@jennmom13 TCNJ is highly ranked as a public college and makes some of the Public Ivy lists, particularly among small liberal arts colleges (as opposed to lists of mainly large flagships). They have an excellent grad school placement record and for students who know they want an advanced degree, is a great choice to get a top undergrad education at a (comparatively) low price.
@jennmom13 - very similar resume and received an acceptance to the political science major. TCNJ is a crapshoot for a lot of instate kids and has always been considered pretty competitive (and I’m going back 30 years when I applied to schools!) It is highly regarded and was mentioned as competition on a few other tours at “local” colleges we attended - UDel, Lafayette, and even Quinnipiac in CT. That said, my dd has zero interest in attending because its ‘in-state’ and there was no merit offer. She needs to begin her research of programs and offers from other colleges (Binghamton, Fordham, Quinnipiac.) We’ll see where she lands!
Interesting and more good info. I know this is an individual decision and we are trying not get too high or too low. At this point, it is what it is and I feel like she will end up where she belongs. BUT keep the info/stats/decisions coming because it helps keep things in perspective.
@ChristinaP252 Binghamton is my son’s #2 choice. He is undecided between History and Anthropology and was admitted to Harpur. He did get a small merit scholarship and we are OOS. It doesn’t make it the same price as TCNJ but makes it more reasonable. The campus is very nice and he loves the outdoors, but it is a pretty remote location. The pot was sweetened for him and his decision is harder because he was given a spot in their freshman research immersion program.
@jennmom13 D submitted app on 10/9 and heard back 2/5. TCNJ is difficult to get into especially for certain majors. Admission stats probably vary yeR to year just depending on what majors get a lot of applications. Good luck to your daughter!
Thanks so much! Congrats to your daughter
@Sparcky I agree that its competitively priced but U Del gave him a great merit package that brings the cost equal to TCNJ after their merit package.
Also, you mentioned Public Ivy League schools… can you refer me to a list… would love to see where Fairfield, U Conn, U Del fit in…
@HSinLI, I have seen at least one college on the “Public Ivy” list that doesn’t belong there (IMO), and a couple on the “runner up” list that should be in the first category. I wouldn’t pay too much attention to that label. Good luck. This is our second rodeo, and it’s still tough.
@HSinLI If your child got a package at UD that brings it in line with TCNJ, that’s great. With the engineering tuition differential pushing UDs tuition higher every year, it is surprising. I guess being OOS for both makes the difference. (Even with $17k Trustee scholarship, UD will likely still be more expensive for my #2 than TCNJ because we are in state.) I’m lucky that my UD2020 engineer is only subject to the first two years of that, before it escalates to $4k per year.
As for ranking, no two lists are ever going to compare and there’s plenty of lists out there that I don’t agree with every single name either. That could be debated all day long. Bottom line is that TCNJ is a highly ranked LAC at a great price, especially in state. Google public ivys, hidden ivys, etc. There are multiple lists, depending on whether you want flagships or LACs.
I don’t know really anything about UConn. Fairfield is not public, so it wouldn’t be comparable. And with what I know of UD and TCNJ, they are very different schools in many ways.
So, I talked to my daughter last night and she said she got an email on 1/30 stating that they have received “increased interest” in Finance program and gave her an option of taking an “Academic Interest Survey”. It was due 2/8 but she already submitted it. She is an independent kid, what can I say except “could you, maybe, tell me?!” I read in previous threads from previous years that sometimes students are asked to change majors i.e. Computer Science seemed like a big one last year. We’ll see but wanted to put it out there with the deadline tomorrow for some? Maybe that is an indicator that we’ll here soon too. She applied 11/21.
@jennmom13 My daughter received a similar e-mail for nursing and was provided until Feb. 1 to write an optional 100-word essay expressing her interest in the major and TCNJ. Luckily, I noticed the link on the portal, because she was in the middle of mid-terms, and it may have been overlooked. She submitted it a couple of days before the deadline and received an acceptance in the first round of notifications. I would take it as a positive sign that they are seriously considering your daughter. They are probably trying to maximize their yield by accepting the students with the most expressed interest. My D has a friend who applied to the same major with slightly higher stats who hasn’t heard back yet. The essay was a small thing, but maybe the difference maker?
@jdcollegedad Wow! I’ve nursing is a very tough major to get into so congrats to your daughter on her obvious hard work and good luck to her. Thanks for sharing your experience as well.
Has anybody gotten their acceptance package in the mail yet?
Accepted on 2/5
4.19 W GPA
31 ACT (one sitting)
Triple Legacy (mom, dad, and sister)
Very Strong extracurriculars
Chemistry Major
I was offered a 20k merit scholarship (spread across 4 years)
No acceptance package for us yet. Just online.
Public Ivies include: University of Virginia, Berkley, William and Mary, Chapel Hill. TCNJ actually has the 5th highest graduation of any public in the country. UDel is public, but not as selective. Quin and Fairfield are not at the same level as TCNJ.
I agree that UD is not on the overall as selective as TCNJ. But if a student wants the Honors program and the perks that come with it plus the top scholarships, they will need similar stats. And my UD junior son says UD wouldn’t be worth it to him without the Honors perks.
I got accepted yesterday after filling out both surveys the day before! Good luck to all!
just got my package in the mail yesterday!
My daughter was accepted yesterday. Applied in November. Thanks for all the feedback