<p>I will likely attend a SUNY school in Fall 2014; however, after visiting quite a few recently, I have the impression that the dorms are consistently old and worn out with very little being done to improve the comfort of the students. Worst were Albany and New Paltz with Binghamton only slightly better (unless you can get in one of the newly being built that were not open for a tour). Is there anyone who can give me a good comment or guide to a SUNY that has comfortable dorms?</p>
<p>Potsdam recently renovated their freshman dorms and Plattsburgh is systematically replacing all the dorms on campus. Also, Potsdam has excellent upper classman housing available through their townhouses: 4/5 bedrooms (all singles), 2 1/2 baths, a/c, large kitchen with microwave and dishwasher. They are more expensive than an apartment in town but more up to date and less of a fire hazard.</p>
<p>Too bad those are 2 of the lowest rated schools academically in the SUNY system.</p>
<p>College is what you make of it. Older son just graduated from Plattsburgh and will be attending grad school this fall with a full tuition scholarship and a fully funded research assistantship for a Phd program. If you go to school, get good grades, participate in internships, and participate in clubs, even a lowly ranked school will provide a great outcome. But if you just go party and sleep through class, even a higher ranked school won’t help you.</p>
<p>Often the smaller schools will provide a better experience because the professors will know and care about you and suggest different courses or research opportunities. Older son went to 2 national conferences for his major and made presentations. Plus he was able to travel with his prof/mentor and even went to his home several times for dinner. Think big fish in a small pond.</p>
<p>Potsdam has a very well regarded music education school. The Potsdam Math and Computer Science departments are also well regarded. The Crane Symphony played at Lincoln Center last year. Many of their students also attend National Conferences and also go to top grad schools.</p>
<p>Which dorm did you visit in Bing, CIW? Of the five-- CIW, Newing, Dickinson, Hinman, Mountainview-- three of them are nearly brand new and super nice and sparkly. Hinman will likely be redone soon, and CIW is a bit bland but I don’t think it’s bad at all.</p>
<p>When in Bing during the summer, the new dorms were not open for view but we are going back this month to look at them again since I was just accepted into the school along with acceptance into Stony Brook. Now is the big decision between the 2 schools and Bing likely is going to win on the dorm analysis as SB is pretty run down across the board on the living on campus side.</p>