Long Island College Visit
 

My daughter and I will be visiting colleges in the NYC area this summer. Most of the schools she wants to look at are on Long Island and in Connecticut. We will be flying into MacArthur Airport on Long Island. Do you have suggestions for hotels? We want to be fairly close to Stony Brook, the Port Jefferson Ferry and the Ronkonkoma RR Station. I have found a Radisson near the airport, but have found some negative reviews of the property. Any suggestions for hotels? restaurants that won't break the bank? attractions besides visiting various college campuses? Always find great help and advice here.

As far as attractions. So many great ones on Long Island. Visit the wineries out on the North Fork. Check out the Hamptons (quaint villages, harbors and beaches) if the weather is nice or even take a trek out to Montauk. Cold Spring Harbor is great little town with some history. Sagamore Hill (Teddy Roosevelt's old mansion home) is beautiful. Lot's of neat things. Enjoy.

There is a pretty new hotel right across from the airport that looks very nice but I can't remember which chain it is. I think it's this La Quinta.
http://www.lq.com/lq/properties/prop...otel-amenities

Check reviews on tripadvisor.

That said, it's not particularly close to Stony Brook. If you stay in Port Jefferson, that's pretty close to Stony Brook--only 15 mins. away. What other LI school are you visiting? Why do you mention the Ronkonkoma RR? You are renting a car, yes?

We will be taking the train into Manhattan a couple times so want to be close to a Long Island Railroad station. I mentioned Ronkonkoma since it is close to the airport.
Other schools we will be visiting are Adelphi and Hofstra on LI. We will also take the ferry to Bridgeport, CT and visit schools in CT.
We will have a car so we can take a drive out to Montauk, but don't want to drive in Manhattan.
Thanks for the advice on using TripAdvisor.

You're looking at a very broad range of schools there. Is geography the only limitation? What major or area of study is your daughter interested in?

Stony Brook, while a state university, has a history of academic excellence and a very broad range of offerings. Hofstra, while having a couple of good departements, has much more the feel of a commuter school - very social and not very rigorous academically. And Adelphi was on the point of losing accreditation not long ago - I would really hesitate to spend any amount of money on an "education" there.

Naturally you can get a better or worse education at many schools - a large part is up to the wishes and determination of the student. But while some schools offer a lot that's good and some mediocre - there are many that are the other way around.

Try:
Dandords in Port Jefferson
Hamlet Windwatch in Islandia/Hauppuage
I think (it might be listed unter a Hyatt property now)

A littler more west is the Smithtown Sheraton- nice hotel.... close to experssway

As far as attractions go... depends on the time of the year... I think you said summer so I suggest:

Heading out east to spend a day in the vinyards and or Hamptons- maybe even take a ferry ride over to Fire Island.

There are outlets out in Riverhead

If you will be further west towards Nassau County Jones Beach is a great beach to visit

nytraveler,

Thanks for the heads up about Adelphi. She is interested in a liberal arts school with possible majors in art history or photography.
Geography isn't a limitation, the 3 schools I mentioned are on LI. We are also taking the ferry from Port Jefferson to Bridgeport to visit schools in Connecticut.
I've heard many great things about Stony Brook and that is her first choice before our visit. Hofstra and Adelphi are visits we may take "since we are on Long Island" but aren't necessarily her first choices in schools.
Any other good schools in the NYC area that you might suggest?

NYU, the New School and Columbia, all in Manhattan are probably the best art schools in the country. They're very competetive. This article will be interesting for you.
http://www.artschoolsdigital.com/art...rt_schools.php

Cooper Union and Pratt are other options for photography.

Thanks for all the help. Anyone else have an opinion?

Besides Stony Brook, what other SUNY campuses would be worth a look?

What liberal arts colleges would you recommend in the NYC area? This can be in a 75-100 mile radius from NYC. Not being from the area, it is helpful for any recommendations. I appreciate the post about Adelphi almost losing its accreditation. We will not be visiting that campus now. Thanks for all who have helped thus far.

Don;t know your daughters academics - but I would do some in-depth work with her college counselor to focus somewhat better. (S/he should be able to give you an idea of which schools are reaches for her and which are no brainers. Adelphi is the latter for everyone - they're practically paying people to come.)

Agree that even if it's a reach she should try for at least one of the major schools in the city that has a strong program in fine arts.

And keep in mind that with this major she needs easy access to the city - since a lot of courses will require her to visit city museums and galleries on a regular basis - even if she wouldn;t be doing this anyway given her intrests. (I was a history major and took a coupleof art history courses to have something light to balance all the reading courses - and even intro courses required museum/gallery visits to do papers.)

