SUNY Buffalo State Top Questions

Great. There's variety of majors

The academics at Buffalo State SUNY involve every student to be above a 2.0 or better and they also encourage students to get involved with other activities such as sports, fraternity's or things like the ROTC program.

Seeing as how I've only been to one college to actually learn in my life, I can't really say that the academics are great or not. At this point in my life, all I can say is that I'm doing what I have to do to graduate and stay ahead. In terms of course work, the work here isn't too hard. Like anything you do, it's fun if its easy. It's easy if you are good at it. You're good at it if you study. That's all there is to it.

With an Undergraduate population of 18,000+, it can be a little tricky to gain a personal relationship with your professors. In Freshman lectures, when you are with 300+ students, it can be hard. But once you declare a major, and start taking upper level classes, the class sizes become smaller and you can start to develop personal relationships with your professors and classmates. The education at UB is geared toward learning for its own safe. UB is a research University, with a teaching staff that has mostly been in Academia for their entire career. While this gives students an opportunity to learn from the best, it is not focused on careers, but getting their students into the best grad school program.

All students are required to fuflfill "general education requirements" like English, Math, World Civ, etc, and these take up most of your schedule your first year or so, depending on your major. Average class size is 30, but intro-level classes (especially in the sciences and social sciences) are often in lectures of 100+ students. The rigor of one's academics depends largely on one's major; nursing, exercise, and engineering are very competitive, whereas communications and psychology are a much lighter load. Because it's such a big school, there are tons of classes and really interesting electives; for example, "Sex and Communication" and "Film and the Senses." Also, one-credit athletic electives are offered- everything from badminton to yoga to triathalon training.

There are a lot of foreign teachers here and that is a constant barrier for students. Other than that I've had teachers that were very distant (understandable if you have a class of 200+ students) and some that were very warm and inviting. All professors (except maybe some math ones) incourage questions and welcome students to office hours.

Like many schools, UB has large class sizes and small. The larger tend to be in freshmen classes, and they get smaller as classes get harder. I am a political science major and have had varying sized classes. The great thing about our professors is that they are always willing to help. While the classes are large, if you introduce yourself to the professor, they will remember you. Many of the conversations in the classes are incredibly interesting, discussing recent topics and tying them into past events. Aside from the departments requirements, the school requires general education classes which allows the students to experience a variety of subjects. Also, aside from the department's adviser, the school offers a career counseling center. This allows the students to focus their education towards their future career goals.

UB is a large school with large amount of people attending. Professors will know your name if you visit their office hours and ask them questions frequently. I loved my BIO200, CHE201(organic chemistry) and one of my elective class, MFC358. The primary reason I liked these classes are the professors. They taught very well and UB has a great number of great professors. The school's academic requirement either to get into the major or to graduate is reasonable. I see some majors require a high Grade Point Average(GPA), but that is also reasonable because the materials for the major require a great work and responsibility. This will push individual to get a job with practical training and learning.

very competitive. i dont spend tiem with professors out of class, its easier to find tas but soemtimes tehy don't knwo teh answers. The education is very science based at least in teh exercise science adn nutrition field rather than the real world experience. The professors seem very knowledgable though and make hard tests

Most professors know my name, but in classes that take place in large lecture halls it's hard for the teacher to get to know you. Office hours are the best place for you to get an edge on the other students and get some reliable help studying. My favorite class was Micro Economics because I had a teacher who made everything seem very simple yet still interesting. I feel like I learned a lot about how to make the best decision in a given situation. My least favorite class has been African American Studies because my teacher is so unorganized and unfair to the students in terms of grading and the questions on the tests. We had group work and each group had to give a presentation on a different topic. On the test, one of the group's questions was on there. Obviously everyone in that group knew how to answer it. The test was 2 questions and that question was worth 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the test. Class participation is common for whoever wants to participate. In smaller classes, there is more one on one conversation with the teacher. Students don't seem all that competitive here. Not as much as I've heard some other schools where everyone's trying to be better than everyone else.

