Binghamton University

They can (and do) pipe in a repetitive PR tape on a loop on the phone and in the student center repeating propaganda and using terms like «premier» but Binghamton simply isn’t. Don’t believe it. Want truth? For college students it is more like grades 13,14,15 and 16 of their public high school than it is anything like a «public Ivy». It’s not Michigan or even Michigan State… not even close.
About those high SAT scores and grades? «Binghamton U» (a name intended to hide the fact that it is a large generic public institution where students are numbers) finds ways around including about a third of the students’ SAT and grades in their published stats by making some students attend community college, delay starting to 2^nd semester, and other ploys to keep bad scores and grades from showing. And they accept a ton of transfers whose grades and scores are not included in their published material. The type of student who used to go to Binghamton because they couldn’t afford Ivy schools now get better funding from the Ivy’s. They are no longer attending SUNYs.
Binghamton suffers from being part of the SUNY system, with lousy funding and poor priorities. The problematic funding results in starts and stops of building and renovations that keeps the academics decades behind where it should be. They are constructing buildings designed to have been built 20 years ago and they are obsolete before they are even started. The place is busting at the seams with students. The actual ratio of teaching faculty to students is about 1:23. Horrible. The school priorities were the arena (where else to have the wonderful basketball scandal) and building ritzy dorms and a student center but not academics. The library is so stuffed with students there isn’t a seat to sit in at key times. Being closed out of classes is routine.
Administration is the biggest growth area of the school. And the administrators are simply lousy, uninformed and distant to students, staff and faculty but paid well-​your tax dollars working for them. It looked promising when the previous president left after some of her corruption was made public. But the new dean of Harpur College couldn’t be worse and the president seems ineffectual. Both are more concerned with protecting the image of the university than improving the place. Impression management continues to be the major priority.
It is great place for students who liked their public high school and want to attend a school with loads of their friends. Students who don’t want anything challenging or to get out of their comfort zone will probably do well. They won’t have to mingle with any students who differ from them and their friends for all 4 years. But it is the most anti-​intellectual campus I’ve ever been on. In 4 years I can’t recall ever hearing a conversation about issues or ideas. There is plenty of grumbling about tests and grades but discussion about intellectual matters or politics or anything substantive. No. These are students who have little interest in academics, scholarship. They want their degree, grades and points and to be out of there as quickly as possible. Nice and efficient.

Apart from my daughter graduating from BU some time ago I come for the nature preserve. Do you know about it???
Wildlife, nature, trails and winter hikes!
I’ve come with others to cross country ski as well.
Don’t miss the beaver dam and the beautiful boardwalk over the lake.
Perhaps we’ll run into each other on a crisp run on the trails!

My son just finished his first year and really loved the school. Beautiful campus, dorms have all been updated. Clean, friendly. Not too bad of a drive from our house.

I found my stay in Oneida 6p to be extremely underwhelming and un stimulating. During my sojourn I was not offered any form of hospitality. My cohorts and i were not offered any beverage or refreshments. After a long period of silently sitting in the common room, our reluctant host, a sloth, moved to greet us. Though this too lacked love or enjoyment. I was told about the death of a goat and eventually pressed into servitude to transport material to another building. ²⁄₁₀. Must fix drink service and coat check. Never the less, the establishment is staffed my some lovely young ladies, and one other female who passed away a

It’s the «Harvard» of State Universities.
You need top SAT’s and grades to gain admission – very few applicants will get in.
But admission here is a golden ticket to success. Many graduates go on to graduate school and Phd programs. This University grooms many future doctor’s, lawyers, accountants, engineers, nurses.
Every single person I know from my graduating class has gone on to great success of their own doing.
Not the best school to go to for the party lifestyle – it’s a serious study school.
You are up against the best graduates from high schools in the North East so there is a competitive overtone like you would find at a law school.
A large percentage of students come from the NYC and Long Island area of NY so there is less regional diversity than some national colleges may have.
Large lecture hall classes can be impersonal. It is a value education though, so you don’t (and should never) walk away with large student loans from undergrad. That is not the way to handle things. Keep college debt as low as possible.
If you are mature enough to get serious about life and your future in undergrad, you are on a budget, failure is not an option, folks not really chipping in, come here if admitted.
If you want to get loose, party, live like there is no tomorrow, worry free, parents picking up the tab, you have a trust fund, then pick a warm location like Florida or Arizona and have fun – worry about your future in 4 years or 5, or 6, whatever.
Very important to know is that this University has it strength primarily in the NY, NJ and Conn. metro areas – the NorthEast perhaps. If you are not going on to grad school, plan to work in the North East. Out West, there is little alum base, and the reputation of the school does not carry over – most don’t know how good it is. Potential employers have referred to it as Sunny Bridgehampton, Binghampton, Sunny Binghamton, and the like. They are not being facetious, they just never heard of the school is the problem outside the North East. There is no popular national Division One sports team to establish the branding reputation either. I just tell people here in California that it’s like the Berkeley or UCLA of New York and they get it.