Ok. Nevermind than. Carry on
Here’s a review of the college towns I found:
Princeton - Out of reach for many, Nassau St & Palmer Square are pretty much it. Has so many chain shopping stores that resemble say, Summit or Millburn.
New Brunswick - I actually like the momentum that’s been happening here, but it couldn’t hold a candle to Bloomington, In., State College or Ann Arbor.
Pitman/ Glassboro - Pitman has a cool old theater and the area is trying, but Rowan’s towns have a long way to go. That light rail project may help.
Pomona - Stockton is in the woods and there is no real town there. Students are better off living in Brigantine or Margate, scattered around.
West Long Branch - Long Branch itself has seen some recent positives, but isn’t really a college town.
Ewing - The disconnect between this town that has so much potential and the state’s premiere college could not be greater. Really started a couple decades back with the change of the “Trenton State” name.
Madison - Has Drew & FDU Florham. A cool single street with a train station, but not a cool town.
South Orange - Seton Hall’s town also has one cool street, but this is still a bigger bedroom community for Manhattan workers.
Teaneck/ Hackensack - Meh
Mahwah - Double Meh
Camden - Nope
Union - Kean’s college has some nice new condos/ apts. & an awesome coffee shop by the train station, but you can’t walk anywhere. It’s that bad.
Newark - A good amounts of colleges here, but Newark has a long way to go. It will never be a “college town” but it could be a really awesome city.
Hoboken - If you’re an engineer, Stevens’ campus is excellent and you’re in Hoboken where many other workers are close to your age and likely in their 20s too. This town IMHO represents a great, attractive town for a NJ student to go to. But it’s not a college town. I lived there for years and never even met a Stevens student. I did see a couple Stevens sweatshirts though.
Montclair - This is the most attractive place and one that I see as a natural winner to invest in. However, the college is toward the north part of town, far enough away from the downtown for their to be a big disconnect. A bike path could change that. I would love to see Montclair to become known as a cool college town, maybe on par with some New England schools. It already has
@lbad96 and @ASJackson923 Hey guys, looking for your help on Rowan and I’d rather not start a new thread. Shut me down if this is inappropriate.
I know that Rowan has a decent engineering program and the campus is nice and improving. Also, they give very good merit-based aid to high stats students. My concern is about campus life. I’ve read that its 90+% NJ kids which lends itself to being a commuter school. I’m not overly concerned about the 90+% NJ kid thing (we’re from NYC), but I am concerned if it is a commuter school. Son would not be able to come home every weekend like the commuters. He would not like an empty campus every weekend. Thanks
There are a lot of things wrong with the Colleges Niche rankings, in my opinion. Ramapo is #24 and the third lowest ranked college in the state. I’m not sure if there are any particularly reliable review websites for colleges since Rate My Professor’s rankings are a bit odd as well; Kean has a 3.5, while NJIT has a 3.1, and the quality of the food is one of the factors that goes into the scores.
While Monmouth’s SAT average is a bit lower than the Tier 2.5 schools, I feel its statistics in other categories puts it above the Tier 3. The middle tier schools are often weak, or at least less than impressive in a certain category; that’s what prevents them from being closer to the top.
For example, NJIT has rather low graduation rates - 23.8% in four years, 49.6% in five years, and 58% in six years. I don’t know if there’s a reason for these rates, but they’re below all but one of the middle tier schools. Only Rutgers Camden’s graduation rates are lower.
Also, I feel the problems with Seton Hall could be applied to Drew. Drew has the second highest tuition in the state, even slightly higher than Princeton, and while their graduation rates aren’t terrible - 56.9% in four years, 61% in five years, and 62% in six years, they’re not at the level you’d expect of a school charging over 40 grand. And it doesn’t help that Drew has an acceptance rate of 70%.
NJIT students have a high post grad salary though, although their graduation rates are average.
He will be fine. I think Rowan also does weekend events called “Rowan After Hours” or something like that. There’s malls,movies, stuff about 15mins away from Rowan. Plus it’s like 1/2 an hour from Philly. There’s stuff to do.
There’s 13,169 students total at Rowan & the campus wide residence hall capacity is 3942.
