<p>Binghamton is not in the middle of nowhere. The campus is in the suburb of Vestal but the school has a tremendous free bus service for students that goes downtown and tovthe local shopping malls. Don’t really need a car to get off campus.</p>
<p>At the risk of being repetitive of myself and/or others:</p>
<p>UDel is a fine and very popular school, but OOS is a stretch for B students, costs over $30k OOS and it is very large. </p>
<p>Binghamton is much easier to get into OOS than UDel (although harder to get into in state than UDel is for Delaware kids); cheaper; and does have easy access to intereting restaurants; but has much worse weather and much less school spirit and sports excitement, although irrlevant to MD’s son.</p>
<p>MD- your son should shadow an actuary for at least a day before you encourage him to make a decision on college based on the actuarial program. It is a very polarizing course of study- people either love it or hate it (and I’ve hired actuaries and getting certified is very grueling unless you love it.) You have suggested that math may not be his passion-- which suggests to me that he may have a very brief flirtation with actuary as a major and then move on (as many kids do. It has a high flush rate.)</p>
<p>If you were looking at a broad range of schools, this would go into the “this too shall pass” category. But since your criteria are so narrow to begin with, I think you are helping him back himself into a wall. If his interests change during the year and you’ve only got the three schools-- sounds worrisome to me.</p>
<p>Binghamton is not out in the middle of nowhere. Many kids have fun there without cars; there’s lots to do on campus. I think there will be many more opportunities to meet like minded kids at a school as big as B vs. Salisbury.</p>
<p>And yes, Delaware is generally considered a “better” school than Towson. You may not care- and you certainly have other factors to consider such as affordability- but it has a “better” reputation academically.</p>
<p>But I would be loathe to pick a school on the basis of accounting, actuary, or in fact, any single discipline unless my kid were highly committed, very knowledgeble, had done a summer internship or shadow, and was passionate about the field. Picking a career isn’t as easy as flipping through a course cataloge-- and getting certified in a profession that you loathe isn’t much fun either.</p>
<p>Anyone know what the requirements for ACT scores are for Delaware and Binghamton?</p>
<p>Binghamton: Anyone here with kids at Binghamton who have actually seen the campus first hand and can give a more complete description of what the campus is like?<br>
I think my son’s minimum requirements are for actuary science and accounting to be available, authentic food available (by this I mean he hates fast food, only eats healthy food, likes Ethnic food), and single rooms are available.</p>
<p>Does not care about sports, parties, school spirit, etc. These things can be at the school-just are not selling points.</p>
<p>Blossom: You are right. I think he just needs Actuary Science and Accounting majors as available should he decide to pursue these degrees. He may end up doing something else.
He is very intellectual- a walking professor type of kid giving out tons of intellectual info. I suggested that he become a professor and my son, being practical, says there are no jobs due to university budget freezes and cuts.</p>
<p>As per our HS Naviance, average acceptances:</p>
<p>Binghamtom:
GPA - 94.76, SAT - 1272, ACT 28</p>
<p>UDel:
GPA: 92.75, SAT - 1215, ACT 26</p>
<p>Towson:
GPA: 89.05, SAT - 1114, ACT n/a</p>
<p>This is from a large, very diverse public high school on Long Island (NOT one of the schools on Long Island where 95% go to a four-year school). D (26 ACT and WGPA around 92) got waitlisted at Bing, but got in to UDel and Towson.</p>
<p>Binghamton might not actually be in the middle of nowhere, but it depends on your perspective. Many people where I live do feel that it is in the middle of nowhere. This does not take away from the excellent reputation of the school. Lots of D’s friends going there, including one from OOS. We visited and it was the nicest of the three SUNY campuses we saw. Way nicer than Albany. I don’t remember the food. Nice residence halls (maybe they showed us the newest one, though). Definitely NOT for a B student from NY, but I told D she’d have to consider if she got in. </p>
<p>By the way UDel has two large freshman residence complexes that have a TON of singles. I didn’t see this anywhere else. D got a single (and air conditioning!). However, I hear these are the most social dorms of all of them. At least you can close the door. They are old dorms, but in an excellent location. Not sure the pile in her room here is going to fit in the room there, but that’s another story!</p>
1 Like
<p>mdcissp-I have lived in Bing my whole life and have spent lots of time on campus over the years. The campus is set in Vestal, which is a suburb of Binghamton. I actually think the campus is pretty (especially compared to SUNY Albany where I went!!). There is a huge nature preserve on campus . (My dh hikes there almost every weekend). It is on the Vestal Parkway which has tons of chain and local restaurants (including a great mexican restaurant right off campus, japanese restaurant across the street, nearby Chinese restaurant and we have the most amazing Italian food in our area that you will ever have!), movie theater, target, Walmart and other stores. It is directly across the river (and the SUNY bus goes there) from the Oakdale Mall. There is a beautiful student union on campus. There are both new dorms and older dorms. The campus is fairly large, but most of the academic buildings are clustered (with the exception of some of the engineering ones which are across the street and the some graduate programs which are downtown in a new building). There is a HUGE Chabad house right off of campus (its backyard adjoins campus). There is also a very active Hillel on campus. There is also a kosher kitchen available. In Binghamton we have 3 synagogues. A conservative synagogue which is pretty close to the campus and an orthodox and reform temples that are downtown (on the SUNY bus route). All synagogues welcome students (free for high holidays). Bing U is closed for the high holidays so most students go home, but we do have some who stay and attend our services.
