<p>Sorry not to have replied earlier, I was traveling.</p>
<p>Philosophy is, indeed, a department within the School of Culture and Society.</p>
<p>Our Philosophy faculty are terrific. You can see their profiles (areas of interest, publications, other administrative roles) at their faculty profile website at [Department</a> of Philosophy & Religion :: The College of New Jersey](<a href=“http://www.tcnj.edu/~philos/faculty.html]Department”>Philosophy, Religion, and Classical Studies). (Just scroll down past the names and e-mail addresses in the directory at the top of this page). Every single faculty member in this department is an outstanding scholar and teacher and all of them are engaged in multidisciplinary communities within the larger campus.</p>
<p>I attended the Philosophy Department’s Commencement Ceremony last year. (I can only go to a couple such ceremonies every year because they are run concurrently.) I was tremendously impressed with the engagement of the faculty in their students’ work: each student was presented individually by his or her faculty mentor who described the student’s learning history and the thesis. </p>
<p>I encourage you to reach out to faculty members themselves with more specific questions. You can find their e-mail addresses on that faculty directory.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Ben Rifkin
Dean of the School of Culture and Society
The College of New Jersey</p>
<p>Dear Dean Rifkin,
Thank you for the valuable information and emotional support you provide to all those who are anxiously awaiting answers as to acceptance.
When I go to TCNJ’s website and check out my application status I am permitted to explore all kinds of information that one would suppose only accepted individuals would have access to. Course requirements that I have yet to complete, my account with the Bursar(which of course I don’t have yet) Also I am frequently offered by email, TCNJ artifacts and clothing by someone who represents the bookstore. Is this a clue that I may be offered admission or just a tease? Thanks</p>
<p>The BA/MD and BS/MD interview process continues to unfold. These interviews are arranged one-by-one during the admissions season. I know it’s hard to wait. Thanks for your patience.</p>
<p>Different colleges and universities work this process differently. At TCNJ once your PAWS account is set up we begin to show you all kinds of things. This is no indication of your admissions decision - it’s just an opportunity for you to see what kinds of ways technology can help you as a TCNJ student. If you click on the bursar account option, you won’t see a bill: because you’re not yet a TCNJ student. If/when you hear of your admission, you’ll see that the deposit fee will show up as billed in that account (pending your decision to accept an offer of admission). Until then, it will be empty. So explore and enjoy and try to manage the wait. It’s just a few more weeks, everyone.</p>
<p>I saw that you said that RD decisions would be going out in 3 waves, with the first being in February? What is the earliest date that any decisions will be released? Will the strongest all-around candidates be admitted first, followed by the more borderline ones? Or will certain majors hear back first? I just want to know when to be looking out for my decision. Thanks.</p>
<p>Great question Sugarcookie!
I wonder if schools that give their decisions earlier get more commitments from applicants. Rutgers makes a quick decisions(two weeks) if they see the SAT’s of an applicant are high and really push to attract those people to commit by barraging them with “school spirit” type thing one after the other. I don’t know what percentage of TCNJ’s acceptances are ED but I guess TCNJ has decided that they wind up with a better total result by keeping the ED process and waiting longer to make decisions on the RD people.
