Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts;  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the elite east coast engineering school, known for its high academic standard and lengthy history.   Founded in 1861, MIT stresses scientific research and close cooperation with industry.  It boasts over 80 Nobel laureates and is one of the most selective institutes of higher education, with nearly 20,000 applicants per year and an acceptance rate of 8%.  It’s current campus covers 168 acres along the north bank of the Charles River.

The open source movement has spawned the now infamous MIT OpenCourseWare, an initiative to put all of MIT’s educational materials from its undergraduate and graduate level courses online, free and available to anyone, anywhere.  Now in its 11th year, with over 2,000 courses available online, the initiative has inspired more than 250 other institutions to make their course materials available as open educational resources through the OpenCourseWare Consortium.  MIT is truly the leader in Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

MIT is the one of the only institutions of higher education with its own on-campus nuclear reactor.  It is one of the most powerful university-based nuclear reactors in the United States. The prominence of the reactor's containment building in a densely populated area has been controversial, but MIT maintains that it is well-secured.  Other notable campus facilities include a pressurized wind tunnel and a towing tank for testing ship and ocean structure designs.  We were not allowed access to the reactor on our admission tour.

What we did find most interesting is the grading system for freshmen known as the “Pass/No-Record”.  The system relieves some of the pressure for freshmen to achieve, resulting in a grade of “Pass” or “No Record” for each class taken in the fall term of their first year.  In the spring term, passing grades (A, B, C) appear on the transcript while non-passing grades are again not recorded.  There are also alternative learning communities for freshmen such as Experimental Study Group, Concourse, or Terrascope.  One can’t help but wonder when the “kid gloves” will come off and students will actually be accountable for the amount of effort they put into each course.  Nevertheless, we were very impressed with the rigor and reputation of MIT’s curriculum.  MIT is ranked first in the world for its School of Engineering by U.S. News and World Report.  MIT counts astronaut Buzz Aldrin and architect I.M. Pei among its most famous alumni.

Students who applied to MIT, also looked at Harvard University, Stanford University and California Institute of Technology.  

For more information on Massachusetts Institute of Technology, visit  http://web.mit.edu/

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is located at 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139  (617) 253-1000

Columbia University

Located in New York City, Columbia University is one of the original eight east coast Ivy League colleges known for their high academic standard and lengthy history.  The rest are Brown University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University.  Founded in 1754, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in New York State.  The Morningside Heights campus is a sculptured landscape of serenity in the middle of a very busy urban city.  You need never leave the campus; but if you do, you have all that New York City has to offer just a subway ride away.  World class museums, cutting edge shows, vanguard theatre, any cuisine in the world (authentically prepared) are at your disposal. Tickets to many events are discounted with a student ID.  The school pride of our very young student guides was palpable.  We followed the Engineering and Science groups into Havemeyer Hall twice, as no one failed to mention the much photographed lecture hall; as seen in Ghost Busters and all 3 Spiderman movies.

What is the downside?  Over 20,000 apply each year, but less than 10% are admitted.  The odds are against even the smartest and brightest in most U.S. high schools.  There is an elitist air that is slightly oppressive.  With all the Nobel Laureates on campus, one wonders if the undergrads are  given the nurturing attention they need.   



Students who applied to Columbia University, also looked at Harvard University, Princeton University, and University of Pennsylvania.  For more information on Columbia University, visit  http://www.columbia.edu/

Columbia University is located at 116th Street and Broadway, New York, NY  10027 (212) 854-1754

SUNY Binghamton

Actually located in Vestal, NY (close to Pennsylvania), on 887 acres above the Susquehanna River;  SUNY Binghamton is touted as a "Public Ivy".  It is also "the number one best value in the nation," says Kiplinger Magazine in 2010.  The average cost of tuition, room & board is $18,000 per year.  That's a deal compare to the "Actual Ivys", who average $50,000 per year.  But alas, it is quite competitive.  Over 20,000 apply each year for just over 2,000 seats.  There is also quite a large number of transfer students as well (over 4,000 apply for just under1,000 seats).   One third of SUNY Binghamton students transfered from somewhere else.  This begs the obvious question, "Why don't these students just start out at Binghamton to begin with?"  The answer is simple, the transfer requirements are easier to fulfill than the freshman requirements.  Out of the six schools on campus, the two hardest to get accepted into are the School of Management and the Decker School of Nursing. 