The campus is safe. Downtown Binghamton- parts of it are seedy and there is some violent crime, but it seems to be centered on drug related activity and the victims are usually involved in that enterprise.
Hope this helps.</p>
<p>md: you can’t use in-state Naviance stats for Binghamton to determine likelihood of acceptance; OOS students are a completely different admissions process (and as an alumni advisor, trust me, much easier to be admitted; sorry LINYMOM)…
as far as food, can’t answer that question because they have recently revamped; you can post on the Binghamton thread…there is actually a student on there who acts as an “ad-hoc” rep</p>
<p>honestly, these are schools that are on common app…add them to the list, apply and visit if your son is accepted…Binghamton usually admits the OOS students first…keep in mind that admission to school of management is more difficult than Harpur College; actuary science is prob in Harpur, accounting in SOM…</p>
<p>I find UDel to be unusual; I think it really depends on where you apply from…agree with yabeyabe with a caveat…it seems to be harder to be accepted as a “B” student from NJ due to the sheer numbers that apply; not sure about other states…</p>
<p>mdccisp – re binghamton – accounting and actuarial science.</p>
<p>if you are now considering binghamton because it has these two majors, you should know that they are housed in different schools within binghamton. accounting is in the school of management (SOM) <a href=“http://www2.binghamton.edu/som/curstudents/undergrad/programs/bsacct/index.html;[/url]”>http://www2.binghamton.edu/som/curstudents/undergrad/programs/bsacct/index.html;</a> actuarial science is a track in a math major - ie in harpur, the arts and sciences college. [url=<a href=“http://www.math.binghamton.edu/actuary/]Binghamton”>http://www.math.binghamton.edu/actuary/]Binghamton</a> Actuarial Program<a href=“has%20a%20lot%20of%20info%20both%20about%20binghamton’s%20actuarial%20program%20and%20becoming%20an%20actuary%20in%20general%20–%20see%20links%20on%20left%20of%20page”>/url</a>.</p>
<p>as part of the application process, you apply to a specific school within binghamton – if you use the common app, this gets determined by what major you indicate.</p>
<p>SOM is harder to get admitted to than harpur – possibly the hardest school at binghamton to get admitted to, though the nursing school is also very competitive. even with it being easier for OOS to get admitted at binghamton than in-staters, i do not know if that edge gets a B student into SOM.</p>
<p>it is possible to transfer among the schools at binghamton after you are admitted – HOWEVER, it is very difficult to transfer into SOM. it would be easier to transfer from SOM into harpur, than transfer from harpur into SOM.</p>
<p>so if your son wants to apply, he will need to determine which to apply to – if he applies to SOM and gets in, he can start with accounting and switch to harpur if he decides he wants actuarial science. but it is harder to get admitted in the first place. if he applies to harpur, he may have a better chance of getting in, but it may then be hard for him to change to accounting. </p>
<p>i also want to add – i think you are relying too much on this thread in selecting your list of colleges. while the information here is wonderful, nothing substitutes for actually going to visit a college yourself. what one considers “the middle of nowhere” may be considered a fine suburban area to someone else. what one considers a pretty campus, may be considered a sea of red brick by someone else. the fact that one parent here wasn’t enthusiastic about a school, doesn’t mean that you and your s won’t be.</p>
<p>Thank you again Hollisue about Binghamton info. My son said he will apply to Binghamton.</p>
<p>Delaware: Is it easier to get into OOS?</p>
<p>Strategy for applying: Does anyone have an opinion about applying to top choice first (Towson), see if there is an acceptance, and then apply to other schools if rejected? Or, apply to all schools ASAP in case change of mind in the spring?</p>
<p>Finally, any opinions about College of Charleston? I know it was mentioned on this thread and my son mentions this school. He is a very conservative person and thinks he will be more comfortable in the south.</p>
<p>^^^^^ditto what he/she said on all counts…</p>
<p>Unbelievablem: Thanks for your great post. You speak from your heart with a lot of intelligent wisdom. Now we are going to have to find out more about acceptance to SOM at Binghamton, and I will have to ask my son if he is comfortable with the re-applying process if he changes his mind. You bring up a valuable red flag–not sure if I am comfortable with starting a school and going through another application process if my son changes his mind. One thing we really like about UT Dallas is once hopefully accepted, you can study anything you want without another application.</p>
