<p>I have been accepted into both colleges and am strongly considering both. My parents think Stony Brook is a more reputable and well-known school, but I thought Fordham was?</p>
<p>Rankings-wise, Fordham’s higher, but not everything is based on rankings. So I guess my question is, which of the two is more reputable?</p>
<p>Fordham, hands down.</p>
<p>Fordham. I got into both as well and if those were my top choices I would have gone to Fordham. From what I hear stonybrook is a suitcase school. Don’t worry tho stonybrook people, it’s still a good school, but I like Fordham better myself (and I hear stonybrook is a suitcase school…)</p>
<p>I’m obviously biased, but please don’t feed into the “suitcase school” myth. On any given weekend during the 05-06 school year, on any given weekend, 70-75% of our residential population stuck around for the weekends, except for holiday weekends and breaks. And almost 90% of our freshmen returned this year, so there must be something to do on campus. Don’t believe the hype. (Or lack of hype.)</p>
<p>“Reputable” means a lot of things to a lot of people. It really depends on your degree, the coursework you’re looking to do, stuff like that. Good luck in your decision; I’d also encourage you to visit during one of our Admitted Student Days – the schedule’s on our Web site – to get more information.</p>
<p>Chris D’Orso
Assistant Director of Admissions
Stony Brook University</p>
<p>to me, private schools will always be better than public ones [when talking about universties below 50 on the us news rank]. I go to PSU right now and although it is above fordham, the classrooms are not nearly as impressive and the facilities are rund down. This will be te case with most such publics, a hedonistic environment with mediocore facilities. At a private school, you aremore likely to encounter state of the art equipment and a more intellectually stimulating environment. But it depends on your major and preferences as well.</p>
<p>I also thought Fordham, but my parents seemed convinced that Stony Brook was. </p>
<p>My rationale was that prior to starting my college stuff, I had heard of Fordham, but hadnt heard of Stony Brook.</p>
<p>If this makes a difference to u Fordham is ranked 70 while stonybrook is 98.</p>
<p>As the mother of a junior-year college student at a pubic NJ school, and another child who will be a freshman at SB in the fall, I can tell you that whether a school is public or private really has no bearing on the facilities or the academics. My older dtr was at a private school in CT her first 2 years, and I thought the whole campus could use an overhaul…and we were paying top dollar. She transferred to a public school (Rutgers) and it’s been a world of difference: better professors and facilities. And, after seeing SB, it was a no-brainer for her sister. What a beautiful, thriving campus we found! Talk about state of the art facilities. Just read their website about all the exciting research coming out of SB and continuing renovations. BTW, I attended a public university almost 30 years ago, U of Maryland, which today enjoys an outstanding reputation. Like SB, it is constantly renewing itself (but SB will cost us thousands less!) And, regarding ‘suitcase school’, I think all schools have that reputation when many of the kids that live close go home (plenty of kids at Maryland left each weekend) but those of us from NJ and other states stayed, and it was great! Quieter, but plenty to do. And with SB accepting at least 15% out-of-staters, there will be a lot more students, and activities, on campus than ever before.</p>
<p>lest be seious. I live 5 minutes from stony brook and i have been around the campus alot even though i am in high school THEY have NO school spirit. I have been to tennis matches, basketball games, and lacrosse games and there is no one from the college there. it’s a typical state school so don’t make it sound like paradise.</p>
<p>lol^^^</p>
<p>I would say they both are about the same. I applied to both and I expect to be accepted to both and although they aren’t my top two I would choose Stony Brook in the long run because it’s about $30,000 less than Fordham for almost an indentical education. Although Stony Brook might be 70-75% on the weekend, with that percentage the population would still be greater than Fordham’s.</p>
<p>Stony Brook also has more diversity…</p>
<p>But I must say Fordham’s campus is better… It is one of the best!!!</p>
<p>I’ll just say this regarding school spirit…would ANYONE have paid $500 for a ticket to a Rutgers football game last year?
The point is things change…don’t be so quick to dismiss a school based on past views. By the time you’re attending college (you say you’re in high school now, so if you’re down on SB, what are you doing on this thread?) it may truly be a paradise for you…</p>
<p>ba3452, we’re not a big sports school and most of us like it that way! I’ll go to a game every once in a while, but sports aren’t the focus of our school spirit. Why should game attendance be the only way to measure how much we like our school?</p>
<p>Let’s be serious, you’re a high schooler. You’re an outsider, and you don’t really know what it’s like to go here. You want a school where everyone flips out about the football team winning? Great, go somewhere else and have a good time. You want awesome, fun, quirky people and great academics, and don’t necessarily think sports are the most important part of college? Maybe this is the place for you.</p>
<p>Well said, Pseudonym. My dtr is looking forward to an excellent education, meeting new friends from a variety of backgrounds, and exploring all the options available to her.</p>
<p>That’s one of the things I really like about this campus. You want sports? Yep, we have 'em, and some of our teams are pretty good, even at the club level. (<a href=“http://sbuchris.blogspot.com/2007/03/stony-brook-hockey-champions.html[/url]”>http://sbuchris.blogspot.com/2007/03/stony-brook-hockey-champions.html</a>) Do you have to go to games because everybody’s going, even if you hate it? Absolutely not. You can go to a show in the Staller Center, or to the mall, or to club activities, or whatever. Fraternities are sororites are another good example… they’re here, and very visible on campus, but they’re not by any means the complete social scene, as they are at some places. I’ve really been impressed by our students in the past couple of years.</p>
<p>-Chris</p>