Her academics are at the top of her class with a very good ACT score. She also has a SAT score in the 70 %tile. Her strength is in fine arts, English, writing and literature. She has expressed interest in NYU but the cost is a barrier. She would need a lot of financial aid and scholarships. Our income would dictate we won't be eligible for much financial aid.
She has looked at schools on their websites and we are receiving information in the mail.
What is your opinion of Wagner College on Staten Island?

Have you looked into Swarthmore in Philadelphia? Only an hour from NYC, and a very strong traditonal liberal arts college, heavy on the writing and academic standards.

They seem to give a lot of both merit and need scholarships.

My best friends daughter is a freshman here and we've all been impressed.

Have you considered Fordham U - their Lincoln Center campus has liberal arts and a friends daughter is an Art History major there and has enjoyed the academics, living in the city, and all the architecture/museums/ etc at her doorstep.
She has also had some great summer jobs and internships during breaks while there, she is now a junior.

As well as looking into local attractions, when looking with my kids we always paid attention to campus activities, rate of boarders vs. commuters, availability of public transportation to nearby places of interest as well as getting home, and after the tour, spend some time on our own in the dining halls, student centers, dorms, and taking any available campus newspapers home to read, and checking out what type of activities are on the bulletin boards, etc which can give you a feel for the pulse of the campus.

The main difference we found between most city schools vs. those located outside of a city was how the campus is used - in the sense that in a city school the city becomes an extension of the campus, which means the on campus activities are sometimes less popular b/c they have a city at their doorstep vs. those campuses more removed where those on campus activities become even more important so there are choices for weekends.

Many of these things depend on personal preferences, and I don't know if Hofstra has changed but when my cousin was there six years ago there was a significant number of commuting students, so she may want to look into those numbers and pay attention when on campus - some refer to them as 'suitcase schools' too, where if many come from the surrounding area, and how many of them go home for weekends even if they don't commute daily.

My neighbors daughter is at the New School and loves it, but with many city schools you also have to ask what their offering is for promised on campus housing or if after freshmen or sophomore year they are mostly all in apartments on their own, if this matters to you personally or financially.
She loves this school, but it is not for everyone, - (she feels she has far more reading than many of her other college friends, not that that is a bad thing) but found many great part time paying jobs related to her field thru the school and a full time job now, with her graduation on the horizon this spring, -

My daughers friend graduated Connecticut College two years ago as an Art History major, - I don't know how many CT schools are on your radar, and the requirements change sometimes yearly, but you may want to take a look at it - it's a lovely campus, it was one of the schools my daughter rec'd an acceptance to - the admissions dept was very forthcoming with her about her interests/ majors and what that would mean for her at the school - it didn't end up being the place for her, but I found them very forthcoming about many things that we found some others skirted around.

Career counseling, internship programs, job networking, are all important factors too, in my opinion.

As far as her majors, in many colleges if they do not have a photography specialty, it will likely be a minor or available through the arts department but another important question for you to ask them is how readily available are these courses to a non-Art major - sometimes they are difficult to get into if it isn't your major, if you haven't had some required art courses first (studio art, etc) - this is certainly not true of all colleges, but it is always worth asking how the cross over works when you are interested in either a double major / a major and a minor/ or just some courses as electives for 'interest only' - what you don't want her to do is pick a school assuming she can select courses from various areas only to find they are 'reserved' for those studying it as a major and open to few as electives so to speak.

VikingCool - I would also say to look at her list of schools regarding financial aid/scholarships in relation to her acceptance possibilities - most kids end up with a list that includes some from the three categories; reach schools, possibles, likelies.
Sometimes if there is a school that falls into the likely category, where she would be, for them, in the upper echelon of their criteria, you can be surprised what the school might offer her to choose them - when my son applied one of his likely schools, which with his scores, grades, etc put him at the higher end of what they like to attract , offered him with his acceptance letter some fairly significant scholarship money for each year - he did not end up choosing there for other reasons, although the school would have served him well , had his major and many of the extra curricular he would have wanted - but whatever happens and wherever she chooses, if there are any offerings, do not be shy about telling one school you are weighing your options and what you are being offered elsewhere, many times they up their offer to attract such a student. -

there are many wonderful schools out there, and at most of them, if they have solid professors and academics and fit the bill, even if not what some would consider an A list school, you can receive a wonderful education b/c as someone said, much of it is what you put into it.

escargot,

Thanks for your post. Fordham is on her radar. We are planning on visiting a couple of schools in New Haven, Southern Conn. State and Albertus Magnus. We may now take a closer look at Conn. College. Thanks again for your advice.

