<p>It is really sad that people who have no actual knowledge on a topic can spout off dribble as fact. Thank you lawmatt, jerseypride, and others for trying to correct the nonsence spewed from Mam and Jags. Musicmom and Dad23: Your children have a wonderful opportunity about to start. A first class education is available at our StateU. My son could have attended just about any school in the country. He chose RU because of the Animal Science
program at Cook. Absolutely loves the school. Was concerned about the reorganization when first announced, concerned about how this would affect all the things he liked about the school, but now has confidence that the future is bright. (I won't repeat what he had to say about our state legislators.) And as someone who has lived in a few states many miles from NJ, the Rutgers name is very well respected outside NJ.</p>
<p>I haven't read through all of the posts, but with a couple of daughters getting inline to apply to schools, I DEFINETLY will not encourage Rutgers. I don't think that it is a safe enviornment for girls. Call me old fashioned; dumb, etc, etc, but I don't want my girls waiting for buses to take them to/from class. parties, stuff, etc., etc.,</p>
<p>lawmatt...</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the factual information you are bringing to this discussion. As a guidance counselor in NJ, it pains me to read so many posts from misinformed parents. It is certainly a public relations issue that has affected the university for many years. I'm encouraged by your reports of the efforts being made by the university president.</p>
<p>I thought my own experience at Rutgers might be helpful in understanding this perception. I was valedictorian of my high school class and encouraged by all adults in my life to go out of state. I was very interested in education and in history, so I chose William and Mary in Virginia. I hated it. After living in the metropolitan area my whole life, I found life in Williamsburg to be incredibly boring. In my mind, it was like living on an island. I found it to be a very conservative, conformist, and stifling environment. I missed the vitality of the New York metro area. When I finally decided to transfer, the reaction from Virginians was very revealing. They wanted to know how I was able to get in. "Did you have a 4.0?" was the question I repeatedly had to answer from students and professors alike. Of course, W&M is a fantastic school, but it is a state school also and was also undervalued by its residents. Things have improved there significantly in the years since I attended, however, it was really an eye opener for me at 19 to see how much Rutgers was respected in the academic world.</p>
<p>Finally, my years at Rutgers were the best years of my life. The history department is amazing! I also love languages and art, and I found the offerings at Rutgers to be outstanding. My life as a student was rich and interesting. Most of my classes were on College Avenue for my entire time at the university. I took one class on each of the three campuses, but I found that as a unique and interesting advantage of being a Rutgers student. Each campus had its own identity. New Brunswick is still one of my favorite destinations in the New York area, and it has improved dramatically since then.</p>
<p>As an educator and someone who is frequently involved in hiring teachers, I have to add that when we get an applicant with a Rutgers degree their application goes right to the top, just as it would for a Penn State, Michigan, or Virginia applicant. Over the years, it has been recognized by the administration that the Rutgers teachers are the best prepared educators we have.</p>
<p>CoachMagoo-</p>
<p>Let me know where my son should sent his application for a teaching position two years from now!<br>
Glad to hear his Rutgers education degree will come in handy.</p>
<p>Avoid Rutgers at all costs. RU has a poor reputation in its home state, and has inflated standards with a very high foreign student population, which makes up the majority of the math/science, engineering, and graduate research students. </p>
<p>Contrary to some of the posts here, as a member of the Armed Forces who has travelled quite a bit domestically and abroad, RU is very UNknown outside of the tri-state area.</p>
<p>If your goal is to become a teacher/coach and live in NJ then Rutgers would be a great inexpensive value to accomplish that goal. If you have goals beyond NJ then there are a host of other schools that would be more suitable.</p>
<p>Doctorb: Goals beyond NJ? Are you kidding? NJ is the pharmaceutical cap of the world. That industry is loaded with Rutgers grads & the industrial partnerships Rutgers boasts are too many to count. The hospitals in the NY metro area are also full of Rutgers grads working in all capacities. As is Wall street. As is the insurance industry. As are engineer firms. Rutgers has its problems, but certainly not a lack of fantastic career opportunities right at home for their grads. People in NJ are stacked up like cordwood for a reason -- there are great jobs to be had. (Let's hope the current crop of state politicians doesn't tax our state into oblivion.)</p>
<p>"If your goal is to become a teacher/coach and live in NJ then Rutgers would be a great inexpensive value to accomplish that goal. If you have goals beyond NJ then there are a host of other schools that would be more suitable."</p>
<p>In the absence of a massive financial aid package elsewhere, for a New Jersey resident, Rutgers is a better value than any other state school (including the self-styled elites such as Michigan, UNC, Texas and UC Berkeley). The problems are pretty much the same at any massive state university, and I suspect that the job/graduate school opportunities do not differ markedly. Indeed, anecdotally I am told that because Rutgers sounds like an Ivy League name, the degree is particularly well-respected in the West.</p>
<p>
[quote]
RU has a poor reputation in its home state, and has inflated standards with a very high foreign student population, which makes up the majority of the math/science, engineering, and graduate research students.
