SUNY Upstate: Pros and Cons

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eag

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What were the positives and negatives with Upstate?

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I am particularly interested in the pros and cons of the Syracuse area. Is there a lot to do there in terms of nightlife, etc.?
 
nightlife?? depends what you mean by that. if you're from NY/LA/SF/Miami/etc, you'll be sorely disappointed. large undergrad nearby means plenty of frat parties/athletic events. medium-sized city, so there are restaurants and things for grown-ups to do too. plus, there's always cow-tipping.

good price if you're in-state. other than that, reasonably good school, but nothing special.
 
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spongebob_sq said:
I am particularly interested in the pros and cons of the Syracuse area. Is there a lot to do there in terms of nightlife, etc.?

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I would add another laughing man for good measure, but then my post won't go through. Is there a lot to do in terms of nightlife? NO! It is Syracuse. I love Syracuse, I have spent a lot of time there and it is dear to my heart, but it is not the most exciting city. There are some nice bars, SU basketball is lots of fun, and plenty of movie theaters, but that about sums it up. Bowling, too. It's a nice, cheap city to live in and would be good for medical school - not many distractions! ;) Not a great amount of restaurants, but enough to get by.

Edited to add: there are plenty of farms for cow-tipping, as a previous poster said. Jamesville in particular. Hoo, boy!
 
:( only went there for my interview, so I din't see much of the town. I was hoping there was more. I'm not a big fan of cow tipping. This may be another stupid question but bear with me. Are there any other decent sized cities nearby?
 
spongebob_sq said:
:( only went there for my interview, so I din't see much of the town. I was hoping there was more. I'm not a big fan of cow tipping. This may be another stupid question but bear with me. Are there any other decent sized cities nearby?

I'll be attending Upstate in the fall. First of all, being from upstate NY and frequently visiting big cities, I'll try not to be biased here. Syracuse is a nice, medium sized city with plenty to do. In the summer there are a ton of golf courses, lakes, mountains, and whatever else you want to do outside. In the winter, their are numerous ski resorts around that offer great skiing at good prices. Also, you have to consider the fact that SU is right across the street. This means great athletic events and an even larger student population, including grad students and law students. Students from LeMoyne, OCC, Cortland, and other schools also go out in Syracuse. As far as night life goes, armory square is a nice area with charm and plenty of bars, most of which have little resemblence to your typical college bar. And, if you're into gambling, Turning Stone Casino is about 25 minutes away.

That being said, New York City is about 4.5 hours away, and Buffalo is about 2 hours away. Syracuse has plenty to do as a med student, and the best part is that its affordable (tuition, living, going out, etc). But, if you really can't stand being couped up in a medium sized city, a weekend or night in Buffalo would be a nice trip to get away (or you can cross the border into Canada and visit Toronto, which is only about an hour further).

If you choose not to attend Upstate, don't let the city be the deciding factor.

And by the way, you'd have to travel outside of the city to cow-tip. It's not like the med school is in the suburbs. And unless you plan on living in the university housing, start making plans for where you want to live.
 
I absolutely love Ithaca, but I'm not a huge Syracuse fan. I thought the nightlife was fine but I just didn't like certain parts of the city (I'm not knocking what DrDues says because I agree with all of that).

But, my question for you all - Do you think it would be at all feasible to live in Ithaca (or maybe Cortland) and commute to Upstate? I'd love to live in Ithaca the rest of my life, but alas - no academic medical center :(

As for other mid-sized cities in upstate - I personally love Albany and Rochester. Albany has a great, youthful vibe and it close to everything. There are a lot of great neighborhoods with brownstones and are affordable for college students. Rochester is also nice - good size with lots of diversity in potential activities.
 
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