Program-Specific Info / Q's SUNY Downstate and Stony Brook (current students, alumni)

[jjoy]

Hi,

I have a couple of questions about these two programs and I hope current students and alumni will chime in. What I know so far is that SUNY Downstate and Stony Brook are the most affordable options in metro NY. (Excluding CUNY York, whose accredition was in limbo recently, I believe it's ok now.) Downstate is about $1k cheaper, and a semester shorter. Stony Brook program is longer than most (3 years), and has multiple locations. I volunteer and know students who are interested in applying to these programs.

I've meet a couple of alumni from Downstate but haven't had the chance to speak with them for a length of time. From what they've told me, Downstate is exceptional but also very competitive. (Not surprising, it's a very popular option: location, tuition wise). The only time I hear anything about Stony is on the internet, but I know that as a research science SUNY it's a strong program too.

But here are questions I can't find answers for. (Downstate has an information session that I'm attending next month.)

1. How many students are/were in your graduating class? I know Downstate's number is low (28-33) but I can't find much on Stony Brook. I heard Stony has about 40 students per location.
2. How diverse is/was your program? Again, I think Downstate leads in this by default, but I'm curious about Stony.
3. How is/was your faculty, campus support system? One of my concerns for any program is how organized, reachable, and connected it will be. I'm mostly concerned about clinical placements, how recognizable faculty are in OT outside of classroom (articles, research), building networks, and finding mentors.

So basically these are my starter questions. I would like it if you all can share as much as possible about your program, especially Stony since haven't meet any past/current students from there yet.

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[chanlamax]

Did you go to the SUNY Downstate info session?

I am hoping to get some info from you, since I live in CA and cannot attend any info sessions. I am wondering how many out of state candidates they accept (not sure if you know this). Also, I would love to hear about anything else you learned about the program--especially the answers to your questions above. (#3)

Thanks.

 

[jjoy]

Did you go to the SUNY Downstate info session?

I am hoping to get some info from you, since I live in CA and cannot attend any info sessions. I am wondering how many out of state candidates they accept (not sure if you know this). Also, I would love to hear about anything else you learned about the program--especially the answers to your questions above. (#3)

Thanks.

I didn't get to go to the Oct. session, but will be attending the Nov 10 (previously Nov 12) session. This evening the Health Sciences and Nursing dept held their Fall Open House and I went. I spoke with two representatives, a man who works in the Admissions dept and with Dr. Sabari. A first year student was also present but I didn't get a chance to speak with her.

I didn't ask any questions about OOS students, but at the Nov session (which is for OT specifically) I will have more time. I did ask about the recent incoming class profile, and this is what I was told:
Avg GPA: 3.4 to 3.6
Class Diversity: 12 male identified, about 20 plus women identified
AOTA Membership not required (although "encouraged" -- they have 1 student representative attend the National Conference each year)
Employment: Many DS are employed in NYC hospitals after graduation (IDK how true that is, but I've met a lot of (recent) DS grads at the hospitals in NYC! lol)
Research: Eh, from what I heard it wasn't necessarily groundbreaking, as part of your Master's degree fulfillment you have to complete a senior project and from what I heard it is as interesting as your assigned group's topic.

Overall, Downstate seems like a solid, affordable program and it has the best NBCOT pass rate in NY. Still, going to the open house made me even more curious about Stony Brook. I'm not going to be able to attend a Stony Brook session until the Spring, and I still have another Downstate info session to go. Hopefully in the upcoming one we will get a chance to tour the OT classrooms, meet more faculty, and current students.

If you have questions that you'd like asked then let me know before Nov 10 and I'll be sure to ask.

~jjoy

 

[gialuan]

I'm a recent downstate grad.

1. We started with 31 and graduated with 28 because people went part time.

2. By diversity do you mean demographics?

3. Our professors were mostly available but the part time professors were harder to pin down on campus. However, if you needed to meet them, you can email them and they would usually reply quickly. Since I've graduated there has been a change in faculty members so I can't speak for the new ones.

 

[jjoy]

2. By diversity do you mean demographics?

3. Our professors were mostly available but the part time professors were harder to pin down on campus. However, if you needed to meet them, you can email them and they would usually reply quickly. Since I've graduated there has been a change in faculty members so I can't speak for the new ones.

Thanks for replying! Do you currently work in NY with your license?
1. Didn't know that was possible. I'm not particularly interested in part-time but it's nice to know that students can work that out in the program if they need too.

2. Yes, I meant demographics.

3. Thanks for mentioning that! I figured since it was more of a commuter school (compared to Stony Brook) the professors would be difficult to get a hold of, but it's good to know that they utilize their email services.