[/quote]
You may want to take a look at Rutgers' CDS data: 26,691 undergrads, among them - ta-da! 493 foreigners. :D <a href="http://oirap.rutgers.edu/instchar/Cds/NewBrunswickRegion06.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://oirap.rutgers.edu/instchar/Cds/NewBrunswickRegion06.pdf</a></p>
<p>If you think that's a "very high" foreign student population, take a train to Princeton...</p>
<p>Central NJ is very ethnically diverse, and by extension so is Rutgers. While some students may not be classified as foreigners for statistical reporting purposes, I assure you that many white Americans would, and do, consider the large population of Indian and Chinese students here in NJ to be "foreigners". They may actually be second generation/children of immigrants and completely assimilated into American society, but the perception persists whether it should or not.</p>
<p>Two additional comments: I've heard a lot of vociferous complaints from Rutgers students about parking and inter-campus transportation.</p>
<p>Second, a well-respected principal in our town told me that he finds Rutgers education majors to be the best prepared student teachers from among the graduates of NJ schools who intern for him. So, it would seem the education dept. is tops.</p>
<p>I don't understand this topic. Rutgers is ranked well in the top 30s at business for Undergraduate business and in many other categories. The average salary for all business majors alone is around 53k. It costs about 19k a year. A private school costs 40k a year. Rutgers is well known and that is very important. Jobs aren't going to turn you down because of you went here! </p>
<p>It's interesting to find that so many people think that college is going to determine your future. As to all the mothers in this topic who talk against Rutgers. I wish you were my mother who would waste 40k+ to finance a "better" education. Unfortunately for some us, Rutgers is where we go. </p>
<p>Contrary to popular to belief, I believe I will do well in this life if I work hard. But after reading this topic I'm discouraged. I'll probably be living in some old van in the Bronx.</p>
<p>Well, I finally read through all the posts, and found this a very informative thread. That said, my daughter applied to TCNJ, not Rutgers. But I will say there are a lot of students at her school who are happily going to Rutgers. </p>
<p>I have a different question - the NJ Stars II program allows NJ Stars students to transfer to any NJ public 4 yr university provided they meet certain requirements such as a 3.0 gpa. Stars II students will get a full tuition scholarship, and enter as Juniors - all CC credits will xfer. Already the 4 yr programs are complaining about the costs of the scholarships, which are not need based.</p>
<p>My friends & I have wondered if this will further downgrade the perception of value of a Rutgers degree. The Stars students essentially have community college credits which will transfer, and will graduate with a full Rutgers degree. It's like getting a knockoff designer label - will the long term quality and value of the brand name hold, if there are people who get a Rutgers degree, but don't really have a full Rutgers education ? Don't get me wrong - I love our local CC, and have taken courses there. But CC courses are not the same as a university courses, and guaranteeing that all will xfer doesn't seem like a good idea for the university, although it is great for the Stars student. It seems like it will dilute the value of the degree.</p>
<p>Rutgers has accepted all NJ CC graduates with good GPAs for at least 30 years. I have many, many wildly successful friends from blue collar backgrounds who took this path to earn their undergrad degrees. Rutgers has grown even more selective in admissions over those 30 years, so I don't think much dilution of the degree's value has happened.</p>
<p>EMM1, Rutgers was asked to join the ivy league when it was being organized & Rutgers was private. Many times out west people have asked me if Rutgers was in the ivy league. The vast majority of Americans have no idea which schools make up the ivy league, nor do they care.</p>
<p>This is an old thread from 2006 which already had 105 posts before it was resurrected in 2007 and 111 posts before someone else discovered it today.
