Stony Brook University

My individual experience of Stony Brook University, as opposed to other universities, has been wholly positive. Students are friendly and engaging, for the most part. There are always different activities for students to get involved in, as well as numerous clubs and organizations. I, personally, had many academic setbacks. However, professors were always willing to overlook my problems and help out in many ways. My academic background was also a bit scattered until I came to Stony Brook, where I finally found a niche that fit me, like many other students.
I found it easy to assimilate into a variety of different
fields before finally settling on my chosen majors. I made many friends.

However, like any school, there are some negatives. Since more than half of the student population consists of commuters, there is a real barrier to student contact. This is a large contributing factor to the low student morale Stony Brook has attained. Stonybrooksucks.com can be a useful Web site to find out what professors are on their toes, and which are less discriminating. Nevertheless, one can see how morale plays its part. On the other hand, in recognition of this, the University has been making a large push in the last few years to try and combat this issue by providing things like street fairs on the spine of the campus, and Midnight Madness, an all night long party in the gym with giveaway prizes. Commuters appear to be more academically inclined, while dormers seem to be more of the party-going variety. If one knows where to look, one can have a truly rounded, both educational and fun experience. In the long run, I have been to many other universities, and wished I was elsewhere. When at Stony Brook, I only wished to be there more.