@ASJackson923 ehhh I have Rowan above Seton Hall.
5 stars: Princeton
4 stars: Stevens, TCNJ, Rutgers NB
3.5 stars: Rowan, Drew, NJIT
3 stars: Rutgers Newark, Montclair, Stockton, Ramapo, Rider
2.5 stars: Seton Hall, Monmouth, FDU Florham
2 stars: Rutgers Camden, FDU Metro, William Paterson, Centenary, Caldwell, St. Peter’s
1.5 stars: Kean, NJCU, Georgian Court
1 star: Felician, Bloomfield
So we got the whole spectrum covered. I made a few revisions to my original lists after some further research:
- NJIT and Drew bumped up to 3.5 stars
- Rutgers Newark and Ramapo bumped up to 3 stars
- Seton Hall and Monmouth bumped down to 2.5 stars
- FDU split into two campuses; Florham at 2.5, Metro at 2
- Centenary, Caldwell, St. Peter’s, Georgian Court, Felician, Bloomfield all enter the system.
Overall, still very weak despite the more balanced spread.
That’s my understanding of Thomas Edison as well. Taking a closer look at the school, it seems more likely they don’t provide graduation rates because their goal is to simply help students obtain degrees, not help them obtain degrees after a certain period of time.
Personally, I find that the appeal of middle tier schools has more to do with factors that are advantageous to an individual student, such as cost, location, and their environment, as well as any potential discounts they might offer to the student. So it’s harder to rank them because even if one might be technically better than the other, the “inferior” institution might have something that appeals to a certain student, and if reputation was really important to the student, he or she would be considering the top / high tier schools first.
Top Tier: Princeton
Tier 1: RU, Stevens, TCNJ
Tier 2: Drew, NJIT
Tier 2.5: Rider, Rowan, Ramapo, RU-N, RU-C, Seton Hall
Tier 3: FDU-M, FDU-F, Monmouth, Montclair, Stockton
Tier 5: WP, Kean
For Busy Adult Learners/Wildcard: TESC
Others are simply “meh”
top tier: Princeton
Tier 1 :TCNJ , Stevens
Tier 2 : RU, NJIT
TIer 3: the rest with SHU , ROWAN and Ramapo slightly ahead.
@ASJackson923 Good list. Only change I’d make is to have Monmouth in Tier 2.5.
The reason why the Tier 3 schools aren’t at Tier 2.5 is due to:
- Being Less Selective
- Having Lower Graduation and Retention Rates
- Having more inconsistent reviews
- Price. The other schools have slightly better financial aid percentages
I would switch Montclair + Stockton with Seton Hall and Rutgers Camden. Camden isn’t that good at all. I’d also put Rowan up with Drew and NJIT.
Where’s a Tier 4? I’d put FDU Metro and WPU there. WPU are definitely better than Kean tbh
That’s a good way to rank the colleges. I feel Monmouth belongs in the 2.5 tier because according to the information on CollegeData, it’s statistically on the same level as the rest.
Admission rate:
Ramapo: 53%
Rutgers Camden: 60%
Rutgers Newark: 63%
Rowan: 65%
Rider: 71%
Monmouth: 74%
Seton Hall: 79%
4 year graduation rate:
Ramapo: 58.3%
Rider: 52.5%
Seton Hall: 50.2%
Monmouth: 49.2%
Rowan: 45.8%
Rutgers Newark: 37%
Rutgers Camden: 23.5%
5 year graduation rate:
Ramapo: 70.7%
Monmouth: 66.2%
Rowan: 65.6%
Rider: 61.7%
Seton Hall: 61.5%
Rutgers Newark: 58.8%
Rutgers Camden: 46.2%
6 year graduation rate:
Ramapo: 72%
Rowan: 70%
Monmouth: 67%
Rutgers Newark: 66%
Seton Hall: 64%
Rider: 63%
Rutgers Camden: 52%
Undergraduate retention:
Ramapo: 87.7%
Rutgers Newark: 86.4%
Rowan: 86%
Seton Hall: 84%
Monmouth: 83.4%
Rutgers Camden: 82%
Rider: 81%
Financial need met:
Rowan: 84%
Rider: 75%
Seton Hall: 74%
Monmouth: 68%
Ramapo: 66%
Rutgers Newark: 63%
Rutgers Camden: 61%
Merit aid:
Monmouth: 97%
Seton Hall: 62%
Rowan: 47%
Rutgers Camden: 43%
Ramapo: 29%
Rider: 29%
Rutgers Newark: 13%
I’m not sure what site is best for reviews, but I went with Rate My Professor for the overall scores listed below. I don’t trust Colleges Niche because Kean is #11, above Rowan, Monmouth, Rider, and Ramapo.