Kind of like beating a dead horse - again and again.</p>
<p>Wouldn't it make more sense to start a new thread with current info and ideas?</p>
<p>JustLookin-
I don't know....I kind of like beating this dead horse!
I'm a mom who posted two years ago that our son was to be transferring into Mason Gross at Rutgers from 2 years at TCNJ.
I was kind of doing the fretting mom thing....TCNJ is a BEAUTIFUL campus with lovely students. Why does this kid of mine need to transfer, I asked.
Well, turns out that TCNJ and RU offer different experiences. Son was ready for a bigger pond with more challenges and opportunities.
He will graduate in December with a Music Ed degree and about a 3.8 cumulative GPA. He is always overwhelmed with meaningful course work and is thoroughly enjoying even his nonmusic academic classes at RU.
He doesn't complain much about the food, his apt on campus is very nice and he's thinks his music ed advisor is the best. He's had performance opportunities facilitated by his profs at Mason Gross and also his peers. Earned a (small) music scholarship as a senior. Hopes to make it into Tanglewood or Aspen this summer.
Rutgers isn't a perfect place but he's having a grand time and we'll not be eating catfood in retirement!
Just one kids/family's experience.</p>
<p>musicmom-
I am very happy to hear that your S is having a good experience at Rutgers. It just goes to show that a school that may not be a good place for one student can be an excellent place for another. Also, experiences will vary from school to school. Who can really say which good experiences are better and what opportunities are better. Each institution has different things to offer. That is the beauty of having options, choices, and flexibility.</p>
<p>musicmom</p>
<p>Congrats on yous son's achievements, success stories like this are always good to read! I guess the point I was trying to make is that stories like yours, that would definitely be helpful to others, usually get lost on really long, old threads like this one. After a while most people just don't bother reading through the whole thing. My parents are both Rutgers alum which is why the thread caught my attention, IMO it's a shame there aren't more positive threads about Rutgers on CC.</p>
<p>JustLookin wrote-
"My parents are both Rutgers alum which is why the thread caught my attention, IMO it's a shame there aren't more positive threads about Rutgers on CC."</p>
<p>Exactly! That's why I felt compelled to post. Hope a few others do stumble across the positive stories about Rutgers.</p>
<p>It is interesting that a NJ resident chose to begin this topic as so many other NJ residents choose to pile on when most states have great admiration for their flagship university. I have no direct experience with Rutgers but most academics view it as being a fine university with a number of very outstanding departments and colleges.</p>
<p>Rutgers has has all of that. Many view the campus as too large. Many say that one needs to ride the bus to get to classes, and they get fill up quickly, and one needs to wait for another bus. I have heard from a graduate that his largest lectures had well over 300 students. I am not saying that it typical, but I did ask how large classes got in his experience at Rutgers-NB. I know of a current engineering student who loves Rutgers. He is a bright independent learner, and atypical because he spent several years in another country prior to moving back to the US. I know a mediocre student from our hs who is at Rutgers currently, and he is struggling, but is still at the school. He does not care for the midterm, final, paper structure in some of classes. He would prefer more frequent performance evaluations in some of his classes.</p>
<p>I know of 2 students who attended Rutgers Newark, and they seem to have had smaller classes. One told me that safety in the surrounding neighborhood was an issue for him, as well as parking difficulty.</p>