<p>Perhaps we should see if my son gets accepted to Towson, and if he does, just keep with his other top two choices (Salisbury and UT Dallas), and leave it at that. I’ll keep up the discussion, and encourage my son to visit other schools while we have nothing to do the next 2 weeks before school starts. Thanks so much.</p>
<p>O</p>
<p>just to add – re visiting schools – besides their packaged tours and info sessions, going to a school also allows the chance to try to meet with someone from the departments being considered, to talk to someone about whether a single room would be available for specified reasons at schools that otherwise don’t offer them to freshmen, to meet with the hillel people, to hang out in a dining hall and just get a feel for the school and whether your student will be comfortable there. no amount of internet research can substitute for all for all of that.</p>
<p>fyi – re transfering schools within binghamton – the application process is not onerous at all – 2 sides of a page form – other than basic info, you just need a paragraph saying why you want to transfer. the onerous part is the difficulty of getting into SOM.</p>
<p>info re intrauniverisy transfer into SOM – <a href=“http://www2.binghamton.edu/admissions/pdf/IUT-SOM.pdf[/url]”>http://www2.binghamton.edu/admissions/pdf/IUT-SOM.pdf</a>
info re intrauniversity tranfer into Harpur – <a href=“http://www2.binghamton.edu/admissions/pdf/iut-harpur.pdf[/url]”>http://www2.binghamton.edu/admissions/pdf/iut-harpur.pdf</a>
the application form – <a href=“http://www2.binghamton.edu/admissions/pdf/application-forms/intrauniversity-transfer-or-double-degree-application.pdf[/url]”>http://www2.binghamton.edu/admissions/pdf/application-forms/intrauniversity-transfer-or-double-degree-application.pdf</a></p>
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<p>Don’t you have to start at another school within Towson’s system too? Then with a certain GPA (whatever that number is) you apply (rather informal at many schools) to the business school at Towson?</p>
<p>rodney: No offense taken! Just sharing our info here.</p>
<p>unbelievablem is on the mark. She knows a lot more than I do about Bing and that area.</p>
<p>mdcissp: D applied to Towson in October and was accepted in mid-January. That timeline could help you. RE: UDel and OOS, it depends what state you are coming from. As someone else said, it is much harder to get in from NJ!</p>
<p>mdcissp - just to clarify - we visited Delaware once - 2 years ago - with S1 - and he was not that impressed. But - he is a very high stat kid and was really looking for more competitive schools. I would have been ok with using it as a safety for him - but he was not interested. I have mentioned it a few times to S2 - he has not decided if he wants to visit it yet.</p>
<p>Towson - the business program does require a secondary application process. However, the GPA requirement is fairly low and there is no set number of slots - not like James Madison where there are 750 slots and if you are number 751 you are out of luck. I don’t see the secondary admission at Towson being a big issue.</p>
<p>College of Charleston - we plan to visit this spring. I think this school meets most of S2’s criteria - business majors, reasonable price for OOS, lots to do in Charleston and about 8 - 10% Jewish. It does not have football - but does have basketball. I’m a little concerned re dorms - but recognize that he will care about that a lot less than I do.</p>
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<p>I vote for applying to all the schools to allow for a change of mind. A little more work, a little more money in app fees, but a lot more peace of mind.</p>
<p>Sharing this because we’ve been talking about Delaware again:</p>
<p>[UD</a> among top national universities](<a href=“http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2011/aug/ranking081710.html]UD”>UD among top national universities : University of Delaware)</p>
<p>Speaking of US News rankings - in the category of “up and coming” - for southern regional universities - Elon was ranked #1 and College of Charleston was #6. Glad we have those on the list.</p>
<p>We have removed Hofstra and Stoney Brook, but Binghamton is still on the list. </p>
<p>Delaware and Syracuse our on the list, but with a B student at these schools, I do not feel like they are good matches financially. I have a dollar amount in my head, and I am determined to find a school that fits.</p>
<p>MDCISSP - Did we discuss Bryant in RI? or how about George Mason?</p>