Classes in the sciences tend to be lecture-sized and are often designed to weed out the people who can't hack it. Classes in foreign languages, English, art, etc tend to be smaller and more personalized. The difficulty of your academic experience will depend primarily on your major; architecture and engineering students have a lot more work (and more competition) than communications majors. All professors are mandated to have office hours each week to which students are encouraged to come. TA-led recitations are often attached to lectures in order to give students a more personal experience. Tons of different departments and interesting courses like Sex and Communication, Film and the Senses, and Visual Imagination.

academic life is pretty demanding. some teachers don't know how to teach effectively, and in many cases you're a number. and in the classes where you're also a person, you're still treated as a number. very hard to find teachers that truly care. thats b/c UB's is all about research instead of education in some disciplines and majors. you can study hard at the libraries, but we pay so much in fees, yet there are never enough computers .... they took the diefendorf computing station, but didn't allocate more to HSL, and yet the demand was still high....administrators failed at basic supply/demand, and that hurts the students. parking is ridiculous - how do you have just as many or fewer spots for students than faculty/staff ???--- simple common sense would tell you that there are more students than faculty/staff, yet the spaces are the same ? how does that logistically work ? only in the fact that there are more opportunities to scam,steal, and extort more money from students (at the same time raising tuition/fees, and while textbooks ~$80) guests also share student spaces, and the shared lots only benefit faculty/staff b/c they can park closer to lecture halls/offices, while there are always empty spots in faculty/staff lots on both N and S campuses.

The sizes of classes vary largely. Most of my classes are rather large, which can be intimidating. However, if you make the effort to utilize office hours and contacting your professor, most of them are willing and appreciative of the contact with students. The education at UB is geared often towards the future, the bigger picture, and a student's opportunities after college.

The academics are decent. It is very hard to get a teacher or teachers assistant that speaks good english, especially in the freshman math and general classes. But it does depend on the major. But from experience, you will get that in all colleges.

University at Buffalo is a great academically oriented school... for some reason many of the students have a great drive to succeed and work hard. However im not too sure the reason for this because a majority of the professors are not very willing to help and even sometimes rude. There are plently of other people around that are willing to help though especially the Teaching Assistants who I have found to be a tremendous help and sincerely care about the students. Since UB is a huge research school some of the professors are more interested in their research than the the teaching part which can result in the "unwillingness" to help. Often they are some of the most intelligent people in their field of study but their teaching effectiveness may take more time for them to improve upon. As an exercise science major i do not really know any of my professors and i dont believe many of them know my name. This can come from either the large class size or the fact that i am not someone that often needs to get assistance from a teacher inorder to do well in a class. I think the school has great academic requiremtns that will give you a tremendous amount of knowledge for whatever field you may persue. And I believe it is a more difficult school than it is often given credit for and therefore it better prepares students than many other insitutions.

Psychology has one of the biggest numbers of students, and I really didn't feel connected to the teachers. Some didn't even take attendance or try to get to know the students. My favorite classes were those in the English department - the teachers seemed to care about you. I interacted mostly with those teachers; their office hours were great. In all fields, though, I had classes where participation was not required AT ALL, all the way to one class where it was about 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of my grade. Those were the best! Classes are generally about 35 people if you get past intro courses. The libraries are always filled, so people study a lot there. However, I find that UB does not "train" students to get a job. Undergrad seems mostly geared toward preparing for more education.

Professors are friendly here, but make sure you do your homework just like any other college and research your teacher before you sign up for the class, you dont want to get stuck with a terriblen teacher.

I think UB is a great school, in the sense that graduating from here is looked highly upon, but I feel like the professor's here are not dedicated to making it an excellent school. The professor's who are dedicated have ridiculous accents and it is almost impossible to do well in their class if you can not understand them. On the other hand there are professor's who are only interested in research and only teach because they receive grants for their projects; these professor's aren't helpful either. There are also professor's who think they are too brilliant to be teaching students who can not understand the material at their level. I've had a few really great professors who are truly intelligent and genuinely want you to learn.

The great thing about UB is you can tailor your education to determine the most productive setting. Class sizes vary, so if you like to zone out, you can pick the 300-400 person classes where you are not likely to get called out. However, if you value a personal relationship with the professor, you can take the smaller classes. As you get further into your major, this becomes less possible, however options still always exist. My favorite classes involve ones where I have a positive experience with the material or a group project. The least favorite ones are where I get stuck with slackers in group projects and don't want my own grade to suffer because of them. Depending on the time of year will affect the amount of study time. The over-acheivers (yes I am one of them) are competitive to a degree in getting good grades. The Business school is tough and taught by some of the best professors in the world, however again I question how some of them were allowed to teach. I worked my butt off for 7 semesters in order to take an easy last semester, and have thoroughly enjoyed Yoga and Self Defense. The academic requirements I feel are fair, and they make you a well-rounded student. Depending on the teacher and their experience, they will either teach straight out of the book, or give you their real life examples. I prefer the latter better.