How about SUNY-New Paltz or SUNY-Purchase? Any opinions about Iona or Wagner?

Moving to other states now...how about Rutgers? Or Liberal Arts schools in Jersey and Massachusetts?

escargot & nytraveler,

Thanks for your great advice....any other schools you like that an art history major should take a look at?

mclaurie,

The La Quinta looks good. Thanks.

LongIslandGirl,

Thanks for your advice, but couldn't find anything about Dandords.

Other schools we are talking about....your opinions of Rutgers, Wagner and Iona?

Iona is paying kids to sign up they're so desperate. Know nothing about Wagner. (Have you looked all of these schools up in the standard references? - it sounds like you're sort of picking at random - some of these schools offer remedial reading!.)

I can tell you from experience that there are a lot of schools out there desperate to get kids with decent academics. Make sure she has all her questions set for the interviews/discussions. (When one school - one of my maybes asked what it would take to get me to go there I crosed them off the list.)

Do look into all the loan and scholarship opportunites. Many schools and organizations offer things you would never imagine - and IMHO it's really worth the $ to go to the right school for you. this is one of the areas not to skimp (keep driving an old clunker instead - and encourage your daughter to work - I did at least one job during the year while in school - and 2 in the summer - but it's worth it to get the education that's right for her. I mean - it is the rest of her life.)

I highly recommend the Three Village Inn in Stony Brook! You will be so happy you stayed here.... beautiful property, any rooms or cottages are perfect, walking distance to good food and water, enjoy your stay!

www.3vi.com

I am an experienced college counselor. It would be in your best interest to buy college handbooks, not just surf travel websites, for information about colleges. Try the Fiske Guide to Colleges by Edward Fiske, and look up each school's website for further information. Just throwing out names of schools is not going to help; we don't even know your daughter, her grades, what courses she has taken, her standardized test scores, extracurricular activities, and recommendations. There is so much that goes into the college admissions process and it would be best if you also check out college handbooks. Good luck.

I'm just asking about schools that my daughter has looked at online and has sent inquiries to in the NYC area. We are not picking them at random. If my memory serves me correctly, the schools I have asked about have art history majors.
I'm in education so I know the procedure in looking for a college. My thing on here is to get opinions from people who live in the area and may know the schools.
I really appreciate the information given about Adelphi and Hofstra. We won't be visiting those schools now. This is the type of information for which I am seeking.
Abby43, thank you for the advice on the Fiske Guide. We will check our local bookstore for a copy.

I think LI Girl was referring to Danford's http://www.danfords.com/

have u looked into C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University?

You mentioned SUNY-Purchase. It was on my daughter's lists when we did a college trip in 2005.

On paper and website, it looked terrific, and it seemed to have a good program in her major interest.

Once there though, it seemed like a totally different school. It is WAAAY out in the boonies- from White Plains it was about a half hour cab ride, and there didn't seem to be any small college type places other than one pizza shop in the immediate vicinity.

Despite having an appointment for a tour, no one showed up to lead us, and the admin office couldn't think of any way to accomodate us other than to hand us a map. We walked around on our own, and the condition of the campus - cracked walkways, broken buildings, many light fixtures not working (it was a dark winter day), really turned us off. Back at the admissions office, it took 45 minutes for a called cab to arrive.

It was a good lesson in the value of personally visiting a school, and not putting a lot of faith in the glossy website!

Thanks for the info about SUNY-Purchase. C.W. Post, if memory serves, didn't have the major field of study my daughter wants.

Where are you from VikingCool? I ask b/c there are in and out of state tuitions at many of these schools and some would like to have some diversity from other areas of the country so might be more apt to provide financial aid to a student from elsewhere in the country.

You asked about Wagner. I'd never heard of it but someone asked about it on another travel board. In that discussion, the student in question was interested in theater and Wagner evidently has a strong theater arts program. The campus is evidently beautiful (rated the country's most beautiful by the Princeton Review's 2005 college guidebook,). It was also mentioned that an out of state student might get rewarded with financial assistance.

Not sure if you picked the LI schools b/c of their proximity to NYC, but you should know Stony Brook, while a good school, is not that close to NYC. It's almost 2 hrs. on the train.