True. You kind of have to create an overall consensus based on those sites as a whole and people’s reviews
@Stem2017 Rowan is technically not a commuter school. First, there are approximately 9,000 full time undergraduates and Rowan requires freshman and sophomores to live in campus housing unless they can prove they live with their parents within 40 miles of the school. Although the majority of students live in NJ many come from hours away and will not be traveling home every weekend. A commuter school (like Stockton) most students come from the local area. A school where students go home on weekends is likely considered a suitcase school, but I don’t believe that kids that go to school an hour or more away want to go home every weekend. Even if half did, you still have plenty of students on campus.
We live 40 minutes away and my son will not be coming home at all. Plus freshman don’t have cars so unless the parents enable them they can’t get home easily.
@Lehighmother That’s great information. Thanks. Since we’ve never been there to experience the campus, we only know what we read. Your insights are very helpful.
In addition to a high post graduation salary, NJIT also has a high percentage of students who are offered full-time employment six months after graduating (80%). However, the graduation rates prevent it from entering the high tier and keep it closer to the middle.
The main problem with review websites is not everybody is submitting reviews of the school they went to. Usually, the reviews can create a general consensus of a school’s quality, but they don’t always provide the big picture. It’s likely the reviews of Kean have been dominated by those who liked it, while Ramapo’s reviews on CollegeFactual and NJIT’s reviews on Rate My Professor haven’t.
@STEM2017 can’t really comment on Rowan, although they are more of a suitcase school than a commuter one.
@ASJackson923 @ExpertOnMistakes do you both think that NJIT is worthy of a 3.5 star rating, or more like 3 stars? I personally put them at 3 stars but these conflicting reviews and stats are so confusing lol. I think part of the reason that NJIT gets high PG salaries is because A) they’re a STEM school and B) they’re in the north. I don’t think they’re anything more than average. And no way Kean is nearly as good as those reviews. I’m surprised it even has such a high rating considering more than a quarter of their freshmen don’t return for sophomore year. Pitiful.
@LBad96 I consider NJIT to be a 3 star school myself. On average, the students admitted have relatively high GPAs and SAT scores and the percentage of graduates who are offered full-time employment within six months is solid, but the graduation rates are rather low. It also has the highest in-state and out-of-state tuition of New Jersey’s public colleges.
My brother went to Kean for a semester and hated it. He’s at Rutgers New Brunswick now. When I went to the campus to help him pack up, the place gave me a really bad vibe.
@ExpertOnMistakes NJIT highest tuition? Ouch. Not even worth nearly as much as it charges. VERY average school. I live about a 25-minute train ride away from Kean. Always thought of it as a lowly commuter school (1.5 stars). The only people in my high school who were bold enough to choose Kean did so because they either got recruited for football or because they wanted to be an athletic trainer, or because they didn’t want to go far from home for one reason or another. I have a family friend who graduated from Kean a few years back. She only went there because her mother simply would not allow her to go OOS (even though she got offers from a few decent schools). Basically, Kean is for those who are scared to leave Union County. Good on your brother for transferring, that school is nothing more than an April Fools’ Day joke.
What’s your star rating for Rowan? How about Drew? William Paterson/NJCU?
@LBad96 I agree. NJIT isn’t a bad school, but it doesn’t have many qualities that help it stand out among its peers. Its most notable feature is that aside from Rutgers, it’s the only public school in the state to have a sizable amount of doctoral programs. Nevertheless, NJIT remains below Rutgers and TCNJ in regards to overall quality, despite being more expensive than them.
I think the only other reasons people would choose Kean is because their friends might be attending it and it has the second cheapest in-state tuition (behind NJCU) and the cheapest out-of-state tuition of the New Jersey public colleges. (Thomas Edison is technically the cheapest, but it’s not comparable because it has a different purpose.) My brother went there for the former reason, in addition to him wanting to remain in the state. Rutgers was his top choice, but the school initially rejected him.
Rowan is a 3.5 for me. Its statistics aren’t exceptionally great, but it has good freshman retention rates and SAT and GPA averages of the students admitted. And while the four-year graduation rate is a bit low, the school makes up for it with its five-year and six-year rates.
Drew is a 3. I know it’s usually highly ranked among New Jersey colleges, but I believe it’s overrated. The graduation rate is simply not at the level it should be for an institution that charges as much as it does. I know two people who went to Drew and left because they hated it.
William Patterson is a 1.5. While superior to Kean in most categories, its statistics are still pretty weak. Not only does it charge higher tuition than Kean, it’s only slightly cheaper than Rowan. If choosing between Kean and William Patterson, you kind of have to ask yourself if the additional thousand dollars or so are worth it just to get a slightly better experience. To William Patterson’s credit, it at least has a published ranking on the US News’ regional universities list, unlike Kean and NCJU.
