I’m a high school senior accepted to Rowan electrical and computer engineering program and have received a 15k merit scholarship renewable for all 4 years which brings the total cost of attending Rowan well under 20k . Also accepted at TCNJ and received 5k merit scholarship. Also accepted to Rutgers and received 2k merit aid… Loved TCNJs campus and it’s generally viewed as the overall better academic school over Rowan and Rutgers but TCNJ engineering is not as highly ranked as either Rutgers or Rowan engineering. Rutgers large campus and class sizes make it less desirable to me. What’s making this an unexpected tough decision is how impressed I was by the Rowan campus, it’s new facilities and it’s new dorm. Is TCNJs perceived overall superiority enough to give it the nod? Or would I be I crazy to turn down Rowan’s generous scholarship and substantial savings over TCNJ? I walked away from from the Rowan tour thinking that Rowan may eclipse TCNJs “name” cache in the near future given all the investment in the campus and it’s STEM programs.
you may want to keep in mind the brand new STEM facility @TCNJ due to be completed fall 2017.
I personally think that Rowan is on the rise but it is not at the level of TCNJ and Rutgers yet.
However, seems like Rowan is a great value for you!
I agree with @bopper 100% BUT 40K is 40K 
Its your personal decision
Thanks!
The new stem complex high tech computer and I do agree about the large class sizes. One of the biggest advances of TCNJ is that small class sizes mean more opportunities. TCNJ is also known for it’s engineering department, many of the engineers I know came to TCNJ for the department over other school. If money is important then you might want to consider Rowan but it’s up to you.
I am a career engineering manager and my daughter is a freshman at TCNJ studying STEM. With that said, if you were my child, I would urge you to attend Rowan.
Don’t get me wrong, my daughter loves TCNJ, but IMO Rowan’s offer is just too good to pass up. When it comes to engineering, I don’t think a hiring manager will care much whether you attended Rowan or TCNJ. In the professional world, an engineering degree is an engineering degree, unless you attend someplace like MIT. What will sway a hiring manager will be the fit: a particular project your worked on, the experiences you’ve had and really what kind of person you are once we interview you. If you are seeking a job outside of NJ, the hiring manager probably hasn’t heard of TCNJ or Rowan, so it won’t make a difference. If you are seeking a job inside NJ, the manager will probably consider either school to be perfectly acceptable. That is, unless they are a snob, in which case you probably wouldn’t want to work there anyway!
If you liked the TCNJ campus feel more, that might make a difference, but it sounds like you really like Rowan, so go for it!
Good luck.
and with the $40,000 you save you would be more free to take a summer internship even if its not paid, over flipping burgers just to make money to pay off loans.
That would make your resume that much better
Yes. You would be crazy to do that.
I am a nearly 30-year recruiter and the parent of an engineering grad. Son graduated HS in 2009, at the height of the Great Recession. Top 3-4 student; 2 classmates went to Harvard, other went to Bucknell. Son was accepted everywhere he applied (maybe sights kinda low), including Cornell. Chose Rowan (4 years tuition & basic housing, although he upgraded to townhouses & RoBo with buddies), graduated in 2013, and doesn’t regret his decision one iota. Especially since collaborating with grads from Cornell, Lehigh, Lafayette, NC-Wilmington, Va Tech, and others. Doing well in his career, first at a firm in North Jersey, before relocating to MD. And no loan debt holding him back.
Between Rowan, TCNJ, and Rutgers, it’s not even close. Rowan. Here’s why:
Academically, in your selected major, Rowan and Rutgers are your best choices. They are Engineering colleges. TCNJ is a college that has a bit of an engineering program.
TCNJ’s brick building facades and green campus are old-school style impressive, especially when visiting for the first time. That wears off after a bit. The inside facilities are not all that. Especially for engineering. The professors aren’t as good - certainly, they’re knowledgeable, but will you understand them? Although TCNJ is trying to play catch-up in your field, they do not have and probably will never have the resources (investment $ and political commitment and labs) that Rutgers and Rowan enjoy.
I like TCNJ. But its “ratings” (and I’m not much of believer in them) are based on (a) it is smaller, so they are more selective than many bigger schools and (b) their pool, which is middle-upper middle class NJ suburban. TCNJ’s rep is strongest in business administration and teaching. In engineering, it is a deep, deep fallback school.
Rutgers has a long established program. You’ve touched on a couple negatives for you, and I’ll add another: I have found that very few Rutgers engineering students (heck, few of any kind of students) graduate in four years. For many reasons, they need to add a semester or two to get the classes they want/need to graduate. So, although the tuitions are comparable at all three schools, a Rutgers education is going to be more expensive and you’ll enter the workforce at the same companies and wages that you would have entered had you gone to Rowan.
There’s also Stevens and NJIT to consider, and I’ll add one: Stockton. Not as selective as TCNJ or even Rowan. Not as big as Rowan or Rutgers. But, in your selected major, it’s worth looking into. A good fallback school. You might not know it, but just down the road from Stockton is the Richard Hughes Technical Center. It’s one of the two largest R&D arms for the FAA, TSA, and Homeland Security departments, featuring a vast array of large multinational government contractors, not just there but all over Atlantic County. One of the big projects is upgrading air traffic control systems. Stockton has long (more than 25 years) provided computer engineers to those companies and has geared their computer curriculum to them. Again, they’ll accept Rowan and Rutgers grads (not TCNJ grads, from what I’ve seen), too. Stockton is also growing, adding an Atlantic City campus. A lot of $ and political might flowing there, as well.
I’ll add my normal caveat that you’ll be successful at whatever school you see yourself succeeding. They are all good in their own way. Don’t fall for the facades. And check out my posting in the “Why Rowan” thread. I first did it in 2011, updated it last year, and it’s only gotten bigger and better.