There are some smaller schools in Manhattan like Manhattanville and Marymount that might be worth checking. I hope you looked at the link I gave above above. I assume you know about the US News guide on colleges?
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/col...ndex_brief.php

As to where to stay on Long Island, it really depends on what you plan to do. I think you'll now only be visiting Stony Brook on Long Island. If that's the case and you also plan to go into Manhattan, the La Quinta is slightly closer to Manhattan and gets very good reviews on tripadvisor
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

It would be about a 30-40 drive from there to Stony Brook. (check mapquest.com for directions) The area around the La Quinta is not so attractive, sort of generic strip malls etc. but there are some restaurants and diners nearby and a mid sized shopping center. It's an ok area.

Danford's in Port Jefferson sits on the water and looks a lot more picturesque but the reviews are decidedly mixed. I gather it depends on which room you get and in which building. I've actually eaten lunch there and it's fine. The town of Port Jefferson is sort of cute and you'd certainly be well located for taking the ferry across to Ct.

But it seems to me there are many more schools in Manhattan (and perhaps Wagner in Staten Island) so you might want to stay in Manhattan or certainly closer, if you plan to visit any of those.

As to attractions, Teddy Roosevelt's home, Sagamore Hill, is northwest of Islip, about a 40 min. drive from the airport.
http://www.nps.gov/sahi/index.htm

Old Westbury Gardens is another 30 minutes west of there.
http://www.oldwestburygardens.org/.

Heading east from Stony Brook or Islip, is the east end of Long Island, 2 forks. On the north fork there are vineyards and some discount shopping. (Tanger Outlet Mall in Riverhead). On the south fork are the Hamptons, pretty, historic towns with beautiful beaches.

We are from Nebraska, so of course we have accounted for out of state tuition. Stony Brook is attractive because it has a good academic reputation, has the major my daughter wants to pursue and for a Nebraskan, is close to NYC. A 1-2 hour trip (60-120 miles) is nothing for us, we often drive a couple hours to get to a destination.
Right now the list of schools to visit includes:

Stony Brook
Columbia
NYU
Wagner
So. Connecticut State
Albertus Magnus
Fordham

mclaurie, thanks for your help. The La Quinta Inn will work for us with its location and price. We won't have a lot of time to enjoy the sites with most of our time spent visiting college campuses.
If time permits, we plan to take a drive to Montauk.
The attractions you listed look great. Thanks again.

Any other suggestions?

I don't know when you're planning this visit, but just a heads up that the highways that run the length of Long Island (from NYC to Montauk) are dreadful for traffic during rush hours and on weekends in the summer. Thousands of people head to the beaches both west and east of where you'll be staying. So if you're thinking of taking a drive to Montauk, DON'T do it Fri-Sun during the summer. ;)

The main road to Montauk will take you thru most of the towns in the Hamptons.

We'll be there in July and were planning on driving to Montauk on a Thursday late afternoon, early evening. That would be during rush hour, but we won't be in a big hurry. We'll be glad to take a leisurely drive and stop for a bite to eat once we arrive there.
Thanks again mclaurie!

I can recommend Cyril's on the Napeague stretch, just before you get to Montauk as a nice casual place with good food. There are also dozens of places in the Hampton which would be on the way.

I'm not sure what you expect to see in Montauk, but going late afternoon to arrive in early evening, things like the lighthouse will be closed.

We mostly want to see Montauk because my one of my daughter's favorite movies is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which has a scene in Montauk. If we get to the Lighthouse in time that would be great.
What type of cuisine at Cyril's? Do you have a favorite casual moderately prices seafood restaurant out that direction?

Aside from Fiske, another good college source book is the Insiders guide to College - it is researched and written annually by students (yale) for students, so there is often info in there that is not included in Fiske.

Do not discount a college simply b/c it offers remedial reading: unless it is also a school that is so far below her radar and/or that an inordinate percentage of the kids they take require it - b/c many excellent colleges and universities offer this now for a variety of reasons:

even some of the top schools who look for high grades and scores from applicants, offer remedial reading often for the recruited athletes/etc that may not be up to snuff academically;

b/c unfortunately not every student graduates from their high school with the reading skills they should, but have other talents that make them interesting or exceptional, and need assistance in reading and comprehension and so colleges provide that

b/c many colleges, ones with excellent academic reputations, have begun offering skill centers (almost a standard now), tutoring centers (with professors, TA's, and other students who are proficient in specific areas and usually upperclassmen) and center to help transitioning from high school to college.

b/c many exc schools have in the past ten years or more also included centers for reading - remedial and otherwise - they have centers for dyslexic students, remedial reading, comprehension skills, etc b/c so many kids need this today and in many, many excellent schools they also take kids who need to take their ACTs or SATs untimed b/c of their IEP plans they are on and that does not mean these students can not excel at a school with the right support systems in place -

So all I am saying is do not discount a school without looking into many of these things and more jsut because they offer remedial reading.

