The State University of New York Binghamton

Date: Jan 18 2010
Major: Math (This Major's Salary over time)
I must say that I am very glad I chose to go to Bing. I'm in my fifth year there after changing my major twice, and when I first landed on my current math major, I must say I was quite discontent with the way math was taught at this university, but after a year or so I grew to like it and realized that my initial problem with it was that it was too different. The other problem that has surfaced with me wound up being that I was never really academically challenged until I went to this school, and it took me a bit by surprise once I got past the calculus courses in my program. Be prepared to work very hard to get a Bachelor's degree in this school - I'm past the point where I can forget about studying and get As just by doing the homework all semester. I was a physics major for about a year, and I can say that it was the same thing there: be willing to work.

I can't say much about campus life since I've never been very involved with it, but I do know that it's there in many different forms. One thing I will say though is that if you're a musician, you should seriously consider this school—the theatre and music departments are HUGE. I'm not even a minor in either department and I've gotten a lot of theatre credits just from being involved in theatre classes, mainstage musicals, and orchestras. (It can help perk up your GPA a bit too if you take them for credit and do well.) There are all kinds of extracirricular outlets too; for instance, I'm in one of the eight acapella groups that exist here.

Living on campus was fun once I made some friends I knew I could live with. I would personally recommend trying to get into College-in-the-Woods; it seems to provide the best living experience for your money, especially if you get into a six-person suite. (Not a five-person suite! They kind of suck.) Mountainview is a high-quality place to live as well, though it ranks a little less on the social side and the hills make it a pretty inconvenient location in the winter months. If you'd rather live in an apartment, you can live in the Susquehanna apartments that are about a ten-minute walk from campus or the Hillside apartments that are about a fifteen-minute walk if you skip the campus shuttle. Your other option (campus-sponsored, anyway) is to live in the top-notch quality University Plaza apartments, which are hella expensive ($750/month per person!) but are very much worth it. In many of the apartments you get your own bathroom and all the utilities are included. It's a 20-25-minute walk from campus, but it's also the most frequent stop the campus buses service; most of the time on weekdays there are two buses every half hour. And in reference to the price, I'm actually saving $2,000 this academic year by living there instead of on campus.

A short piece of random advice: if you're overly worried about transportation, get a bike! There are bike racks all over campus, and many people here ride theirs all year long despite the weather.

Speaking of which, probably the best way to describe Binghamton's general weather is… depressing. More often than not, it's cloudy without precipitation. It tends to rain more at night than anytime else for some reason that I've never understood, and there is quite a bit of snow, unless you hail from western New York (as I do), in which case it seems like hardly anything at all. Be prepared to navigate what does fall though, since Binghamton is well-equipped to handle it and won't be cancelling classes most of the time you'd expect it to happen. I've seen only one day of weather-based cancellations every year I've been here, so bring a coat and boots. However, once you make it to campus, it's pretty easy to get from one building to another without spending a whole lot of time outside if you know how to do it, and Binghamton's hillside location makes wind less of a problem than it is in flat locations. Winter depression aside, fall and spring are gorgeous. The first month of fall semesters and the last two months of spring semesters are great times to be outside, and you can always find people playing soccer, American football, or throwing a frisbee around. And the best part is that I was always able to join in on these games even when I didn't know anybody out there! It is extremely easy to make friends, especially at the beginning of the year before everyone hyperfocuses on their academic work.

And with the people in general, I have to say the population is both friendly and arrogant. There's a lot of pride around Binghamton, but people are always willing to talk to you and almost everyone holds doors for others close enough behind them. The staff, in my experience, has generally been the same way. Particularly in the math department, the faculty are pretty prestigious and can come off as condescending at times, but that only means you have to earn their respect. They know when you're not putting enough effort into their classes and they'll let you know they don't like it. If can tell you're working hard, you'll get along just fine with them.

My experience in Binghamton overall has been a very good one; I've met some very interesting and very enjoyable people, grown as a vocalist and musician (neither of which has anything to do with my major), and best of all, I've received a hefty lesson in discipline by being forced to finally work hard for good grades. I'm even considering going to grad school here. Definitely give the campus a visit if you're considering going there, but DO NOT be fooled if you land a tour on a sunny day. Refer back to my descriptions of the seasons on that one. And ask questions on your tour; the guides are usually pretty good, and new tour guides get paired with more experienced ones so you don't get shortchanged.