NCJU is a 1. Its statistics are just abysmal. Like I said above, the school has the cheapest in-state tuition and that’s probably the only reason why anyone would attend it. I think it’s kind of funny how the Wikipedia page on NJCU feels the need to mention that it’s “a fully recognized and accredited university,” as if most people don’t believe it’s a legitimate college.
Top Tier: Princeton
Tier 1: RU, Stevens, TCNJ
Tier 2 : Drew, NJIT, Rider, Rowan, Ramapo, RU-N
Tier 3: FDU-M, FDU-F, Monmouth, Montclair, RU-C, Seton Hall, Stockton
Tier 5: Kean, WP
Rowan,Ramapo, & RU-N moved up
I’m not sure where to put Rider tbh
@ExpertOnMistakes spot on tbh. I gave WPU a 2 because of the fact that it’s at least ranked in USNWR, and because they participated in the LBad Cup in my story thread last year (although they probably should have turned down the invitation and stayed home lol). I might just have to knock it down to 1.5, and Kean and NJCU both go down to 1. Honestly, I didn’t even hear of NJCU until the tail end of my high school career, and I questioned whether or not such a basic-sounding university even existed hahahaha.
Speaking of the LBad Cup, what is your opinion on the other NJ schools that were in that ompetition? Rider, my former safety school (and the only NJ team to make it to the QFs)? Rutgers, the hosts (eliminated in last 16 by Bing)? TCNJ? Montclair? Seton Hall? Monmouth? Fairleigh Dickinson?
@LBad96 I’m tempted to give William Patterson a 2 because it at least has a published ranking, but it’s hurt by its statistics and poor reputation in the state. I had two friends who went there, but I’ve since lost contact with them, so I don’t know what they thought of it. Like any low tier state school, William Patterson’s main benefits are that it’s relatively inexpensive, fairly easy to get into, and for people in the area, close-by. Also, it has the advantage of not being as bad as Kean and NJCU. I didn’t hear of NJCU myself until I saw a list of all of New Jersey’s colleges.
My ratings for those schools are as follows:
Rutgers: 4 stars. As New Jersey’s flagship institution, Rutgers’ primary strength is the large variety of programs it offers. Its statistics aren’t the most impressive, but they’re still pretty good, and the amount of programs provides students with a better chance of obtaining a degree in their desired field, as well as obtaining a degree at a well-regarded institution.
TCNJ: 4 stars. Princeton, Rutgers, and TCNJ essentially form the holy trinity of New Jersey schools; Princeton is the top private school (along with being the top school, period), Rutgers is the top national public school, and TCNJ is the top regional public school. TCNJ holds true to its purpose of keeping top New Jersey students in-state through strong statistics and not being too expensive. On the downside, it has very little graduate programs and almost no recognition outside of the state.
Monmouth: 3 stars. Monmouth is statistically above average and on the same level as other middle tier schools, but being private, it’s also hurt by a high attendance cost. As a middle tier school, Monmouth’s key benefits are primarily subjective factors that appeal to certain students and it at least has the advantage of being in a nice area with a nice campus. Part of me suspects that the low graduation rates of Rutgers Newark, Rutgers Camden, and NJIT have some relation to where they’re located. Monmouth has an environment that students are likely to feel comfortable in.
Seton Hall: 3 stars. Seton Hall is a bit of an enigma; it has more name recognition than middle tier schools, despite not having the statistics of a higher ranked institution. If I had to guess, this due to it being the third oldest college in New Jersey and one of the few that has a law school. (Kean, TCNJ, and William Patterson were technically established earlier, but they began as normal schools). Seton Hall’s statistics aren’t terrible and considering that the average GPAs and SAT scores of the applicants are fairly solid, the high acceptance rate probably has more to do with the quality of who’s applying. However, it’s more in line with the other middle tier schools and it naturally has a cost disadvantage as a private. Having a law school seems to be its primary advantage.
Rider: 3 stars. Same deal as Monmouth; statistically above average and on the same level as other middle tier schools, but as a private, it’s more expensive than the publics. It’s also a bit more expensive than Monmouth, despite having slightly worse statistics.
Montclair: 2.5 stars. While it’s not too pricey, it’s also below the middle tier schools in just about every category - GPA average, SAT score average, undergraduate retention, and graduation rates. That’s what knocks it down from 3 stars to 2.5.
