SUNY Buffalo or CUNY Baruch/ Queens College

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Anyone here goes to SUNY Buffalo or CUNY Baruch or Queens College for premed? I am currently planning on going to either of these schools but not sure of what it may be like. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

I'm a CUNY Queens grad, so I'd say Queens College. C'mon Paul Simon is an alumnus!

In all seriousness, Queens College has a much better campus than Baruch, by far. I'd only go to Baruch if it was significantly easier to commute there vs Queens. My ex's sister went to Baruch for accounting I think... so not sure what they have to offer, but I do know QC has a substantial amount of science faculty and programs, and I think they finished a new building for the chemistry labs as well, so that's awesome.

I took orgo with a guy from SUNY Buffalo, he said they have snow and buffalo wings, and that's about it. I guess if you wanted to get away from the five boroughs, Buffalo wouldn't be a bad choice, but I don't think it's a great one for that fact either.

Originally Posted by Kahr

I'm a CUNY Queens grad, so I'd say Queens College. C'mon Paul Simon is an alumnus!

In all seriousness, Queens College has a much better campus than Baruch, by far. I'd only go to Baruch if it was significantly easier to commute there vs Queens. My ex's sister went to Baruch for accounting I think... so not sure what they have to offer, but I do know QC has a substantial amount of science faculty and programs, and I think they finished a new building for the chemistry labs as well, so that's awesome.

I took orgo with a guy from SUNY Buffalo, he said they have snow and buffalo wings, and that's about it. I guess if you wanted to get away from the five boroughs, Buffalo wouldn't be a bad choice, but I don't think it's a great one for that fact either.

Is queens college's environmental atmosphere clean? Is it safe to walk around at night? How does it par with St. Johns which is only a couple of streets away for premed.

Originally Posted by macfan101

Is queens college's environmental atmosphere clean? Is it safe to walk around at night? How does it par with St. Johns which is only a couple of streets away for premed.

It's very residential, Townsend Harris HS is attached to it (I believe that's known to be a good HS), CUNY Law school is also attached to it. It borders a very large orthodox Jewish neighborhood, and of course Flushing begins just on the other side of the LIE, and the LIE happens to run just a block from the back of the school. It's a hell of a lot cleaner than most schools in the 5 boroughs, school and neighborhood-wise. I'd go check it out, you'll want to see for yourself I'd think.

Walking around at night is fine, especially since there are a fair number of evening classes, took my general bio sequence at night. I lived a few blocks away (15 min walk), and felt safe walking home, though this was mostly on the Jewish side. I've always thought the Flushing/downtown flushing area was kind of iffy, but I think it's just because it's very high density.

I'm very familiar with St. Johns, my ex went to pharmacy school there, so I often visited the area and campus. I think St. Johns felt more urban, for the surroundings I mean... though they're both a little annoying to get to as they require a bus, or a bit of a walk from the nearest subway. But St. Johns is definitely closer to main streets, businesses, etc. St. Johns' campus I'd say is a bit bigger, hard to tell on google maps. You can't really compare the two though, as St. Johns is a private school, I'm sure they get more funding (at her graduation the founder of Vitamin Water came), their facilities seemed really nice, but I didn't get any insider views of their labs or anything. But you'll also pay a lot more for St. Johns unless you get a good scholarship (and you'll be required to take theology courses). Again, I'd visit the campus to see for yourself.

Edit: I've said it before, comparing undergraduate educations for pre-med is silly IMO, it's going to be the effort you put in that makes a real difference. I think both schools have good faculty and facilities, with the hard work, either will serve you well. It's going to come down to cost, and your personal impressions of the schools.