Ask a Dean at The College of New Jersey

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello CC members. My name is Benjamin Rifkin and I am the Dean of the School of Culture and Society (Humanities and Social Sciences) at The College of New Jersey. If you are interested in learning more about The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), post your questions here and I will check in once or twice a week to answer. </p>

<p>I don't work in admissions, so I can't "rate your chances," but I can tell you about our programs, faculty, students, and campus.</p>

<p>Majors in Culture & Society include: Criminology, English, History, International Studies, Journalism & Professional Writing, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Spanish, and Women's & Gender Studies. We also have self-designed majors in Chinese, Classics, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Religious Studies, as well as minors in a broad range of fields including Law-Politics-And-Philosophy, Anthropology, Linguistics, Central Eurasian Studies, and more.</p>

<p>The other schools at TCNJ are:</p>

<p>Arts & Communication
Business
Education
Engineering
Nursing and Health & Exercise Science
Science</p>

<p>I look forward to answering your questions and helping you through the college search process.</p>

<p>BR</p>

2

<p>Thanks, Dean. My nephew is a rising junior at TCNJ and has had a great experience there. It doesn’t get too much discussion on these forums, but is really a school to consider- especially for PA/NJ/NY/Del students.</p>

3

<p>Any plans to rename the school? </p>

<p>Princeton College at Ewing sounds catchy. Or simply Princeton College. :)</p>

4

<p>This schools endowment is very low for the number of students it has. I am sure the financial aid is low for each student then?</p>

5

<p>Evenings Dean,</p>

<p>Left NJ in 2000, at that time I can only remember a school called Trenton State. When I joined CC in July, it was my suprise that TCNJ rosed into the spotlight. How is it transformed from Trenton State? Did NJ gov. put in a lot of money to make it happen? If so, why don’t they put some into the Montclair as well?</p>

<p>Sorry to bring up such a political issure, but I have no one to vent my concerns.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the great questions, everyone.</p>

<p>Xiggi: I understand the humor of your question, but in all seriousness, I don’t think we have any plans to rename The College of New Jersey any time soon. Our college was founded in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School. Over the years, the name has been changed a few times as the institution’s role in New Jersey transitioned with the development of a system of public higher education. From 1929 through 1995, the College’s name included the word Trenton, the city where our College had its beginnings. In 1928 the College bought a tract of land with two small lakes in Ewing, NJ, just north of Trenton, and the College shifted entirely to that campus within a few years. And that’s where we’re currently located. So it really shouldn’t be a surprise that there came a time when it seemed appropriate for the College to shift its name from Trenton State College to The College of New Jersey. Although we’re not located in Trenton, we do maintain a close association with that city in a number of different ways. We are not far away from Princeton, where there is another institution of higher education that bears that name. That university is private; our college is public.</p>

<p>Nothingto: I’m sure many of us at The College of New Jersey wish we had a bigger endowment and we are all working toward that goal. However, we are proud to offer a very affordable education to our students. Our college does offer substantial financial aid and scholarships. You can see some information about scholarships and financial aid at this website: [Costs</a> :: The College of New Jersey](<a href=“http://www.tcnj.edu/~admiss/costs.html]Costs”>Costs and Aid | Undergraduate Admissions). In addition, many colleges provide data about their institutions in something called a “Common Data Set.” That’s a good thing to look at for any school you’re interested in. Colleges put them in different places on their websites, so you might want to do a search from within each college’s site. At TCNJ, you can find our Common Data Set at [TCNJ</a> Common Data Set :: Institutional Research & Assessment :: The College of New Jersey](<a href=“http://ir.intrasun.tcnj.edu/cds.html]TCNJ”>http://ir.intrasun.tcnj.edu/cds.html). You can see what average financial aid awards have been in recent years. (I don’t think our 2009-2010 data have been posted yet, but you can see 2008-2009 and several years prior.)</p>

<p>Artloversplus: Yes, we changed our name in 1996 (see my response to Xiggi, above). That name change heralded in an era with a sharpened focus on undergraduate education, a renewal of our facilities and landscaping to create a beautiful campus, increased on-campus housing, and, a few years later, a substantial curricular transformation all of which helped our college attain greater national prominence as a college with great students, great faculty, and a beautiful campus. I don’t think the name change was associated with any increase in financial support from the state of New Jersey. Of course I don’t know how any state allocates funding to different institutions of higher education. </p>

