don't send your kids here Options

[LDR]

i'm a junior and i hate it. freshman and sophmores are obligated to live on campus in crowded housing three to a room. they are not allowed to have cars on campus and the buses stop running after a certain hour leaving people to rely on cabs and walking, which is dangerous because we have an open campus. and even when they do get a car, the parking situation is atrocious with the construction they have the nerve to be doing during the school year which causes congestion trying to drive and even trying to walk to class ( ask the school administration why they were doing construction right in the middle of the main court between the food court, library, and all the rest of the classroom buildings and dorms) and keeps people up at night. the police have no regard for the students at all except to hand out parking tickets. the food court closes at 11 pm leaving people to their own devices to get food after a certain hour, and buffalo just sucks in general. besides the fact that the services are horrible here in general. the advisors suck, the departments are small, the school has no influence or prestige, and the career center sucks, which in a depressed economy is scary. how many career fairs do they host at this school, as opposed to other schools that host them all the time? this is how people end up racking up student loan debt and a degree without a decent paying job to show for it. find somewhere else to send your kids. seriously.

[Chrissy K]

I agree that the construction, parking issues, and dorming problems are frustrating. However, I think there are going to be problems at any school. This is more of a reflection of the state of New York's economy than Buffalo State specifically.

If you don't like small departments or Buffalo in general, Buffalo State may not be the college for you. But for those of you out there reading this, not all students here at Buff State regret coming here! I am a senior now and I have gone through all of these frustrations, including dorming, but the college experience no matter where you go is what you make of it and the connections you make, which you have to work towards no matter where you go!

[Nick S]

I commute to Buff State... although the parking sucks and there is a lot of construction, I don't usually have many qualms when it comes to the school. I know that the majority of students who attend Buff State are actually commuters, so if you're thinking about commuting, I would recommend it!

Plus, Buff State is a great stepping stone towards graduate school. I know for sure that it is a great school for education or communication majors!

[grindstone]

i am a transfer student at buffalo state and i commute. this was not my first choice of school and to be honest i wasn't very happy to have to go here but i was my only choice and i planned on transferring out later in the year. although the parking is not ideal what college does have great parking? i have yet to find one! i was so happy with buffalo state that after only a few short weeks i changed my mind and will be completing my bachelors here and hopefully my masters! not every college is for everyone my advise is to visit often and research as much as possible before making the final choice but i would definitely recommend it. All dorms suck and so does parking but is that what you want the basis of you child's education to be decided around?

[SpartanPhalanx1]

A lot of the problems in the original post seem like no big deal to me, at least if you think about them a little bit.

Before I break down my feeling about your points in the thread I think a little background would be interesting.
I am coming of off of Corning Community College, and decided to transfer here because the program was exactly what I wanted, and the only other college that had the perfect program was in Plattsburgh, wayyyy to far away. I also was interested in Buffalo because of the city. I am from a semi-rural area with small tourist driven cities surrounded by hills and farmland, however I am reasonably comfortable in cities considering I have LIVED in the country for all my life.
I am planning to attend Buff State in the fall and recently visited the campus.

Now on to the OPs points.
There are definitely some good reasons that underclassman that live 30 miles from campus have to live in the dorms. It goes along with the SUNY policy of making sure gen. ed. classes are taken as an underclassman. It is basically a probationary period, an attempt to get students as focused as possible (which obviously does not always work) and an attempt to get students in tune with college, and post college life. (Living in your parents house is not preparing you for post college life after all) It is unfortunate that people who are fully independent outside of college may be forced to live on campus, but I would say that you should either try to get the requirement waived, move within 30 miles of Buff State, or just try to be happy and remember that it is only for a limited time. As for the 3 beds to a room problem.... yes that does suck. Truly. It seems, and it was stated, (hopefully it was true) that when the new apartments are finished then the college will be able to make sure that no dorms will have 3 beds. With the lounges and other areas to hang out it seems that Buff State is hoping that you do not have to find yourself in your room all that often, but I know that is an unrealistic expectation.

