This week our College Spotlight is on Binghamton University. Binghamton University is a public university and is located in Vestal, New York. Binghamton is a SUNY school. Binghamton is one of the top state schools around so it has a fairly low admission rate but a high graduation rate. If you’re interested in neuroscience, mathematics, accounting, government, and economics then BU is a right fit for you! Binghamton University allows their students to feel safe on campus and provide there students with a variety of scholarships, grants, loans and support during and after college to their students. Today I spoke with the science teacher Mr. Egloff who is a proud alumni from Binghamton University. He was excited to share his story and experience with you today. To know more about Binghamton University visit https://www.niche.com/colleges/binghamton-university-suny/#about.
How is your day going?
” My day is going very well. It’s a beautiful day outside I am glad to be here.”
Where did you attend college?
” So I did my undergrad at Binghamton University. It’s a SUNY school.”
Why did you attend Binghamton University?
” Well, I heard that Binghamton is a really great school, had good ratings and a pretty low admission rate. So, I knew it was a good school and they also offered the programs that I wanted to do I really liked the campus when I visited it and it was kind of just far away from home and just close enough to home that it was a really a good fit for me.”
During his studies at Binghamton University Mr. Egloff became interested in the field of geology and environmental science. So, he decided to get a bachelor’s in both fields, because although he wanted to study science in general he was also interested in the hands-on experience of the earth’s structure and its history. Similarly, for him environmental science was also a field he enjoyed, because it allowed him to expand his knowledge on how humans interact with the environment. So, this proves that as a student at Binghamton University, anything is possible to do when you are excitedly engaged in the field you are studying.
What did you study at Binghamton University?
” So I did geology and environmental science. I ended up getting a bachelor’s in geology and a bachelor’s in environmental science so I had two degrees when I was there.”
How did you keep up with the workload in the field you decided to study at Binghamton University?
” Yeah! So doing two degrees was definitely a lot of work- almost double the work. Although some of the classes overlapped I really just stayed on top of my assignments. I tried not to submit anything late. I had like a personal policy where I didn’t really like to miss classes. A lot of students think they can go to college and classes are optional that is definitely not the case so you should go to every single class. You should develop relationships with your professors and other peers around you it’s going to help you a lot. Building relationships with other students who are also in the same classes as you and in the same major, was really helpful for me in study sessions with them, and extra office hours with the professors ended up being very important.”
What did you do for fun?
” So, Binghamton is kind of famous for having a huge nature preserve on campus it’s like 80 acres of old-growth forest. They have tons of trails through there, they have ponds. So, I like to go on hikes and just kind of hang out in the preserve, also just hanging out with friends in the dorms.”
The most important part of getting knowledge on Binghamton University is how alumni or current students pay for college. But, Mr. Egloff decided that student loans and scholarships were the way to go because although he had support from Binghamton University he knew he had to take responsibility for paying for college monthly.
How did you pay for college?
” Yeah! So I took out student loans. So I am actually still paying back my student loans now by month. Good thing I am a teacher though [so] I get [my student loans] expunged after five years. But I also had many scholarships. I don’t think New York State has any more but back when I was in school they had something called the Excelsior scholarship which paid for tuition as long as you kept your grade point average above 3.5 which is like 90% and if you meet a couple of other requirements. The biggest one was that your parents had to make below a certain amount so scholarships and student loans.”
What were some of the resources Binghamton University helped you with?
“Yeah! so, Binghamton was great with networking. I am still in contact with a lot of people that I went to college with. So, a great resource there was with putting you in touch with people and putting you in touch with companies that can hire you and also help you out with what you’re going to do after undergrad. So, with a lot of people is going straight to work, but for a lot of people is getting a master’s degree and just continuing to figure out what you want to do with your degree. So, they just really had a lot of resources available no matter what path you decided to take.”
Did you feel as if your college was diverse?
” Yeah! Definitely I came from the suburbs of Buffalo which are not very diverse and when I went to Binghamton I made friends with just all sorts of different people. I definitely expanded my horizons. I made friends from New York City and friends from all around New York State, and I felt like it was a very diverse place that opened up my world a lot.”