<p>And for everyone: Please check out the information about our admissions open houses – come see our beautiful campus on September 25, October 10, and November 20. You have to register by going to [Visiting</a> The College of New Jersey](<a href=“Visit TCNJ | Undergraduate Admissions”>Visit TCNJ | Undergraduate Admissions) and click on the link for Lions Day Open House and then on the button “Register”.</p>

7

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</p>

<p>Thank you for recognizing the humor. Perhaps, the good people from Princeton could have use a bit of it instead of jumping into a legal for a name they abandoned a looooong time ago. </p>

<p>By the way, I posed the silly question as a fair warning. Students on CC say the darnest thing!</p>

<p>Welcome!</p>

8

<p>Mom of Wild Child:</p>

<p>I’m glad to hear your nephew is happy. I can’t tell you where I read it, but somewhere I read that TCNJ ranks high in student happiness (reported in national surveys). Right now, the mood on campus is one of great expectation - we’re all getting ready for the return of the students in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait: it’s a resurgence of energy just around the corner. I think that’s typical of our college: it’s all about our students’ education.</p>

9

<p>Hello Dean</p>

<p>My Son is a Junior in HS and we just started out College visits and tours. We had already gone to William and Mary and UNC over the summer. I scheduled an open house tour on 9/25 to see TCNJ and to have my Son keep his local options open. Up until this point he was convinced that he did Not want to go to any schools in NJ. He went on the tour for me to appease me. This tour completly changed his mind and opened his eyes. We were very impressed with the Chemistry Dept and the tour given to us by the student ambassador. We have a lot more open houses to attend and he is going to be taking his SAT’s in the Spring. Do you think he should take his ACT’s as well? Do you have any advice for us regarding admission to TCNJ?
Thank you.</p>

10

<p>Hello Dee0747. I’m delighted to hear that your son really enjoyed the visit to TCNJ last month. The School of Science at TCNJ is <em>very</em> strong: over 80% of our pre-med students are admitted to Med School, which is about double the national average. </p>

<p>TCNJ requires EITHER SATs or ACTs. Some students feel that they are able to show greater strength on the ACTs than the SATs; others feel differently. We definitely only need EITHER the SAT or the ACT. I encourage your son to prepare for whatever test he wants to take (there are lots of good review books on the market) by taking practice tests early in the morning so that on the day of the test he’s not thrown by the time of day or by the length of time it takes to complete the test. I also recommend that he get a good night sleep the night before and good breakfast the morning of the test.</p>

<p>Remember, too, however, that TCNJ views the SAT/ACT as just one part of the admissions portfolio. High school grades, letters of recommendation, and the student’s essay are also very important: Our admissions team looks at the whole application, not just the standard test scores. And that’s a reflection of who we are as a college: we’re all about the education of the whole student. As a small college with small classes, we pride ourselves on working with students who have names, not numbers.</p>

<p>GOOD LUCK!</p>

11

<p>Good to see more attention here on CC for TCNJ!</p>

<p>We were so happy that our son was selected to attend the Governor’s School of the Arts at TCNJ.
There he spent four weeks with similarly motivated musicians on a gorgeous campus with totally involved profs.
He spent two great years at TCNJ, ultimately graduating from Mason Gross at Rutgers and is now in a masters program in music performance. One prof at TCNJ especially has been his mentor and encouraged him at each step.
I think that this kind of connection for students at TCNJ is not unusual as we have heard similar stories from other families with TCNJ students.</p>

<p>Hopefully, Dean Rifkin can open other NJ students eyes to the great opportunity right here in NJ!</p>

12

<p>Dual Major in 2 schools?</p>

<p>How easy/difficult would it be to dual major for example in business and Spanish? I guess the question may be framed better as, "How easily can a student coordinate between 2 schools?:</p>

13

<p>Dear LongHaul:</p>

<p>Great question - sorry I wasn’t able to answer sooner, as I was away for a week.</p>

<p>It’s really not a problem to combine a major in one school with a major in another school for most majors. Some majors have a particularly demanding curriculum (nursing, engineering) and it may be very difficult to have a double major with these majors However, it is very common for students to have a double major across school boundaries. For instance, in the School of Culture & Society, there are 1600 students. That means that for these 1600 students, their primary major is in C&S. They may have a 2nd major in another school, but that doesn’t show up in my counts. However, I can tell you that an additional 600 students have a primary major in another school and a secondary major in Culture & Society. That represents roughly 10% of the student body at TCNJ. Certainly the double major combination of Spanish and anything in the Business School is very feasible.</p>

