<p>Is Rutgers really “in your backyard”? If so, could your daughter perhaps take a course or two there in her senior year of high school?</p>
<p>Despite its strong reputation in his area of interest, my son was reluctant to apply to our state flagship not only because it’s in the town where he grew up, but because both his dad and I teach there! I could see his point . . . however, his area of interest is very different from ours (not just a different department, but a different school on a different part of the large campus). He took two courses last fall and is enrolled in one this spring, has gotten to know professors and students in his department of interest, and realized that none of them knew or cared about his parents. By the time March rolled around, he was thrilled to be accepted.</p>
<p>I admit to nudging this process along by doing some background research on courses and encouraging him to take classes in which I knew the professors were excellent (check out ratemyprofessors.com).</p>
<p>I have one child going to W&L, and another at TCNJ. We could have afforded for my son to attend a private college, but fortunately he’s a frugal kid who has held jobs every summer and knows the value of a dollar - most of the time. He wants to go to med/dental school, and I explained that it would be a shame to use up so many funds for undergrad, that the bank of mom and dad was not limitless. Luckily he really liked TCNJ and they offered him some $ to boot. He was offered scholarships at private schools as well, but the TCNJ campus had the right feel for him.</p>
<p>My daughter was a bit more picky. She says now that she would have attended a state school, but at the time she really wanted to go out of state, so we didn’t even look in state. Neither of my kids wanted anything to do with Rutgers undergrad - it was just too big.</p>
<p>We toured Rutgers with our son. We’re not the big city type and didn’t like the feel of Rutgers. Had a lot of bad press at the time. Mostly fighting and assault cases around New Brunswick. Rutgers has the second largest bus system in N.J.( N.J. transit first).
Many classes need a bus ride. 50,000 students total in their campuses. My son was a “fish out of water”. My son decided on TCNJ and enjoyed the small campus feeling.
He felt safe and we felt relieved.</p>
<p>How about asking her to arrange to shadow a recently graduated Vet in her field of interest to hear more about the undergrad and grad requirements in the field?</p>
<p>Sometimes the kids hear from Mom and Dad “grad school will cost 200K and it will take you 20 years of work to pay it off” and it goes in one ear and out the other. Hearing it from a 35 year old who is working 90 hours a week in a demanding field and sweating bullets to pay off the vet school loans may help her understand the value of graduating from undergrad with a chunk of change in the bank to help her with grad school.</p>
<p>Or not.</p>
<p>We do not live in NJ and Rutgers is considered a very fine option for kids who can’t get into or can’t afford the pricey top tier privates. Amazing how people disdain what’s in their own backyard…</p>
<p>As a NJ native, many of my Ds friends will end up commuting to Rutgers next year, as my nephew does this year as a freshman. That’s one of the slams on Rutgers: for a state flagship, it’s got an awful lot of commuters. Couple that with all the budget cuts coming through the pipeline with the new administration and I think it might be tough to be an undergrad there the next few years. In another thread, I was shocked to hear how high instate tuition is at the NJ state schools. Your OOS costs at other states publics might be lower or equal to your in state costs at Rutgers. </p>
<p>So if she’s looking at equine vet programs, she’ll need to look at bigger schools in areas where the equine or large animal industry has a presence. It’s not like she’s looking to be an English major. Limiting her choices to north of the Mason Dixon line is going to eliminate a number of good schools that aren’t Rutgers. Can you agree to back off on Rutgers if she’ll look at some schools outside of her geographic comfort zone?</p>
<p>HarryB-
Our son IS the big city type and was disappointed not to be heading to NYC for undergrad.
He started at TCNJ for two years. He found great profs and friends but ultimately it was too small for him. Transferred to finish at Rutgers New Brunswick, larger, more challenging and yes, many buses. None of that bothered him much!</p>
<p>We, his parents, missed the visits to TCNJ. The campus is gorgeous.
It really resembles William and Mary, or Williamsburg, for that matter to us as old building people.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s comments. Just an update: I did some research on the Rutgers equine program and found they have a Young Horse Teaching & Research program where students are assigned to train & research a young horse that is a by-product of the Premarin industry. She is fascinated by the program and is looking forward to visiting AgDay on April 24. We talked more about her reluctance to consider Rutgers and one of her biggest issue with Rutgers is running into people from her high school on campus. (we send 15-20/year out of a class of 500). Another reason she has opened her mind is she found out a current senior is going to Rutgers for pre-vet and she knows this girl is smart and had plenty of other choices.</p>
<p>This doesn’t seem to be much of a problem for students who attend their home-state flagship schools. My son attended his and knew at least 50 people on the campus (either from his high school class, the classes above him, or various part-time jobs). But they were just people to say hello to; they were not a social group. He made friends through his dorm and elsewhere.</p>
<p>If you go to college with a friend or friends from high school and want to maintain that friendship, you can. My daughter did, and it made the transition to college easier. But if you want to branch out and make new friends, you can do that, too.</p>
<p>Have you been to Ag Field Day before? It was one of my favorite events of the year when my kids were little! And I think it does a nice job of highlighting the picturesque portion of the Rutgers NB campus where she would be based. Glad to hear that she’s softening up :)</p>
<p>I am always surprised when parents say Cornell is in the middle of nowhere. Most colleges are far from NYC or other metro areas. The statement “in the middle of nowhere” makes it sound like there is nothing to do on the campus or the town. I could only suggest that you visit the Cornell campus to experience what I refer to as a little bit of heaven here on earth. There are very few campuses that could ever compare to Cornell.</p>
<p>I’m probably chiming in on what others have said - vet school can be harder to get into than med school. She needs to talk to some vets, she has to get shadow hours anyway for admission, then maybe rethink her choices, ie Rutgers might look a lot better.
