<p>The whole "Rutgers and/or William & Mary being invited to join the Ivy League and turned them down" appears to be a myth. A Google search turned up a number of hits, most of which debunk the story. A few claim it as true and some even cite sources, but none of those sources are easily available for confirmation. Also, it appears that many of the source citations are actually citations of an instance in which someone else cited the source. </p>
<p>Frankly, the story does not make much sense. Both Rutgers and William & Mary (my wife, my sister, my brother-in-law, and I are W&M grads and my son is a current student) are currently, and were at the time the Ivy League was founded, public institutions and it is unlikely they would have been invited. For one thing, their reliance on state support would have made it impossible for them to go private and the Ivy League would not have wanted to hurt its yield by offering them admission only to be turned down. See? The Ivy League has been gaming the system right from the beginning.</p>
<p>Seriously, though, the myth seems based on W&M and Rutgers being two of the nine Colonial Colleges - those founded before the American Revolution. The other seven are all Ivies, so this common history could very easily be the tiny seed of truth that often gives rise to an urban legend. Tie into that that Rutgers and Princeton played what is considered to be the first intercollegiate football game, and that Rutgers and William & Mary often play non-league games with the Ivies, and you have yourselves an urban legend.</p>
<p>Perhaps this would be a good one for Snopes.com to research?</p>
<p>Rutgers is capable of offering an Ivy-level education to those who apply themselves; however, it also accepts many who are apathetic towards learning. If you define the school in terms of the student population, then you'd have to conclude that it is a shabby institution. On the other hand, if you define it in terms of the opportunities it affords those who are intelligent and enthusiastic, it can surpass some Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>Rutgers wasn't one of the eight schools Richard Moll identified in his 1985 book, "Public Ivys". It was one of the 30 schools identified in the 2001 book, "The Public Ivies: America's Flagship Public Universities," by Howard and Matthew Greene.</p>
<p>The whole concept of a "public ivy" is little more than a marketing concept, and rather a defensive one at that. It's kind of like calling Stanford "the Harvard of the West." (Has anyone ever called Yale "the Harvard of New Haven"?)</p>
<p>
[quote]
The whole "Rutgers and/or William & Mary being invited to join the Ivy League and turned them down" appears to be a myth.
[/quote]
There is a persistent urban legend at many northeastern schools that "my school was invited to join the Ivy League but turned them down". It's not hard to check the facts on this, because while the Ivy League schools individually date back to the 18th Century (except for Cornell), the Ivy League athletic conference wasn't established until the 1950s. The only schools involved were the same eight that are in it today, and no additional applicants have been solicited.</p>
<p>In the case of Rutgers, it's true that in the 1790s, the trustees seriously considered -- and rejected -- a proposal to merge Rutgers with Princeton. But this would not have meant joining the Ivy League, because the Ivy League wasn't even established until 150+ years later. If you mentioned the "Ivy League" in the 1790s, no one would have known what you were talking about. </p>
<p>The only school that maybe does have a case for "rejecting the Ivy League" is Vassar College. In the 1960s, when many northeastern schools began going coed, Yale and Vassar seriously considered merging, and relocating Vassar to New Haven. Under this proposal, Vassar would have become a women's college affiliated with Yale University, just as Radcliffe was affiliated with Harvard and Barnard is still affiliated with Columbia. Vassar students would have become the "female Yalies", and therefore Ivy Leaguers. However, Vassar ultimately rejected the idea, and both Yale and Vassar went coed independently.</p>
<p>But anyway, almost everyone in my entire school applies to Rutgers, and even the smartest kids will always have Rutgers as a safety, because it is very good for preparing for graduate schools.</p>
<p>In my personal opinion, Rutgers is not that great of a school, and it's way too big and popular for me.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned this before, but Rutgers has a huge range. There are those kids from jersey who couldn't afford to go to a top school and is at RU, and then there are those apathetic kids.</p>
<p>To most Jerseyans, Rutgers is like 13th grade...a continuation of high school...with (as mentioned above) the entire student demographic represented, from smart to stupid.</p>
<p>RU is a good school, but has many of the disadvantages of any large, public university. Not all students do well at large schools - if you can't handle being part of a crowd, maybe it's not the school for you. Also, it is notorious for having a difficult bureaucracy - I've heard it referred to as "the Rutgers screw". The free buses at NB are overcrowded and late much of the time. For most NJ students, it's not that hard to get into - grades & class rank are very important factors.</p>
<p>As at any other school, how well you do depends on your major & your choices.</p>
<p>pharmacy is good the rest is just normal, rutgers is the number one safety school in nj. i have a feeling they should just redirect sat scores that come from collegeboard to rutgers. almost everyone gets in . although i cant understand the not so high accp rate. maybe oos students. but rutgers is cheap, well known in nj and is good if you wanna stay in state but couldnt get into princeton</p>
<p>"To most Jerseyans, Rutgers is like 13th grade...a continuation of high school...with (as mentioned above) the entire student demographic represented, from smart to stupid."</p>
<p>No, Rutgers is not a "Public Ivy" because there is no such thing as a Public Ivy, nor is there a such thing as a Southern Ivy, Jesuit Ivy, etc. There are plenty of great schools in this country (including Rutgers), and it bothers me that some people feel the need to attach the word "ivy" to them as if doing so somehow validates their quality. These schools can stand on their own merits.</p>
<p>“Rutgers University is inarguably America’s cockiest, smartest party school. The only school in history who rejected their Ivy League invitation” - Star Ledger.</p>
<h2>To most Jerseyans, Rutgers is like 13th grade…a continuation of high school…with (as mentioned above) the entire student demographic represented, from smart to stupid. </h2>