<p>I hope that this answers your question, but if it doesn’t feel free to write me directly at <a href=“mailto:rifkin@tcnj.edu”>rifkin@tcnj.edu</a>.</p>

14

<p>Hello </p>

<p>I am currently studying Health Car Administration at Stonehill College, in Massachusetts. I am a New Jersey Resident looking to transfer to TCNJ. I was curious about how transfer students are treated at TCNJ. I know that currently programs like Biology are off limits to transfers. I am hoping to apply to dental school in the near future, and I was wondering if the fact that I would be a transfer student would limit the choices I have at the college.</p>

<p>Thank you in advance,
Driscoll97</p>

15

<p>Why does Chris Christie complain about losing college students in NJ when our public schools give borderline-offensive scholarships to the best students?</p>

16

<p>TCNJ is fortunate to attract some of NJ’s and our contiguous states’ best students. Although our scholarships are not as high as those offered by private colleges in our peer group, our tuition, room and board have consistently been ranked as one of the best national values for higher education. </p>

<p>I’m sure we all would like to be able to do more (keep more NJ students in NJ colleges and universities, bring more out of state students to NJ colleges and universities, give more and better financial aid to deserving students at NJ colleges and universities). I’m just as sure that we are all wished the national and NJ budgetary situation were better.</p>

17

<p>Sorry not to have gotten back to you sooner, Driscoll97. We were actually caught up in preparing for our Spring 2011 transfer students and the start of the spring semester.</p>

<p>I consulted with the Dean and Assistant Dean of the School of Science to answer your questions.</p>

<p>Transfer students are welcome at TCNJ, including in the biology department. The number of transfer students that the biology department, as well as several other departments at TCNJ, can accept varies from semester-to-semester based on the current enrollment numbers and availability of seats in classes. However, it is not necessary to be a biology major at TCNJ to prepare for dental school.</p>

<p>It is my understanding that transfer student applications for Biology for Fall 2011 will not be accepted due to lack of available space. You’ll see more information at [Transfer</a> Applicants :: The College of New Jersey](<a href=“http://www.tcnj.edu/~admiss/transfer/index.html]Transfer”>Transfer Applicants | Undergraduate Admissions)</p>

<p>I hope this information is helpful for you.</p>

<p>If you have more questions, I encourage you to contact the Admissions Department. The contact information for Admissions staff can be found on line at </p>

<p>[Staff</a> Directory :: Admissions :: The College of New Jersey](<a href=“http://www.tcnj.edu/~admiss/staff.html]Staff”>The College of New Jersey | Undergraduate Admissions)</p>

<p>Best wishes,</p>

<p>Ben Rifkin
Dean of the School of Culture and Society
The College of New Jersey</p>

18

<p>Dean: </p>

<p>I know at most colleges, it is much more difficult to be admitted into the nursing program than other programs. (I just read that Penn State only admitted 9% this year.)</p>

<p>Can you provide some stats about admissions for the BS nursing program, such as percentage admitted, etc? How much preference is given to in-state vs. out of state applicants?</p>

<p>Thanks for participating on this forum.</p>

19

<p>Dear CharlieSchm:</p>

<p>Our nursing program is very competitive. I think there are 4-5 applicants for every admitted student (as of fall 2010). I cannot say anything about “preference” for in-state vs. out-of-state because I don’t think that is an issue. Our admissions program looks to admit qualified applicants for every program.</p>

<p>Overall I think we currently have between 4-6% out of state students (including foreign nationals) at TCNJ (not just in Nursing, but overall).</p>

<p>If you are interested in becoming a nurse, I urge you to consider applying to the TCNJ nursing school. It’s a great program; clinics and hospitals in the state and the region love TCNJ-educated nurses. We are very proud of the School of Nursing and Health & Exercise Science. And this year we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the BS in nursing program at TCNJ. See [TCNJ</a> Nursing - Celebrates 40 Years of Excellence 1970-2010](<a href=“TCNJ Nursing Celebrates 40 Years of Excellence 1970-2010 | TCNJ”>http://nursing40th.pages.tcnj.edu/) for more details.</p>

<p>Best wishes,</p>

<p>BR</p>

20

<p>I was wondering what are the requirements to transfer into the exercise science program from a community college?</p>