Every once in a while, the question will come up about “what they’re saying over at Stony Brook Sucks.” And when the Princeton Review bashed us in this year’s book, we got some raised eyebrows. And if you listen to some of the posters over at College Confidential, you’d think we were running a penal colony.
The success of a university rests on its students… and our students are really, really impressive. Impressive enough, I think, that they’re motivated enough to stand up for things they believe in, and to raise their voices against things they think are crap. You can say all you want about tripling in the residence halls, and the (allegedly) high food prices – although they seem to be more reasonable this year, maybe it’s just an illusion – and the way our student government can’t seem to get out of their own way sometimes. Stony Brook is in the middle of a remarkable run of success. Our incoming students are more impressive than ever, and most importantly, they’re staying – in droves.
Seriously… if things were really as bad as the sites say they are… would 90% of our freshmen – more than the national average – have returned this year? Would our continuing students have chosen to stay on campus rather than commute or move home in record numbers this season? Doubtful.
Part of the problem with being as big as we are – 15,000 students – is that we’re an easy target. Guess what? We have bureaucracy. We’re a public research institution; you’ll find the same issues at any campus like ours across the country. And even though 90% of our students did stay for sophomore year this year, that’s still a chunk of a few hundred who did not – and those students are more than happy to share their horror stories.
But what of the students who stayed? And the ones who love it here, and are successful? Those stories are certainly out there – just click through our site and look at the remarkable stories around campus.
Honestly? I love these sites. Stony Brook Sucks is one of the sites I visit on a regular basis, both for a good laugh and to see what a very small segment of our population is railing on. So no, we’re not afraid of what our students have to say… it’s great that they’re out there, and vocal, and learning what it takes to make a difference.
A few things:
-37-38% is the 4 yr. graduation rate
-Many people transfer their second year
-studentsreview.com
-Princeton Review didn’t trash the school, the students who took the survey did. People often fail to realize that’s how Princeton Review rankings work.
-Stony Brook’s problem is that they always throw out good statistics and say “See we’re doing well! See!” And think that somehow makes up for their horribly run system, and so they really shouldn’t worry about changing much.