<p>We live about 10 miles from the NB campus and usually 40 kids from my son's HS go to Rutgers - last year it was 60 (maybe the increase because of the economy).</p>
<p>Anyway, at my son's high school, Rutgers has the reputation of just being a bigger high school. I went there in the 70s and it wasn't like that for me (or for my husband who also went there)</p>
<p>Anyway, I'm wondering if that perception exists in other schools near Rutgers NB</p>
<p>About a 100 kids get into Rutgers from my high school, and it is definitely regarded as just a bigger high school. If your child attends rutgers, chances are that he wont experience some of the things that he would have experienced in a city school (Nyu, Boston College), just because he will be seeing the same kids, and there aren’t a wide range of cultural opportunities. Your son should still apply, I am still applying, but if he wants to experience something really really new, I would advise applying some where else.</p>
<p>We are from NJ. My S applied last year to a range of schools…UVa, William and Mary, GWashington, Wash U, BU, etc… He applied to the College of NJ as his safety - - for some reason, he and many of his friends did not even bother applying to Rutgers. I guess some, perhaps, did want a change of “scenery”. In any event, my S decided on Emory Univ. and is very happy there - - the fact that it is reasonably close to a city ( Atlanta ) seems to be an added bonus for most kids.</p>
<p>It is what your son makes of it. There is enough going on at Rutgers that anyone can have a wonderful experience. On the other hand, if a person’s attitude is that it’s just an extension of HS, then that’s largely what it will be.</p>
<p>Distance of campus from home isn’t a primary determinant of the college experience. Attitude, your son’s and to a lesser degree your own, is much more of one. Once he’s out the door and living on campus, it doesn’t much matter if he’s 10 or 1,000 miles away. We don’t live all that much further away and my son the Rutgers student is having the time of his life.</p>
<p>Wait until some of those kids get the first Fs of their academic lives in that “just a bigger high school.”</p>
<p>isnt rutgers 10 minutes away from NYC??</p>
<p>^^more like 45 minutes…it’s like 30seconds away from my house, on foot</p>
<p>Has Rutgers gotten more strict on their admissions in recent years or is it still such that kids with a 3.0 and 1100/1600 on their SATs can pretty much be assured admission ?</p>
<p>i sent my SAT scores in last wednesday, sent in RU on saturday - and they still haven’t recieved my SAT scores - should i be worried?</p>
<p>They are still accepting November SAT scores, and are allowing them to be sent in a little late. I’m sure you’ll be fine. But if anything, I’d call and email, regardless.</p>
<p>I agree with rebelliousduck in that it’s what you make of it. </p>
<p>I’m from a town about 15-20 minutes away from Rutgers and plenty of kids from school end up at Rutgers, which is exactly why I didn’t want to come here. I didn’t regard the school very highly, although I knew very little about it and had never visited, which is something I think a lof of Jersey kids do because they think it’s just high school all over again. Now, it can be if you decide you don’t want to make other friends and you stick to the safety of familiar faces. However, if you’re not afraid to meet new people and make new friends, it’ll be a completely new experience. You will probably see kids from your high school around campus, but you may not. If you do, say hey if you want, but that doesn’t mean you have to hang out with them. There are plenty of people at Rutgers and things to do that if you don’t won’t college to be high school all over again it won’t be. It’s possible.</p>
<p>Exactlyy ^^ I know a ton of people who go to Rutgers, some who loved it so much when choosing schools that one chose it over Emory. They all say pretty much the same - you definitely see people you know, some you may not like, but it’s nothing like how in high school you would have classes and see them all day - rutgers is hugggee! theres just too many people for it to be all cliquey like hs. It’s what you make of it! I know people who said it would be the lasttt school theyd ever go to and now love it! its what you make of it!</p>
<p>Yeah it actually depends on where your from and what kind of school your from. I think Rutgers being a bigger high school really only applies to the Raritan/Jersey Shore Area. I’m from North Jersey and from a technical school that only had 400 students in all four grades. </p>
<p>As a freshman I still see people who I graduated but it’s only 10 of us so this is totally a new experience for me.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with the second post. I am a freshman here, and I was sort of forced to come to Rutgers based on financial reasons. I came here knowing about 15 people who went to my high school. I see about 3 of them, and that’s because I want to. It’s a very, very big school, so while running into someone is likely, you will not see them everywhere you go. </p>
<p>Unless they’re stalking you or you’re stalking them.</p>
<p>I came here with the same perception, that rutgers was basically safe, nothing new, and boring. I cried when my mother told me I had to come here. But I love it here. I’ve made new friends and enjoyed my classes. Yes, going to a school that is run by a bureaucracy does have its drawbacks, but for the most part, my first semester went swimmingly. </p>
<p>But yes, going to a state school in NB instead of a city school like NYU and BU that don’t even have an actual campus does lack some sort of excitement. But talking to people who go to both of those city schools, life isn’t peachy there, either. It all depends on what you make of it. Also, there are a substantial amount of cultural events but given that most of Rutgers are athletically-inclined, attendance is sort of on the low-side. But there is a large demographic here who are into cultural, artsy experiences, things like that.</p>