Spotlight On: SUNY Schools You Should Know
The SUNY Geneseo campus. Photo: SUNY Geneseo
By MADINA GULOMOVA
This year has brought so many changes to the way school is done, but one thing has remained (mostly) the same: college applications. If you don’t want to go too far from home, and the sound of $150,000 in student loan debt terrifies you, you should take a look at your SUNY options (The State University of New York).
The SUNY website (suny.edu) holds a lot of beneficial information, including a tool that allows you to find a campus based on your personal interests and preferred location. With 64 SUNY campuses, the site’s search can help narrow down the schools most suitable for you. But let us also help get you a head start.
If you’re looking for a great place to meet new people, you might want to check out SUNY Geneseo, which has over 200 student-led organizations. As Geneseo’s website says, “You’ll join a community committed to inquiry, creativity, and reflection.”
The acceptance rate is 65% and graduation rate is 80%. Like all SUNY schools, Geneseo’s tuition is only $7,070, but additional fees are lower than the SUNY average at $1,786. If you want to live on campus, rooming and meals is only $12,906, which is the least out of the four colleges on this list. The school is about a six hour drive from Brooklyn.
On Long Island, Stony Brook is the closest option on this list. Photo: StonyBrook.edu
Next up is Stony Brook. Usually, the average SAT score for the college is 1260. However, for the upcoming semesters, until Spring 2022, test scores are not being required.
Stony Brook might be for you if health majors are something that interest you. One of the school’s five most popular majors for 2019 graduates was health professions and related programs. U.S. News & World Report named Stony Brook as one of America’s top 40 public universities, and USA Today put it in the top 10 most diverse U.S universities.
The tuition at Stony Brook is $7,070 (all SUNYs are the same), but additional fees are $3,020 and room and board is $14,798. These levels are typical for the SUNY system. Expect to pay about $7,000 in tuition, $3,000 in fees, and $15,000 in room and board ($25,000 total per year). However, according to the Stony Brook website, 78% of full time freshmen received financial aid. It’s also the closest university on this list, about 60 miles away in Long Island.
You may also be interested in Binghamton University, which has a strong academic reputation, along with workshops, programs, and services for underrepresented groups. With more than 2,500 international students and over 150 cultural student organizations, the school’s community is very diverse.
Binghamton is one of the harder universities to get into on this list. The school’s acceptance rate is around 40% and graduation rate is around 80%. The average SAT score is 1315 and GPA is 3.7 (90-92 on a scale of 0-100).
Binghamton University has a strong reputation for research and academics. Photo: Suny.edu
There are many positive reviews left about the school online, such as this one on U.S. News: “I did my Masters in Computer Engineering from B.U. They have the best teachers in all of SUNY for engineering. Lots of opportunities in and around campus.” With a retention rate of 91% (the percentage of first year undergraduates who continued at the school after their first year), it is safe to say that many students were satisfied with their experience.
SUNY Buffalo’s north campus, where the core programs are offered. Photo: SUNY Buffalo
The last college on this list is SUNY Buffalo, which has three campuses. With 140+ undergraduate programs, you will have the opportunity to find a major that is perfect for you. Additionally, SUNY Buffalo has partnerships with 96 universities around the world and offers over 1,000 study abroad opportunities. The school’s average incoming SAT score is 1170, a little lower than the others on this list, and its admission rate is 61%.
Some of the school’s most popular majors are business / management / marketing, social sciences, engineering, and psychology. The experience you have at SUNY Buffalo doesn’t have to be all about the academics though, as there are over 600 clubs and organizations. Talk about having options!
When it comes to rankings, Binghamton, Stony Brook, and SUNY Buffalo are tied at #88 in national universities according to U.S. News, putting them in the nation’s top 25%.
Overall, choosing the best college for you requires a lot of research, but hopefully we just made that process a bit easier. Remember, you have a lot more options than these, as there are 64 total SUNY institutions. Take a deep breath. You got this!