamton OOS.</p>
<p>SUNY -B! (10 char.)</p>
<p>I was at Towson just last week with Happykid and two friends who are at her community college here in Maryland. Happykid and one friend liked Towson a lot. The other one preferred UMBC. Yes Towson does have a lot of commuters, but most of those are commuting from an apartment a mile or two away. The Towsontown area looked pretty lively, and there are free university buses that run clear to the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Transportation to off-campus jobs and internships in the greater Baltimore area would be fairly easy to arrange.</p>
<p>Would I pay the difference between in-state costs at Towson, and OOS costs at one of the SUNYs,? Maybe if Happykid were admitted directly into the program that she wants. However, I wouldn’t do that if she had to spend a year or two there and then apply for admission to a program where she had a less than 1 in 3 chance of admission.</p>
<p>You exactly express my worry about Binghamton. Although I heard it is a wonderful school, I am worried about the competition to get into the School of Management. It is easier to get into the B-school at Towson, plus Towson B-school has small classes. </p>
<p>The only thing of concern at Towson B-school is most of the kids recently did not have jobs at graduation. However, it is a tough economy and hope that things will improve in 4 years.
The rep at Towson said Towson gives you what you need to get a job. It is then up to the students to go out and find work.</p>
<p>i posted this link in another thread, but thought i’d also post it here – [Binghamton</a> University - State University Of New York: Undergraduate Profile - BusinessWeek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?) scroll all the way down for admissions info for the business program (its below the admissions info for the institution in general).</p>
<p>If you are a MD resident and your student is happy with Towson, it is a solid pick over Binghamton. Given that the program of interest is a surer thing at Towson would make it even more of bonus. If you were a NYer, I would say the exact opposite. I don’t think either school is worth giving up the other’s in state advantage to the other.</p>
<p>I agree 100% with cptofthehouse.</p>
<p>Average SAT scores at Binghamton are 200 points higher than Towson, retention rates are higher, percentage of full time faculty is higher, Binghamton’s Carnegie classification is “Research University (high research activity)”, Towson is not classified as a research school. By almost any measure Binghamton is a much better school.</p>
<p>As for the chances of admission to the SOM - I think you have to take an honest look at the student. Which end of the academic pool are they swimming in? The odds aren’t really 1000/3500, because they aren’t picking names out of a hat. I’d ask them what the average stats are of students admitted to the SOM, compare that with your student, and assess your chances that way, don’t just look at the raw numbers.</p>
<p>
This sounds like an admission that Towson does not have a good career center, and companies are not coming on campus to recruit. If the rep is not promoting their job placement, what does that tell you?</p>
<p>
I think promoting is not the right word. I think it’s more like telling the truth vs. what we want to hear. I’ve been on a dozen college tours with my HS senior and of the schools that talk about job placement, most of them site 85 - 95% job placement of recent seniors. That doesn’t jibe with the recent college grads that I know (including my own son) who just can’t find work. </p>
<p>I just read an ad in an upstate NY paper calling for residents to go to this site - [url=<a href=“http://savesuny.org/]SaveSUNY[/url”>http://savesuny.org/]SaveSUNY[/url</a>] Sounds like NY is another state that is having financial problems with their state funded colleges. </p>
<p>If the student himself is interested and happy to go to the in-state public, that would be the direction I would steer him.</p>
<p>MD- I think you’ve been agonizing over this choice for months and eliciting information from total strangers isn’t going to be helpful right now. I don’t believe that most employers consider Towson and Binghamton to be in the same league which in no way suggests that your son couldn’t go to Towson and get a fine education and get a satisfying job/career. I know I’ve tried to be helpful before in clarifying the differences between a business degree and something more specialized (i.e. actuarial science); you seem to know your son very well and so outside perspective is probably not going to sway your thinking right now.</p>
<p>I believe that across many measures B is just a more academic environment than Towson. If your son ends up not wanting a business degree, or takes his first accounting class and absolutely hates it, I think Binghamton offers a very broad set of fine choices in other fields.</p>
<p>But if you and he are sold on Towson- send in your check and don’t look back. You have done a lot of research and most of the posters here have tried to be helpful. Make your choice and move on! Your son sounds like a fabulous kid.</p>
<p>The other big disadvantage of someone from out of state to go to SUNY Binghamton is that the school is overewhelmingly NYer. The SUNYs do not attract the out of state crowd. As a result, many of the kids there will know each other at least at the 2nd degree level. This is a consideration for some students. It can be tough for them to break into such a group and some kids prefer going to a more familiar setting for college. I have a child for whom it wouldn’t make a whit of difference, but the others are a bit shyer and more hesitant socially, and really like the familiarity. To be plunged into a setting where so many people seem to know each other and they are the strangers is not what they like. It would have to be something truly worthwhile at stake to take that venture. We are dealing a bit with this now with my college bound senior and his choices. </p>
