What are your chances of acceptance?

Your chance of acceptance
Duke University
Duke University
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 UCLA
UCLA
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Your chancing factors
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
1.0
4.0
SAT: 720 math
200
800
| 800 verbal
200
800

Extracurriculars

Low accuracy (4 of 18 factors)

Guide to the SUNY Schools + Complete List

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What’s Covered:

 

The SUNY schools are a public university system in the state of New York (SUNY stands for “State University of New York”). It’s the largest comprehensive school system in the country and spans community colleges, universities, and graduate schools. 

 

For New York residents, this network of schools offers a quality education for a fraction of the price you might pay to attend a private institution. In this post, we’ll go over the unique aspects of the SUNY system and the admissions stats for the SUNY schools. 

 

What Are the SUNY Schools?

 

The SUNY schools offer a wide variety of majors and programs with over 7,000 degree and certificate programs. Of the 64 SUNY schools, 25 offer 4-year bachelor degree programs. We’ll be focusing on these 25 schools in this post.

 

SUNY colleges vary in size, from schools like SUNY Maritime with 1,500 students to Stony Brook University with 17,500 students, but most SUNYs are on the smaller side. Located both in rural and urban areas, the SUNYs span across New York State. 


Aside from the 4-year colleges, some SUNYs offer 2-year programs like Erie Community College, Nassau Community College, and Finger Lakes Community College. The SUNY system also includes upper division colleges, which are schools you can transfer to as a junior or senior, if you were previously at a community college. For example, SUNY Upstate Medical University and SUNY Downstate Medical Center give students this option. 

 

Some SUNYs like the Fashion Institute of Technology are highly specialized, if you are looking to enter a specific field like fashion. Finally, there are five statutory colleges, which are schools that receive funding from the state but are run by private colleges. These are located at Cornell University and at Alfred University.

 

A big benefit of attending a SUNY school is that they are more affordable than attending a private university, especially if you live in New York. The typical in-state tuition for baccalaureate programs is $7,070 and the tuition for out-of-state students is $16,980 for the 2020-2021 school year.

 

How to Apply to the SUNY Schools

 

1. Decide which SUNY schools you want to apply to. You can apply to multiple campuses using a single application. 

 

2. Create an account with applySUNY and fill out the general application. Many SUNY schools are also on the Common App; if you’re already using the Common App for other schools, feel free to continue using it to save time.

 

3. Pay the application fee. There’s a $50 fee for each campus you select. 

 

4. After you submit your application, print and give the School Counselor Form to your high school counselor to complete. If you’re using the Common App, your counselor will already be able to fill out this info online.

 

5. Submit any supplemental applications. Some campuses require or recommend a supplemental application, which may include an essay question. If you’re using the Common App, the supplemental questions will likely be part of the application.

 

6. Consider applying to SUNY’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), that provides access, academic support and financial aid. You can indicate your interest on the regular SUNY application. Note: you cannot apply early decision and to the EOP program. 

 

Deadlines

 

There is no official deadline for applying regular decision. However, we recommend you apply in the fall months because applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Once a program is full, no more applications will be accepted. 

 

Early decision is binding for SUNY schools but only only a handful offer this option: Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) (December 1), Geneseo (November 15), Maritime (November 1).

 

Early Action is a non-binding early application program for fall freshman. The deadline is November 15. If accepted, you must finalize your enrollment by May 1. The following schools offer early action: 

 

  • Albany
  • NYS College of Ceramics at Alfred University (November 1)
  • Binghamton (November 1)
  • University at Buffalo
  • Cortland
  • New Paltz
  • Old Westbury
  • Oneonta
  • Oswego
  • Purchase (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences only)
  • SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

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List of the SUNY Schools with Baccalaureate Programs

 

School

Location

Acceptance Rate

Enrollment 

University at Albany

Albany

52%

13,500

Alfred State College

Southeast of Buffalo 

63%

3,700

Binghamton University

Binghamton

40%

14,000

SUNY Brockport

Near Rochester

53%

7,000

Buffalo State College

Buffalo 

80%

8,339

University at Buffalo

Buffalo and Amherst

61%

8,000

SUNY Canton

North of the Adirondack Foothills

78%

3,200

SUNY Cobleskill

West of Albany

77%

2,200

SUNY Cortland

South of Syracuse

44%

6,200

SUNY Delhi

West of Albany

64%

3,100

Empire State College

Onsite Locations Across NYS 

63%

9,095

SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Syracuse

61%

1,800

SUNY Farmingdale

Long Island

55%

9,916

SUNY Fredonia

Southwest of Buffalo

76%

4,400

SUNY Geneseo

Finger Lakes Region 

65%

5,500

SUNY Maritime

Throggs Neck Peninsula

72%

1,500

Morrisville State College

Center of NYS

72%

2,900

SUNY New Paltz

Hudson River Valley

45%

6,807

SUNY Old Westbury

Long Island

78%

4,700

SUNY Oneonta

West of Albany

51%

6,000

SUNY Oswego

NW of Syracuse

54%

7,000

SUNY Plattsburgh

Lake Champlain

54%

5,200

SUNY Potsdam

North of Adirondack Foothills

64%

3,200

SUNY Purchase

Harrison

65%

4,100

Stony Brook University

Long Island

42%

17,500

SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Utica and Albany

65%

2,200

 

What Are Your Chances of Acceptance?

 

As you can see, the SUNY schools are diverse in size and location. They also differ in the types of academic programs they offer. Some are more competitive than others, with Binghamton and Stony Brook as the most prestigious. 

 

To better understand your chances of acceptance, try out our free admissions calculator. After creating a profile, input your grades, test scores, and extracurriculars, and we’ll estimate your odds of acceptance. This tool will help you create a school list and define your college admissions strategy.

 


Short Bio
Leonie Rauls is 2018 grad of Amherst College with a degree in political science and Spanish. She is a journalist and has lived in Bogotá covering politics in Latin America. In her spare time, she loves to run and try out new recipes.