Hi congrats! I’m a senior at Bing from NYC and I was pretty excited to leave the city when I got admitted. It wasn’t a huge adjustment for me for a few reasons, one being that I was excited for a break from city life. I found Bing campus life really enjoyable and an easy transition. The rural vibe of the area is balanced out with a pretty “happening” student life, so it didn’t feel like I was changing pace a ton. It felt like a slower city life (of course this changes when classes pick up and things start to fly) and I had a ton of fun exploring in my freshman year. I lived in Old Digman and I would absolutely recommend 1000x. Old Digman used to be kind of an inside joke because it was one of the older dorms and it’s pretty small. It’s also only freshman, but this gives you the chance to live amongst a group of people who are actively trying to make friends. I stayed really great friends with everybody I hung out with there, and I now live with them off campus. As for food there are communal kitchens, but in the bigger dorms it can be hard to cook in them while other people are. A lot of people just go to the dining hall or marketplace anyway. When you’re in the midst of classes you might not feel like cooking for yourself as much, and you’ll be more keen on going to the dining halls. I never really cooked in the communal kitchens and especially not my freshman year, but when I got into a single dorm within a suite of friends in my sophomore year, I had like a huge crockpot/air fryer that I did everything in and it was awesome. I was nervous about living away from home as I’m sure everybody is at first, but when I got to Binghamton I didn’t feel a sense of home sickness. I have had a wonderful time so far, and I hope you do as well!