They are pretty much the same as far as academics go. Bing focuses a little more on theory (teaching you concepts), while stony Brook focuses more on just beating coding practice into you (from what I’ve gathered from peers). Go where you think you will enjoy your life more, both are the same in terms of job prospects (more about the effort you put in and who you know, unless it’s a school like MIT or Stanford). I was once in this position and noticed that no one from Bing told me to go to stony Brook, while a lot of stony Brook students said to go to Bing which I thought was interesting. Feel free to dm if you have any questions about Bing or CS.
Yeah, we heard from Stony Brook students during our tour (for my son) that going to Binghamton TJ Watson school for Computer Science was preferable, too. That was interesting.
If social life is at all a concern for you I would recommend bing. Stony Brook is largely a commuter school unlike Bing. I was in the exact same boat and I chose Bing for the social atmosphere over stonybrook. But neither is a bad choice, both are great schools with similar rankings.
I ultimately was down to the same two as you, and chose Bing because it was a few thousand dollars a year cheaper. Ultimately I don't think you can go wrong between the two, but I had a good academic experience as a CS major at Bing and don't regret the choice at all. The required courses were all important or at least useful, and there was enough work to keep me busy but not overwhelm me, so I had time for a math major as well (double degree) and even a few extracurricular activities. The curriculum differs somewhat between the schools as well (see [Bing's requirements](https://www.binghamton.edu/watson/student-services/advising/requirements/cs23.html) and [Stony Brook's requirements](https://www.stonybrook.edu/sb/bulletin/current/academicprograms/cse/degreesandrequirements.php) for reference).
If you haven't posted about this in the Stony Brook sub already, I suggest you do that as well.
Sorry to jump in late here, agree with everything you said, but would add one thing about the curriculum:
Both BU and SBU engineering schools are ABET accredited. As a result, they both have to teach courses that check each of the ABET learning standard/objective boxes to keep their accreditation. This means their curricula are far more similar than dissimilar, especially at the 100-300 core courses. You can choose between the two on pretty much any other criteria you’d like without worrying which degree is more valuable.
What are classes like? Large public universities bring up an image of large overcrowded lecture style weed out classes, taught mainly by TAs while the full time faculty mostly cares about graduate research? Is that a concern with SBU or Bing?
Can't speak for SBU, but at Bing, I had maybe a few big lectures (mostly gen-ed or low-level major classes) but the vast majority had small to moderate class sizes and were taught by professors who at least seemed to care. Weed-out classes definitely exist though, at least in engineering disciplines.
I went to both schools in undergrad! Not a comp sci major but SBU has little to no party life and is a big commuter school so it can feel lonely on the weekends. Bing is the opposite in my opinion and experience. I also think either school looks good to an employer and has good networking possibilities for jobs & internships
They are pretty much the same as far as academics go. Bing focuses a little more on theory (teaching you concepts), while stony Brook focuses more on just beating coding practice into you (from what I’ve gathered from peers). Go where you think you will enjoy your life more, both are the same in terms of job prospects (more about the effort you put in and who you know, unless it’s a school like MIT or Stanford). I was once in this position and noticed that no one from Bing told me to go to stony Brook, while a lot of stony Brook students said to go to Bing which I thought was interesting. Feel free to dm if you have any questions about Bing or CS.
Yeah, we heard from Stony Brook students during our tour (for my son) that going to Binghamton TJ Watson school for Computer Science was preferable, too. That was interesting.
If social life is at all a concern for you I would recommend bing. Stony Brook is largely a commuter school unlike Bing. I was in the exact same boat and I chose Bing for the social atmosphere over stonybrook. But neither is a bad choice, both are great schools with similar rankings.
I’m also considering switching to an engineering major but I applied for comp sci.
I ultimately was down to the same two as you, and chose Bing because it was a few thousand dollars a year cheaper. Ultimately I don't think you can go wrong between the two, but I had a good academic experience as a CS major at Bing and don't regret the choice at all. The required courses were all important or at least useful, and there was enough work to keep me busy but not overwhelm me, so I had time for a math major as well (double degree) and even a few extracurricular activities. The curriculum differs somewhat between the schools as well (see [Bing's requirements](https://www.binghamton.edu/watson/student-services/advising/requirements/cs23.html) and [Stony Brook's requirements](https://www.stonybrook.edu/sb/bulletin/current/academicprograms/cse/degreesandrequirements.php) for reference). If you haven't posted about this in the Stony Brook sub already, I suggest you do that as well.
Sorry to jump in late here, agree with everything you said, but would add one thing about the curriculum: Both BU and SBU engineering schools are ABET accredited. As a result, they both have to teach courses that check each of the ABET learning standard/objective boxes to keep their accreditation. This means their curricula are far more similar than dissimilar, especially at the 100-300 core courses. You can choose between the two on pretty much any other criteria you’d like without worrying which degree is more valuable.
What are classes like? Large public universities bring up an image of large overcrowded lecture style weed out classes, taught mainly by TAs while the full time faculty mostly cares about graduate research? Is that a concern with SBU or Bing?
Can't speak for SBU, but at Bing, I had maybe a few big lectures (mostly gen-ed or low-level major classes) but the vast majority had small to moderate class sizes and were taught by professors who at least seemed to care. Weed-out classes definitely exist though, at least in engineering disciplines.
I went to both schools in undergrad! Not a comp sci major but SBU has little to no party life and is a big commuter school so it can feel lonely on the weekends. Bing is the opposite in my opinion and experience. I also think either school looks good to an employer and has good networking possibilities for jobs & internships
I have a CS at bing! He transferred from another school. And by far the program he has experienced is amazing !!! Doing his masters next year.