<p>Out of curiosity:</p>
<p>Fellow seniors (esp. in NJ)--have you experienced a Rutgers Stigma at your school? It's really rampant at my school, though most of the graduating class each year ends up going there. </p>
<p>Where do you think this originated from?</p>
<p>Anyone already in college/parents: Has it always been this way?</p>
<p>People do tend to have this stigma about it being a “safety” school. Mostly the kids who are at the top of the graduating class. I think it is really prevalent in the part of Jersey I live in (Bergen County) since most kids apply to top schools in New York or in the rest of the New England area.</p>
<p>I think it originates on the fact that it is a state school. Even there is stigma within the school. The kids who are graduating this May are the last group who were a part of the Rutgers College/Douglass College/Livingston College structure before it became School of Arts and Science with the class of 2011.</p>
<p>Did you see how hard the class of 2010 were rallying when they were told their graduation will be united? Mostly it was from the Rutgers College students (at least the ones that were writing to the Targum. Why? Because they didn’t want to be associated with the kids in Livingston College because they are looked down. Rutgers College were for the kids with the better SAT scores and GPAs from their high school</p>
<p>It’s that same idea. People with a 3.8 HS GPA don’t want to go to a school were they are mixed with kids who got in to Rutgers with a 3.2. =</p>
<p>I live right in Middlesex County so I think the fact that RU is so close to home makes it even more repelling for some people. I see it as sort of ridiculous. People think the pay off of going to a pricier private school on the East coast wins out over going to RU for a lot less but I’ve found that people outside of NJ think RU is amazing, even comparing it to some of the Ivy League schools and I’ve found that people who graduate from RU often work alongside those who went to Ivies, private schools, etc. I think the fact that RU is so competitive within itself really helps in the long run. </p>
<p>For a long time I felt the stigma, even while I was doing my applications, even after I received a lot of other decisions, but then I did more research and came to really appreciate how great RU is and what resources and opportunities are offered there and nowhere else, for a bargain too. If only people were more appreciative… haha.</p>