TCNJ vs Rowan vs NJIT Electrical Engineering

Many good answers here, but I’ll put in my two cents: Visit all of them. Let your son decide the school at which he can best view himself succeeding and graduating in four years. You’ll be co-signing loans and should have a say, but you all will bear the hefty cost of a wrong decision or an extended stay.

Be comforted that, no matter which school he attends, he’ll probably end up with the same job opportunities at the same level no matter which he chooses. If you’re interested in track records, it’s a clear 1-2-3: NJIT has been around the longest and is probably the least selective of your bunch. Should definitely be a Plan A or B. Rowan’s EE is is going-up-with-a-bullet. TCNJ engineering is not at the level of the other schools on your list; it’s playing catch up. Its fine reputation as a value college is based on other majors and where it’s pulled from. It’s more selective than other state schools but also smaller and less diverse. My stereotype of a TCNJ student is a Top 10-15%er of a middle or upper middle class suburban family. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s a skewed stat. Rowan will have top students (especially in engineering and medical) and also the 20%.

When touring, my experience is that the student will be initially enamored by the dark brick facades of TCNJ, or the modern look of Rowan, or the city feel with mixed old/newer buildings of NJIT. But pay particular attention to the labs, since that’s where engineering students spend the most time, especially as they get closer to graduation. Also the library. There’s 168 hours in a week, and only 15-20 hours/week in a classroom. Maybe 50 hours/week sleeping & eating. So, how a student spends the other 100 hours is the make-or-break. Since so much of engineering education involves collaborative projects, do you really want your son (or his project groupmates) to be commuting home? Or chilling in dorms (which, by definition, is a “place to sleep”)? Of the schools you mentioned, Rowan probably has the most to do on-campus in those 100 hours, TCNJ is playing catch-up there, too, using Rowan as a model.

Talk to students. Ask 'em what they’re working on. Ask them if they’re glad they went there, as opposed to their other choices. Talk to professors. Sit in or a class or two (with permission, some will allow). Teaching is 33% of the process. The learning and the using is 67%. Pick the place where he can form a Using Pack of Co-conspirators. Engineering is one of those passion majors - engineering students don’t know what else they’d do. A pack offers encouragement, competition, and support. And engineering professors have a knack for weeding out students who really don’t have the passion (usually soph year).

Forget about Payscale and similar sites. Worthless. There is no direct correlation between money and happiness. There is no correlation between where you start and where you end and where you are in the middle. The better indicator, as you correctly pointed out, is median housing costs (the NAR site is good for that). As a 30-year recruiter who has placed in a couple dozen states, salary lines and median housing cost lines run parallel and feed each other. Why does SF/San Jose pay so much? They have to, or they’d have homeless employees. If Region A pays 65% higher than Region B, but housing costs are double Region B’s, where is the better bang for the buck?

A better website for a student is Rate My Professors. My kids and many other grads over the years have told me that it’s a pretty good indicator (although there are exceptions and variables).

For background, my son is a 2013 graduate of Rowan civil engineering. Top 3-4 of 500 in middle class diverse HS, 1400+ SATs. 2 classmates went to Harvard. Son had his choice of schools, including Cornell. Chose Rowan. Why? Close enough, yet far enough from home. Couldn’t pass up the financial package (4 years tuition/housing, provided that he kept his GPA > 3.0), which came in handy in 2008-09. Loved it, got very involved. No regrets at all. Has worked with smart people from other colleges. Has never felt shortchanged. Got his PE license. Had his first job lined up before graduation, joining the 100% of his engineering class who had jobs or grad school acceptances before they walked.

Hope your son has as much happiness as mine, wherever he goes. Good luck!

I agree with just about everything you said. The only concern I would have is if a student chose Rowan engineering over TCNJ and then subsequently dropped out of engineering and switched majors. Given the high % of freshman engineering students who ultimately change majors, I give tcnj a slight edge. You’d rather have your kid at Tcnj under those circumstances. Engineering is a difficult major to
Maintain a 3.0. A significant percentage of Stevens engineering students lose that “scholarship@ discount after the first year. Then you’re screwed. Rowan and tcnj engineering are the two best bangs for the buck in the state for value—— better than Rutgers and njit.

Also—- tcnj engineering labs in the midst of upgrades in the next phase of construction following the new STEM building that opened this year

Of course this is assuming Rowan and tcnj are the same price or close in price. If, after merit aid one is substantially cheaper ( I’m only talking for computer science or engineering) then go to the cheaper one

By all means, one should visit the schools he/she is considering and if possible sit in on some classes and talk to the students. Only the student can make the decision as to which school is right for him or her. Payscale and similar surveys are guides, not gospel, but if a school is highly ranked by such surveys with respect to post-graduate outcomes, that IMO is a good sign. Payscale of course does not purport to correlate money with happiness, it purports to quantify the return on investment one may obtain by having spent his or her tuition dollars at a particular school. With respect to scholarships (Mr./Ms. Dad Jets), what evidence or a-priori knowledge do you have that a significant percentage of Stevens engineering students lose their scholarships? Many schools have GPA and other requirements the student must meet to retain a scholarship. I am certain Rowan and TCNJ too have minimum GPA requirements for scholarships, In many cases, scholarships endowed by external benefactors have GPA requirements attached to them by their benefactors, and is not dictated by the school. There are scholarships out there that consider a wide range of qualifications, not just GPA. Yes, it is difficult to maintain a high GPA in engineering, and, as you correctly point out, many students who start as first year engineering students do not graduate in engineering. The prospective student has to consider carefully his/her ability to handle the workload and to do well in a difficult subject, regardless of where he or she goes to school. Engineering is a tough subject in any school.

@njdadjets made a comment about changing majors. I would worry most about changing majors at TCNJ. TCNJ limits the students who are admitted to each major, and there are likely similar restrictions for transferring between majors, especially the highly desired ones. In comparison, Rowan seems rather flexible.

TCNJ engineering department indicated that it’s difficult to change disciplines (open house last year). Switching out of engineering totally, I’m not sure, but I know certain popular majors like cs are full. Rowan seems more flexible.
I liked the students at the Rowan engineering open house. They were engaged and friendly. Labs/facilities look great.