If schools only gave you a month to decide after they notified you of acceptance, I don’t know what I would do(perish the thought!). This sure is a nervous time.</p>
<p>Sorry, the first wave will be at the end of February or the beginning of March and I can’t tell you how to tell if you’re in the first wave or not until you get (or don’t get) a letter at that time. There’s just no way to know how they’re dividing up the work in admissions. I think you just have to understand that you might not hear anything until April 1 and then be patient.</p>
<p>KendallandKaylan: The process is more complicated at a school like The College of New Jersey where we truly read every thing submitted to us. Our admissions team looks at much more than just the SATs to assemble a diverse and interesting class of talented students with a broad range of goals. That means looking carefully at the essays and letters of recommendation as well as the transcripts and SATs. I don’t know how a university that turns around applications in 2 weeks can do that: our process requires people time, not just number crunching. I know it’s hard to wait. But every day there’s a bit more sunshine, the day is a little bit longer, and you’re closer to having the news you’ve been waiting for.</p>
<p>Most students find that a month is enough time to make a choice because all of the colleges have to provide you their admission and financial aid offers by April 1. You shouldn’t be waiting for any more information by that date. Once you have the numbers in hand (where you’re admitted and how much financial aid you’re offered) I suggest that you consider your “fit” for each school to which you’ve been admitted that you can afford to attend. Think about how much debt you’ll accumulate to go there, if they have your #1 academic program and alternate programs if you change your mind (lots of students do!), if they have your #1 club, organization or team, if you like the location (city, suburban, rural), diversity of student population, the size of the institution (and size of the classes), the college’s retention rate (how many students come back for sophomore year - you want that to be high, if possible over 90%), the college’s 4-year graduation rate (also a high rate is desirable here), distance to home, nature of dormitories and dining halls, cultural life on campus, and all the other factors that you’ve identified as important to you. Make a list of pros and cons for each school and weigh the factors. It’s not just which school has the longest list of pros and the shortest list of cons: some of those pros are going to be more important to you (like, for example, projected debt).</p>
<p>GOOD LUCK to everyone. And remember: no matter where you go to college, it’s YOUR job to get a good education and be happy. No single college has a monopoly on providing you with that opportunity: you can find that just about anywhere. It’s all a question of what you make of the opportunities you’ve made for yourself.</p>
<p>Best wishes to all,</p>
<p>Ben Rifkin
Dean of the School of Culture and Society
The College of New Jersey</p>
<p>Dean Rifkin,
Thank you for your answer. I think the amount of time and thought you put into it reflects the effort you describe in the TCNJ admissions process. Can we have an ice cream cone together sometime this summer after I get my acceptance and enroll?</p>
<p>Do you know when the honors invites (applications) are going out? Or have they already? I know I meet the requirements for the initial round, so I’m just curious.</p>
<p>The Honors invitations will go out about 1-2 weeks after the notification of acceptance. Since the earliest acceptances will go out at the end of February or the beginning of March, you could expect to hear some time in March if your application is reviewed in the “earliest wave.” (Sorry, I don’t know how applications are chosen for each of the three waves of review.)</p>
<p>Ben Rifkin
Dean of Culture and Society
The College of New Jersey</p>
<p>I can attest to the fact that TCNJ’s Philosophy department is one of the college’s strongest. I’ve taken a few classes in the department and the teachers are all amazing. Taylor is the best professor I have ever had (definitely take him). Winston is good. Roberts is good.</p>
<p>I know a few premed people doing the Philosophy major and they love it.</p>
<p>You actually might be able to fit in a double major in your 3 years here (if you’re doing the 7 year program). I know an Economics and Bio double major who is a 7-year student so if you wanted, you could probably do Philosophy and Economics, Philosophy and English, etc and still get the premed requirements out of the way in 3 years (I’m sure it also depends on how many AP credits you have).</p>
<p>Dear Dean Rifkin,
I am so disappointed. I received a very nice notification today that my application has been pushed over for additional review. While the letter goes to great pains to try to mollify its purpose(it says my status is not the equivalent of the “waiting list”) the bottom line is I am not being offered admissions. With a 2160 SAT(only took it once) I thought I had a good chance. Any encouraging advice that can head off a terrible weekend? Thanks</p>
<p>A know a few people who got this e-mail. It doesn’t mean that you’re chances are completely off the table, otherwise they would’ve sent you a letter saying so. Also, the SAT isn’t the only thing they consider in admissions.</p>
<p>Fearman,
I’d like to borrow half your name for a while since I am in “fear” of what’s coming next. Do you know if anyone has gotten acceptances from the RD pool? How about an outright rejection? Lastly, if you don’t mind, how do you know so much about the correspondence other people get? Thanks for your insight.</p>