 

[fgiujiereno]

good,Since I've graduated there has been a change in faculty members so I can't speak for the new ones.

 

[gialuan]

Thanks for replying! Do you currently work in NY with your license?
1. Didn't know that was possible. I'm not particularly interested in part-time but it's nice to know that students can work that out in the program if they need too.

2. Yes, I meant demographics.

3. Thanks for mentioning that! I figured since it was more of a commuter school (compared to Stony Brook) the professors would be difficult to get a hold of, but it's good to know that they utilize their email services.

Yep, I'm licensed to practice in NY.

Out of the 28 who graduated, we had 1 African American person, 4 Asians people, 1 Indian person, and 1 Middle Eastern person. The rest were Caucasian. We graduated with 1 man and 27 women.

What I meant about the part time profs being hard to reach was that they had other jobs and were only on site just a few days a week. But their schedule was on display outside of their respective offices so you could see what their availability was.

 

[chanlamax]

Yep, I'm licensed to practice in NY.

Out of the 28 who graduated, we had 1 African American person, 4 Asians people, 1 Indian person, and 1 Middle Eastern person. The rest were Caucasian. We graduated with 1 man and 27 women.

What I meant about the part time profs being hard to reach was that they had other jobs and were only on site just a few days a week. But their schedule was on display outside of their respective offices so you could see what their availability was.

I read on the website that they tend to accept from the surrounding areas... How many in your cohort were from out of state? (considering applying, but I'm out of state)

 

[gialuan]

I read on the website that they tend to accept from the surrounding areas... How many in your cohort were from out of state? (considering applying, but I'm out of state)

We had about 5 from NJ, CT, and DC areas. I don't think we had anyone from other regions. But by all means, don't let that discourage you from applying.

 

[OTlove13]

Hi,

I have a couple of questions about these two programs and I hope current students and alumni will chime in. What I know so far is that SUNY Downstate and Stony Brook are the most affordable options in metro NY. (Excluding CUNY York, whose accredition was in limbo recently, I believe it's ok now.) Downstate is about $1k cheaper, and a semester shorter. Stony Brook program is longer than most (3 years), and has multiple locations. I volunteer and know students who are interested in applying to these programs.

I've meet a couple of alumni from Downstate but haven't had the chance to speak with them for a length of time. From what they've told me, Downstate is exceptional but also very competitive. (Not surprising, it's a very popular option: location, tuition wise). The only time I hear anything about Stony is on the internet, but I know that as a research science SUNY it's a strong program too.

But here are questions I can't find answers for. (Downstate has an information session that I'm attending next month.)

1. How many students are/were in your graduating class? I know Downstate's number is low (28-33) but I can't find much on Stony Brook. I heard Stony has about 40 students per location.
2. How diverse is/was your program? Again, I think Downstate leads in this by default, but I'm curious about Stony.
3. How is/was your faculty, campus support system? One of my concerns for any program is how organized, reachable, and connected it will be. I'm mostly concerned about clinical placements, how recognizable faculty are in OT outside of classroom (articles, research), building networks, and finding mentors.

So basically these are my starter questions. I would like it if you all can share as much as possible about your program, especially Stony since haven't meet any past/current students from there yet.

Hello!
I am a current stony brook student that began the program this past summer. I'm actually really happy to come across this post, because this time last year I was on SDN looking for answer's on OT programs in the NY/Tristate area, haha. And for the past couple of days I've been thinking about how far I've come since beginning my application process a couple of years ago. So to answer your first question, stony brook just extended their OT program to the southampton campus this year. 60 students were accepted (30 at the stony brook campus & 30 at the southampton campus). And I believe stony brook will still continue to accept around the same number of students for future application cycles. My cohort will also be the last year as the BS/MS program, as starting next summer they will just be a MS program. One of the changes for future applicants to stony brook is that now they will require the GRE. I feel like my cohort is extremely diverse, majority of the students in my class are from NYC and Long Island as well as a few students from out of state, as far as colorado and utah. I can't speak on fieldwork just yet as I will start my first level 1 fieldwork next semester but from what I get from speaking with second year students is that they've been satisfied with their placements. We have a number of professors who are very involved in research. My academic advisor recently published something on pediatric MS. Another professor that's greatly passionate about mental health and recovery is actually presenting twice at the AOTA conference in nashville. Again, this is my first year so I haven't met all of the faculty members yet but I've had very good experiences with my professors. Some classes have been tough, but my professors want to see their students succeed and do what they can to meet with students to address concerns. As far as student connectivity, I am extremely happy and thankful for the people I've met and befriended at stony brook these past few months. I feel like my OT class is like my second family, haha. I hope this helps, if you have any more questions please feel free to ask.

