University at Buffalo

For anyone that went to school in Buffalo or knows anything about the area, what is the city like? Similar to New York? Rural/suburban? Thanks.

Urban, huge school, cold, lots of snow. Largest city in western NY, second largest city in NYS. Safety rating isn’t great. Did I say cold and lots of snow?

It’s a big school with two main campuses: north campus and south campus, plus a third campus that is located downtown.

The north campus is suburban, while south campus is less suburban and closer to the downtown area. I believe there is a subway from south campus to downtown, but I am not 100% sure. There are campus buses that take students back and forth between the two main campuses.

Cold and snowy, however this year they didn’t get as much snow as previous years.

It is one of the largest, if not THE largest school in the SUNY system. The south campus is located in Amherst which is a suburb of Buffalo (about 15 min from downtown) and close to the airport and major shopping. The North campus is also in a suburban location. It is cold and it does snow but the fall and spring are very nice and there is a lot to do. Two major sports teams, beautiful downtown theater hosting national touring Broadway productions and concerts, 40 min from Niagara Falls and 90 min from Toronto. It is considered to be a good bargain for in state students and reasonably priced for out of state. There is a large international student population. They have a med school, a dental school and a law school and many other graduate/PHD programs. The school has D1 sports which play in lower divisions than the nationally known teams but their football and m/w basketball teams were very successful this year.

BUMP!! I mainly want to know is the North Campus and the surrounding town safe/nice and is the campus as ugly as people say it is?

The North Campus is located in Amherst, is very much suburban, with many malls, stores, restaurants, etc., nearby. I would say it is a typically safe suburban area. South Campus is on the edge of the city, and if you follow good safety practices, you will be fine, but it is in a city. Many students have little interaction with the South Campus, though this varies, particularly by major.

North Campus was primarily built in the 70’s, with a number of more recent additions. The architecture reflects this. It’s large and spread out. Some buildings have the 1970’s state institution look, some have an inventive modern architecture look. But, if brick and ivy with scenic vistas are fixed requirements, then UB is not for you.

I would suggest that other criteria ought to be more important in selecting a school, though. I went to a brick and ivy school on a hill, and that all wore out pretty quickly. Think about whether the other characteristics (large, diverse, many options, etc.) are a good fit for you, especially the quality of your major, and you’ll make a better decision.