Monmouth: 3.8
Rowan: 3.7
Ramapo: 3.6
Rider: 3.6
Rutgers Camden: 3.6
Rutgers Newark: 3.6
Seton Hall: 3.5
Fair enough. True that Niche can be biased at times(They rated Kean way too high & Rutgers satellite campuses are rated a little too high there)
Is Rutgers Camden really that much worse than Rutgers Newark? Most sites rank them near identically. I see the grad rates are worse though so I’ll move it down.
The reason I didn’t put Rowan in Tier 2 is because it is has lower requirements/less selective than those schools. Rowan SAT Average is more similar to the Tier 2.5 schools than the Tier 2 schools. This is the same reason why I didn’t move Monmouth, Montclair, & Stockton up. I’ll consider it.
Is Seton Hall really that bad? Most sites say it’s really good. I think it’s too expensive though.
FDU’s grad rate isn’t that good, so I’m considering moving it down. I wonder why I see a lot of people from my school that are going there even though I see dumber kids from my school going to
I also used sat scores in my rankings, this is why some of them had gotten moved up & down.
I also used the average SAT Scores(Collegeboard) & Post-Grad Salary(Payscale/Startclass)
Seton Hall isn’t at all good except for perhaps communications. The acceptance rate is very high (almost 80%) and the graduation rate isn’t. It’s worth not even a third of what they charge. I used pretty much entirely stats from College Board (acceptance rate, grad rate, retention rate, %ages of students at each GPA level) and Cappex/RMP reviews. That’s why I put Rowan, Montclair, Stockton all higher.
I’m glad you two are having fun. A couple of teenagers pontificating as if they know anything.
@Chardo well, considering we’ve lived in the state our entire lives and applied to these schools, I’m going to assume you haven’t lived in New Jersey at all and say that we certainly know more than you.
Do you know how to chill with your irritating holier-than-thou attitude? Claiming you’re superior just because you happen to be older than us. Surely it gets old at some point. I’m not even sure you realize how difficult it can be to deal with your unnecessary arrogance, snobbery, and rudeness. If you do happen to be a Northerner, you certainly fulfill and enhance the unfortunate stereotype for the rest of us.
I’ve also heard Thomas Edison is for adult learners. They actually had a radio commercial, which usually isn’t a good sign…
Seton Hall is a bit below average. The only positive things I’ve heard were from people in town (not the best college source). Seton Hall is definitely overpriced, the average SAT is very low.
That’s so rude. I’ve actually visited some of these schools, and I know many people who’ve attended. I voluntarily help others with their college searches. So, I think I know a thing or two about our colleges when I’ve lived here for 18 years! @Chardo
Let’s not get arrogant or pretentious now.
- This has nothing to do with us being teens, & the fact that we are teens is completely irrelevant to a Best NJ Colleges thread
- We based our reccomendations on facts from other websites, along with opinions we have heard. To assume that we're " teenagers pontificating as if they know anything" would be ignorant to say.
- That's why we have multiple lists on this thread in case someone makes errors.
- It's PERFECTLY fine if you disagree with us, there's NO need to bash others though.
- So what is your ranking of the best NJ colleges then?
Very well then, I’ll move Seton Hall down.
Don’t expect him to come back ranking NJ schools, he clearly knows not a single thing about the subject here. I always see him on other threads, he only comes in to bash people as know-nothings instead of giving any actual genuine advice.
Crap, that wasn’t meant to be posted here. Sorry about that. Carry on.