Stony Brook University (StudentsReview) - College Reviews Graduate Student Opinion school Ranking, Reviews and Comments by Graduate Students

Total Grad Surveys	13
Females	5
Males	8
Avg years at University	2.5

Research Quality	A- (8.4)
Research Availability	B- (6.2)
Research Funding	C (4.4)
Graduate Politics	C (4.4)
Not Errand Runners	B- (5.9)
Degree Completion	B (6.9)
Alternative pay [ta/gsi]	B- (6.2)
Sufficient Pay	C+ (5.2)
Competitiveness	B- (6.1)
Education Quality	B+ (7.4)
Faculty Accessibility	C+ (5.6)
Useful Research	B+ (7.8)

"Individual" treatment	C+ (5.6)
Friendliness	B- (6.0)
Safety	B (6.9)
Campus Beauty	C+ (5.3)
Campus Maintenance	B- (6.1)
University Spending	C+ (5.3)

Extracurriculars	B (7.3)
Scholastic Success	B (7.2)
Surrounding City	B (6.7)
Social Life/ Environment	B- (5.8)

Research FundingC

Research QualityA-

“Strap in because this is going to beOct 27 2020Neuroscience/Cognitive Science

Strap in because this is going to be detailed.
Stony Brook University changed my life for the worse and made me question my validity as a student,and for that I will never forgive them. I'm an MS student and I will not continue here for PhD.

Like most others here, I'll start with the positives: the university and programs are world renowned. There's a lot of good research going on and many labs worth working in for grads and undergrads. I eventually developed a great relationship with my PI and I'll be leaving with a great thesis. The campus is pretty, lots of trees, the buildings look great on the outside.

The negatives, of which there are MANY:

Before I even talk about the academics and the student relationships, let me tell you about the fucking dorms. They're trash. I lived in graduate student housing before they kicked us out with 48 hour notice during a pandemic. The first day I moved in, there were bugs (dead and alive) everywhere in the bathroom. Pretty shitty to move across the state only to find a filthy living space. The stove was so whacked up that I couldn't keep anything horizontal on it long enough to cook. 1 month into living there, my bathroom ceiling caved in. There was drywall in the bathtub and a giant hole in the ceiling. They didn't fix it for 3 MONTHS. I was paying $900 a month to live in this shared hellhole of a place. There was a constant stream of crickets coming into my room (they can jump 3 ft into the air). I once found roaches on my bed. It was literal hell. How are you supposed to focus on work and studying if you're dealing with this shit the whole time?

Getting groceries was not fun either. Only the weekend buses are free and you have to take them to the mall and carry your groceries back on the bus for hours. There's no shuttle service available. The campus buses are one-way loops that are mind numbingly inconvenient. If you don't have a car, don't go to Stonybrook. The RAs take advantage of international students who are not well versed with American/SUNY University rules. A few friends of mine got put on academic probation with an academic integrity strike on their transcript because someone complained they were "making noise" at 10 pm on a SATURDAY. What kind of fucked system gives RAs the power to put academic integrity accusations on grad student transcripts? Wtf?!

International students are all so fucking lost, we float across campus like stressed out ghosts looking for directions. We pay so much money in "international fees" and we get anxiety and mistreatment in return. Not just from administration but also from our fellow students. Also if you're not white and you go off-campus to Stonybrook village, prepare for the racism. I got followed around an entire museum by a security guard. First of all, racist pos. Secondly, wtf am I going to steal from a carriage museum? A giant wheel? Dumbass mf.

Speaking of off-campus life as a grad student, there isn't much. Port jeff is pretty much it, it's not terrible, it's not amazing. There's some stuff to do if you're willing to spend money. Slurp is a great ramen place on Port jeff. Go to Patchogue for bar hopping.

Let's talk academics:

The quality of education at Stonybrook is confusing to explain. The material being taught is vast and interesting and rigorous. The teaching philosophy at this university is TRASH. They have repeatedly valued quantity over quality. The grad classes are hard to pass. I graduated undergrad (in a SUNY school) with 2 majors, 2 minors all stem, and honors. I still struggled. The academic philosophy is not 'hey I'm going to learn something today!'. It's more like "I should already know this before going to class". And that's a shit philosophy. Extremely counterproductive. The competition is cutthroat and students will often keep information from other students. If you're a grad student, watch out for that imposter syndrome.

In defense of the TAs that keep getting mentioned in other reviews:

Again, Stonybrook values quantity over quality. "Far beyond". More like far beyond up your own ass. Im TAing for a bio class that has 900 students. Does that make any sense to you? We have multiple TAs and graders and we're expected to standardize grading across all student groups. That's TOO MANY STUDENTS. The professors and students alike seem to forget that we have labs and classes and midterms and finals and papers and theses too! We're not just teaching so when they change the syllabus and rules constantly, it's impossible for TAs to keep up. Just so y'all know, we barely get any useful guidance on how to teach. We know you're having a hard time, we are too. A lot us don't even come from the right background to teach some of these intro bio classes. But once you're placed in a position, you're not allowed to change. They don't give us ANY freedom to teach the way we want.

