SUNY Companion .pdf

Strong College Applications: Guiding Students Through the Process

SUNY COMPANION
The State University of New York (SUNY) is one of New York’s public university systems. The system
includes colleges across the state including university centers which grant doctorates, university
colleges, technology colleges, and community colleges. The system includes schools with as few as
1,500 undergraduates and as many as 19,000. SUNY offers over one thousand different majors.
For questions/help:
SUNY Recruitment Response Center: 800-342-3811; email questions to askSUNY@suny.edu
SUNY Center for Student Recruitment (NYC): 212-938-1209
General Application Notes:
 The application is available online at www.suny.edu. A paper version is available but is not
recommended by SUNY. See www.suny.edu for a list of colleges that accept the SUNY
application. Most use the SUNY centralized version.





Students may save a partially completed application and return later to edit it. Once submitted,
students can still go back and add schools. Students can also call the SUNY hotline 1-800-3423811 to add schools over the phone.
Application cost is $50 per college. Payment may be made by credit card, electronic check, a
mailed check, money order or fee waiver. Some community colleges offer a free application at
their individual college website.

Application Timeline:
 Application filing dates: SUNY colleges use rolling admissions (except EA and ED); Dec 1 is the
recommended deadline for the best chance of admission. Generally, the more competitive the
college/program, the earlier it will fill up.
 Processing time: It can take a few weeks or a few months to receive confirmation of admission.
Some colleges offer “same-day” admissions opportunities (students come to a scheduled
interview with all application components).
Application Overview
 Some colleges require certain supplemental documents, such as essays and recommendation
letters.
 SUNY asks that transcripts and other documents be sent directly to the colleges. GED students
must have GED scores sent from the Albany office.
 Early Action: Several colleges offer Early Action (nonbinding—students applies early, finds out
early, but has until May to decide); deadline Nov 15.
 Early Decision: Several colleges offer Early Decision (binding—students apply early to only one
school via ED, find out early and, if accepted, have promised to attend that college); deadline
Nov 15.

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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students Through the Process

If a student is interested in
applying for EOP, they
should check off Yes here.
When a student checks off
Yes, the EOP Eligibility
Wizard comes up in a popup window (see next page).

Live Chat:


FAQs


SUNY offers Live Chat on the right side of their online application. By clicking, students can
connect to live help in the SUNY admissions office.

On the right side, the FAQs box will contain clarifying information for each screen.

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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students Through the Process

Applying for EOP:
 Once a student answers all of
the questions on the wizard,
he or she will receive a
message saying whether they
may be eligible.
 EOP applicants may use either
the SUNY application or the
Common Application, though
SUNY recommends using the
SUNY application.
 To change EOP status, call
SUNY Recruitment Response
Center (RRC) or individual
colleges. If SUNY has already
sent on the information to the
colleges, student will have to
call each college.
 Students should not apply
EOP if they are clearly not
financially eligible. The EOP
process is much longer and
slower. By the time students
are determined ineligible and
returned to the regular
admissions pool, the college
may have closed its regular
admissions process.
 Most EOP programs require
students to complete
additional forms which are
distributed after students
apply.

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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students Through the Process

Skip Logic:
 This page starts with only the first question showing. If students answer “No” to the citizenship
question, the other questions will pop up.

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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students Through the Process

SUNY is a NYS public university system. As such, they provide a discounted tuition to NYS residents.
Students should be prepared to prove their residency upon enrollment at a SUNY school.

Like most colleges, SUNY asks students
to disclose felony convictions.
Students only have to cite felonies for
which they were incarcerated as
adults.

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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students Through the Process

In order to apply for EOP, students must
answer the Family Income Range and Size
of Household questions.

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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students Through the Process

If you’re having trouble finding your
school, try entering in only part of the
name and choosing it from the list.

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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students Through the Process

Most baccalaureate programs require SAT or ACT scores from students. Only U Buffalo, Stony Brook,
and Binghamton require them directly from the testing agency.

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Strong College Applications: Guiding Students Through the Process

Campus Selections:
 Online, students can select as many campuses as they like.
 On the paper applications, students can only select six campuses.

Students applying EOP
should check off Yes on each
campus selection.

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