<p>Binghamton is the most highly desired, most selective SUNY and has students with the highest stats there. I would compare it to UMBC rather than Towson. </p>
<p>For me, the student s choice and comfort and happiness is a big factor here .</p>
<p>
I don’t doubt some schools get creative with the placement number, but at virtually every tour I’ve been on, they at least talk about what programs the school has in place to help you find a job, how many companies come on campus to recruit, stuff about internships, etc. </p>
<p>“It is then up to the students to go out and find work” has a certain kind of “you are on your own” vibe I don’t find reassuring. Maybe Towson has a good career center and this rep is just a lousy salesman.</p>
<p>It is unrealistic to expect a college placement office to be able to counteract a global recession, but I think you can expect (or hope to see) the following at a minimum:</p>
<p>1-Trained counselors available to speak to students interested in a wide variety of careers, i.e. non-profit, banking, arts and cultural institutions, media/publishing, accounting/finance, military etc; extra points for experienced people who can refer students to overseas employment and fellowship opportunities;
3-Statistics on last 5 years- who goes where, who got into which grad program and what their GPA/GRE LSAT GMAT or MCAT scores were;
4- Published calendar on which companies recruit when; how to apply, when the “resume drop” deadline is for each employer. I note “published calendar” since you don’t want your kid to have to become a private detective in order to sniff out who is recruiting on campus, it should be easily accessible to any enrolled student.
5- At least one job/careers/grad school fair once a year, or easy access to a regional fair with transportation available; Many companies which cannot afford to do a full blown recruiting event (or don’t hire critical mass from every campus) are able to send a representative to these fairs to staff the booth, meet with students 1:1, etc.
6- Easy availability of the following: resume writing workshops (these can be run by other students, don’t have to be professionals) with mock “cover letters” included; extra points for interview role play sessions which often include video and critique afterward so students can see why playing with their hair is distracting, or saying “Like” every other sentence sounds moronic; counselors who can easily pull up email addresses and company affiliations for alumni who are willing to do informational interviews.</p>
<p>Many large colleges offer much more than this- but unless your kid already knows exactly what he/she wants to do, and already has experience in a professional employment situation, I think this is what’s necessary for a comprehensive job search regardless of the economy.</p>
<p>Nobody can get your kid hired, but most colleges have the infrastructure in place to get a highly motivated kid in front of people who are hiring. YMMV.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for everyone’s helpful advice. Now I think I should run up to the Towson Placement Center and see how good it looks. The low job placement at graduation worries me. Our older son is at USC. He got a fabulous paid summer internship lined up quickly with other companies wanting to interview him. USC has a lot going on to help students find jobs (job fairs, alumni network). Will our younger son have similar success at Towson? I think I am going to call Binghamton Career Center and try to find out more.
Also, it is a really good point–what if my son changes his mind and does not want acccounting? One thing we liked about Binghamton is the many varied majors. The OOS vs. in state cost looks around $28,000. more for Binghamton over 4 years. </p>
<p>I am just going to have to find out more info. about job placement and numbers of companies coming to recruit at these schools.</p>
<p>Many thanks to all the kind parents who help me see other factors to think about.</p>
<p>Unbelieveblm: Thanks for the info. Need 3.5 for a good chance to get into Binghamton B-school. Since Binghamton has a highly intelligent student group, I assume getting a 3.5 might be hard for some kids. It is a lot of pressure. Towson wants a minimum of 2.7 for the B-school.</p>
<p>pleased also understand – there is a huge difference between saying “students with below a 3.5 are unlikely to be able to transfer” and saying “students with over a 3.5 are likely to be able to transfer.” the former does NOT equal the latter.</p>
<p>even getting a 3.5 or better, intrauniversity transfers into binghamton’s SOM are difficult.</p>
<p>mdcissp - where does your son want to go?</p>
<p>MD- USC has both a very strong campus infrastructure for career development, and an extremely loyal and committed alumni group. So even if a student has some off-beat or funky long term interests, there is usually an alum who works in that field who will do an informational interview, critique the resume, help edit a cover letter, or just offer suggestions of companies and names of people to contact. So a strong alumni population can really add significantly to a well developed career office. </p>
<p>How did your older son find his internship?</p>
<p>Must be spring break at Binghamton because I just get answering machines at the Career Center and SOM.</p>
<p>USC hosted career fairs. Older son had a very successful on campus interview.</p>
<p>My husband is a USC alumni and found his first job in a similar tight job market over 30 years ago from a fellow USC trojan alumni. So, my husband sees tremendous value at USC because of the strong alumni network.</p>
<p>Also, called Towson and sounds like they have support to help find jobs there too.</p>