I have worked for Undergraduate biology at Stonybrook for 2 years. I have NEVER gotten paid on time. It's October rn and I haven't gotten paid a single penny since August. They are disrespectful, disorganized and horrible to work for. This is easily the worst department I've ever worked for. The pay isn't even good, but you don't have options. I got treated better at my Starbucks job.

In summary, if you're willing to hole up in your awful dorm or fork up the cash to pay for expensive off campus housing and get a car, and if you're willing to sacrifice your mental health for an education from a "well renowned" program, Stonybrook is probably tolerable to you. Stonybrook made my anxiety and depression worsen 10x, it made me question myself and my capabilities and it will eventually spit me out, tired and haggard but with great research experience, an interesting thesis and a degree worth nothing.

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Recommended: The Scoop on State Schools

“Almost all the students in my mba programFeb 19 2018Business - Management and Administration

Almost all the students in my mba program spoke English as a third language, which made group intolerable and a waste of time. It's too bad because the professors are good, as well as a lot of the other options. But this language issue cancels out all the benefits. Let's just say two of my 3 professors said they dumb down the material so students can understand. Oh, and the ESL students (who took up more than 50% of the classes) use Google translate for all their assignments. They told me. Too bad, it's so inexpensive, but yet, not worth it at all.

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Aug 02 2016Computer Science

“Do not come here :)Faculty is worse than you could imagine, save your life and runaway from here.

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“The above review is certainly not reflective ofMar 15 2015Unknown

The above review is certainly not reflective of all of Stony Brook. However, the process of completing my thesis was a nightmare. Professors were less than useless, often provided conflicting information, and did not care for the students. In one class every student failed, except for the professor's graduate students (nepotism, anyone?).

The graduate school administration and has made put tremendous effort into making the graduation process horrific.

Please save yourselves and avoid this school at all costs!

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“So much is changingJul 09 2011Perfomance Arts

So much is changing in our major right now, and much information about our program is secretive and rumors. Please, just give us the facts.

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“I did my MBA from Stony Brook, gradutedDec 05 2008Business - Management and Administration

I did my MBA from Stony Brook, graduted in dec 2007 with 3.8 GPA. I was an international graduate student but I lived in US(west coast) more than 5 years. This is my second master degree(one was much better from INDIA). The day I got my admission letter to my degree certificate( which i got after an year of my graduation), everytime I was the victim for SUNY's bureacracy.I could have tolerate all other things but the most furious is they wote my name incorrect on my degree certificate.After calling them/emailing them no proper action was taken till dec 2008. and finally I got my corrected certificate after 1 year. I am going to SUE the university , as it cost me my job in this recession

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“The average yearly salaryMar 25 2008Biology

The average yearly salary in NY state is about $46K. As a grad student, you will make less than a third of that figure. That is how much this university values those that teach its undergraduates.

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“Sometimes students have many offers to graduate programsJan 24 2006Psychology

Sometimes students have many offers to graduate programs and have to choose. Some things that may be important may not be obvious. If you are a female or black applying to clinical psychology programs look at the faculty. How many of the FULL TIME TENURED CLINICAL faculty are black or female? What is the proportion of males to females and whites to individuals of color? Do these ratios match the ratios for the department and the university? If not, how is that explained? How many women and black faculty have been tenured in the past decade or two or three? Are excuses or are you told that areas outside clinical or adjuncts fill those needs? Do the male white faculty claim to be sensitive to these issues and claim they cover any multi-cultural needs? Do they rely on films and outside speakers to fill the need? Have there been a string of female junior faculty who have left? What about junior faculty of color? How are the women in the clinical area treated? How are faculty from different minority groups and cultural backgrounds treated? Have they been marginalized? Do the faculty say things that downgrade the achievements or activities of the female faculty or of the African American faculty? Do they discourage students from working with them? How many graduate students do the tenured women and African American faculty have working with them? What excuses are given if things do not look right? What do the tenured African American faculty and women say about their experiences there? These questions should be asked by all students applying to any program since the answers will give you some insight into the values of the program, the mentality of the faculty and how you may be treated in the future if you choose to attend that program.

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“Stony Brook is large and impersonalNov 16 2004Computer Science

Stony Brook is large and impersonal. The students are very distant and have their own groups. If you're looking for a good personal experience in grad school, look for a professor whose students have obvious convivial spirit. I found a great lab and am very happy, but most of the labs in my department would have led to a quite different experience.

