California Resident - SUNY'S

sk8rmom
Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:42:21 +0000

UB - diversity , housing , activities , student life, class room size, academics, pre-med ?night life , & partying.



UB is a large, very diverse research university with 2 campuses (well, 3 actually, but most people will never set foot on the third). There are many housing choices - North Campus in Amherst is the main campus and houses more students in 2 large dorm complexes. The Ellicott complex is actually like a small, self-contained college with restaurants, classrooms, dorms, etc. Governor’s houses the honors college and many international students. There several university-owned townhouse style apartment complexes on North for upperclassmen and grad students. The campus is large, but easy to navigate and shuttle buses run continuosly both around campus and between North and South campuses. The campus has very clean lines, appears well-maintained, and the facilites are nice, but not extravagant. They have a number of academic buildings which are connected by enclosed walkways (handy in the windy winter weather), large athletic complex, arts center, Student Union, and Commons area with restaurants, shops, drugstore, bookstore all centrally located. You would have quite a hike to get to shops off campus, but I believe there are some mall shuttles and many students do their shopping near South Campus.

South campus also houses many students in a variety of dorms - large and small. It is the older, original UB campus and looks more like a traditional school. It’s also more integrated into the community and it’s easy to walk to nearby stores or hop on the subway (1-line only) or bus. South campus is where the architecture, med, nursing and pharmacy schools are (or soon will be) located but many students that have classes exclusively on North campus are housed here too. The neighborhood around South Campus is not ideal and although serious incidents on campus are rare, it’s not advisable to wander around alone after dark.

Undergrad classes are likely to be large lectures for the common general ed requirements such as biology/chemistry, history, etc. but they do have recitations once a week which will be much smaller, with TA’s who answer questions, give tips, etc. Overall, though UB is a large school, it seems much smaller once you’ve visted a few times. All of the students/alums I’ve met over the years seem to be very happy with their experience there. My guess is that it takes a little time to get used to and figure out how things work and then students appreciate the diverse opportunities that come with being at a big school.

If you’re interested in sciences, I would recommend UB, Binghamton, and Stony Brook. But you do need to bring your gpa up!