@sevmom I agree that Binghamton is solid, but Bing is #96 nationally. Had they been ranked in the 40s or 50s, it’d be no question that Binghamton is better. However, ranking regional schools really isn’t USNWR’s forte, as it is certainly at least equal to Elon and JMU, and better than all the other schools ranked ahead of it. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be in the top 5 in the South regional ranking, in all honesty. Private schools just seem to rule the roost - Stetson is ranked ahead of us but looking at the stats, can we really sit here and say Stetson is better than UNCW? No, and I think the opposite is most certainly true.
Um…no. And the “whatever reason” Bing has lower acceptance rate is higher selectivity. Even in state kids need very high stats to get in. It may not be a typical college campus/town/experience. But it is objectively a more prestigious school.
Regarding UNCW versus Binghamton. UNCW has a higher GPA average (4.1 versus 3.6) but Bing’s test scores are higher (ACT average is 29 with 38% between 30-36) versus UNCW ( ACT average 25 with 7% between 30-36). Bing also has 48% in the top 10% of their HS class versus UNCW at 27%. I have no doubt that UNCW is a great school, but Bing has the stronger student body.
@twogirls the GPA for UNCW probably is weighted, as it is on a 4.0 scale. ACT score 25/75 percentiles for the schools are 22/26 for UNCW and 27/30 for Binghamton. So someone in the top 25th percentile at UNCW could be in the bottom 25th percentile at Binghamton.
This has certainly been an interesting thread. It has gone all over the place. Interesting to find out though more information on the New York and New Jersey schools and some of the strong feelings some people have about them.
Very often you will see strong students (but not those at the very top) attend Binghamton because their parents will not spend more than a SUNY price. These kids may get into Northeastern, Lehigh, etc, but they do not receive enough money to attend. Others will take the merit money to Ohio State. Then, you will see B/B- students in NYS who come from relatively wealthy families or from homes that are willing to spend the money, and these kids go to Syracuse or Penn State at full pay. So… what you end up seeing quite often are “lower” kids attending schools that are ranked higher than SUNY Bing, yet many of the kids at Bing are much stronger students. The students attending these other schools would never get into Binghamton.
One of the major reasons D16 wants out of state…there are literally no schools in Texas that offer her intended course of study, a 6 year BS/DPT program. Here is an essay that she wrote on the other reasons that she is choosing OOS. It earned her an acceptance…and a note that it made the adcom laugh.
10 Reasons I am not a Texan (or why attending university in the State of Texas is not right for me…)
I don't say ya'll. No, really, they do say ya'll here. Actually, Texans say it a lot. I have tried to add it to my vocabulary. The closest I get to ya’ll on a regular basis is “you guys”. I have been questioned as to why I don't say ya’ll by complete strangers. I explain I was born in Ohio, lived in The Netherlands until I was two, started school is Chicago, moved to Houston for 1st - 5th grade, lived in Virginia for 5th – 7th grade and moved back to Houston halfway through 8th grade. Ya’ll is just not part of my lexicon. Texans eye me suspiciously and mumble that I am not a true Texan just a transplanted "northerner".
I do not like Texas style barbeque. It’s dry. You add the sauce after the meat is cooked, just before you eat it, that’s weird.
I don't own, nor do I ever intend to own, a pair of cowboy boots or a cowboy hat. Every Texan will tell you their boots are comfy. It's a lie, cowboy boots are NOT comfortable. I concede that the cowboy hat does serve to keep the unrelenting Texas sun off your head. But, when you take it off you have “hat hair” and then you are always wondering about what to do with the hat; hold it, set it down? Awkward.
I am not a political, social or religious conservative. I’ll just leave it at that.
I love experiencing all the seasons, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, not just the two we experience here is southeast Texas; Hot and Hotter. Hurricane season does not count as a “season”. Once, some classmates were talking about tubing and I got all excited and joined in by talking about snow and tubing on the hill by my house in Virginia. They were all looking at me as if I was speaking in a different language, then I remembered it doesn’t snow in Houston. They meant floating on an inner tube in a river.
I don’t drive a pick-up truck. One in six vehicles registered in the state of Texas is a pick-up truck. I drive a 1995 Toyota Camry. It’s hard to be the little car on the road. Safety is important and those pick-up truck drivers act like they own the road.
Fire Ants...have you ever been bitten by a fire ant? It hurts! Then the bite itches like crazy for days. You can’t walk through the grass barefoot. You think you have killed one ant pile and then a few days later another one pops up a few feet away.
I dislike country music. My music tastes run to movie scores and classical music. I have played the piano since I was five and the oboe since 5th grade. I have been conditioned to enjoy classical music. I have been known to roll down my car window and cruise to the soundtrack from Star Trek: Into the Darkness or The King's Speech. I am secretly a Taylor Swift fan but we can keep that between us.
I don’t follow football. I am in the marching band which is really the only reason I am ever at a football game. I have yet to figure out why it takes nearly 3 hours to play a game officially has four 15 minute quarters. Poor time management in my opinion.
