🙄 why do these school vs school threads often denigrate into aggression and insults?
3.95. Dayumm.
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MOST important factor: Is he or she happy at Fordham? Is (s)he enjoying it there? Does your friend think (s)he'll be happier at Stony?
It also depends on what your friend wants to major in and as academically interested in. If you're a first semester freshman, this may be difficult to determine.
The obvious pros of going to stony brook is the strong reputation for the sciences, greater opportunities for research (they're affiliated with Brookhaven national lab), and the medical school affiliation. Your friend should ask him or herself if doing research is one of their top priorities. I don't know how hard/easy it is to actually get into a lab, and how long it takes for you to start working on an actual project once you get accepted, but there are definitely much much more research opportunities at Stony.
Some things you might not like about stony are the huge intro science and pre-requisite class sizes that number in the hundreds. At a large state school like that you'll be graded mainly by TAs and it might be hard getting to know faculty members should you want LORs for competitive programs or medical school. Another thing is the huge number of pre-meds + science majors.
OP, if you're thinking about majoring somewhere in the humanities - which would set you apart from the masses of science major pre-meds - I would definitely recommend staying at Fordham. The philosophy/anthro/sociology/psych/theology/english departments here are phenomenal and I've loved almost all of my liberal arts courses here so far. Depending on what you put into it, (and who your professor is), the small core classes and liberal arts classes are incredibly engaging. Many of the lib. arts faculty here are accomplished and well known in their field... AND it's easy to get to know them, which would be a plus if you ever wanted to obtain a letter of recommendation from them or do independent study in that area. I mention independent study because Fordham is one of the top producing schools for fulbright and dem other high-falootin' scholarships.
But the core really isn't for everyone. Unlike me, many people go all four years getting crappy professors and hating the core.
A tip for getting through the core more quickly: when you register for classes, see if you can make them "double-count" for more than one core requirement. You can talk to the department heads about this... most department heads are helpful. Of course, you can also major in science here. The chem and physics departments are pretty decent.
Many of my classmates are finding shadowing/medical service/research opportunities at nearby hospitals like Al Einstein, NYU, Mount Sinai. I think of the city as a huge source of potential research and shadowing opportunities, but of course, it's a little more difficult to get in (paid) than if you went to Stony and wanted in on one of their labs.
Remember, you can major in whatever you want as long as you do well in it. Get involved in whatever interests you. If you can survive freshmen and sophomore years at FU and still be pre-med by junior year, you're almost 90% guaranteed acceptance into a US medical school as long as you cover all the traditional bases: volunteering, shadowing. Research if you're aiming for a top 25 school.
Good luck with your decision. PM me if you have any more questions.
