<p>Interesting that the reputation of Rutgers improves as the distance increases. I can’t comment on the quality of the education Rutgers provides, but I do know that flagships that students at our CT high school prize include UConn, Penn State, UVM and UMD, and then a few SUNY’s as well. Never heard of anyone even applying to Rutgers. Newark has zero appeal to those in this area, and there are so many more attractive options if one wants to stay in the East. It’s remarkable to me that anyone would come from the West or Midwest to attend Rutgers. Maybe they do some excellent PR in other parts of the country?</p>
<p>MommaJ: Newark is a satellite campus of Rutgers. New Brunswick is the main campus. </p>
<p>I’m a NJ native. NJ folks tend to be the most critical of Rutgers, well, because they’re critical of everything 
And NJ kids can’t wait to get out of NJ so “having” to go to Rutgers can seem like a disappointment. We used to live 5 miles from the New Brunswick campus; D1 knows about 5 kids (from what would have been her graduating class if we hadn’t relo’d) who are freshmen there. They had all applied at OOS schools too, but couldn’t swing it due to finances or because their parents work at Rutgers and have the tuition benefit. My nephew is a sophomore there & it was his first choice; he didn’t want to leave home & commutes. </p>
<p>Rutgers, even from back in my college days, has a much better reputation OOS. It’s a great school and without the lens of “get me the heck out of here” it’s easier to see the positives.</p>
<p>Rutgers has many strong departments, and I think it’s a much better school academically that most people in NJ realize. Frankly, I think a huge part of the problem is the longstanding Northeastern bias against public universities.</p>
<p>this thread was 4 years old, why resurrect it? Rutgers is a big state school in the most densely populated and one of the oldest states in the country. Given it’s been around for long time and is the combination of several colleges over time, is why the New Bruswick/Piscataway campus is a bit disjointed. It has some great schools/departments, including SEBS (former Cook College), Engineering, & Pharmacy. </p>
<p>For many kids in our town, they apply to Rutgers as their safety school, fully intending to go elsewhere. (FYI - since early Jr year, the guidance dept warns that Rutgers is NOT a safety school for a mediocre student). However, in the spring when acceptance to #1 does not materialize or the financial aid doesn’t work anywhere else, they end up at Rutgers. Of the kids I know, 100% of them end up loving Rutgers and now are happy they ended up there. </p>
<p>note - my kid is a top student and 6 months ago I expected her to apply ED to Cornell. After visiting Rutgers on Oct 1, she applied a few weeks later and was accepted in 4 days. A bit of an anti-climax to the college ap process, but we’re all happy and she’s looking forward to it. </p>
<p>PS - got my MBA 20 years ago from Rutgers-Newark. At that time it was mostly a commuter campus, with the only dorm residents international students. I know they have been pumping up the campus in the past decade, however, it’s not in a nice area of Newark, so I’m not sure I would want my kid to live on campus.</p>
<p>jim1090 says “Reading some of this stuff written here you get the impression that…the ugliness of its NJ’s politics infects the administration and faculty, etc.” </p>
<p>Sorry, Jim, but it does and if you read NJ news you’d understand to what degree political corruption has impacted the school.</p>
<p>Many NJ public Us also are usually listed on the most expensive public U list. Also, one needs to factor in “fees” when looking at NJ public Us (don’t just look at tuition). Also, I find the housing options to be expensive. Most B+ students won’t see a dime in merit aid from Rutgers either and I don’t know what one’s income level needs to be (pretty low efc) to get any financial aid.</p>