Stony Brook University Top Questions

Describe the students at your school.

John

My classmates are extremely competitive, but limited by the school's resources.

Samantha

In my classes I have students of Asian, Indian, European, African, and American descents.

rob

They are easily relatable and quite itellegent.

Danielle

My classes included 200 or more students, but based on the test curves a lot of people seemed smarter than me. On the other hand I met, sat, and studied with people who were also struggling with the material, like me. It let me know I was not alone.

Muskan

extremely helpful, tedious, and hardworking

Gilad

Students here are usually overworked and depressed.

Vikalpa

The students at Stony Brook are very diverse, partly because it is a large school and partly because there are a lot of students from one of the most diverse cities on the planet, NYC. There are countless clubs, greek organizations, societies, etc to accommodate to any type of student.

Tino

The types of students that attend SBU vary incredibly. You will probably never encounter as many different types of students of different backgrounds and different interests. The school has every time of ethnicity, religion, socio-economic, and LGBT student attending here. I think any student will be welcomed here because of the number of different clubs and groups existing here. Most students wear normal clothing to school, while you do have the occasional student wearing PJs that comes into lecture. All the different types of students definitely interact with each other through ethnic organizations and Greek life. Four tables of students you will see at dining halls are athletes, Greek life, various ethnicities, and a mix of everything. Students are from all over the world. There are definitely a lot of students from different countries like Korea as well as different states such as all the way from the West Coast. Most students here are in the middle class of the economy. Students are really politically aware and even have their own organizations on campus. Students here are very goal oriented.

Krystalyn

How close you get to you professors really depends on what kinds of classes you are taking. In my freshman and sophomore years, it was rare that I ever spoke to a professor. Sure, they had office hours and were more than willing to help out whenever they were needed; however, because I classes were large and I never really struggled, I didn't feel like being imposing. Now that I am a senior and my classes have become specialized, it is rare for my professors not to know my name. The smaller class size usually lends itself to more open an interesting discussions as students become less timid about expressing their opinion. I love all the classes, except for the ones I hate. Classes I've found particularly off putting are the general level classes for chemistry and math. General Chemistry, the basics, was explained in an overly complicated and difficult way that really did nothing to inspire my learning process, and the math teachers didn't quite know how to explain the material in such a way that it translated well to me. I believe this is Because of how basic the material was. That, because the professors were so far beyond the basics, it was hard for them to simplify something that, to them, was already ridiculously simple. As classes progressed off the more basic levels, their teaching style became more comprehensive and understandable. I love having intellectual conversations outside of class, People here are smart and come up with a bunch of crazy awesome, interesting ideas. My major is Health Sciences. This means my senior year I will spend learning about the health industry and health related subject in the Stony Brook Hospital. The first semester of doing this in my senior year was somewhat of a let down: Health Science classes were slow, boring, and there were a bunch of unpleasant group projects. However, now that I am in the second semester, I have found that the classes have become quite a bit more interesting. While I have always been interested in learning for knowledge sake, this major specifically is geared towards future employment. I find it quite helpful ass I know I will have to graduate eventually.

Caterina

There are millions of groups on campus and there are different racial, religious, LGBT, and socio-economic groups that exist. I think a conservative white kid from the South might have a culture shock if they attended this school. Most students are from New York, but there are many from California (and in between) also from around the world (i.e. India and China). A lot of students are politically active and 99{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of them are on the left/progressive, I'm one of the few on the right/center. The students who are very concerned about the future often talk about how much they will make one day.

Rachel

This school is so big that it's hard to put every student under one category. The people I've come to know so far have been exceptional. I love the fact that it is ok to arrive to class in one's pajamas. I also love that there are so many clubs available for all kinds of people with different interests. This school is predominantly Asian and Caucasian, and I often find myself in classes where there are little to no other African Americans. Albeit, the majority of the students come from the middle class, and can normally relate to one another.

Sarah

I am blessed that Stony Brook is such a diverse campus! We have people from nearly every corner of the globe, practicing every relgion, speaking every langugage, etc! This has allowed for an incredibly enriching college experience.

Gaby

The students are pretty diverse. There are a lot of Asians, but there are many students of various backgrounds, religions, etc.

