<p>I dont have US News in front of me right now…but I recall TCNJ ranked in the top 5 or 10 in the northeast (possibly #4) – you probably looked under national universities…it was under another category…either best colleges/universities with also a master’s degree program or best baccalaureate college.</p>
<p>Look again.</p>
<p>Oh ok thank you.</p>
<p>I definitely see where Centralprkwest is coming from; in the “real world” it definitely could not hurt your chances on the job market if you owned an Ivy-League diploma. From my experience, I also believe that outside of New Jersey (and sometimes inside of Nj as well) TCNJ is widely unknown. Let’s face it; it ain’t no Harvard. But I love TCNJ and I can’t help but be offended at a few of the things CentralPrkwest said. Let me start by saying that I am an incoming freshman ((class of 2013), I have visited the college at least 3 times (about to be 4) and let me make it very clear that being in EOF (Equal Opportunity Fund) does not mean that you are below the academic marker and thus the only way to be accepted was through EOF. EOF doesn’t even have as much to do with your racial background as much as it has to do with your or your family’s INCOME (which explains why most EOF students are minorities, being that minorities tend to be poor). I for example am an Edward J. Bloustein scholar, # 3 in my class of 365 with decent SAT’s and I am also an EOF student. I was stuck between TCNJ with full ride and Carnegie Mellon with a $52,000 scholarship a year. I must be honest, I never even bothered to visit CMU, I went to Student’s Day at TCNJ and my heart was set. I knew full well what the repercussions of choosing TCNJ would be: I would have to explain my college to almost everyone I meet; note however, that the people who DO know what TCNJ is have all had wonderful comments about it. You seem to be the only one who sees TCNJ as a “blemish” on your life and I must say two things. First, if you really did not mind being 150k in debt at an Ivy college, then why didn’t you attend grad school to one of them? TCNJ graduates seem to have success at Ivy-League acceptances. And secondly, TCNJ used to have a rep as a “safety school” in the early 80’s but they have improved immensely (hence they shed the name “Trenton State” for TCNJ to fortify their new image) and since then TCNJ has begun to become a premier college. At this point TCNJ is doing pretty well for itself. I do not mean to discredit what you said, only offering my twopence here :)</p>
<p>In response to people blasting TCNJ:</p>
<p>Ultimately the college doesn’t matter. Smart people, in both academic and social intelligence, succeed. Prestige is about 10% of the equation.</p>
<p>Stop *****ing and be happy that you were able to attend college in the first place, unlike the vast majority of humans on this planet. </p>
<p>I plan on attending Rutgers.</p>
<p>In response to people blasting TCNJ:</p>
<p>Ultimately the college doesn’t matter. Smart people, in both academic and social intelligence, succeed. Prestige is about 10% of the equation.</p>
<p>Stop crying and be happy that you were able to attend college in the first place, unlike the vast majority of humans on this planet. </p>
<hr>
<p>I plan on attending Rutgers.</p>
<p>my son is considering TCNJ along with Villanova, Lehigh, Lafayette, Rutgers, Bucknell and Ursinus. TCNJ is aiming, modeling itself, to be the “College of William and Mary” of New Jersey, and I think if NJ keeps pumping money into it and maintains or increases it’s standards, they very well may succeed. I have been a corporate recruiter for 20 years and there is a great deal of truth from a social networking point of view of going to a prominent school. You will fall short of that with TCNJ, but the game is different now: grad school is the game, not undergrad. The students impress me as a smart group. they are also a happy lot. Weigh things carefully, TCNJ for science, education is an excellent school for kids like my son a top 5% in science/ math, top 15 % in everything else</p>
<p>I am considering TCNJ as a safety school for business. My other safety school is the university of Delaware, I was wondering why TCNJ is not ranked in business week’s undergraduate business rankings?</p>
<p>TCNJ is a terrific school however centralparkwest is not wrong in what he is saying. I do not know a single person who has ever heard of it outside of New Jersey. That can be tough when networking for jobs after graduation to get that first job. Where I would disagree with the OP is in his assessment of the long term value of the Ivy degree after the first job has been had. If you do a great job with a TCNJ degree you will be on your way. However, I must say that the road has been easier for my sons than friends they have at TCNJ in terms of internships and opportunities on campus, there are trade offs for everything in life. The TCNJ degree is less than half the cost of the Ivys and it is a personal choice that one must make.</p>
<p>As far as the academics are concerned I think that those who believe it is equivalent to an Ivy may not have much experience with the rigor at an Ivy. There is absolutely no comparison to the level of education at TCNJ to the Ivys they compare themselves to.</p>
<p>So I am doing just that.</p>
<p>The business program at TCNJ is very rigorous and it is in fact noted as one of the top 100 business schools in the country. If you’re coming to TCNJ - definatly be college calculus ready.</p>
<p>to honestlee…where do you find that ranking…it’s not ranked in USNWR.</p>
<p>is it #25, 50, 90, or 100?</p>
<p>My two cents having been a professional recruiter for 20 plus years. It is true that certain undergrad degrees hold offer more value but it depends on the circumstances. Going to TCNJ for business over Wharton or Harvard would be a wrong choice. Going to TCNJ over Cal Tech or MIT for science probably a mistake. Going to TCNJ over Oregon State for Forestry, mistake. But going to TCNJ over say a Lafayette or a Dickinson for a liberal arts degree ? TCNJ is half the price and has in my opinion equivlant programs. TCNJ is in that ballpark.
