I graduated from TCNJ (TSC) in 1994. Back then so many students went home on the weekends. Had the atmosphere changed? Do students stay on weekends?
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20920091
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-new-jersey/1528301-is-tcnj-still-a-suitcase-school.html
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/14131111
Not , Not ,Not a suitcase school any longer by any definition.
I think the answer to this question varies. We asked this same question during numerous visits to the school before committing and were emphatically told by school representatives that it was not a “suitcase school.” Our son, a freshman, attended for one semester and virtually everyone he knew went home on the weekends. This fact was a disappointment to him as he is pretty social and was hoping to have access to more school-led, fun opportunities for students on campus. He also lived quite a distance from the school so going home wasn’t an option, even if he wanted to. He played a varsity sport during the semester he attended which kept him busy as well as precluded him from going home. However, there really wasn’t much else happening socially to encourage students to stay on campus. As we spent many weekends going to watch his home games, we found the campus, while beautiful, to be very quiet and also a little depressing. Thankfully our son knew people that had cars so he spent a lot of his free time off campus - going to the movies, eating at local eateries, etc. (since most of the Campus Town restaurants close early on the weekend, except for the Landmark which recently opened and is a great option). That being said, our son is transferring to a much larger school that will give him the “full college experience” (his words) that will ultimately, hopefully, be a much better fit.
Not only does my daughter not come home on the weekends (about an hour and 15 minute drive), she would probably want to stay over holidays if they didn’t kick her out of student housing. Next year she’ll be off campus and we’ll surely see even less of her!
We live an hour away and my DD does not come home on weekends.
Her roommate does often go home.
But I think most of my DD’s friends stayed on campus.
One of my son’s friends that lives in our neighborhood goes to TCNJ and she is home a lot. But we live about 20 mins away.
this is absolutely an exception and not the rule. Son just graduated and from day one fully enjoyed his experience.
And while he had a car from day one he hardly ever came home , other than major holidays. And more often than not he would return early. Especially , because he was an athlete and had games and practices to attend! There was plenty going on for socially active students between campus and greek life not to mention varsity teams come with an abundance of ready made friends and supporters. And our son was a honor student with over a 3.83 gpa. So a very positive and much different experience than equilbrio states. hey, Also and specifically as a freshman 99% all live together in the towers and its one of the top freshman experiences in the country --evidence the tremendously high freshman retention rate.
We live about an 1 hr 45mins away and my son only comes home on major holidays. He has made quite a few friends there and they are always busy doing something. A girl from the same high school doesn’t come home either.
We live about 35 minutes away. The frequency of my daughter’s visits home varies by semester.
I graduated in 1991 and I did not consider a suitcase college at all.
@northjerseymama we were probably there at same time. I graduated in 1990 (business major). I lived 15 minutes away and rarely went home unless I needed some money ?. True, a lot of people went home on the weekends but that was when I slept in, worked, did laundry, studied, went to the gym etc. There were always a lot of social events either on campus or off. I still am very, very close with the friends I made at TCNJ (TSC). I loved it!!
Most students stay on the weekends. If a student does go home often, they are the type of student who know matter what school they attend, they would go home. TCNJ has high achieving, normal, fun students who enjoy the entire experience.
We have a friend who is transferring because too many people go home on the weekends. She’s friends with a lot of these kids but said they purposely chose TCNJ because it gave them the ability to go home.
Side Bar Question: What do kids who go home for the weekend do? Hang with mom/dad?
@eb23282 There’s the boy/girlfriend at home types. The mommy and me can’t cut the cord types. The waaagh, college food is so terrible I can’t live on it types. I’m used to having my own room and don’t like to share.
I could go on. LOL
equil -some thing doesn’t add up . Varsity sports typically have a ready made instant group of friends . And as with any team (even at the club level) those members are required to be around for all games and practices, and events . Many of which take place on the weekend .I know this fact as our son was a player. Even with all that said , know there is a over 95% freshman retention rate and all the students (and that’s many) our son befriended stayed on campus most of the time. Other than break , when the groups would go overseas to visit with other TCNJ students studying abroad.
I don’t know of anyone who has left because it’s a “suitcase” campus…TCNJ has a 95% retention rate - which is one of the highest in the entire country! and the graduation rate is the 6 the highest of any public school in the country…really can’t beat that…like I said on an earlier thread - if youre the type of student who wants to go home, it doesn’t matter what school you go to.
As a proud parent of a TCNJ undergrad and someone who follows TCNJ on CC, I am so sick of this question. It has appeared in NUMEROUS threads in the recent past, well answered, and roundly rejected. For God’s sake people, use the search function before asking something that’s been answered umpteen times!
I was talking to a friend whose daughter goes to TCNJ and told her there are such conflicting answers on the suitcase school question. She said her daughter came home more her first year but now hardly ever comes home (senior now). Maybe the answer lies in this observation. Maybe more first years tend to go home and the ones who transfer leave before they see the transition to rarely going home.
As @sparcky mentioned, there is a boyfriend at home thing that came up with my dd. Somehow, now that she has a single, that doesn’t come up so often. Wonder why? 
The college food issue goes away as the kids move up to townhouse/ campus town/ off campus housing.
I think there are also some kids that have jobs near their home so they may leave campus/go home for work.
My suggestion for anyone worried about their kid coming home too much or not having enough to do on campus is to encourage your child to GET INVOLVED.
edited to add that, once again, I agree with @sparcky. I think more first years (particularly first semester) tend to go home and then the frequency of going home quickly decreases.