Parking was a problem at my community college as well. I am used to it by now, as well as the problems that arise from the bus only operating up until a certain time. It is the same at many colleges, and all I can say is that if you have to walk around at night you should use common sense. I think anybody from a city would understand that there are some standard precautions you take in any heavily populated area. Just be smart, and try to always have somebody with you. You would not want to walk down a street in ANY city alone at midnight.

Construction is a hassle is any situation. Just remember that when it is finished the construction will be an improvement. I have seen the completed work done around the commons area and library, and it looks really nice. As for your statement about the college having the NERVE to be doing construction during the school year.... ALL construction is like that. Projects would take 20 years is they were only worked on during the scant months the college is off. I notice that most of the buildings look kind of dingy on the outside, but a lot of them look fine, or even nice, on the inside. The buildings really remind me of my community college, old looking outside, decent inside. I will say the freshman dorm I went in was not fantastic looking inside, but certainly livable. Even in the fairly clean and tourist oriented small city I live outside of, I think the state of the dorm would be way above passing. Also, the construction keeps you up at night? I do not even live in a city, but I have spent enough time in Rochester to know that the best way to answer that is to say "Welcome to city life!!!!"

You did not really explain your beef with the campus police, but it is their JOB to write tickets. If you do not break a law/rules, then you would not get a ticket, or at the very least you could challenge it. I bet if I had a real problem that the police were supposed to take care of, they would do it just fine. If they did not, you better believe that I would take it to wherever it needs to go to make sure that officer got looked at. SUNY police have certain guidelines to follow, and if there is an issue take it up with the administration. Unless you have a SPECIFIC problem with the police, other then them giving out tickets, the I am inclined to believe that there is no real issue other than the occasional problem officer that every police department, Sheriffs office, or trooper barracks has.

I do not see the issue with the food. 11 PM is a reasonable time for any restaurant to close. Sure some chains are open late, as well as some diners, and clubs, but really for the most part 11 PM is a normal closing time. Obviously some kind of lifestyle choice has to be made. Do I eat dinner at a normal time like 6 PM and make sure I have reserves from Wegmans or the vending machine, or do I wait until 11 PM? Hmmm......
Also, once you DO get to have a car on campus this problem should significantly diminish. Just drive 5 minutes to McDonalds, or BK, or MIGHTY TACO!!!! (if they are open that late) or whatever is close to campus (I really do not know) I imagine there is SOME acceptable fast food place within 5-10 minutes, not too much longer than it would take to get to the cafe on campus if it was open.

As for services, that is just a matter of preference. Although I am not very independent at home I am very independent in my school work. I had only seen my community college advisor once, and never asked for any help ever, and did just fine. I will probably be the same at Buff State, that is just the way I am. I do agree with your thought that more career advisement is needed, as I believe that the more career help available, the better. I wish that this was one of those colleges that would basically put you in a job when you were done, but not many of them can actually do that. Career advisement is always optional anyways, so get what you can, but keep in mind that the more independent you become, the less hand-holding you receive, the more well off you will be in the future when you figure it all out. I know at my community college a lot of my professors would complain about all the hand holding the college did with you, and I agree.



As a closer I think the most important thing to think about when you select about the college is the program. What is the point of a perfect campus if the program is not what you want? I chose between media production here, and broadcasting at Oswego because the program at Buff State is EXACTLY what I want to learn about.

Sorry about the huge post guys, I wanted to make sure I got my points across as well as one can on an online forum. Please disregard any grammar or spelling errors, this may look like an essay, but I did not treat it as nicely as I would an essay.

[Chrissy K]

If you are concerned about the parking situation, you can let your voice be heard!

In September 2011, the college announced a new report done regarding parking at Buffalo State and are looking for recommendations/feedback from US.

You can review the full report here:

There is also an article in The Record that is a good summary of this report that you can see here:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/the-buffalo-...150366843479728

If parking on campus is something that concerns you, you can email your feedback on this report and ideas about parking to to vpfm@buffalostate.edu by Friday, October 28, 2011!