With a total student body of over 11,000; SUNY Binghamton is the third largest of all the SUNYs that confer doctorate degrees.  The student body is diversified, but with a disproportionately larger group of Jewish students from Long Island.  Bare in mind the winters at Binghamton are bitter, with an average temperature of 15 degrees F, and a wind chill of -20 degrees F.  Summers are beautiful at a high of 80 degrees F; but with a 190 acres of forest and wetland nature preserve on campus, there is very little to do on or off campus for the city folks.  Vestal and Binghamton are small towns.  Buses will take you to NYC on holidays at a reduced rate, but it is 3 1/2 hours door to door.

Students who applied to SUNY Binghamton, also looked at Alfred University, Colgate University, and SUNY Stony Brook.  For more information on SUNY Binghamton, visit http://www.binghamton.edu/

SUNY Binghamton is located at 4400 Vestal Parkway, Vestal, NY  13850 (607) 777-2171

SUNY Albany

Located in Albany, New York; SUNY Albany, or University of Albany, as they prefer to be called, is the second largest of all the SUNYs that confer doctorate degrees, as far as student body.  There are over 18,000 students and ten schools/colleges on the campus at the capital of New York State.  Political Science majors in the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy need not worry about access to internships at the many state and federal agencies located just a short bus ride away. 

The not so attractive quadruplet dormitories sit like four guard towers at the corners of a prison camp, waiting to shoot down escapees.  This 1970's architecture cover most of the campus with a cold and impersonal touch.  Sitting in stark contrast at the other end of the campus is the shiny new, state-of-the-art, $5 billion dollar, 800,000 square foot Nanotech Building, housing facilities for every high tech industry in the world.  It is the cutting edge of Nanoscale Science and Engineering.  It is so exclusive, only 184 students are currently enrolled (33 Undergraduates, 22 Postgraduates, and 129 Doctorate students)

Students who applied to SUNY Albany, also looked at Siena College, SUNY Binghamton, and Union College.  For more information on SUNY Albany, visit  http://www.albany.edu/

SUNY Albany is located at 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY  12222 (518) 442-3300

Marist College

Located in Poughkeepsie, NY; Marist College is perched on the Hudson River.  The brand new $35 million Hancock Center houses The School of Computer Science and Math and multimedia classrooms all overlooking the breathtaking Hudson River; as well as the Marist Institute for Public Opnion and the IBM-Marist Joint Study Project. The Fashion Design and Merchandising programs in the School of Communication and Arts offers tons of internships with the major NYC fashion houses.  Communication Arts majors will be interested to know there are also intersessions available in Hawaii.  That's right, Hawaii!!!  Nearby IBM Corporation (with facilities in both Poughkeepsie and Fishkill), has a longstanding partnership with Marist that has Marist students and faculty utilizing emerging technology in their research and classrooms.

Originally established in 1905 as a seminary by the Marist Brothers, Marist College is a small private college, with 5,000 students on campus.  The college became fully coed in 1968 when it admitted women.  With over 1,000 members, Campus Ministry is the largest student club at Marist.  Most of the 50 states are represented, but there is a disproportionately large number who hail from Long Island and New Jersey.  Marist has been given the unflattering nickname of 'Mattress College', and not for it's hospital corners.  Freshmen housing is restricted to residential halls; but sophmores, juniors, and seniors choose among the many townhouses based on a point system which rewards campus activity participation. 

Students who applied to Marist College, also looked at Iona College, Manhattan College, and Siena College.  For more information on Marist College, visit http://www.marist.edu/

Marist College is located at 3399 North Road, Poughkeepsie, NY  12601 (845) 575-3000

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Located in Troy, NY; RPI is the pre-eminent engineering school in the United States.  Established in 1824 for the application of science to the common purposes of life, RPI is the oldest technological university in the world.  50% of all 6,000 plus students major in an engineering discipline.  RPI graduates currently hold 1,824 patents.  The brand new Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) boasts a concert hall with the state of the art acoustic finishes on every surface.  The Admission Director was eager to share the news that a recent alumnae created the Guitar Hero III video game and another designed a green packing material grown with mushroom protein featured on the TV show CSI. 