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“I received my undergraduate education at the CooperJun 15 2004Electrical Engineering

I received my undergraduate education at the Cooper Union in 2001 with a BS in electrical engineering. I went to SUNYSB for a MS degree in the spring of 2004 because it was only one of two schools to have accepted me, the other one being Case Western Reserve, which was too expensive for my budget. SUNYSB is actually quite good as far as a university is concerned. There are many recreational facilities such as many tennis courts, a swimming pool and two gyms as well as a dance studio (where you can take free lessons) and an indoor racquet ball court and many indoor basketball courts; and these are generally not crowded because people don't go to them or don't know about them. There is also a multitude of clubs, everything from crew and equestrain to Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu (if you have the grades to get in). Almost all the grad students are foreign students, most of whom are from mainland China (Electrical Engineering, PhD) or Taiwan (EE-MS). The computer science dept is dominated by Indians. There are about only three Americans in the electrical Eng. dept. There are three dormitories on campus. Chapin is cheap ($450 for single room) and is quite dirty. Trash is often left out on the roads for cars to run over. Schomburg is clean but expensive ($650, single room only) and West Apt is very expensive but brand new ($750/month). Safety is not an issue and we often slept with our dormroom doors wide open(university police is quite effective actually). The cafeterias here are very expensive and the quality of food is generally poor. Every graduate dorm has a stove and you can cook - almost everyone does. You will also need a car to get around LI. The professors are okay, although the best ones are young, and I know one who got fired but is one of the best I've ever had in all my years as a student. The dept. is quite small, but the grad division isn't too bureaucratic. With all factors being considered, SUNUSB is not bad compared to many other schools. The town of Stony Brook is a harbor town and is pretty wealthy. If you like a seaside environment, this is a pretty good place to be as the beaches and estuaries are abundant here and fishing has been a way of life for centuries.

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“My experience in the Art department at StonyDec 10 2002Art & Design Department

My experience in the Art department at Stony Brook has been, on the whole, a forgettable one. After accepting the invitation to study here, I was told at orientation that the professor with whom most of the students had hoped to work would be leaving as of that semester. After the loss of this professor -- who was really the only active faculty member teaching in the department's self-proclaimed "area of concentration" -- another faculty member was not hired to take the position for two years. The faculty members that are left act as if any assistance they give you should be considered a personal favor (whether this is due to the fact that they do not work in your field, or because they are too absorbed in their own work and departmental politics to care is difficult to say).

Aside from these glaring deficiencies, the department also utilizes its teaching assistants in questionable ways. Although the contract that graduate students sign upon entering the program states that as a TA students will only be asked to assist in the teaching of one class, upon arrival the graduate director assigns them a second job -- from filing slides to acting as a faculty member's Research Assistant. (It should be noted that RA's at the University are paid more than TA's, but the department offers up the services of its graduate students "under the table" as an incentive program to keep faculty members from taking jobs elsewhere.)This list of complaints could be much, much longer.

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Aug 30 2002Education

“The health Medical Center is very good. The faculty is helpful and the students are good.

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“University is very dynamicAug 30 2002Chemistry

University is very dynamic in many ways. Look at www.usnews.com and stony brook got a well score of 3.3 in reputation score. Stony is a star among the suny schools.

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“Stony Brook Dental School is full of red-tapeOct 21 2001PreDent and Dentistry

Stony Brook Dental School is full of red-tape and undedicated teachers who are there only to teach for the sake of putting it on their resume as to benefit their own private practice.

Most of the older teachers here are arrogant, condescending and just plain BAD teachers who can't teach even if their life depended on it; they are lazy and boring. The school has had a couple of law suits from attending dental students because of the unfair treatment and neglect by the professors; the sad thing is the professors are untouchable b/c of the tenure they get from the state of NY after working there for a certain amount of years (10?). There are always at least 2-3 students getting left back to finish the program in 5 years rather than the normal 4.

To survive: When the professors say jump, you must say how high?
Students here are treated like children rather than collegues; by the professors, by the administrators, by the secretaries/cashiers at the clinic, by almost everyone.

Clinically, we have some damn good instructors (most of good ones happen to be young). It's too bad these instructors don't teach full-time; we have too many old-farts who don't give a damn about the students teaching; get them off tenure!

Students, depending on which year can be very competitive. Every man and woman for his/herself. Little chemistry among students.

If you are a NY State resident and can't afford Columbia, go to Buffalo. It is worth it b/c you will come out of that program with dignity. It's better to go to Columbia or Buffalo instead. Notice how I left out NYU. We're still better than NYU.

I am willing to bet that less than 10% of students graduating from this school ever donate or go out of their way for this school once they graduate. Everyone itches to get out and most never look back. Look at me, I've graduated and am going out of my way to bad mouth my alma mater; why? b/c I not proud of where I graduated from and don't wish what my classmates and I went through for 4 years.

Just my humble opinion.

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