The question is will TCNJ prepare you for graduate school better, the same or worse than the school(s) in question and will you get into a superior grad school ?
It is true TCNJ does not have the great name recognition of someother schools but I feel it prepares students ( and the student body is very bright and capable) well for grad school.</p>
<p>to jtutley…interesting perspective.</p>
<p>Being a recuriter, I’d like your opinion on the business and engineering program at TCNJ - (not versus Harvard or Wharton, since that’s not realistic). Specifically how does a recruiter or potential employer recognize a TCNJ undergraduate say, versus a Rutgers, Delaware, Maryland, Penn State, etc). Although TCNJ may be the hardest of these schools school to get into, would a TCNJ person be at any disadvantage due to name recognition? In other words, everything else being equal about a candidate, how would a TCNJ undergrad diploma hold up against these others?</p>
<p>Hi Lewmin,</p>
<p>I do not know the rankings of the business or engineering programs at TCNJ. I would imagine grad degrees will be required for both so same thought regarding preperation.
My gut about engineering is there are rankings to be taken seriously. If a program is a highly rated program, it will be a boost in the future. Penn State is a top program so I would weigh that program accordingly ( i.e they are the “Harvard” of engineering programs so to speak). There is the top, there is the bottom, and there is the vast middle. Class rank comes into play too.</p>
<p>I would talk with people in the program too and try and get some hard numbers from them ( i.e how many people who graduated, where they went etc).</p>
<p>jtutley,</p>
<p>You make some valid points. But lets go back to the TCNJ - Penn St point you are making. Do you know that the average SAT score for the two parts to get into TCNJ is about 100 points higher than Penn State (see USNWR)?. For engineering and business students, the entry requirements are somewhat tougher at both schools. </p>
<p>So, based on what you are saying, upon graduation, you may be more marketable to the engineering or business world with a school that has name recognition even if the requirements to get into that school may be less difficult.</p>
<p>That is my concern - - how the recruiting world would look at this.</p>
<p>I would look to see how many companies do on campus interviews and show up at the Job Fairs. That is a good indicator of company interest. Also, ask people at the college. You sometimes have to do some digging. I am no expert on these things. The quality of students at TCNJ to me are similar to Colgate ( at both schools 65% of kids were top 10% of high school class but Wall Street loves Colgate grads so go figure., my boy is a chem major who will most likely become a teacher and TCNJ is a good place for him good luck</p>
<p>Just happened to see this thread today and wanted to post that TCNJ was ranked by BusinessWeek as #65 Survey of Best Undergraduate Business Schools.</p>
<p>this is a good thread, let’s keep it going</p>
<p>TCNJ is a great school IMO for premed. I don’t know about other majors, but it is definitely excellent if you are on the premed track. A friend of my family attended the school and was magna cum laude. He had a very high GPA with great EC’s and now attends medical school. (He did not want to leave NJ though because of his family.)
I want to do the same or close to it. I want to get the high GPA in a small school without the cut-throat competition and get my extracurriculars and research (its near Princeton/join research there) done. Then, I can apply to medical school. However, if I did not choose the pre-med track, I probably would go to a bigger university. But I still commend TCNJ for its academics at a low price (low debt).</p>