<p>Just an update to my post above. I was on vacation last week in St. Lucia and met a couple of Canadians who recognized Rutgers as just below an Ivy in prestige up in Canada. So as I said above - rep better outside NJ than in.</p>
<p>I think most/all in-state kids regard their state universities as a joke because they are easy to get into. I believe Rutgers is easy to get into if in-state, but it may not be for someone from Michigan. I would say it is a good school, regardless of the dumb people (tanning salon Jersey shore girls) I have met who go there.</p>
<p>^ "tanning salon Jersey shore girls". That made me chuckle a bit, but also made me realize that I will run into these type of girls when I go there.</p>
<p>Lurker..one thing I do not do is give credit to something that is not accurate.I run a successful business in northern NJ.I chose Rutgers to further the reputation and integrity of my business.I don't really think it is any of your business,but I attended Cornell Univ. and had a much easier time and higher GPA when I was there.Maybe that is an isolated experience,but it is the truth.I transfered here because I needed to be closer to family and was actually more intrigued with what SEBs had to offer.Plus the cost is almost a third less which would make appealing to any top notch student,and quite frankly their parents.Rutgers will be a top 20 school within the next 5 years..mark my word.</p>
<p>Also just wanted to point out that 3 students from SEBS where granted the Bill and Melinda Gates scholarship to attend the Univ.of Cambridge in England.It was most amount of students out of any public university in the country.Not bad for a place where only tanning salon jersey girls go.</p>
<p>tanning salon jersey shore girls.. hah, indeed. But, like any big school, you've got a very diverse population. :D</p>
<p>I graduated from Rutgers College (class 81). People within the state have always had a loathing for the school, probably because they had a loathing for the entire state. The education I received there was great and like any school, its what you make of it. IN the Washington DC area, which a melting pot of people from throughout the country, Rutgers has a solid reputation. BTW, I'm now a member of the US Gov's senior executive service and have a number of grads from Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Georgia Tech, and other more "prominent" schools working for me now.</p>
<p>who cares what other people think of rutgers? as long as you can get a good job when you graduate, get a good education, have a good time, and make good friends that is all that matters. nj people don't like rutgers because its provincial and right around the corner. but i bet wisconsin-madison is looked down upon by some kids in wisconsin also...</p>
<p>I'd say that would be relatively few. Sure they lose some to the elite east coast schools plus Chicago and Northwestern, but of the top 200 kids in the state called Wisconsin State Scholars or something like that they are getting about half.</p>
<p>Sorry to intrude. Guys, can I ask about another NJ school? Ramapo, what's your take since I never been down to NJ before.</p>
<p>Like others have mentioned, Rutgers is highly underrated within NJ. What's really unfortunate is that this myth that Rutgers is just another mediocre state university has spread so far - that all high school students in NJ automatically wants to avoid going to Rutgers.</p>
<p>I'm a 4th year student at Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers. Since, most of the stuff that I heard about Rutgers was negative, I didn't expect much going in. However, any well-rounded student at Rutgers will tell you that the rumors are far from the truth. Sure, you can't compare Rutgers to Harvard or Yale. But, in my opinion, it's far better than NYU in terms of efficiency. You pay a fourth of NYU's tuition and receive equivalent quality of education.</p>
<p>I'm very happy with the level of education that I'm receiving and I certainly do not regret choosing Rutgers.</p>
<p>Unless you got into ivies or the top 20, reputation really doesn't matter. 21-100 is like the same thing for premeds anyways.</p>
<p>For most prospective students from New Jersey, Rutgers is used as a back-up school. They often have their minds set on dream schools (HYPS, for example) and are disappointed when they are not accepted to them. They have high SAT scores and worked hard for their grades, which disappoints them further because students who were "just proficient" were accepted at Rutgers, too.
It's a completely different story out-of-state, however, and is often thought of as a very good school.</p>
<p>Rutgers (I was accepted for 2012 but won't be attending) is a good school with a good reputation and the quality of the education you get there will be better than most state schools, though I still wouldn't call it a public ivy. The thing about Rutgers is a lot of kids (may be even the majority) get in who aren't particularly outstanding and it's a state school so it's not exclusive. When judging reputation, those two factors tend to most determine the prestige of a school and so, inevitably, its quality. If you're concerned about the actual academic quality of the school, however, I wouldn't be at all worried.</p>
<p>hey govman, rutgers is a public ivy (which has nothing to do with school quality) along with william and mary. They're the too oldest public schools in the country if I'm not mistaken</p>
<p>I used to be utterly opposed to going to Rutgers for the previously mentioned reasons, having worked hard in school etc. I’m currently quite excited to go. The honors program looks pretty sweet, I got a presidential (full ride) scholarship so money won’t be an issue, and New Brunswick actually is pretty exciting when compared to places like Binghamton, for example. I think I might be more academic/intellectual than the average student at Rutgers, but that’s alright. I’m sure I’ll find my niche (I’ll be entering rutgers as a freshman this fall). Rutger, after having reorganized and created a cohesive honors program, will be on the rise, I predict. I consider myself an excellent student and I’m pretty excited to go there. I bet lots of people feel how I do. Financially, even without a scholarship, it’s a great deal.</p>
<p>Winterman, Rutgers is not a public ivy. Just because it was one of the original colonial colleges, it is not considered in the same class as the current crop of public ivies as it once was in the 60s/70s/early 80s. The term public Ivy is now reserved for those public institutions that rank high in terms of selectivity, rankings, etc. UVA, UC Berkeley, U Mich, and William and Mary are today’s “public Ivies”. I fear RU will never be able to recapture its lost glory in this category given that selectivity is a thing of the past. Look at the admit rates for UVA versus Rutgers (20s percent versus 50s if I’m mistaken). Good school, but its rep has slipped due to mismanagement since the 80s.</p>
<p>I respect its Philosophy program. I’ve heard that it alternates with Princeton for top Philosophy programs in the nation.</p>
<p>Rutgers is a respectable school, but whether or not it is at the same level as schools such as Princeton and Harvard, I do not know. But I think some important factors are (a) the faculty in your particular program, (b) the program you are in/are applying for. As one of the posters already said, Rutgers philosophy program is ranked in the top three with NYU and Princeton being the two other schools. Now, this is based on their graduate programs, not their undergraduate programs. But given that it has a top-ranked graduate program, this trickles down to the quality of education undergraduates will receive. Some other top programs include the pharmacy program. </p>
<p>Rutgers, from what I’ve heard, is very well received out as well as in-state–it’s a good research institution. Granted, there are in-state students who refuse to attend Rutgers because “everyone goes there”, but it’s harder to stay in than it is to get in. Generally speaking, many in-state students disdain Rutgers for, I think, the association that Rutgers is a party school and not much else. </p>
<p>But I’d like to go back to stating that it is important to observe the program you are interested in before you attend/consider attending. Rather than reviewing a school overall, the quality of your program is important. I do admit it is helpful to attend a big name school, though.</p>
<p>Why didn’t you hire the Rutgers Grads?</p>