Good luck!
@bopper For engineering of any kind, Rowan > TCNJ. Not even close.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply
@willc Going to add something about life out of the classroom (which is a good chunk of your time):
It’s still a concept now, and the reality won’t set in until you actually do it wherever you go. Rutgers & Rowan are a lot more bustling over the weekends. It’s more common, from what I’ve seen, to see TCNJ students hang out with their friends/former classmates at Rutgers or Rowan than the other way around. That’s due to size and the fact that TCNJ is still primarily a commuter school situated in the center of the state. They all have clubs and activities and frats, but participation varies.
Rutgers and Rowan (who have their share of commuters, too) have a lot more to do over the nights/weekends. At Rutgers, it’s more likely to be frat or big-game related. At Rowan, more club and intra/intermural related, whether it’s a sport or Wilson Hall bassoon recitals. Rowan & TCNJ are D-3 (and they do well), spectators are parents and students who pop-in between their own activities; Rutgers is D-1 Big 10; spectators are general big-time college sports fans, alumni of both teams, parents, student body. Totally different flavors.
I have found that Rutgers students tend to hang with their frats or their majors. TCNJ students tend to hang with their intimate group of campus friends. Rowan students tend to bounce between tribes.
Next time you visit any place, check out the bulletin boards (especially in the residence halls & student centers). You’ll see what they do. I was just at Rowan for business: saw bus trips to DC, NYC, Phila (common), Wildwood, AC. Don’t know about that for TCNJ. From what I’ve seen of Rutgers, they have their trips and activities, but most are in/around the sprawling campus. You’ll also want to pay close attention to the libraries & the labs - you’ll be spending a lot of time there as you progress.
Pick up a student paper, too, to learn of hot-button issues. But take 'em all with a grain of salt. College papers tend to be kind of hyperreactionary.
What’s the same most anywhere: Police & “townies” view students as revenue-generating opportunities. Beware.
Thank you all for your input. Went back to Rutgers on Saturday and back to Rowan open house with my parents yesterday. Toured the new building and holly pointe commons. I’ve decided to attend Rowan instead of TCNJ or Rutgers. I’m feeling confident that a Rowan engineering degree will be worth even more in the coming years. I loved TCNJ also but the difference in programs in too obvious to ignore. We came away clearly convinced that Rowan has developed and continues to develop something special with the school of engineering. I tried to view each college’s engineering program apart from the cost of each and the name attached in terms of ABET certified curriculum, degrees offered (TCNJ only offers a BS), class size, campus and dorm quality, post grad employment and salary stats— Rowan and TCNJ have the clear edge over Rutgers except that Rutgers offers a phd which I don’t plan on seeking. I gave a very slight edge to TCNJ on campus points but Rowan carried every other category. Now, add in cost, and I feel great about my decision. I’m convinced that in the near future Rowan will eclipse TCNJ and Rutgers as the top choice of instate school after Princeton
One note on Rutgers: everyone who is considering going to the NB campus should give serious thought to spending their money on a school that essentially is a commuter school even if you live on campus. Why would anyone would want to waste precious study and leisure time riding buses between classes and your dorm is beyond me. Far better to go to a school where you can walk most everywhere especially in a demanding major.
Congratulations @willc ! I think you made a great decision and will be very happy at Rowan! Best of luck to you!
good luck. have to say though , thought the brand new $100 million TCNJ STEM facility opening this fall would have had a larger effect on you. Best of luck.
wiilc, congrats on your choice. Sounds like you’ll be happy at Rowan. As a Rutgers alum, I dispute that Rutgers is a commuter school due to having to take buses to campus. This assumes your classes are on a different campus than your dorm. Also buses come every 10 minutes and they have an app now telling you when the buses are coming. It’s a minimal inconvenience to get to class. As for Rowan overtaking TCNJ or Rutgers as a competitive school, they will have to toughen their standards and acceptance rate significantly before that is even a consideration. Students who get accepted to Rowan won’t necessarily get accepted to RU or TCNJ. It will take decades for Rowan to be as highly rated, if ever.
I understand your position regarding rutgers. I respectfully disagree. It was obvious to myself and my parents that there is a plan and a vision for the rowan campus. Especially in the engineering department where the admission standards are every bit as tough as TCNJ and Rutgers. One anecdote: I visited Rutgers 3x. On one visit, my dad and I went on a normal school day and observed on college avenue a crowded bus stop. Up pulls a bus headed to the Busch campus that was packed and some students were not permitted on and had to wait for the next bus. Who wants to deal with that? I wouldn’t. I’d rather be able to walk to every class
Understood. I don’t think that sort of thing happens all the time at Rutgers, but to each their own. What matters is where you’ll succeed and be happy. Sounds like Rowan ticks the boxes for you.
I think TCNJ is also spending significant money upgrading their facilities and departments, and the STEM building is just one example of that. TCNJ already is a respected and highly rated college. I’m happy to say my son was accepted there and is seriously considering TCNJ as one of his choices (along with Rutgers and others).
Good luck to him! I agree that TCNJ right now gets the edge as the overall perceived higher ranked school. If I wasn’t majoring in engineering I might go to TCNJ. I don’t think I’m alone in my estimation of Rowan engineering as rapidly rising to the level of other high ranking schools in that area. Rowan’s campus surprised me. I think a lot of the negative Rowan campus reviews pre date the new construction and other improvements. TCNJ is getting expensive. Before I was set on engineering I also considered computer science and business and visited Ramapo College out of curiosity and was very impressed. My guidance counselor urged the visit because Ramapo is trying to attract and compete for students. Hands down, Ramapo had the nicest campus and facilities and dorms of any school I visited. If Ramapo adds programs like engineering they would shoot to the top with what they offer in terms of campus and the surrounding area in bergen county.