I am currently a freshman at Florida State University, but I am planning on transferring somewhere closer to home. Since i’m from New Jersey, i’ve been considering TCNJ and Rutgers. Which school would be better for psychology/pre med? I feel like I would fit in more at TCNJ, but I know Rutgers has more research opportunities and is well known outside of New Jersey. Would I be making a mistake if I chose TCNJ over Rutgers? Thank you in advance for any advice you have !!
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My impression is that TCNJ and Rutgers (New Brunswick) are basically comparable in selectivity. Rutgers is better known to the general public, especially outside the NJ area, because it is older, larger, and has Division I sports. However, medical school admissions officers are not the “general public”. They are much more knowledgeable and sophisticated about undergraduate schools, and they will respect TCNJ.
Rutgers is a large research university, and TCNJ is not. But it doesn’t necessarily follow that Rutgers has more or better research opportunities for undergraduates. I don’t think TCNJ has any graduate students or post-docs in sciences, and in that situation, the profs have no choice but to turn to the undergrads for research assistance. So it wouldn’t surprise me if the research opportunities for undergraduates are actually better at TCNJ.
If you think TCNJ is a better fit, then I don’t see any reason to pick Rutgers instead.
TCNJ is absolutely more selective than Rutgers especially for business(accounting and finance) and majors in stem
(especially chem and bio). Fact Barrons ranks TCNJ as one of the 75 most competitive schools in the country.
Both schools will be good for premed. As far as I know, TCNJ will be a more challenging school, so consider if you are up for the challenge. Also, TCNJ is a much smaller school, which can be good and bad. Good in the sense that you will have smaller classes; your profs will know you better to write better letters of rec for med school. The small size is not good, however, if you are not set in your major. A family friend tried to switch her major at TCNJ and couldn’t because there wasn’t enough room. If you are 100% sure about your major, then I don’t see anything wrong with TCNJ over Rutgers for pre med.