Raj

Very diverse. Has every kind of person including racist people.

Seth

As I have said before, I have met many different kinds of students at Stony Brook. We have an Interfaith Center on campus that represents all religions. I am Jewish but I haven't joined any Jewish faith groups on campus because they scared me away when the rabbi wouldn't talk to my non-Jewish friends. As for socio-economic backgrounds, they really vary. Many students wear their Gucci to class, while others have a hard time paying tuition by their second week at school. But there's never a worry about not being accepted because every student at Stony Brook is a seawolf and we really bond over that fact once you're here. You just have to join the kind of clubs you want to get involved in and make a life around those groups and the friends you make in your building and never let an opportunity go to make a new friend. Stony Brook is having an Occupy Wall Street inspired protest on Wednesday but I have met students who are Republicans at heart and would be against OWS at Stony Brook. I sometimes wish that there weren't clubs and organizations that defined themselves by their racial or ethnic background because it really doesn't allow other students to become involved in what they want to. For example groups like the Phillipine Union Student Organization (PUSO) is defined by their ethnicity so other students who might want to get involved in the PUSO Modern Dance Crew feel like they can't because they aren't Filipino.

Amy

My classmates are fun, helpful, understanding, and always ready to help.

Nicoya

They are respectful of the professor and generally offer help or guidance to their peers.

Gemma

My classmates are dedicated to academic success and to setting the competitive bar extremely high; however, they often lose sight of the importance of enjoying and experiencing life.

Heather

Many of my classmates are dedicated and goal oriented students, many students have goals to go on to graduate school and other Ph.D. programs.

Rubiya

Hard working and focused.

Kathiana

My classmates are hardworkers who manage to squeeze a little fun into their schedules.

Karen

My classmates range in all ethnicities and are intelligent in their field.

Maria

Very studious, but will go out of their way to make you feel at home.

stephanie

My classmates are all brilliant and they make it very interesting learning at school.

Paula

My classmates are incredibly diverse in many ways, including race, ethnicity, temperment, professional and academic goals, and non-academic interests.

Caitlin

We are the geeks, nerds, and braniacs of the SUNY system, but we'll show you a good time, always with a touch of class.

Dorothy

My classmates are attentive and liable.

Ross

The ones that I hang out with are kind and generous but the others are really rude.

Astrid

My classmates are diverse when it comes to ethnicity, religion and even majors but it is easy to get along and learn from them.

Michael

the great majority of students at this school are friednly and always willing to help

Katrin

Diverse.

Ji

Self-regulatory, but generally friendly and willing to help; not cutthroat or overly competitive.

Francheska

There are many different types of people at my school- people from all over the world. Though some people tend to stick with a certain group, most people are very friendly and open to eachother.

Bora

hard to get to know

Josephine

They're usually shy, keeping to themselves, but not because they are uninterested in forming new relationships but because it can be daunting to be the first one to introduce themselves--once you get them started however, they can be some of the most charming and interesting people you meet.

Rakibul

My classmates are focused and self centered.

Peter

Join something as soon as you can, the school can really be alot of fun, you just have to be an active role, because its really fun if you go out and make the friends

Anastasia

Loners.

Lorraine

My classmates are as diverse as diverse can be and it is wonderful!

Ferose

The students here are nice in class, and they normally try to make friends with the right people, but outside of class is completely different story.

Natasha

they are a mixture of snobby and helpful

Kate

My classmates are too varied across culture, intelligence, and work ethic to generalize.

Kristina

Friendly, focused

michelle

they all just want to go home and get away from school

laurie

Focused, yet regular college students

azure

My classmates have the ability to change the world for the better in many ways.

Vanessa

Classmates as a group are diverse all around. Classmates as people usually keep to themselves unless they find common ground with other students (interests, same difficulties in the subject, live in the same area, etc.)

Collin

The students at Stony Brook University are very diverse. There are many different people from many different cultures and backgrounds, so it is a great place to make new friends and gain new perspectives and points of view. Some do not take their studies seriously, but most do and succeed in their academic careers.

Connie

friendly, social, helpful

Pascale

they are nice, for the most part.