Stony Brook University

Stony Brook is moderately selective, admitting about 48.2% of applicants in the most recent cycle from a pool of roughly 64,000, and enrolling around 3,960 first-year students. The headline rate understates the bar for the most competitive paths: admission to selective majors and the Scholars for Medicine / Scholars for Dental Medicine honors programs is tougher, and the rigor of your high school record and your academic GPA are both weighed as very important factors.

No — as a SUNY school, Stony Brook is actually more selective for New York residents than for non-residents. In the most recent cycle, in-state applicants were admitted at a 39.9% rate (17,065 admitted from 42,719), while out-of-state applicants were admitted at 62.9% (8,198 from 13,031) and international applicants at 67.1% (5,667 from 8,447). The higher non-resident rates reflect a self-selected pool: students who travel far or cross borders to apply to a SUNY tend to be strong candidates, and there is no SUNY-system in-state preference working in their favor.

Stony Brook reports high school GPA on a 100-point scale rather than the 4.0 scale, so it doesn't publish a 4.0-scale average. As a proxy for academic standing, among the 31% of enrolled first-years who reported a class rank, 58.7% ranked in the top tenth of their class and 86.2% in the top quarter. Both the rigor of your course load and your academic GPA are rated very important in admissions.

Yes, Stony Brook is test-optional, so you can apply without submitting scores. For students who did enroll, the middle 50% scored 1350 to 1470 on the SAT and 30 to 34 on the ACT. If you submit, scores are weighed as an important factor, but the rigor of your record and GPA carry more weight.

Yes for the medical tracks. While Stony Brook is test-optional for general admission, SAT or ACT scores are required to be considered for the Scholars for Medicine and Scholars for Dental Medicine honors programs. For context, enrolled first-years posted a middle-50% SAT of 1350 to 1470 and ACT of 30 to 34, and these accelerated programs are more competitive than the overall 48.2% admit rate.

Stony Brook offers a nonbinding, non-restrictive Early Action plan and does not offer Early Decision. Because Early Action is non-binding, you are not committed to enroll if admitted and can still apply to other schools. Stony Brook does not consider level of applicant interest as an admission factor, so the decision rests on your academic record, GPA, and the rest of your application.

Annual tuition and required fees run about $10,931 for New York residents and $34,911 for out-of-state students, with on-campus housing and food adding roughly $18,874. About 60% of first-years receive need-based aid, with an average package near $16,982, keeping Stony Brook among the more affordable major public research universities.

The health professions are the single largest area at about 14% of bachelor's degrees, followed closely by the biological and life sciences (about 14%) and psychology (about 12%). Business, the social sciences, computer and information science, mathematics, and engineering round out the most popular fields at this science-focused campus.

Stony Brook has one of the most diverse undergraduate student bodies among top public universities. By race and ethnicity, enrolled students are about 36% Asian and Pacific Islander, 23% White, 16% Hispanic, and 6% Black, with the remainder in other categories. The undergraduate body of about 18,600 is also nearly evenly split by gender at roughly 50.5% women and 49.5% men.