NJ mom here…what I see in our HS is a ton of people apply - but Rutgers isn’t really an easy admit. It’s pretty self-selecting in that B students don’t bother to apply. But also this year - a lot of A-student kids waitlisted/didn’t get in. Some of the majors are harder admits than others, which is probably common sense. It’s a state school - so to @melissabel 's post - they don’t offer much as far as scholarship money except to top students. It clocks in at $30K with tuition, room and board and fees…Lastly, I’m sure it’s possible to graduate in four years, but I see a lot of complaints about kids shut out of their major courses, bad advising, and not graduating in four years for one reason or the other. Some people love it but there are plenty of reasons to look out of state and if you look on the admissions board - lots of top students can get better deals/compelling offers at out of state privates.
That is…disheartening.
That’s a great idea! Having a separate thread to handle overflow discussions related to a particular topic can be very useful in keeping the main thread focused and on-topic. It allows people to continue the conversation and address related issues without derailing the original thread. Quoting the original post in the overflow thread can help provide context and keep the conversation relevant to the topic at hand
We typically only get about 15-20% or so who go out of state/WI. U of Iowa and Iowa State are most common (and UMinn-TC).
My son would have loved to go to Indiana but they gave so little merit. Too pricey.
Most state schools do not give a lot of scholarships/grants to OOS students. First priority is to instate students, and they may not have a lot of money for those students either.
I agree with you that it is a waste of money to apply unless there is a guaranteed scholarship amount like at Alabama or ASU or Wyoming, or perhaps a good chance of instate tuition like at some of the Texas schools or Florida’s grandparent program, but the schools can’t be faulted for that. Often the tuition policies or the scholarship/FA funding is set by the state legislature.
100% agree. From the parent’s perspective, I think we overrate physical surroundings and how well the lawns are manicured. Having been through the process now, it strikes me that for the student, getting some sense of whether a place seems to have the optimal balance (whatever it may be for that individual) between what they perceive as ‘their people’ and getting out of their comfort zone for the typical college growth experience is much more important. And you just can’t get that sense when the only people around are grad students and staff. It’s not worthless to tour in the summer, but you’ll probably be back if it ends up in your child’s mix of acceptances.
Yeah, I think it depends on the state school. I am in NY and SUNY almost always gives out most of their scholarships to OOS students. In state students rarely get any merit aid. I think the thought is that it’s already so inexpensive for I state tuition.
I thought Rutgers might have been similar.
Yes and no—physical plant issues can be a canary in the coal mine of an underfunded institution, so there is that.
I have also made assumptions about college’s funding based on the physical plant … but I also keep in mind Malcolm Gladwell’s discussion of dining halls, and how some colleges choose to spend their money on people (recruiting more students on financial aid) than on things that they consider “extras” (high-end dining halls, dorms that are palaces, etc).
Fair enough. We’ve not been to any of those yet, but they certainly do exist, and that’s a factor students might not notice/give sufficient weight.
Rutgers is not an “easy acceptance”.
Rutgers gave out about 675 non-need-based scholarships last year for a class of about 6500. Most of that was to honors college kids, pretty much > 1500 SAT required.
If looking for scholarships and your kid isn’t tippy top, Rutgers isn’t the place to look.
Interesting. I wonder why the perception upthread that it is, then.
(I will admit that I don’t really know anything about Rutgers, except that it’s the best-named public flagship in the nation, and has a pretty cool team name.)
My daugther is Direct Entry at Kelley, and she committed a few weeks ago. She is so excited…IU is an amazing school! Lots of Illinois kids go there…great reputation and top-notch business school.
On the main Class of 2023 thread, a parent said that all their child’s hard work had been for nothing, because they only got into their state flagship. (University of Michigan!) Another flagship that is not an easy admit, but that parent felt their child would have been an easy admit without the effort they had put out. I think it’s just the lag of reality catching up with their perceptions. A lot of people keep their state schools in their back pocket, but don’t get really invested in them. The numbers are big. Over 100 kids from D23’s class applied, and looks like 40 were accepted. So the perception is probably that everyone gets in, but it’s not really true.
“Crossed off Berkeley. The campus wasn’t well maintained and we just didn’t get a great feeling there.”
I pulled this one off the “official” thread. Top 100 state U’s are much more likely to not spend as much on grounds and building maintenance/beauty. This same poster said USC and Princeton were beautiful.
My public alma mater went years without making sure the fountains on campus worked. They currently do but it took a president that focused on the “little things.” Probably just looking at the endowment per student is an indication of financial strength.
I think it’s perception and self-selection maybe. Rutgers does have about a 68% acceptance rate, but if you look at the SAT scores - the 25th percentile at Rutger is 1240, which is about the 80th percentile of all SAT scores. Their 25th percentile for the ACT is 27, which is the 85th percentile of all ACT scores.
Totally agree with this, very expensive LACs have tons of “free” things that I giggled at each time they were mentioned including support for very expensive summer programs. S21’s public conservatory has very very few of these and only those with the most need get this kind of support, the benefit of half the tuition.
For many schools, this is exactly why they are included - it creates less of a barrier to participation for those students and reduces stigma associated with needing a special ticket or special card to access events or services other kids can easily bankroll without a moment’s thought.
I think that’s right…especially about self-selection.
The admission rates at Rutgers vary by location and interest…
- Rutgers University-New Brunswick: 68% acceptance rate
- Rutgers University-Camden: 58%
- Rutgers University-Newark: 55%
- Rutgers School of Pharmacy: 40%
- Rutgers School of Engineering: 35%
I suspect part of the self-selection was the elimination of the campus identities and the underlying hierarchy. Rutgers College (college Ave.) used to be the elite admission. Kids in my class were rejected from Rutgers College and accepted into very good schools. Cook was next (science), followed by Douglas and Livingston. Pharmacy and Engineering have always been harder to get into, but the integration of the rest didn’t make them special…it removed a bit of what was special in the past.
RU doesn’t publish the honors college acceptance rate, but it’s estimated to be less than 10%. The HC has replaced Rutgers College as the “elite” part of the school, but it’s much smaller. Hell…it sits on the grounds where the seminary (not affiliated) and a couple of frats used to be.
New Brunswick was never a great town, but it’s built up and feels really dumpy when compared to most college towns.
So if you don’t get into one of the more elite programs, I think kids in the state are staying closer to home and going to schools that are more like Rutgers used to be…Rowan and TCNJ in particular.
What I’m always surprised by is the number of NJ kids who are going to UofDelaware and UMD. Why kids would spend $20k more per year to be OOS in Delaware vs. in-state in Rutgers I can’t figure out…but it happens A LOT. I more understand Maryland, but still…all of the talk of money on this site, and the $80k addition for going out of state doesn’t make sense to me for NJ residents.