New Brunswick is a pretty lively city, and has easy rail and bus access to Philly and NYC. Penn State is in the middle of nowhere, and so Rutgers has more to offer a kid interested in the arts or in cultural events and opportunities than PSU.
I was raised in NJ and left many years ago. Rutgers is a excellent school but in the second d tier of state universities That is not a knock on Rutgers but the reality that it does not have the national reputation of say the public Ivies and many of the UC’s
Rutgers is rated #50 in the CWUR, below most Ivys, Stanford, Caltech. Its rated below the big UCs, (big 10) UMich, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Purdue, Penn State, Ohio State, Minnesota etc.
I would call it lower big 10 and middle public.
It’s funny to hear people invoke “The Ivies” in this thread. Rutgers was, in fact, invited to join the Ivy League when it was formed, but it would have had to abandon its charter as a state university to do so. I suppose I’m asking too much when I suggest that people know what they’re talking about when they invoke the mystical authority of “The Ivies.” Like most public flagships, Rutgers offers a world-class education to students who care enough to pursue one. As we are debating its rank and prestige, thousands of alumni/ae are living happy, prosperous lives removed from concern over whether it is “#50” or “#49.” I expect obsession with labels like that from high school students, but when adults betray this preoccupation it’s as disturbing as when they insist that a song must be “better” because it’s in the “Top Ten,” not languishing lower in the “Top Forty” on the charts.
Rutgers is listed that high on CWUR 2014 ratings (see http://cwur.org/2014/usa.html) but the ratings are not an indication of its strength as an undergraduate program. Rather those ratings focus on things like the impact of the university on the world’s knowledge-publications, etc. But, those factors may set the stage for some wonderful experiences for undergrads though. It really is a world class university.
@lostaccount ehh. I wouldn’t say world class at all, but it’s decent.