[m327]

I've been to ECC and UB (way too large to enjoy) and I love Buff's environment. BUT something that's really frustrating and important, AVAILABILITY of classes!! ussually only 1 or 2 time slots available or lately i've noticed this: 3 of my needed majors (different courses) would be during the same exact time slot! wth?

[Student Ambassad...]

i'm a junior and i hate it. freshman and sophmores are obligated to live on campus in crowded housing three to a room. they are not allowed to have cars on campus and the buses stop running after a certain hour leaving people to rely on cabs and walking, which is dangerous because we have an open campus. and even when they do get a car, the parking situation is atrocious with the construction they have the nerve to be doing during the school year which causes congestion trying to drive and even trying to walk to class ( ask the school administration why they were doing construction right in the middle of the main court between the food court, library, and all the rest of the classroom buildings and dorms) and keeps people up at night. the police have no regard for the students at all except to hand out parking tickets. the food court closes at 11 pm leaving people to their own devices to get food after a certain hour, and buffalo just sucks in general. besides the fact that the services are horrible here in general. the advisors suck, the departments are small, the school has no influence or prestige, and the career center sucks, which in a depressed economy is scary. how many career fairs do they host at this school, as opposed to other schools that host them all the time? this is how people end up racking up student loan debt and a degree without a decent paying job to show for it. find somewhere else to send your kids. seriously.

If you're a potential student or parent seeing this post, remember that this is hearsay. Buffalo State College was my first choice, for reasons that were good to me. I've been blessed enough to receive a lot of opportunities through this school, including internships, a major and two minors with a small environment for all that doesn't make you feel lost in the mix, and the Honors Program. However, while I could continue to preach the aspects that I believe to be good ones, remember that the decision is your own. Truly, a click with the right school will happen, and if you don't get that through Buffalo State, make sure it is because it's not what you want, not because it's what someone else told you you don't want.

[MikeC]

If you're a potential student or parent seeing this post, remember that this is hearsay. Buffalo State College was my first choice, for reasons that were good to me. I've been blessed enough to receive a lot of opportunities through this school, including internships, a major and two minors with a small environment for all that doesn't make you feel lost in the mix, and the Honors Program. However, while I could continue to preach the aspects that I believe to be good ones, remember that the decision is your own. Truly, a click with the right school will happen, and if you don't get that through Buffalo State, make sure it is because it's not what you want, not because it's what someone else told you you don't want.

Well said.

[Student Ambassad...]

Well said.

Thank you!

[Guest_medyum_*]

i am a transfer student at buffalo state and i m happy to be here

[stevecase]

Im a transfer student as well and so far Buff State is a lot better them my former community college

[Teresa90]

I hope that this isn't just a paid post because I was planning to study in Buffalo State.

i'm a junior and i hate it. freshman and sophmores are obligated to live on campus in crowded housing three to a room. they are not allowed to have cars on campus and the buses stop running after a certain hour leaving people to rely on cabs and walking, which is dangerous because we have an open campus. insanity fit test and even when they do get a car, the parking situation is atrocious with the construction they have the nerve to be doing during the school year which causes congestion trying to drive and even trying to walk to class ( ask the school administration why they were doing construction right in the middle of the main court between the food court, library, and all the rest of the classroom buildings and dorms) and keeps people up at night. the police have no regard for the students at all except to hand out parking tickets. the food court closes at 11 pm leaving people to their own devices to get food after a certain hour, and buffalo just sucks in general. besides the fact that the services are horrible here in general. the advisors suck, the departments are small, the school has no influence or prestige, and the career center sucks, which in a depressed economy is scary. how many career fairs do they host at this school, as opposed to other schools that host them all the time? this is how people end up racking up student loan debt and a degree without a decent paying job to show for it. find somewhere else to send your kids. seriously.

[Sihony]

I agree that the construction, parking issues, and dorming problems are frustrating. However, I think there are going to be problems at any school. This is more of a reflection of the state of New York's economy than Buffalo State specifically. i am a transfer student at buffalo state and i m happy to be here.

lock replacement