 

[jjoy]

Hello!
I am a current stony brook student that began the program this past summer. I'm actually really happy to come across this post, because this time last year I was on SDN looking for answer's on OT programs in the NY/Tristate area, haha. And for the past couple of days I've been thinking about how far I've come since beginning my application process a couple of years ago. So to answer your first question, stony brook just extended their OT program to the southampton campus this year. 60 students were accepted (30 at the stony brook campus & 30 at the southampton campus). And I believe stony brook will still continue to accept around the same number of students for future application cycles. My cohort will also be the last year as the BS/MS program, as starting next summer they will just be a MS program. One of the changes for future applicants to stony brook is that now they will require the GRE. I feel like my cohort is extremely diverse, majority of the students in my class are from NYC and Long Island as well as a few students from out of state, as far as colorado and utah. I can't speak on fieldwork just yet as I will start my first level 1 fieldwork next semester but from what I get from speaking with second year students is that they've been satisfied with their placements. We have a number of professors who are very involved in research. My academic advisor recently published something on pediatric MS. Another professor that's greatly passionate about mental health and recovery is actually presenting twice at the AOTA conference in nashville. Again, this is my first year so I haven't met all of the faculty members yet but I've had very good experiences with my professors. Some classes have been tough, but my professors want to see their students succeed and do what they can to meet with students to address concerns. As far as student connectivity, I am extremely happy and thankful for the people I've met and befriended at stony brook these past few months. I feel like my OT class is like my second family, haha. I hope this helps, if you have any more questions please feel free to ask.

Thanks so much! I have a question 2 questions,

1. How is housing and daily life in LI/Stony Brook? I'm not (and aside from going to a mall) familiar with Long Island and the area where SB is...
2. I'm also a seasoned metro-NYer so my primary means of transportation is walking and MTA. I'm afraid that if I went to SB I'll be stranded until I get a car... I wonder if most students only travel by car?

 

[OTlove13]

Thanks so much! I have a question 2 questions,

1. How is housing and daily life in LI/Stony Brook? I'm not (and aside from going to a mall) familiar with Long Island and the area where SB is...
2. I'm also a seasoned metro-NYer so my primary means of transportation is walking and MTA. I'm afraid that if I went to SB I'll be stranded until I get a car... I wonder if most students only travel by car?

I know exactly what you mean lol. I'm from the Bronx and going from commuting to Hunter College and being in NYC for majority of my life to living out on eastern LI was definitely a big change for me. So stony brook by car is about an hr drive from where I'm from in the Bronx. I actually moved closer to school and live off campus, but I have about a seven minute drive from my apartment to the hospital (that's where majority of the classes are if you choose the stony brook campus). There are a number of students who do live on campus across the road from the hospital, and they either catch a shuttle bus that takes them from their dorms to the front of the hospital or if it's really nice out they'll walk. I've been to the southampton campus a couple of times and they have a short walk from the dorms to the main OT classroom that's in their library. There are also students who commute (either by car or LIRR; which btw theres a stop on campus) from brooklyn and queens to stony brook every day, but I feel like I definitely benefitted from moving out here, because I can spend more time with people from the program (who live at stony brook or close to stony brook), and participate in school/community activities, which not to say you can't do if you're a commuter student but moving out closer to stony brook has more of an advantage for school. Also, people love to carpool in the program, so don't think you'll be stranded on campus lol. As far as daily life, when I do have free time I like to be outdoors and there are a couple of gorgeous parks and trails close to campus. I hope I've kind of answered your questions(?) haha.

 

[jjoy]

Thanks OTlove13 that makes me feel much better! I'm very interested in SB because it's a suburban campus, but I'm nervous about living in a suburban setting!! Lol, thanks! A lot of what you've post has been so helpful.

 

[OT2016Hopeful]

Hi All! I went to an info session in August and someone asked about the out-of-state. The presenter said about 6 OOS students are accepted each year. She also said 3.4-3.6 was the average GPA, and that they accept about 30-35 each year. Eek!

What are everyone's stats if I may ask and where else is everyone applying? I'm wondering if it's even worth it to apply to the likes of Columbia and NYU when I know I can't afford it, but it also seems silly to ONLY apply to Suny Downstate.

 

[OTinfo]

Hi, I just got contacted for a Downstate interview. Has anyone had one there and have any suggestions or advice? Thanks!

 

[OT2016Hopeful]

Oh wow @OTinfo congrats!!! I haven't heard anything yet but I'm hoping so bad for an interview!