Decent option for NJ residents.
That's it.

Anonymous wrote:As my fifteen year old would say, "because New Jersey."

NJ

Then you and your rude kid can stay away from Rutgers which is a high quality school a wide range of both undergrad and graduate degrees.

1. Location
2. Student body — historically a lot of commuters and immigrant first gen non-white kids

I posted this in the uiuc thread but there is a reason why uiuc and Rutgers both aren’t on the radar for oos kids —

“UIUC is one of the least white big10 schools

It’s less white than umd

Schools that lack white kids have to compensate with being t20s so an attendee gains prestige — otherwise their brand suffers due to being “uncool” and “not fun” or they can compensate with awesome location (ucsd).

I believe only Rutgers is less white in the big10”

UIUC atleast has elite cs/engineering

Rutgers is a great school for taking brown and black first gen kids and giving them some ses mobility

But because of that, white kids (in state or oos) don’t really want to attend.

Middle class jersey white kids will stretch dollars for PSU or even UConn/zoomass before Rutgers

Anonymous wrote:I don't know anything about the campus but my oldest is at Vanderbilt, and was in a NYC finance leadership development program (FLDP) internship this summer with for a top Fortune 500 company with a ton of Rutgers students.

I was impressed and was like, "why didn't we just send you to Rutgers?"

Your kid underutilized their vandy education

Fldp programs in industry are for state school kids

T20 private school kids are supposed to go to a bank/consulting firm first before moving over to industry at a higher level

There is no doubt that their pathetic sports program hurts their image. It’s been that way since I grew up in NJ way back when.

I don't know anything about the campus but my oldest is at Vanderbilt, and was in a NYC finance leadership development program (FLDP) internship this summer with for a top Fortune 500 company with a ton of Rutgers students.

I was impressed and was like, "why didn't we just send you to Rutgers?"

My kid didn’t like the different parts of campus being so spread out and having to take a shuttle around.

Rutgers may not be the complete college experience but I know many kids who went there and have great outcomes. For those who are cost conscious, it it s very good alternative.

It is depressing.

Anonymous wrote:Also, as someone who grew up in New Jersey, very few upper middle class families send their kids there— they go to private colleges or oos flagships with “nicer”campuses set in college towns, which New Brunswick is not. Rutgers does a great job of educating the kids who go there, and as the demographics lean lower income and first gen/immigrants, the university was well placed to do well with US News new ranking criteria. Its appeal to the upper middle class DCUM crowd who has to pay oos tuition is more limited.

This

Yeah, I mean Rutgers is just not giving you the "college experience" compared to Penn State or UMD or basically most flagships.

The sports aren't anything special or have a storied history, New Brunswick is a blah town, it's not warm, it's near NYC (but far enough away that it's not all that accessible), etc.

It is getting recognition for its academics and kids have great outcomes...but it is what it is.

Also, as someone who grew up in New Jersey, very few upper middle class families send their kids there— they go to private colleges or oos flagships with “nicer”campuses set in college towns, which New Brunswick is not. Rutgers does a great job of educating the kids who go there, and as the demographics lean lower income and first gen/immigrants, the university was well placed to do well with US News new ranking criteria. Its appeal to the upper middle class DCUM crowd who has to pay oos tuition is more limited.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is another reason why the US News rankings for publics are bunk: Rutgers with its 66% acceptance rate is not BC, Tufts, or BU, though it is ranked essentially the same. Not. Even. Close.

How is this helpful? Do you think the kids walking around Rutgers paying a fraction of the kids walking around those schools and having a Big 10 experience at their in state flagship R1 school are sad every single day they're not up in Boston? Just stop it. So snobby.

It is helpful because some people will look at the US News rankings and assume they can get “something for nothing” by going to Rutgers because it is a similarly-ranked school that they can get into and that costs less. Cost may be a very good reason to attend Rutgers over, say, BC. But let’s not pretend they are equivalent caliber schools.

Boston schools were only mentioned because they surround Rutgers on the rankings. But Rutgers and UMass are very similar schools: Amherst is way nicer than New Brunswick, and, yes, many UMass kids do wish they had gotten into BC.

I think the issue with Rutgers is that the campus is split up and kids have to take buses to get to campus. Not the end of the world, but makes it less attractive for kids who aren’t getting in state tuition,

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is another reason why the US News rankings for publics are bunk: Rutgers with its 66% acceptance rate is not BC, Tufts, or BU, though it is ranked essentially the same. Not. Even. Close.

First, after having finally started using common app, Rutgers' applications increased by ~60% so its admit rate is likely to be closer to 45% this year. Second, as I told my daughter, who was admitted to Rutgers yesterday, the top 6000 kids at Rutgers are at least as talented and accomplished as the 6000 kids who make up Tufts student body and as the top 6000 at BC and BU. NJ has one of the highest NMS cutoffs and is chock-a-block with very smart students. Many of them attend Rutgers for various reasons, including its cost. It is always the most popular destination for graduates of our (top 5 in the state) high school.

That said, the campus (spread out, maybe not so aesthetically pleasing) is probably a bit of a problem that helps to keep it from being mentioned in the same breath as the top state schools in the country.

Rutgers being a USNWR T50 school - public OR private - works. Thanks.