I am not a UT Longhorn or an A&M Aggie at heart. Most of my graduating class will be staying in state for their college experience. They have been talking about being one or the other since birth. I want to challenge myself to grow academically and socially beyond the great state of Texas. You can help me achieve that goal!
^Apparently the 3 schools that she sent it to didn’t think so, because she was was accepted at all three and (8 other schools so far). Didn’t realize we were critiquing admission essay.
I was just giving an example of why going to school in-state was not appealing to my D16. She didn’t not want to go to school with her classmates. Not literally her classmates, because as it has been pointed out she is not going to see the 50-60 kids from her HS on a 30,000 kid campus, but there is definitely a pervasive culture that she is ready to break free from.
Another reason, she was offered money from OOS school that equaled the cost of in-state tuition why not go OOS when the cost is nearly equal?
She is not in the top 7% of her graduating class with a rank of 102 out of 575 so she was not guaranteed admittance at our state flagships. She can find OOS schools of equal or better caliber to the remaining in-state schools where she was guaranteed admittance, why stay in-state?
I didn’t find it funny either, but what do I know. Not sure number 1 in particular about all the classmates going to Texas schools and the effect on their college "experience " was necessary. As if you are not "challenging " yourself by staying instate.
twogirls, there are plenty of very strong students at SU and Penn State. Depends upon the programs. You’ll find students just as strong and stronger at those school but not in all the programs-the programs that are good are outstanding and very competitive. The students who get into those are top students and many turn down any SUNY offer to attend those programs. If you looked across all programs, perhaps the SUNY scores are higher overall at some schools but there are no outstanding programs that attract the sort of students that end up at the Newhouse School, for example.
My D16 was accepted to her 6th OOS public school today. I would move out of state if I didn’t have to live in the DC metro area for work. I envy her a little bit!
I grew up in PA and was basically forced to go to Penn State for financial reasons (I wish I could talk to my 17 year-old self about Pitt and Temple - apparently I barely knew they existed in 1990! Same thing with financial aid - my mom was a widowed HS grad and we simply had no clue.) I’m happy that D has a fair number of options that include going to a state that feels more like home. (She’s also interested in a major that is only offered at one school in VA and that school doesn’t want a B+ student from the DC suburbs).
My kids are totally different and I suspect that my S19 will be happy to go instate or at least close to home.
I like UT-A, UT-SA and U of H. I am pretty confident that my D18 will apply in-state, she is a “Texan” and will be happy to stay here if that is what she chooses. For our family “fit” academic, social and economic is important. There is no reason to try to fit a round peg into a square hole which would have been the case for D16 to stay here in Texas. I said before that fact that there are no universities in the state of Texas with a BS/DPT program was the determining factor for D16(My question is why are there no 6/7year direct admit BS/DPT program in a state a large as Texas?).
I would speculate that for many families that are looking OOS that fit is the major reason. The same as choosing the best fit in-state school is important to those who stay in-state.
@labegg - I think I’d accept your D as well!! The essay gave a good look into who she is. But this is not an essay critique thread. The essay points to a more important issue: fit. I can understand not fitting into a Texas school (or at least not thinking that you would). I encouraged both of my sons to go out of state, especially my older son, who needed the “cultural” shock of going away.
It’s y’all, y’all. No really, Texans say y’all a lot but we don’t say ya’ll. Sorry, that a alone indicated she wasn’t a real Texan.
Actually, I’m a Texan but don’t say either. Born in the border and raised by my Mexican mom so didn’t even know chicken fried steak was not made from chicken until I went to college in north Texas.
But both my kids who were in Texas say y’all and proudly too. And love the 'que. But they don’t wear cowboy boots. Two out of three ain’t bad.
lostaccount I agree with you that there are some very strong students who attend PS and SU. I also agree with you that the SUNY’s can’t compare to some other OOS schools. I have seen that for myself. What goes on at my kids OOS is way beyond my wildest dreams, and when I think about the opportunities she has it actually gets me teary eyed. NYS is not doing a very good job at keeping its very top kids in the state. Its top kids generally do not attend SUNY. They take enormous merit awards elsewhere, they attend elite privates, or they go to OOS schools in Michigan, California, North Carolina, or Virginia. I think there are more kids in those states who are likely to stay in state. Regardless, I find myself defending the SUNY schools because I live here and I love the state. I feel blessed to live here and I think the SUNYs do have something to offer to many students. At one point my kid was considering the early assurance program at Bing, allowing her to be accepted to medical school while in her sophomore (?) year of college, without the mcats.
The small SUNY colleges are nice. There is constant construction on those campuses with new dorms, new gyms, libraries, classrooms, etc. As I mentioned previously, all of my kids professors are licensed and certified by their national organization. Her classes are small. She attends workshops and seminars in her field by well known speakers. Does it feel a little like HS? To me it does, but to her it does not. The same could be said for my other kid who is at a powerhouse OOS school- there are lots of kids from the same HS and those students often complain about it. It is not uncommon to see kids from the same HS walking together in very large groups. My own kid complained about this for weeks until she found her niche (which took awhile and is still evolving) and learned not to let it bother her.
I try and be honest. There is no perfect school. You do the best you can as a parent.