Also: If a school asks you what will it take to make you come here - don't just discount that school either. It usually means they want that type of student to increase their standings in those ubiquitous college ranking lists, but that is how many schools (like BU, Elon, Ursinus just to name a few) became better institutions over the years -
UNH for example has many excellent programs and wonderful offerings, my son did not go there, but they offered him an unsolicited scholarship for x amount for 4 yrs and had several discussions with him about how they could get him there - it was a serious consdieration even though it was on his 'safety' side of his list, and he ended up at Colby for other reasons - and the same thing happened w/ my daughter who was seriously consdiering one exc school in CT but ended up at MIddlebury, so do not discount it just b/c they say that - you can tell why they are saying it if you research the school - and if they are trying to attract what they consider students that would not have previously considered them and are offering the academics and activities to go with it as they improve as an educational facility, then it may well work out well for both the school and student. Sometimes kids get more chances being the 'bigger' fish in the smaller sea (ie; often more difficult to be a research assistant, or plum internship in a larger institution w/ more competition in your area and academic range than in a smaller school where you are higher up that academic chain - and if the teachers, offerings, etc would serve her well then it is worth considering.

There are many good schools in B oston that offer Art History majors - I know Tufts offers many programs in conjunction with the Museum of Fine Arts and you are in a another city with many museums and galleries at your fingertips -
also I believe Simmons College has art related majors and some connection with the Museum also, but I am not sure but you could look it up online I am sure. Boston is a great town to go to college in - it is often a 'doable' first city for many college kids, small, easy to navigate, but still a vibrant city with lots to do -

For interview questions, and suggestions, I happen to like the one posted on Skidmore College's web site (another school that might work out well for her, has great programs, beautiful location, and esp in season has many art/dance/theater in the area.
Maybe it is no longer posted there, as I am not sure if they still require an interview, but if it isn't tell me and I have a copy if you want it.
The other school who had a good site (whether you apply there or not) with interview/essay tips was Connecticut College.

I am running to a meeting but if I think of any other schools I will post. I also have a book tha tis exc but it is on my desk at home so when I am back there I will post the name of it for you.

I'm sorry to disagree - but I dont believe any student should be able to graduate from high school - and certainly never be able to enter any university - without being a proficient reader.

Certainly - if some unfortunate students find themselves in this situation there should be special acadamies that help them become more proficient. Or - they migh try to use a junior college to advance their skills.

But someone who doesn;t have the basics should not be admitted to any universirty (athlete or not) and I would certainly never consider any school that was so desperate for students that it did so.

Paying for a university education is a major expense - and I would never spend even a penny on a school that I felt was not sufficiently demanding academically. (It's easy enough to find some no brainer courses at even the best schools.)

As for the OP - really the various university ratings books are the place you should start - not the last thing you look at.

This is like buying a car. You don;t look at what's cute or a nice color. You go to Consumer's Report and Edmund's and the various car rating web sites to see which get the best ratings for reliability, safety, resale value etc to pick those that you want to look at. ONLY THEN do yo look at style. color etc.

It seems that you're really putting the cart before the horse. Choosing a university from their web sites is like buying a car from the auto ads.

I'm not scared away from a school that offers remedial reading. Being in education, I understand that some students have learning disabilities that hamper their ability to read.
Academic rigor is important, but at the same time the school has to "feel right" for my daughter for her to make her choice.
I appreciate the suggested schools and we will be visiting many of them.
I'm not sure if we can make it to Boston, but it does have many fine schools also, some of the best in the country by reputation.

VC, Cyril's is mostly seafood, but I'm reminded that it's a real hangout for late afternoon drinks so might be mobbed. It sits across from the ocean. There's also a famous place near it known as "LUNCH" also called the Lobster Roll. I prefer both the food and the ambiance of Cyril's if it's not a mob scene.

There are also loads of seafood options IN Montauk. Gosman's is the most well known place and sits on the water at the docks. They have expanded and have a rest., a clam bar, an open snackbar etc.
http://www.gosmans.com/

The Surfside Inn on Old Montauk Hway as you come into town is also pretty good and across from the water.