Fairleigh Dickinson: 2.5 stars (Florham) and 2 stars (Metropolitan). Same deal as the other privates mentioned above, only Florham has worse statistics than them, and Metropolitan’s statistics are worse than Florham’s. I think it’s downright absurd that the Metropolitan campus is ranked in the top 500 on Forbes’ list, especially when it has a worse freshmen retention rate than William Patterson, Kean, and NJCU.
@ExpertOnMistakes accurate for the most part. Only that I switched Monmouth and Montclair personally because I felt Montclair’s stats were better than Monmouth’s. I put Seton Hall at 2.5 because College Board literally has no stats on them for this past year’s freshman class besides the acceptance rate. I lowered Rider to 2.5 despite their shock quarterfinal run before losing to Hofstra, but I feel that’s a bit harsh; 3 is right for them. Recent news coming out of that camp isn’t very encouraging, though. FDU Florham is below average, but Metro is an absolute joke. I’m in disbelief that Forbes even ranked them at all.
How about Stevens? Rutgers Newark? Rutgers Camden? Georgian Court? Caldwell? Bloomfield?
@ExpertOnMistakes I don’t think we’ve mentioned Stockton, either…what would you rate them?
@LBad96 From the stats I’ve seen, Monmouth has higher graduation rates, higher student SAT score averages, higher student GPA averages, and a higher retention rate than Montclair. Montclair has a lower acceptance rate, but that statistic is partially based on the quality of the applicants; if a lot of good students are applying, they’re naturally going to be selected.
The lack of information on Seton Hall definitely isn’t a good sign; the Princeton Review doesn’t have its graduation rates. Like I said, I suspect the main appeal of Seton Hall is that it’s ABA accredited and since the law school is for graduate students, the school might be reaching out more to grads than undergrads.
I was tempted to lower Rider to a 2.5 because its stats seem to be a little behind the other middle tier schools, but it’s still on about the same level as the rest of them. Don’t know how they’ll rank in the coming years, though.
My guess is Forbes considered FDU Metropolitan because it has a focus on business, which they’re all about. I can’t confirm this, but I suspect Forbes only ranks a select number of colleges they looked at, and when they update their list, they rearrange their ranked colleges instead of adding new ones and removing others. It’s interesting to note the disconnect between different college rankings: Stockton, FDU Metropolitan, Montclair, and Rowan appear on Forbes’ list, but not the Princeton Review’s list, while Monmouth doesn’t appear on Forbes’ list, but appears on the Princeton Review’s list. Also, the College of Staten Island appears on Forbes’ list, despite not having a published ranking on US News.
My other rankings are as follows:
Stevens: 3.5 stars. Stevens is typically ranked as the fourth best school in New Jersey after the usual candidates, and for the most part, its statistics are pretty good. However, it has the highest tuition in the state and the graduation rates aren’t quite at the level they should be for a school charging over 40K, especially when it’s charging more than Princeton.
Rutgers Newark: 3 stars. Rutgers Newark has the benefit of being associated with the Rutgers name, but its stats are a little weaker than the New Brunswick campus and it doesn’t have the same catalogue of programs offered. Not a bad school by any means and probably a good alternative for people living in northern Jersey, just not as good as New Brunswick. Rutgers Newark does have cheaper tuition than the main campus, although the room and board costs are apparently higher.
Rutgers Camden: 2.5 stars. What primarily bumps Rutgers Camden down to a 2.5 is the graduation rates. They’re just not good. In general, its stats are inferior to the other Rutgers campuses, and while it is the cheapest of three, it has the smallest amount of programs by far.
Caldwell: 2 stars. The low ranking privates should generally be avoided because not only are their statistics weak, they don’t have the financial benefits the low ranking state schools have. Caldwell’s stats aren’t that bad (at least better than William Paterson, Kean, and NJCU) and it does have a published ranking on US News, but they’re still average at best.
Georgian Court: 1.5 stars. It does have a published US News ranking, but it’s also at the cutoff point between the ranked and unranked regional universities in the north. That’s probably the most positive thing I can say about Georgian Court.
Bloomfield: 1 star. I can see only two reasons why people would go here: they live nearby and they prefer the environment of a private college. Other than that, there’s not a whole lot to recommend about Bloomfield. Its statistics are absolutely abysmal, and like I said above, it doesn’t have the advantage of being relatively inexpensive because it’s private. To be fair, it is one of the cheaper privates in the state, but it still costs more than most of the state schools.