Suny Binghamton Accelerated BSN Summer 2011

coffee and toast · Dec 1, 2010

I submitted an application too! I've heard great things about the program, but also great things about SB.

I've not heard much about Drexel, but if you are a NYS resident, I know SB or Bing will be much less expensive, if that factors in.

Hopefully you'll get into SB and the decision will be easy :)

EveryDayAGift · Dec 11, 2010

Hey cas89 -

I considered all three programs and in the end Binghamton is the most appealing to me. My reasons...

I've lived in both Philly and NY. I've spent time near the Drexel campus and you couldn't pay me enough money to live there or anywhere near it. I know many people that love Philly, but I don't. The traffic is horrible and the public transit pales in comparison to other big cities. Even though the campus is somewhat insulated, there are areas close to the Drexel campus that have *very* high murder rates. The energy of the city isn't really happy - the cultural tension is palpable. Some bad things happened there only a generation ago that are still a part of the collective memory. As someone else mentioned, Drexel will set you back a lot more than the other two. IMO, the only big plus that it has going for it over Bing and SB is sunny days and temperate winters. The other plus is that Philly is more of a cultural center - there's some great galleries and concert halls practically on the campus (although I wonder how much extra time we'll have in programs this condensed...).

When I compared SB and Bing, they appeared practically equal in terms of quality of program. I ended up ruling out SB due to a few personal reasons and also the fact that I don't really want to live downstate. If you check out the nursing forums, it appears virtually impossible to get a job as a new grad downstate. The city is shut down. That isn't the case upstate. I visited Binghamton - the staff/faculty are friendly and the facility looked like it had received some good money in the recent past. The only obvious downside of Binghamton is the weather, but that isn't their fault. :)

Just my opinion. I wish you the best in your decision making process!

cas89 · Dec 11, 2010

Hey cas89 -
I considered all three programs and in the end Binghamton is the most appealing to me. My reasons...
I've lived in both Philly and NY. I've spent time near the Drexel campus and you couldn't pay me enough money to live there or anywhere near it. I know many people that love Philly, but I don't. The traffic is horrible and the public transit pales in comparison to other big cities. Even though the campus is somewhat insulated, there are areas close to the Drexel campus that have *very* high murder rates. The energy of the city isn't really happy - the cultural tension is palpable. Some bad things happened there only a generation ago that are still a part of the collective memory. As someone else mentioned, Drexel will set you back a lot more than the other two. IMO, the only big plus that it has going for it over Bing and SB is sunny days and temperate winters. The other plus is that Philly is more of a cultural center - there's some great galleries and concert halls practically on the campus (although I wonder how much extra time we'll have in programs this condensed...).
When I compared SB and Bing, they appeared practically equal in terms of quality of program. I ended up ruling out SB due to a few personal reasons and also the fact that I don't really want to live downstate. If you check out the nursing forums, it appears virtually impossible to get a job as a new grad downstate. The city is shut down. That isn't the case upstate. I visited Binghamton - the staff/faculty are friendly and the facility looked like it had received some good money in the recent past. The only obvious downside of Binghamton is the weather, but that isn't their fault. :)
Just my opinion. I wish you the best in your decision making process!

Thanks so much for your input!

There are a couple of reasons I was debating Drexel over Binghamton..one is that I go to Binghamton now and after four years I am pretty sick of it, I've also volunteered in the local hospitals and I thought maybe a city like philly would have better hospitals (but I've never been there so this is just my assumption). I've had problems (as well as other students) with the Binghamton administration and I think that their lack of money (due to state budget cuts) might have a potential negative impact on the program. But regardless I've never heard anything bad about the program. And I guess every student will encounter problems with a school after attending for four years.

I heard about the crime in philly but I thought it was just the cons of living in a city, thanks for letting me know how bad it is though - this was actually one of my mom's concerns about the school.

I say Stonybrook is my top choice because I live on Long Island and I know the hospitals are really good and once again the Binghamton weather can get really depressing after four years.

EveryDayAGift · Dec 12, 2010

No prob!

Based on your response, I don't want to totally dissuade you from Drexel. I'm pretty sure that the hospitals in Philly are higher profile than Binghamton, so if you're really looking to climb the career ladder it might be the best pick of the three. Also, like I said, University City is fairly insulated. Here's a crime map from a few years ago:

http://inquirer.philly.com/graphics/homicide_map_2007/

You can see that Drexel and Penn have had no murders, but there's a ring right around the campuses that's pretty rough. But I'm figuring since you're from LI and have probably spent some time in NYC, you know that if you keep to yourself you're usually ok. A lot of the Philly violent crimes are drug, gang or domestic related...pretty rare that it's random violence. So you could stay safe...

As far as weather goes, Philly is a lot sunnier and a lot less snowy than Bing. I get the whole winter-blues thing...even the summers in upstate NY can be pretty cloudy.

I've heard about the budget cuts - I'd assume that all of SUNY, including SB, was affected? Maybe not, but I recently worked in higher ed and the recession seems to be impacting most everyone. I worked for a private university and my last year there all salaries and hiring were frozen. It wouldn't shock me if most schools are hurting. Check out the tuition hike at Drexel in a single semester...might just be normal, but might be a sign of our less-than-rosy financial times:

http://www.drexel.edu/undergrad/financing/break-down/hs-tuition/

If I were in your shoes, I'd check out hospital rankings. Pehaps the clinical opportunities in Philly are significantly better and warrant the additional $25,000 of Drexel over in-state SUNY? If you gather any info, please let us know what you find out!

Once again, just my $.02. I wish you the best!