<p>I am new to this forum, and while trying to find posts about Rutgers I was disheartened to see many negative statements about how Rutges is just a safety school and is even considered by some users of lesser quality than other jersey schools such as tcnj. So here is my attempt to give props to Rutgers.</p>
<li><p>Rutgers is the 8th oldest school in the country.</p></li>
<li><p>Douglass college is one of the oldest all women colleges in the country(I believe in the top 3)</p></li>
<li><p>Rutgers university is the birthplace of college football defeating princeton in 1869</p></li>
<li><p>The first ultimate frisbee game was played between Rutgers and Princeton in 1972 on the 103 anniversery of first college football game.</p></li>
<li><p>Rutgers is home to nobel prize winner selman walksman who discovered streptomyocin. (the cure for tuberculosis) </p></li>
<li><p>Grease truck sandwiches found on college ave. on Rutgers College were actually featured on the Food Networks Top 5 “big eats”</p></li>
<li><p>Speaking of Food Network, Molto Mario is an alumni of Rutgers university. </p></li>
<li><p>If your interested in political science (the eagleton institute one of that nation’ s most respected polling and poltical research insititutions is a part of rutgers university.</p></li>
<li><p>Former governor Jim Florio, Congressman Robert Menendez, and Former U.S. senator Robert torricelli are all Rutgers alumni</p></li>
<li><p>If your interested in pharmaceuticals (Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy 6 year program is one of best in the country and with pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson and Johnson literally next door what else could you ask for. </p></li>
<li><p>Abraham Abuchowski the founder of ENZON, one of biggest biotech companies in the country, is yes indeed a Rutgers alumni.</p></li>
<li><p>And if haven’t heard Rutgers researher scientists caught the nations attention this past December when they revealed that they were close to finding the cure to HIV by inhibiting reverse transcriptase. </p></li>
<li><p>If you ever wondered why new jersey was ever called the garden state… Rutgers actually has the states agricultural school at Cook College where one can actually see dozens of horses, cows, sheep, pigs, and other farm animals roam the campus. </p></li>
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<p>14.Rutgers University Newark is considered the most diverse school in the country according to US News rankings. </p>
<p>15.To all you future teachers, Rutgers school of education is considered the 35th best in country. </p>
<li><p>To all new jersey residents who ever wondered what that nice little scholarship called the Blounstein scholarship was… Edward J. Blounstein was president of Rutgers during the seventies and eighties. </p></li>
<li><p>If English is your desire, Rutgers english deparment ranks 18 in the country. </p></li>
<li><p>Pulitzer prize winner Robert Pinsky is a graduate of Rutgers university. </p></li>
<li><p>If you like to contemplate your navel… then head over to Rutgers as it has the best philosophy department in the country according to gourmet rankings. </p></li>
<li><p>Rutgers is #1 in women’s history and #4 in african american history. </p></li>
<li><p>To all you mathematically inclined… you can derivative yourself out at Rutgers as rutgers mathematic department is ranked 16th in the country. </p></li>
<li><p>Robert Trivers who invented the famous trivers model teaches at Rutgers.</p></li>
<li><p>If computers are your thing than head over to Rutgers where their computer science department ranks #29 in the country. </p></li>
<li><p>Peter shultz the co-inventor of fiber optics is a Rutgers alumni</p></li>
<li><p>CHEEZE WIZ, that deliciolus cheesy product we put on our crackers was invented at Rutgers university. </p></li>
<li><p>If your desires is in the arts then head over to Mason Gross School of Arts… where Rutgers is ranked #35 in the country and has provided us with the following actors… Paul Robeson, James Gandolfini(Tony Soprano), Colista Flockhart(Ally Mcbeal), Kiristen Davis (Sex and the City) and Pornstar Asia Carrera who score a 1400 on her SATS etc…</p></li>
<li><p>SPORTS?? you probably didnt think I could come up with something but guess what… L.J. Smith TE for Eagles, Eddie Jordan coach of washington wizards, NBA comissioner David Stern are all Rutgers alumni. And Mr. college basketball himself Dick Vitale was actually the 1976 Rutgers assistant basketball coach. Which by the way was only one of 4 teams ever to make to the final four undefeated. </p></li>
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<p>Here were just a few cool facts about Rutgers University.Its not the most prestigious school out there, because at some point in time some silly person thought that all new jersey residents should be entitled to a quality education and therefore admission requirements have been pretty complacent<br>
As a school’s quality is usually correlated with its selectivity, one can see how Rutgers has gotten a raw deal. But as they say it is relatively easy to get into Rutgers but difficult to survive Rutgers.</p>
<p>I am sorry, I LOVE RUTGERS, but you sound like their viewbook!</p>
<p>Give it up. Even though RU says they've got ivy, say that to anyone in the tri-state area and they'll **** themselves laughing.</p>
<p>I'm from Jersey, and all you get about it is "oh it's dirty" or "oh..." and nothing after it. I want to go there, that's final. Who cares what these people think? Boo hoo they think it's a lesser school. They also think just about any other school besides ivy isn't any good.</p>
<p>Wow. Quite a litany! I think that the Grease Trucks would clinch it for anyone! :-) Seriously, you have to remember that this Bulletin Board is dominated by Type A+ highly motivated and accomplished students. So for them Rutgers IS a safety because it is certainly less selective than Harvard and the rest of the Ivies. That does not diminish at all the value and stature of Rutgers as a college, educational experience and as a step-stone for further study. For one thing, if you do well at RU you will be able to go anywhere for graduate or professional study, and I can personally testify to that. In addition you should understand that the selectivity and stature differences are really only for undergraduate admission. For graduate level study, Rutgers has many fields that are in fact better regarded than at Ivy and other more pretigious undergraduate universities. So feel no need to be defensive about RU. You are going to a great school and will receive a great education. Now if RU could just field a decent football team...</p>
