<p>I can't help but think the weather has something to do with NY students looking further south, especially for the ones used to the relatively mild Long Island winters. My oldest knew he wouldn't attend a SUNY but applied to Binghamton because we made him choose one. He was accepted, with no aid, and had an offer from one in state private that made the cost of attendance close to Bing (through merit aid) but ultimately chose an OOS LAC because he liked it the best. For many, the low percentage of OOS students at SUNYs is a real turn off (it would be for me). I think some parents see OOS public schools as a good alternative because they're not as expensive as privates - if you're unhappy with the SUNYs, they are an alternative. I didn't see the point in applying to OOS publics - you pay a higher rate to attend a school with many (in-state) students whose applications are weaker than yours. After all, they've paid the taxes to support the system. I just wouldn't want to subsidize another state's school and be subject to legislative cost cutting. I attended an OOS public, so maybe I was too aware of the negatives. It can be a good choice for many, and there is great diversity among public schools and some publics that are the match of any private.</p>
<p>NY has a strange educational history. It's the only state, I think, whose land grant college was placed in a private school (Cornell). We were very slow to develop a state system of colleges and I think that has hurt the SUNYs.</p>
<p>Many of the top OOS schools have built great schools in wonderful college towns with all the bell and whistles from great libraries to big-time sports. There is nothing in the Northeast like this except for Penn State. And while they are state supported most of the better known schools have large endowments. tremendous research operations, and a national highly capable student body augmented by the majority OOS grad students. They are unique and there is no comparison between these and SUNY, etc in the northeast.</p>
<p>Having attended SUNY Bing, and having had a perfectly horrible undergrad experience there, I have discouraged my son from looking at any of the SUNYs. </p>
<p>However, I was looking at the SUNY Buff web site and now I'm wondering if that is a mistake? (I might add my brother did Chem Eng at SUNY Buff years ago and liked it just fine.)</p>
<p>Son is looking at engineering. Maybe we'll make a little trip there tomorrow (he's off school) if I can talk him into it (he wants to be done looking at all schools).</p>
<p>cptofthehouse,
Thanks for your comprehensive answer. Living in NY, I always thought that Binghamton was the flagship because it admitted the students with the highest GPA's/SAT's.</p>
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Interestingly, when we attended Accepted Student's Day at James Madison in VA, we came across quite a few students from MD (as well as other states).
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<p>Yes, there are lots of MD students at VA colleges. Virginia has a wonderful variety of colleges in its state system -- UVA, William and Mary, Virginia Tech, James Madison, George Mason, Mary Washington, and others -- each with its own style and focus. If you're looking for good state schools to apply to from out of state, definitely look at what Virginia has to offer.</p>
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Unless I am overlooking something, I don't find it bizarre at all that a New Yorker would find UMD appealing, especially over SUNY.
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<p>The principal disadvantage of UMD is the surrounding community, once you get beyond the immediate environs of the university. It is quite downscale. A borderline slum, actually.</p>
<p>i could find nothing supporting the claim that buffalo had somehow been designated the one flagship.
the suny site itself says nothing about there being a flagship (suny.edu) - i really think if buffalo or any other school had been designated as such it would be mentioned at the official website.
wikpedia in fact refers to suny having four flagship university centers. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUNY%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUNY</a>
i also found nothing on buffalo's website about this - i would think that they'd be sure to mention it.</p>
<p>if you have a source for this info, please cite it.</p>
<p>(i am not addressing the issue of the quality of buffalo vs. binghamton -- just questioning the claim that buffalo has been designated the flagship for suny)</p>
<p>Buffalo is NOT the official "flagship" campus of SUNY. There is no such thing. Buffalo, Binghamton, Stony Brook and Albany are all classified as "University Centers" with no distinctions among them.</p>
<p>Nor is Buffalo the "unofficial" flagship. While it is the biggest campus, the only one with a law school, and clearly is on the way up, it is actually Binghamton that is more highly rated by USNWR (by far), has students with higher test scores (by far), and is most selective. Both campuses have a lot going for them and neither is clearly "better" than the other. And don't forget Albany and Stony Brook which have strong points of their own and probably fancy themselves as the "flagship."</p>
<p>As far as Binghamton moving down the rankings is concerned, I think it's a function of (a) the reasonably strong economy, which allows more good students to afford private schools, thus drawing some star kids away from Bing (and other publics - I agree with the poster who said that publics in general are getting hurt in the rankings), and (b) the failure of the Bing leadership master the political game and bring a greater share of SUNY's finite resources to their school.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, I recently visited Bing with my son, having visited five years earlier with my older son. The campus has changed for the better in the meantime. The new dorms up on the hillside had been completed, the whole place looked neater and cleaner, and there was construction all over the place.</p>
<p>Marian - I have mentioned in previous posts that it makes no sense to me why parents who have a reasonable choice of where to live in the DC area choose Maryland. Its university system is a mere shadow of what Virginia offers. And of course, Maryland taxes are a bit higher. Makes no sense to me.</p>
<p>NY has a strange educational history. It's the only state, I think, whose land grant college was placed in a private school (Cornell). We were very slow to develop a state system of colleges and I think that has hurt the SUNYs.</p>
<p>Actually, I have to agree with lefthandofdog on this one - the SUNY system is made up of a whopping 64 units whose growth has been piecemeal and uneven at best and quite late in relation to other state systems. That SUNY has designated a flagship U - either official or unofficial - would be news. Roscoe points out the 4 major research university centers all compete for the title - I would add that this competition often makes it appear that SUNY boasts not just one flagship U but four which just adds to the confusion. Nonetheless, UB's incredible plans for expansion does make one think that this campus is going all out to be designated flagship U. See my post # 36 and 232 on the "New York is the place to be" thread :</p>
<p>For all of its multitude of faults and fissures, the SUNY schools have a lot to offer New Yorkers and OOS even if they don't sucessfully attract the so-called best and the brightest - nonetheless, many of the SUNY campuses have set out both to improve campus facilities and to lure more OOS with aggressive recruiting. For too many New Yorkers, however, the mere mention of SUNY sets off a knee jerk negative reaction - for the most part this is because New York state has so many stellar private colleges and universities and the SUNY system was in the early years simply not set up to compete with these IHEs. Now with the privatization of SUNY expansion and competition will most likely alter the New York higher ed. landscape but that will take quite some time - after all UB's plan to create a "seamless" integrated campus is a 15 year deal.</p>