From the experiences of friends’ children, vet schools seem to favor their own undergrads, and of course the state schools have to favor state residents.</p>
<p>Also, she should look into the big Southern state schools, I would think she could get a free ride at Auburn for example, and it has an excellent vet school. A friend of my daughter’s got direct admit to vet school from high school at Mississippi State, and he was OOS for MSU. His stats were probably similar to your D, but he had worked hundreds of hours with a vet, and had done some animal research, so his career interest was fixed (not the right thing for most kids, IMHO, but it has worked for him, he will graduating as a vet this spring, 5 years out of high school)</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions on vet school. A huge problem will be that NJ does not have a vet schools, just a few contracted seats at 3 schools that are not top tier, so she needs to either go undergrad at a school with a vet school or find a undergrad program with high vet school admission rate. (Auburn for example has 95 spots: 46 for AL residents, 40 for KY and 2 for WV.). One reason she wants to stay in the Northeast is her high school (& our community) is very integrated and very left-leaning politically, so she is looking for schools that she will feel comfortable with. I suspect the political leanings of many southern schools will drive her nuts. (yes this is a generalization, but she has spent time in the South and would prefer to go to school elsewhere).</p>
<p>[Veterinary</a> Science](<a href=“Student Organizations | Penn State Student Affairs”>Student Organizations | Penn State Student Affairs)
A few helpful points from the pre-vet club at PSU. I know she said she didn’t like the idea of PSU…but I’m confused because the “feel” of the campus didn’t seem much different to me than Cornell. Nice college town. Lots of farms around it. Yes, it’s MUCH bigger but honestly didn’t feel that way to me. The Cornell campus is very spread out. </p>
<p>I’m sure PSU is a LOT pricier than Rutgers but maybe she could get into the honors college with some $…these kids get a boost in admissions to post grad (maybe call and ask their admissions rate).</p>
<p>Hey, I live in PA and I KNOW Penn State doesn’t have a vet school. Penn has a fine one. But I thought we were looking for safety schools. Penn State does a good job with pre vets.</p>
<p>Only 15 kids from her school will be going to Rutgers? That is NOT a big deal for a large university.</p>
<p>My kids’ school sends about 10 to their flagship, and my kids only rarely see old classmates. And when they do, it’s just a quick wave and they move on…unless they **want **to stop and chat.</p>
<p>I have the same daughter. Such an ego! Something learned from personal experience. Your financial situation can change. Mine did. Completely unexpectedly, so I believe you are being wise.</p>
<p>I agree with the posters who said to go after the merit $, although I understand that the program your daughter has chosen is somewhat specialized.</p>
<p>I have two kids in school. First daughter (one with the ego) wouldn’t consider state school, and I played into it. The second time around, I had learned my lesson. My son was given a lot less rope! : ) and is happily finishing his freshman year at a state school. Also, I did learn that there is merit $ for B students.</p>
<p>Your daughter should be able to find plenty of schools that would love to have her! I’m sure you two can come to a compromise, and I admire the fact that you are being financially prudent even though it may not be necessary. A good lesson which I feel two few children are receiving today.</p>
<p>Have you looked at UVM? I know they have a horse barn.</p>
<p>This is more than getting her to consider her state school, this is no UNC or Penn St. There are 5 campuses separated by a highway, a iffy-crime area (being polite). The idea that the tour takes place on a charter bus which winds its way between the campuses and takes 1 hr to do it…that was what we are struggling with. On paper, Rutgers looks perfect. It’s the tour that got us. Maybe the AG day has the power to break it down into one campus. </p>
<p>TCNJ wasn’t recommended to us by our GC. Although selective, he wasn’t impressed that their faculty/curriculum changed much. Rutgers, though, yes - well regarded academically, more so than TCNJ in our school.</p>
<p>And watch what is being said about state funding of higher ed - alot of state funding is being cut (just like our districts) by Gov. Christie which will prob translate into large tuition increases and/or merit aid cuts.</p>
<p>Have not read the previous pages so forgive me if someone else has suggested the same. - For students with good stats and rich parents, apply to state school is a waste of money/time/energy what have, IMHO. </p>
<p>I would do it this way. Make sure an early application is in - EA, ED, SCEA. By Dec 15th, if the answer is yes. Then forget about the state school. If the answer is not. You should be very easy to convience your child then that a safety is needed. </p>
<p>o.k. disclaimer. there are many wonderful state schools and many students with excellent stats go to these school every year. etc etc. I got nothing against any state schools. However, some kids just do not want to go to the same school with the kids who never finish one home work in HS.</p>