<p>I’m not advocating for Stony Brook but I don’t think you should exclude any school based on what you’ve “heard” from a few random internet people…like everything else, your college experience is going to largely depend on what you make of it. Most large public schools, including SB, draw a lot of students from neighboring areas but many also come from other areas. To characterize a school as a “commuter school” based on this is just wrong…I’m pretty sure you would not find SB to be a commuter school in the way that a CC is! According to College Board, SB has over 16K undergrads and more than 50% live on campus, with 81% of freshmen living on campus. That seems to jive roughly with their housing space available. So, unlike a small LAC or CC, even if only half of their residential students stay on campus every weekend (and that’s just a random number I chose) that’s still thousands of people! </p>
<p>I have occassionally heard the same concern about UB…yes, there are a lot of students from Erie County who attend UB (which is closest size-wise to SB). Of the 19K undergrads at Buffalo, 82% of freshmen live on campus but only 34% of all students do. No, the campus is not dead on the weekend because of it - in fact, there are quite a few things to do on and off campus that many students just never have time for! Among my D’s residential friends/hallmates, she probably left for the weekend more than most students and that was only every 4-6 weeks. She has several friends there who commute and was happy to be invited home for dinner with them occassionally and to other local events. (Since they had cars and knew the local area well, their dorming friends also got to experience places they probably wouldn’t have found on their own…and I’m thinking that this aspect of knowing the territory could be a distinct advantage in a school near NYC!) The commuter friends participate in many on-campus activities as well, so it’s not like they just went to class and then scurried home! They were at the concerts, plays, and football games, ate in the cafes and dining halls, worked on/near campus, hung out in the dorms and libraries, went to parties, etc…and went home to sleep! </p>
<p>Basically, I think you have to look at what programs/culture they offer - both academically and socially. Are sports a big thing for you? Performing arts? What type of social scene are you looking for? If you had to use trains for access to a nearby major city how often would you really want to go/afford to go and for what purpose? Would you be happier at a university or a LAC?</p>