SUNY Stony Brook

[ylime610]

Anyone familiar with Stony Brook? It wasn't the top of my list but looks like it will be the only school I end up getting into. I know a little bit but would love to hear others insights on the school and location...What is the town and university like in general? How reputable is the program in the field? What are the program's strengths and weaknesses?

Thanks for any info!

[Tritonetelephone]

Anyone familiar with Stony Brook? It wasn't the top of my list but looks like it will be the only school I end up getting into. I know a little bit but would love to hear others insights on the school and location...What is the town and university like in general? How reputable is the program in the field? What are the program's strengths and weaknesses?

Thanks for any info!

I applied there last year (for Fall 2009) and was one of only 5 people accepted, as I recall. The year before (Fall 2008), I had been wait-listed, then rejected. I wanted to work with Michael Kimmel (like most of the people that apply there, I'm sure), and he's a really nice guy. But for Fall 2008, they unexpectedly had every admitted person attend (11 total) and went way over-budget. So come Fall 2009 and the budget crisis, they cut their admit list in half AND couldn't offer a single person funding. But I'm really happy with where I ended up, so it's all good.

Anyway, I actually did research them a lot since they were my top choice for such a long time, so I can try to recount what I remember. The location does not sound like my cup of tea (though I've never been). I hear Long Island is cold and windy most of the year, and housing is hard to find around campus because of zoning laws protecting native residents from crazy student parties. It's a pretty suburban/elite area, from what I remember, which can be good and bad, depending on your tastes. The program is actually not super-reputable, but Kimmel is. So I would say he's their biggest strength (from my perspective), but their biggest weakness is money, or lack thereof.

As always, take everything I say with a grain of salt. Who knows how wrong/out-of-date/different-from-you I really am!

Edited March 26, 2010 by Tritonetelephone