Many of the 11 concentrations in engineering have their own building, concentrating on research exploration.  Each discipline offers their own Bachelors, Masters, and PhD diplomas, so you need never leave RPI for any advance degrees.  Students work in teams on real life projects sponsored by Bell Labs, Lockheed Marin, IBM, GE, and Boeing.  As competitive as the curriculum is, the retention rate from freshmen to sophomore is a whopping high 92%.  Bear in mind that over 15,000 applicants apply for only 1,200 seats.  As in any engineering school, the gender ratio is heavily weighted towards men, in this case, 3:1.

Students who applied to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, also looked at California Institute of Technology, Harvey Mudd College, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  For more information on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, visit http://rpi.edu/

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is located at 110 Eighth Street, Troy, NY  12180 (518) 276-6000

SUNY New Paltz

Located in New Paltz, NY; SUNY New Paltz, with a student body of over 8,000, is a very competitive, 4-year, residential liberal arts college.  Founded in 1828, as the New Paltz Classic Academy, SUNY New Paltz is located on 257 acres set in the Mid-Hudson River Valley, next to one of the nation’s oldest street, Huguenot Street, settled by French Huguenot refugees in the 1600s.   From almost anywhere on campus, a northward glance brings your gaze to Sky Top, the landmark summit of Mohonk Mountain House, another national historic landmark hotel resort, and the set of the 1994 feature film, The Road To Wellville.  The newly completed SUB Addition is an award winning glass design incorporating green elements throughout.

In 2007, Newsweek magazine rated SUNY New Paltz as America’s “Hottest Small State School”.  This is further illustrated by the over 19,000 freshmen and transfer applications last year.  The school accepted only 35% of the applicants with a very diverse student body.  Why is SUNY New Paltz so hot?  One might credit the low tuition.  The typical undergraduate New York State resident pays $5,270 per year for tuition.  Considering the enormous amount of majors available in bachelor degrees, it is a steal.  Typical private institutions average $30,000 per year for tuition.
 

Students who applied to SUNY New Paltz, also looked at SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Buffalo, and SUNY Geneseo.  For more information on SUNY New Paltz, visit http://www.newpaltz.edu/

SUNY New Paltz is located at One Hawk Drive, New Paltz, NY  12561 (845) 257-7869

New York University

Located in Washington Square Park, the heart of Greenwich Village, in New York City; New York University, with a student body of over 40,000, is one of the largest private universities in the United States.  Founded in 1831, by Albert Gallatin, former Secretary of Treasury during Thomas Jefferson and James Madison’s administration, NYU was intended as, “in and of the city”; the University with no walls and no gates.  NYU owned and operated libraries, faculty and staff offices, classrooms, labs and residence halls occupy all four sides of Washington Square Park.  The park and its famous arch, the emblem of NYU, and a replica of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, are historical landmarks and a popular hangout for students, local residents, and tourists alike.  Famous alums include Samuel F.B. Morse and Martin Scorsese.  World famous faculty members include Nobel, Craaford and Pulitizer, MacArthur, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, Oscar, Emmy, and Tony winners.   If you walk the neighborhood, there are plenty of star-gazing opportunities of the entertainment kind.

For the past few decades, NYU has expanded outside of Greenwich Village exponentially.  In New York City alone, there are classes offered downtown, midtown, and in the outer boroughs.  The Polytechnic Institute of NYU in Brooklyn, formerly known as Brooklyn Polytech, the second oldest school of engineering and technology in the U.S., is now an affiliate.  Among the many study abroad opportunities there were two locations featured in the PowerPoint presentation of our visit day.  The Admissions Officer was pushing their other two campuses (Abu Dhabi and Shanghai) a little too aggressively; touting it’s 4:1 teacher/student ratio, its wholly English language classrooms, and its free round trip flight for any applying student.  As one of the many parents sitting in the Info Session, I can assure you, interest was not high. 

In New York City, there are 15 schools within NYU, most notably, the Gallatin School of Individual Study; where the Admissions Officer was proud to inform us has a recent grad majoring in ‘Evil’.  This is truly a liberal arts school.

