The College of New Jersey

<p>My nephew and family visited TCNJ today- he is a HS junior. The whole family loved it. I think he is interested in business and might want to wrestle or play baseball there. The distance from home (suburban Phila) is perfect for them. He is a unique kid. He has a manageable form of Tourette's and is extremely active on the state and national level educating young people and families about the disease. He would benefit from an environment with some mentoring and some individual attention. Some OCD and high anxiety comes along with Tourette's. He is a good but not great student at a large public high school- good GPA but does get some accomodations due to his Tourette's.
I would love to hear from any parents of current TCNJ kids (or the kids themselves) about the school.</p>

<p>I don't know anything about the school first hand, but a friend from grad school teaches there and she has a lot of good things to say about the school and the students. However, she has told me that right now the school is making some major budget cuts. If your nephew needs certain services or is looking forward to participating in specific activities, he may want to check that these things will still be in the budget next year.</p>

<p>its a "user friendly college"(TCNJ)
i spent to much today at a sped post hs conference at claremont prep IN NYC!
yup...it was fun...</p>

<p>TCNJ is tough to get in to. 1300 avg. SAT. Most "good" students don't make it.</p>

<p>However, with the drastic budget cuts coming down the pike, the best & brightest in-state kids will be looking elsewhere in the next few years. The whole climate of the school could change. It's just a very uneasy situation.</p>

<p>Our son enjoyed two years at TCNJ and is now a junior at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. He needed a bigger pond.</p>

<p>TCNJ is competitive in admissions. Our son's 3.8 ish GPA and 1250 SATs three years ago probably probably were enough because of his music audition. Otherwise, most kids there have higher stats.
Great small school, nurturing, with profs who actually seem to care. Small classes, motivated, bright kids. Our son made several friends who remain close, as well as a wonderful girlfriend.<br>
Yes, budget cuts may erode the quality. Worth a look!</p>

<p>Instate, it seems to me, as though it is not just stats and ecs that gets one into TCNJ. I only know of one student that was accepted last year from my son's public well regarded public high school (and that was at the last minute, with a lot of work from his gc). He is a fabulous student, with a lot of talent, BTW. Our gc told us that they are having a lot of trouble gettting their strongest students into TCNJ.</p>

<p>Some people from my school use TCNJ as their safety, but no one has gone there in the past 6+ years. I thought about applying but got a bad feeling from it when I visited and that recent murder there sounded fishy but I don't know all the details
Plus with all the budget cuts, I definitely wouldn't go there but that's just me. I'm instate and I talked to admissions one time last year, told them my stats (which aren't even that great- 1420/2130 SATs) and they offered full tuition (+ room&board too I think, can't remember) scholarship if I was in the top 1/2 of my class (but I go to a really competitive private school)</p>

<p>Our HS sends 5 or more kids each year - most say they like the school and classes. Almost everyone we know going there received large merit scholarships. It will be interesting to see what happens now that the merit $ is no longer guaranteed to incoming freshman. Several of my DS's friends are applying and waiting to see if they're offered money. To be honest, I wanted my kids to apply there because of the money. Under the old system, my son would have a full ride + laptop I think. Can't remember exactly (the old chart is no longer available). Neither of my kids would apply though.</p>

<p>The kids from our HS come home on weekends (probably once or twice a month) and even weekdays for dr appts, bdays, HS events (about 1 hr away). Kind of like an extension of HS. They come to our HS football games, still hang out with their HS friends, stay in close contact with their families and HS friends. Not saying that's bad. Some kids like the support system. Could be a great situation for the kid that wants to be nearby. One of my DD's friends only lasted a few weeks at a small LAC known for being nurturing (but further away). TCNJ may have been a better choice for her. </p>

<p>Not much to do in the Ewing area though and nothing within walking distance of the school so it helps to have a car. Kids say socially it's a bit cliquey. Our HS kids hang out together - they were in the same classes in HS so this seems natural to them. The positive side of that is they feel comfortable right from the beginning - same friends, just new location and new opportunities. They say it's easy to get involved in things. They're involved in sports teams, dance teams, music and theater.</p>

<p>If he wants to wrestle he better be good- they have a top program</p>

<p>He probably won't do intercollegiate sports. His disability is such that it would probably be too intense. TCNJ is still his current favorite, with Bloomsburg (PA) as a safety. We'll see how the SAT comes out- he took it last Saturday.</p>