<p>Rutgers is on par with any of the best public state universities except for UNC, UVA and some of the UC's. It is also economical even for out-of-state students. Rutgers has an advantage because of it's name. Rutgers sounds better than University of (blank). Back in the 1930's thru 1940's, not that many people went to college and the people in the Ivies were there more because of their social class than their academics. At that time, Rutgers was the public alternative to the Ivies.</p>
<p>The reason it doesn't get much respect is because (in NJ anyway) almost everyone I know got in there. It's a huge school, also people don't think NEw Brunswick is the nicest area and there were a bunch of rapes on Rutgers students. Again just because its big means that there are some really smart kids there but also some kids who just got in in-state...</p>
<p>thank you all for your replies...I didnt want to sound like a view book but i just wanted to show a little passion for my alma mater. I think Rutgers' public perception is really important. Its unfortunate to see that where it matters the most "new jersey" is where Rutgers gets the most bum rap especially from local newspapers, guidance counselors, etc. As new jersey is one of the largest exporter of students, if just a fraction more stayed home at Rutgers, it would probably move up in the US news rankings. I chose Rutgers because I knew that I would be going to medical school and that entails another 4 years of school and residency. My total undegrad debt was one semester of med school. While interviewing all over the country, rutgers did seem respected and i always saw several rutgers alumni in the yearbooks of the schools i went to interview at. </p>
<p>I guess I would like to ask the board if they have any suggestions on how rutgers can start to change its instate image to more like Michigan and Wisconsin? </p>
<p>For one thing I still think tuition is too high.. at about $8000 a year schools like texas, florida, utah are paying that for 4 years of education.</p>
<p>It needs to follow through with President McCormick's plans to improve the look of the New Brunswick campus. </p>
<p>From what I read on the rivals.com site many people feel the Rutgers Screw is still as much alive and making life difficult for undergraduates as it was 40 years ago when I attended. That needs to stop.</p>
<p>I have degrees from both Rutgers and UPenn. Here in Florida, I think average people are more are impressed with Rutgers (many think UPenn=Penn State).</p>
<p>As far as increasing status, UF has done this very effectively by actively recruiting NM finalists like they do athletes. My daughter got contacted and invited to a local reception sponsored by the Gator Club. UF gives top students lots of merit $$$ with separate dorm, advising and class registration priorities.</p>
<p>You know, I really hate to say this, but the quickest and most effective way to improve the in-state perception of RU is to improve the performance of its major sports teams. I really believe that the growth in prestige of Penn State (which when I went to RU was definitely considered inferior to Rutgers) can be directly attributed to the success of its football team. Such success led directly to its inclusion in the Big 10 with its assoociated pretige. The same thing now is occurring for UConn with its basketbal success. Sports success shouldn't be related to academic prestige, but I'm afraid it just is a reality. I believe that the mind-boggling failure of Rutgers football and the similar if not quite as appalling failure in basketball plays a role in the attitude of NJ towards the school and the support it receives from the legislature. This impact on the finances then affects the academic performance of RU. I think that the administration understands this which is why they have poured such resources into athletics, particularly football. Unfortunately, they just haven't found the right coach. Because, as many other schools have proven that's really all it takes, one coach who can recruit and coach. Unfortunatley Schiano could recruit but he obviously cannot coach successfully and now with last years utter failure, he will no longer be able to recruit. He is just a "dead man walking". Similar story in Basketball so far, although I will still give Waters a chance with a pretty good recruiting year. But imagine the excitement that a top 20 football or BB school would bring to the campus and state (you get a small glimpse of this excitement with the women's BB team). This would translate to better resources and in-state status for the school. Again, as an academic I hate to admit these things, but the reality is that they are true.</p>
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And if haven't heard Rutgers researher scientists caught the nations attention this past December when they revealed that they were close to finding the cure to HIV by inhibiting reverse transcriptase.
[/quote]
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<p>Yeah, ok. There have been many cases of people being "close" to finding a cure for HIV, but it doesn't seem like any of those have worked out. Don't brag about "almost" finding something! LMAO :D</p>
<p>Rutgers has one of the top philosophy programs in the country. It also has a great pharmacy program. However, the Camden and Newark campuses are horrible. New Brunswick is the only good one.</p>
<p>i wonder if rutgers, which was a colonial college, had joined the ivy league early on and not been a public school, would its name sound a lot more prestigious? </p>
<p>check out this website. Out of the 9 original colonial colleges everyone of them except for William and Mary and Rutgers University are part of the Ivy league. Cornell, a much later addition in 1865, rounded out the 8 ivy league schools.</p>
<p>How would you rate Rutgers in terms of prestige on a scale of 1-10? 10 being Harvard.My aunt in California says its is compared to UCLA out there.When I was in Florida people were very impressed. In Jersey ,where I live it is considered to be good school,but nothing spectacular. I give it a 7.5.</p>