Students who applied to New York University, also looked at Columbia University, Cooper Union, and University of California at Berkley.  For more information on New York University, visit http://www.nyu.edu/

New York University is located at 50 West 4^th Street, New York, NY  10012 (212) 998-4550

Vassar College

Located in Poughkeepsie, NY; Vassar College is one of the original Seven Sisters, or the seven liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women’s colleges.  Together with Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, and Wellesley College, all were founded between 1837 and 1889.  Radcliffe has since merged with Harvard University and Vassar College has turned coeducational since 1969.  Founded in 1861, by Matthew Vassar, the original mission of Vassar College was to give young women a liberal arts education equal to that of the best men’s colleges of the day.  Vassar offered women the full range of courses from art history to zoology, taught by the leading scholars of the day.  We followed our student tour guide into the Thompson Memorial Library, where the famous larger than life stain glass window resides, depicting Lady Elena Lucretia Cornaro-Piscopia in 1678, the first woman to be conferred her PhD (in Theology), trimmed in pink, amongst a sea of men.  The scene depicts the school’s colors (pink and grey) representing the rose dawn of women’s education rising out of the sea of grey, what higher education was previously.

The buildings and grounds are meticulously maintained, funded by the endowments established by nearly 150 years of alumnae/i.  Having gone coeducational only a little over 40 years ago, Vassar College is keenly aware of both genders in all their internal and external communication.  Vassar College relies heavily on the generosity of the students who have gone before.  That's not to say that legacies are a shoe in when it comes to admission.  The school may be liberal, but is still highly selective.  One of the requirements of admission is proficiency in a second language other than English.  Last year, Vassar received nearly 8,000 freshmen applications for 670 seats.  Given the fact that Vassar only confer Bachelor degrees, that speaks volumes.

The student embassadors who shepherded us on our visit day emphasized two specific qualities possessed by the Vassar undergrad.  "Vassar is very 'chill' and very 'liberal'."  One can only imagine the myriad of definitions for their chosen adjectives.  I thought Vassar was a east coast school. 

Students who applied to Vassar College, also looked at Brown University, Dartmouth College, and Yale University.  For more information on Vassar College, visit http://www.vassar.edu/

Vassar College is located at 124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, New York, NY  12604 (845) 437-7000

Union College

Located in Schenectady, NY; Union College was founded in 1795, and confers only bachelor degrees.   Union College, along with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, was known as the “Big Four” in the 1830s because of the high number of students it graduated.  In 1845, Union became the first liberal arts college to offer Engineering as a major.  After 175 years as an all-male institution, Union College began enrolling women in 1970.   The centerpiece of the campus is Nott Memorial, a rotunda (actually, 16 sided) with a National Historic Landmark designation since 1986. 

Last year, Union received nearly 5,000 applications, admitted nearly 2,000, and enrolled 500.  That’s a 40% admission rate.   In addition to fraternity and sorority houses, Union has Theme Houses, where students with similar interests can reside together.   Similar interests include ARTS House (Association of Ridiculously Talented Students), Iris House (for the LGBTQ community), Ozone House (for the Green community), and Thurston House (for those interested in East Asian interests).  Most of these 'mansions' were previously owned by General Electric, the company in this company town.  Since the recession, Schenectedy has fallen on harder times.  Tuition at Union is higher than peer schools.  Financial aid packages are available, but the student body ends up being predominately from the white upper middle class.

Union College, along with Cal Tech, Dartmouth, and Northwestern is part of the small number of colleges that utilizes a trimester system.  There are 10 weeks in each of the three semesters between September and June where students enroll in only three courses at a time.  The advantages to the trimester system is that by taking only three courses, instead of the usual four or five, you are able to focus on less subjects; in addition to covering more courses in a given year, and spreading your GPA out among nine grades instead of 10 or 11.  The disadvantages to the trimester system is that due to the shortened time frame for each course, everything moves at a faster pace.  Five weeks into the semester you have a midterm, and five weeks after that, a final.  This system is not for the slacker. 

Students who applied to Union College, also looked at Boston University, Kenyon College, and Brown University.  For more information on Union College, visit http://www.union.edu/

Union College is located at 807 Union Street, Schenectady, NY  12308 (518) 388-6000