There is not one type of student at buffalo. Many study a lot, some study when they have time and others are crammers. However I have friends in every catergory and all of them like the way they study and work. My department is very close because its smaller, business I heard was huge and no one really knows anyone. I'm really excited about the oppertunities i get with my major and i feel they will increase my chances of getting a job in the near future.

When I was an undergraduate, most professors didn't know my name, unless I came up to them and introduced myself. If graduate school, it's completely different, every professors that I have knows my name. My favorite class is probably my Biomaterials Lab, it's hands-on, and I've learned so much from my professor and doing things myself. My least favorite class was Heat Transfer. I think students study pretty often depending on their major. The libraries are always filled with students. Class participation is more common in graduate school compared to undergrad. Yes, Buffalo students do have intellectual conversation outside of class, but it usually has to do with a homework problem, a report, or an exam that was just taken. In undergraduate students were very competitive, but in graduate school everyone comes together and helps one another. Last semester I took a Biomaterials and Cell Surface Phenomena class, and it was very unique because it composed of Engineers, Pre-Medicine, and Dental Students. This was unique because we were all able to take our knowledge from our fields and help each other and converse. The professors in my department are extremely helpful and really want to see students succeed. They are always available to talk outside of class if you have any questions about the course or just in general about your future. I think the academics requirements are pretty good at UB. Speaking from an engineering stand-point, we have always had courses and programs that are geared towards getting a job and preparing students for the future.

My biggest pet peeve about academics at Buffalo is not the amount of annoying gen eds (unless you mess up royally they usually boost your GPA), but the attitude that the hard science majors have towards the soft science majors. People in the hard sciences seem to think that they are the smartest people in the world, have the most work to do, and think that everyone wants to hear about it. I am a history/international studies dual degree major. I would like to say that I have enough on my plate to keep me from slacking off. True the hard sciences are very demanding at UB, but the soft sciences when paired with a minor or another major can also be just as challenging. As for classes professors generally do not know your name unless you are in a small class, and sometimes they don't know your name then. Students do not participate in class. I have had one class in my two classes in my four semesters where people actively and willingly participated in class. Generally I do not mind classes and thankfully the student body at UB isn't completely obsessed with classes and they definitely do not study 24/7.

I had an interesting experience at UB: While I loved most of the classes outside my major, I was greatly dissatisfied and discouraged by the courses offered in my major (which was Environmental Design). In fact, during my junior and senior year, the students were actively waging war against the administration of the Urban Planning program - and rightly so. That program was chaotic: professors openly insulted one another, instructors abused students verbally and psychologically, courses lacked content, and grading was unfair. Outside of the Planning Department, however, things were great. I took classes within the Biology Department, the Geography Department, the Environmental Studies program, and the English Department. Most of these were great - caring professors, useful content, and worthwhile assignments. UB offers many, many programs of study. Just be sure to pick the right one and talk to some students beforehand.

Academics wise in Buffalo is alright. Some professors is really tough, but hey thats life. We can't complain but yet try our best to achieve our goal, which is graduate and move on to our next chapter of our lives. I don't spend time with my professors, but i do have a great conversation with them. Buffalo have a great program to help you to get an interview or a job.

Professors actually learn names more easily than expected. They are willing to meet outside of class and are generally good people. Students are competetive. We are the biggest SUNY school. My major blows, we are underfunded and overlooked. We don't have any film equipment past 1980. We get to use crap video cameras and make crap videos.

Classes are either super small, or very large. It all depends on your major etc.... friends are made easily on campus, everyone is quite friendly, and you always see people sitting together talking. If you live on campus the good thing is there is always something to do... movies, clubs to join, events etc. As far as getting a job... I already have a job in my degree and am doing great making a lot of money, so if you think there is no work in this area, your not looking hard enough.

Most classes are too big for teachers to get to know you well. But with so many classes offered you can find the smaller classes with the cool teachers if you try.

Professors know my name but that is because I have made it a point to get to know them. Students study a lot, it is hard to get A's in courses and it is getting harder. Any time that I needed to meet with a professor outside of class I have been able to, and they have been very helpful. My department and major is very neat, is has experienced teachers that have actually done something with their education, and normally are persuing other ventures outside of class.