(SUNY) Binghamton vs Buffalo

[Wavetactic]

I know this has been asked before so I will keep it short and sweet. I haven't heard many good things pertaining to Binghamton's sciences and premed advisor. My major is undecided (possibly mathematics), but I will be going for a premed track. Is there anyone who can shed some light on this situation? How do the schools compare to each other in regards to mcat preparation, research opportunity, and helpfulness of students/faculty?

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[Halgene]

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[Wavetactic]

@Halgene thank you so much this comment puts me at ease. I have read some older posts clamoring on about a bad pre med advisor at Binghamton.

 

[NervousNerd]

@Halgene thank you so much this comment puts me at ease. I have read some older posts clamoring on about a bad pre med advisor at Binghamton.

Don't chose a school because of pre-med advisor. My personal advisor has been SDN

 

[Wavetactic]

@NervousNerd fair enough. I was just a bit worried about the whole negative stigma towards the sciences In general at Binghamton. Some of the post I've read may have been outdated which is why I created this thread.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Moving to pre-allo

 

[Halgene]

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[mcrobbit]

While I'm not sure this is in the right board, I'll do my best to answer. I'm a (soon to be) senior at SUNY Binghamton. Binghamton's sciences are good. I'm a biology major and I love all the opportunities I've had at Binghamton. There's a ton of research to be had and some really awesome professors. Some of the pre-reqs are harder than others as you'd expect, but there's nothing unfair about any of it - put the work in and you'll do fine.

Our pre-health advisor is a friendly guy. I met with him a handful of times and he's knowledgeable and wants the best for everyone. He's realistic but also optimistic. The secretary is great and really does a great job of getting everything together for you. There's a well put together book that they give out that lays out the application process too.

As far as MCAT prep I'm not really sure what you mean. As far as I know there really aren't devoted MCAT classes - but my pre-reqs prepared me well and I did SN2ed.

I don't go to Buffalo, so someone else will have to answer that one.

Echoing this statement. Research opportunities are plentiful, Dr. Langhorne is a straight forward pre health advisor who gives you realistic advice, lots of help if you actively pursue it, and has been around the application process for decades. Lynne, his secretary, is also super nice and helpful.

There aren't devoted MCAT classes outside of paid Kaplan courses, but your prereq classes give you all you need to know.

The premeds there are all pretty supportive of each other but you have some crazy gunners here and there. All in all though, we all help each other when we need it.

Faculty are decent, but since you're majoring in math you should know that our Math department is a known GPA killer. The math professors are known for testing hard and without remorse, which you might want to consider when thinking about your GPA.

 

[Wavetactic]

Well then I might have to reconsider my major. Thanks!

 

[b05010445]

I went to SUNY Binghamton, graduated in 2011 as neuroscience major and am starting med school in August. At SUNY Bing the courses are quite good as are the faculty and research opportunities. In fact, for the most part my research beats other applicants I speak to and has impressed my interviewers.
However, I did not have good experiences with Dr. Langhorne, and most of the females I spoke with did not either. You really only have to meet with him once, SDN is all the adviser you need. He didn't even tell me about Post-bacs and SMPs. I luckily found those out on my own(thanks SDN!). Lynn was a mean lady to me when I was a student. Now that I am an alumni she is BEYOND nice and is a delight. Maybe she was having a rough personal life during my undergrad application year and that might not have been an accurate view of her as she is infinitely nicer now.

Most of my finds went to SUNY buffalo, not for premed though. They enjoyed it but I felt like they had a lot more distractions. Also, they are a many more students so I am unsure as to the caliber of research you will get to do, or if you will be one of 20 in a lab washing test tubes. I also imagine with the large amount of pre-meds there you might not get much time with the premed adviser to write you a personalized letter for your committee letter- not that langhorne did for me anyway.

If you do go to SUNY binghamton, I do recommend being on their pre-health student government thing.

 

[Wavetactic]

No opinions from Buffalo?

 

[Espadaleader]

Inbox me.

 

[fresnel]

I think what you heard is correct. 20 years of corrupt administration did Binghamton no favors. I suppose there is a huge impressive basketball stadium now. The corrupt university president stepped down in disgrace but whether the corruption was from her down or characteristic of the Chancellor is not yet clear. Even the investigation of the corruption was corrupt and the university had to confess that was true. Instead of choosing an investigating law firm using the legal mandate of biding, apparently the university president or Chancellor hand picked a million dollar firm. The report was scathing even when written by this hand chosen law firm who may have been predisposed to soft peddle. Can you imagine the depth of the corruption and what might have been revealed had an investigative law firm been chosen using the legal bidding process? You may not think this impacts on you but it does. Anyone can be screwed by a university that is corrupt and fails to adhere to its own policies. Read the Kaye Report before considering Binghamton. It has to do with sports but what is described as being true for sports was also true for other departments. They just don't get as much attention.

 

[Wavetactic]

@fresnel I wasn't aware of any of that, thanks for the heads up. I'm already 7 weeks into the semester at UB and I am very much enjoying myself. I will probably take a look into the Kaye Report sometime this week.