<p>The take on TCNJ is that they lopped off the bottom of the applicant pool without significantly changing their offerings or mission, making themselves instantly more selective.<br>
The school is getting better, but Rutgers is the only major publicly funded research university in the state.</p>
<p>Rutgers is indeed the only major publicly funded research university in NJ, and as such, has a good and respectable reputation.</p>
<p>However, this plus can be a minus depending on your interests and the college experience you are looking for. Rutgers is a large institution. Unless you are in an honors program, or in a smaller setting such as Douglas, the college experience at Rutgers can be very impersonal, and the kind of place one can easily become just a number.</p>
<p>IMO, for NJ students that have chosen to stay in-state, or find it necessary to do so, TCNJ has become a very solid, reputable alternative to the Rutgers experience.</p>
<p>Actually I know some really fabulous people with excellent stats that ONLY applied to TCNJ, not just b/c of financial reasons, but b/c they think it's a great school. I'll agree with chocoholic though - it's a suitcase school, absolutely. Most people I know who are enamored with it aren't the wild partying types. But I've heard the campus is gorgeous, and I think it's the perfect size for a college.</p>
<p>If you end up coming to TCNJ, there are two things you will have to get used to very quickly:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>"It used to be called Trenton State." Very few people out of state have heard of this school, and a lot of people within New Jersey still know it as Trenton State, even though that sounds like a prison. One of my most humbling experiences recently was visiting a friend at MIT. "Where do you go?" "The College of New Jersey." "Which one, Rutgers?"</p></li>
<li><p>Not having to get used to a new social structure. Basically, TCNJ is as cliquey as high school. The poster above who commented on the brown kids hanging out together hit the nail on the head (and I can say that too, since not only am I a brown kid, I was rejected by their brown kid group!), unfortunately.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Other things you will have to get used to, maybe not as quickly:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The school is trying to get rid of its reputation as a suitcase school, but that's pretty much what it is. A lot of people go home on the weekends, because so many of us are from Jersey. The weekends I've stayed here were either incredibly boring or vodka-saturated. I often just take the train and hang out with my Rutgers friends.</p></li>
<li><p>As for the party scene, TCNJ can be pretty polarized when it comes to drinking. A lot of people here either do it a lot or condemn those who do, and it's been pretty difficult for me to find a social circle that accepts the happy medium.</p></li>
<li><p>5% out-of-staters = a very Jersey-centric atmosphere. It's funny, I'll look at my friends' Facebook profiles and see groups like "Jersey Pride!" and at TCNJ we have "North Jersey -- Represent!", "South Jersey, Baby!", and (my personal favorite) "Central New Jersey -- We DO Exist!" (Middlesex County, holler!). In the same vein, TCNJ is pretty lacking in the diversity department, so if that's important to you, definitely think about how you'll adjust to a campus that's mostly cream and very little coffee.</p></li>
<li><p>When your friends at other schools are talking about their TAs and the recitation hours they have after their huge lectures, you will have nothing to contribute to the discussion. Classes at TCNJ are teeny, and that is my absolute favorite aspect of the school. Professors are approachable -- I think I've gone to office hours of every one I've had with a question at some point -- and most of them will know your name by the third or fourth week of the semester.</p></li>
<li><p>The campus is really, really isolated. Yeah, you can take the train to NYC, but if you don't have anyone with a car to bring you back from the train station, you have to make sure you're back before the buses stop coming to TCNJ at 7:00. The only place to get food that is walking distance from the campus is a 7-11. To get pretty much anywhere, you need to take I-95, and when you don't have a car freshman year, it can get boring.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Take my comments with a grain of salt because I am actually planning to transfer out of the College. The academics are wonderful, but the social life and location just leave too much to be desired for me to be happy here.</p>
<p>Whoa...the only way to get back and forth from the train station to NYC (if you don't have a driving friend) is a bus...which stops running at 7? That's horrible. </p>
<p>Btw, I loved Wicked.</p>
<p>Some of them also consider places like Cornell.</p>
<p>haha howd u get rejected from the brown kid group?
