Stony Brook University Top Questions

My classes have ranged from 10-200 people. Teachers have been easily accessible and very helpful for the most part and take their jobs very seriously. The fact that there are so many requirements gets in the way of taking major credits, I think. Mostly though, I think the learning environment is great.

I have classes I love, and I must admit Organic Chemistry is one of them, and mind you I'm not very good at this class. Yet I don't mind working hard and struggling for this class because it has amazing, dedicated, and funny teachers. Being a Biology major, I have to say its tough, its not easy ride here in Stony Brook, but it is worth it. A few classes will be really hard and end up hating, others are annoying yet need to be done, and some you will fall in love with. You get that at any University, so what makes up different. I really don't know, but I'll just describe a few highlights. Our core curriculum allows our students to explore all branches of academia, from sciences, to humanities, to language. We want our students to graduate well rounded. We encourage students to take minors that doesn't have to do with their major, if its purely for interests, its ok! I'm doing that with taking Spanish as my minor. Our education is about preparation, no matter where your career path may take you. And we offer a whole list of opportunities for our students, and resources to explore them.

very hard and demanding which will help us in the long run.

I specifically love taking Africana Studies classes-I find them to be highly interesting and well worth the effort. The professors do an amazing job of educating their students.

Very satisfied with academic status of university, but lack of intriguing social life makes working studiously extremely strenuous (that is, no balance exists)

I am a Biochemistry major in the honors college, so my requirements are different from other people. I am not too fond of the honors college classes, but it would be more enjoyable for someone more interested in liberal arts. For science classes, there are large classes of about 200 or so, which is a problem for some, so chances are that your teacher won't know your name. There is a range of study habits at Stony Brook. Many students study quite frequently, but there are also students who don't study much at all. Science majors often talk of what research they are doing and what exciting discoveries have been made recently, but not everyone is into that sort of stuff.

Classes can be large, more commonly in the lower division level courses. However, many classes are also of a smaller size, where the professors do know their students, this is more common in course which are upper division level courses and especially within the major in which the student is matriculated. The business program is a wonderful program with extremely knowledgeable professors, who are very experienced in the topic they are teaching, and provide knowledge through the education of the course, as well as from their experience, often times, things that are only learned through years of experience.

In my junior year, i finally met prof that would actually get to know me. lectures are ridiculous, there's almost no learning going on there, unless you are teaching yourself. when you get to actual classes about your major is when you finally feel like you're part of a college life. my favorite classes are those that have field trips and hands on activites (labs etc). it's so much easier to learn then looking at some stuffy guys notes from 30 years ago. most of the time, in smaller classrooms people go. in lecture halls, unless they use those horrid clickers, students would rather sleep in their own bed then in a chair. students are competitive up to a point. the ones that are obsessive are annoying, but obviously everyone cares about their grades, and getting better than the other people. the most unique class i've taken is mar 340, li marine habitats. it wasnt a competitive class at all because we were all friends, and just had fun chilling on the beach, looking for crabs. the whole environmental studies/marine science dept is just wonderful. very nice people, and very well known in the real world.

Excellent faculties in certain departments, like Biochemistry and Biology.

I am a Studio Art and Sociology dbl major with a minor in Art History. I'm involved mostly in the Studio Art Department, and I talk to my professors like they are my friends. Although Stony Brook is set up to have a great Sculpture and Ceramics department, if you are serious, you might be the only one (as there are very few people who concentrate in them). Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Digital, and Photography Classes have much more people in them. The number of students in classes is small, except for one class, Technology in the Arts, which is required for the theatre & music departments also. The digital arts program which is being set up looks like it's going to be pretty great. I wish there was a collaboration between the Music, Theatre, and Art undergraduate classes in some way, since they are all right there in the same building. Some of the professors are the "real deal" while others are questionable. One good thing that Stony Brook's art history department set up is required trips to museums like the Met or MoMA for class papers and assignments. They really force you to get in there and look around. Some art history classes are just a hell of a lot easier,more fun, interesting... than others like the History of Photography is pretty fun. Beware, others may require a ten page paper or ridiculously hard tests. As for Sociology, I have never in my life gotten through material so easily, and aced it, before without studying or preparing. I don't know if they recruit under-educated people to join the classes or if people really are that dumb. The teachers seem pretty cool, but I feel bad for them as there are always students jumping down their throats for bringing up the issues that are discussed in Sociology. The Sociology classes are like a zoo, it's a place for people with big mouths and small tolerance it seems. But I have taken classes elsewhere and it was almost just as bad as here at Stony Brook.