Stony Brook University Top Questions

I was an online distance program student and wish that I could have had a more integrated experience. I see all the people that identify with their college sports teams and I didn't have that urge because I felt so distant. I would have liked if the school kept their distance students just as connected as their students on campus. I could have also benefited from a shadow or mentor upon our visit to the campus, this may have brought us to feeling closer to the college life there.

It's big.

Transfering into Stony Brook University in Spring 2013. Currently a student at Suffolk County Commuinty College; the worst is the idiotic drivers on campus. Even the best will become the worst; it only takes minutes. The most clear of heads will become the most chaotic of them all. It’s praised that safety is first, but in the mouths of the self-concerned students, they rage, “me, me, me!”

They raise tuition to compensate for state budget cuts and at the same time take more and more amentities from the students.

Large size

The student is very much separated. The university does not necessarily have good p.r. with the students which leads to an indication of uncare.

The lack of help and academic support from professor and TAs.

The worst thing about the school is when it rains these giant puddles form on the walkways, it is like crossing a river when you walk through them.

The buildings are ugly.

The worst thing about the school is probably the teaching assistants. I have found that the ones I currently have do not help me to learn the material and have a hard time explaining things when questions are asked. I find myself going to the help center instead of asking the TA in my recitations for help.

The worst thing about my school is having students with confirmation biases on our famous "Stony Brook unhappiness" rankings. It makes me feel uneasy that our consistent high unhappiness rankings are based on the inaccurate sample of students.

Personally, I love Stony Brook because I love nature and there are a lot of trees and there is a pond which is absolutely fantastic. It is a big school with apprx. around 10,000 or probably more students. People at the campus are really friendly and helpful. So I'd strongly suggest everybody to be more open and not feel hesitant to ask questions. I can guarantee that they'd be more than happy to guide you to shaping your future.

Large size

As a commuter, a lot of the system is against you. Where you have to park on campus and then the transportation to class is just a hassle, unless ur going to pay a ton of extra money. I live 20 minutes away from the school and I have to leave at least an hour before class to guarentee I'm there on time not even early because of the transportation. It is also hard to make a schedule this way you don't have long breaks on campus as a commuter.

Some of the on-campus housing is abysmal. Several of the buildings are in dire need of renovations and Stony Brook has been accepting more residential students than it can realisitically house so there is an overcrowding problem. Aside from that, there needs to be more activities on Fridays and the weekends as the campus is a proverbial ghostown.

The worst thing about my school is the idea that the train station is right on campus. Although this is also a good thing, it hurts in the attempt to create a family atmosphere within the campus community because a majority of the students go home on the weekends.

Stony Brook is really hard and in the middle of nowhere.

Most students are from areas close by the school. They tend to leave for the weekend, leaving it empty and quiet on weekends.

The size.

The people who work here can get very rude, uninterested, and many times not helpful, so a lot of times I had to figure things out on my own instead of getting a direct answer.

nothing to do on weekends

The worset thing about the school is the overpopulation in the dormrooms for incoming freshmen

Everyone is asian. I do not recommend going there becuase many students do not communicate in english and it makes you feel very out of place.

Student apathy can sometimes be a problem, as well as the recent (and temporary) loss of large scale concerts due to construction of a new Arena.

The worst thing about Stony Brook University is the food. There is more of a variety now but it's still not enough. You have to go off campus or cook your own food to get better food.

unconsiderate staff with attitude

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The parking sotuation for commuters is the worst.

The attitude of fellow students towards their academic careers. Stony Brook University has unfairly earned a reputation as a "party school", and thus, those who chose to attend here do so because they feel that they can be lax on their educational responsibilities and focus on their active social lives insead. They forget that Stony Brook is still one of the best research foundations in the country, and their half hearted attempts at their education not only hurt them, but the students around them that earnestly strive to learn.

The weekend life.

lack of security, quality of food, size of classes

SB is unique in that it is incredibly diverse (culturally, in interests, majors, background, religion, everything), yet so many of the students live in NYC. The first and second year students tend to go home to NYC on the weekends. They are used to the overstimulating environment of NYC so they think that there is "nothing to do" at SB on weekends. As students get older they realize there is plenty of fun (and work) to be had on the weekends, so they don't venture back to NYC. This is why some claim SB is dead on weekends.

The worst thing about being a student at SUNY Stony Brook is not knowing what I want to do with my life and not having any real guidance to help ease the pain. With a world of opportunities available to me, Stony Brook's counselors will only give me a positive reinforcement of anything which I might come up with and are programmed to say things which are first read to them anyway. They have no actual opinion and because of this, they can not actually answer my questions.

The music department is not performanced-based and the art department doesn't really have any sub-genres it's just either 'studio art' or 'art history', really lacking! Many of your professors will be foreign in the sciences and some other classes. Classes/lectures can range from 20 to 200 and it takes 10 minutes to walk from any dorm to classes and the busses are a horrible way to get around and you can't have a car freshman year unless you commute. People aren't very sociable. Most social parties including drinking, smoking up and/or videogames.

The worst thing is that though it is diverse, nobody mixes. The Jews hang out together, the Asians (over 45% asian) hang out together, the Republicans, the artists, etc. The school is diverse but very segregated.

food is expensice and the quality is not good.

Administrators

The worst thing about this school is the lack of pride and enthusiasm which negatively affects attitudes in all aspects of life.

Long lines for food. Food is expensive. Get rain boots

The amount of students in classes are absolutely absurd. The workload they expect of us is defenitely much different than what is expected of my friends in other colleges. It makes me feel like I'm not going to get a good GPA working so hard while my friends can just "get by" with the bare minimum and attain a much higher GPA than me.

they dont eally care much for the students its more about there reputation.

Nobody here likes eachother or the school. Mostly because this school makes everyone miserable with the lack of excitement or freedom on campus.

Some of the large intro science classes are hard to learn in because there is not much one on one learning.

The worst thing about school is when you enroll in a class that is required for your major, but the staff of that class are trying to reduce the number of students that pass. For example, my general chemistry and organic chemistry classes were so-called "weeding" classes because there are a lot of students taking those classes. When they tyr to "weed" me out, it reduces my motivation because I feel that no matter how hard I try, they're trying to fail me. During times times this, I focus extra hard to to continue with my studies.

The dorm sizes, my first semester here I lived in the tinest room with two other people when clearly its a room for at most two people. I got the upper bunk which was poorlyposition, my face was literally 6 inches form the ceiling and I had to slide out of bed every morning.

The poor engineering of the campus and poor landscaping that gets flooded when it rains.

Their really is nothing that the worst except that their are a lot of computers but their should be more and the computer rooms (SINC sites) should have better hours . They are open late at night for students who do work late but not for students who do work earlier than 9 in the morning.

There is nothing to do here ever except for if you take the train to New York City, but that is a two hour train ride and costs a lot of money.

Class sizes are too large which impedes class discussion and lack of homework!

That it is a commuter school.