(let me guess? you dont play tennis? or u dont wnat to be a doctor/lawyer/engineer?) oh, the horror</p>
<p>It does not matter if 5% of the students are from Jersey. NJ is one heck of a diversified state, and you are going to meet kids with international parentage (?) plus all the 50 states.</p>
<p>I'm from NJ and to us TCNJ will always be "Trenton State". It is a wannabe school, it's reputation is no where near any of the excellent state schools in Va or even NY. JMO</p>
<p>idk i am seriously thinking about going here. Do you think I will be challenged? I mean, the full scholarship is bribery to a lot of applicants, so how is the general caliber of students? I'm talking are they IVY or Rutgers calibur?</p>
<p>Tribegirl you must be extremely mistaken... TCNJ is one of the best schools of it's kind in the nation. It is better than all of the NY state schools and right on par with William and Mary.</p>
<p>Hey, I just got accepted today! But...there's absolutely no mention of me getting a full-ride, which, according to their merit scholarship table, I should have. Hmmm....I'm gonna call tomorrow.</p>
<p>I just don't buy CONJ as William and Mary II. Not even close.</p>
<p>I'm from NJ too, please let's not deceive ourselves, TCNJ is nowhere near the caliber of W&M, UVA, UNC-CH or any of these great state schools actually, it's not even as good as UVM. It is a decent school.</p>
<p>Have you personally visited both schools?
If not then don't make that comment. Just because one is in Doctoral and the other is in Masters doesn't mean that they can't be very close academically speaking...</p>
<p>Tribegirl, many instate students with nice stats have looked at TCNJ with your point of view and been sadly disappointed to be rejected by what they considered their safety. It's a different school now in comparison with 10 or 15 years ago. I agree it doesn't have the name of a W&M, but it's a good school with an improving reputation. It can be an excellent choice for someone looking for a quality school at a bargain price. It attracts a good number of upper middle class kids who don't get need-based financial aid but could get into more prestigious private colleges.</p>
<p>My daughter considered this school but ultimately decided she was looking for more from the college experience. Let me say that we know students there and they are very happy; it's just not a good fit for my daughter.</p>
<p>You can not have a car on campus and there is literally no place to go without a car. She dated a guy from Ewing for almost a year so she's familiar with the area. Many of the kids we know don't care because they have found friends to hang out with while at school and they go home on weekends to do stuff with their HS friends. In fact, most of them chose a NJ school for that reason. They WANTED to be close to home (and their friends are also going to NJ schools). I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Just not what my daughter wanted. </p>
<p>As the parent, I was still pushing for the school since it would save us a good deal of money. I wanted to believe that it's no longer a suitcase school so we visited the school for 2 open houses and on 3 different weekends. Although it was busy at the open houses, each weekend we went the place was empty. If this matters to you, I suggest you go and ask TCNJ students themselves or better yet, just show up on a weekend and walk around the dorms, go in the student center, check out how empty the parking lots are. Decide for yourself.</p>
<p>We have heard good things the school; we know kids that go there and they seem happy enough. The price is good and seems to be the motivating drive behind their decision. But for my daughter, it kept coming back to the fact that many kids go home on weekends. In fact, some of them even have jobs and girl(boy)friends back home. </p>
<p>This school is definitely selective. All the kids accepted from our HS have top grades and SATs, top 5-10% of the class and LOTS of ECs. The academics seem challenging enough. Classes are small. Just not much to do socially. BUT that is probably true of many small LACs in suburban or rural areas.</p>
<p>Actually when you become an upper classman you can have a car on campus... They built a whole new parking garage and right now they are building a ton of new housing (i literally mean a ton) as well as a new library and they also just completed a new science building...</p>
<p>I agree that there is barely any public name recognition, but you don't go to school to tell people what school you went to, you go to school for education to get a job and that is where the name recognition is. TCNJ is a HUGE recruiting school with tons and tons of companies on campus that recognize the quality of the school. This may not be any Berkley in terms of public education, but it is definately in terms with W&M</p>
<p>TCNJ is the place to go if you are looking for a NJ teaching degree.
They boast a 100% passing rate on the state exam for last three years and very high placement rates for graduates.</p>
<p>There is a continuing upgrade to the already beautiful campus, as explained above. BUT on campus housing is still guaranteed for only the first two years....this should change as the additional townhouses are completed.</p>
<p>Probably still accurate to classify it as a suitcase school but that might be it's only real minus!<br>
Quality education at a bargain price. Smart, motivated kids. Yes, most all from NJ but that includes the 'built in" diversity of the NJ population. Accessible profs with small classes.
It is not unusual for our son to grab coffee with one of his professors after class. Profs truly seem to mentor the students; our son is already, as a freshman, participating in some amazing off campus opportunities directly related to his major.</p>
<p>Are you guys kidding me? TCNJ is not a bad school, but puh-leeeese...don't compare it with UVA (#3 public in the US), or W&M or UNC-CH.</p>
<p>Of course plenty of recruiters go to TCNJ and Rutgers, and much of that is due to the pharmaceutical and industrial belt that they are located in.</p>