What do you guys think? The deterring factor about UCLA is the $$. I don’t want to come out of college with a lot of debt. And the lack of prestige (at least in NJ) for Rutgers + TCNJ is something to consider as well. (Rutgers --Biomed–Engineering Honors or TCNJ Bio Program)
Pre-meds and students in majors with relatively weak job prospects (including biomedical engineering and (especially) biology) should consider debt avoidance more strongly than most students.
Rutgers is a perfectly good school. It seems that only NJ residents think of it so poorly.
How much is UCLA and what is your parents’ budget? Unless your parents have 200K+ in a college fund for you, I can’t imagine it’d be the best choice for you.
I’d go with TCNJ, though, whether you want to be premed or truly want to major in biology (which will require a graduate degree - TCNJ will make it easier to get good letters of recommendation and meaningful research experience.)
Did you get into Honors College at either?
Rutgers is a fine school. I certainly would have attended the university if I were a resident of New Jersey.
FWIW, lack of prestige doesn’t really hurt Rutgers. Wall St. recruiting is often considered a prestige-driven. Yet Rutgers places 21st in this ranking. That ranking places it above UCLA, Berkeley, Duke, Stanford, etc.
http://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/2015/02/04/the-top-feeder-schools-to-wall-street/2/
And Rutgers also happens to have the #2 philosophy department in the country after NYU. (#3 in the world after NYU and Oxford.)
You won’t come out of college with a lot of debt. Your parents will. You are limited to taking out loans of $5500-7500/year. Anything else will be your parents’ bill.
Are you premed? If so, stay clear of the UCs as an OOS student.
That said, for biomedE, Rutgers is more than fine. Don’t waste your money.
yes I agree Rutgers Engineering is a good program (Rutgers grad here). If you have the money go for it at UCLA
Thank you for all your replies! I am in the Honors Program at Rutgers and I haven’t found out about the Honors College at TCNJ yet (should in the next few weeks). UCLA is coming to be out of the budget (by about 100k) and I don’t want me or my family to be burdened with unnecessary debt. If I’m going to do bio/ biomed eng (premed) then I will be staying in-state.
I’d recomment TCNJ, especially if you make the Honors College, for premed. It’s very strong academically but will be more supportive for you as a premed (ie., more attention to undergraduates and better odds of a good GPA with fewer “weedout” classes, although organic chemistry is necessarily weed out…) The campus isn’t as spread out as Rutgers’, the new campus town is a great idea for college students and businesses alike (it sounds like a very smart business model to me).
http://campustowntcnj.net/
http://campustown.pages.tcnj.edu/2015/02/03/developer-tcnj-expanding-campus-town-project-before-it-even-opens/
Both are similar academically (top 25% students are a bit stronger a TCNJ in CR and Writing only), both should cost about the same, so ultimarely it’ll come down to “fit”, which one “feels right”.
I am confused, @nerdforlifee12, you have another thread in which you are debating whether to go to Wellesley or Haverford. What’s going on?
Really, every ranking list i researched has Rutgers behind TCNJ for all undergraduate studies including med and espeicially business. I don’t know why poster keep instisting the nation thinks its more respectable than it is.
There is a big difference between recognition as a sports program and reputation as the #1 public in NJ.
Not taking away from Rutgers, very good grad programs. But i think TCNJ is doing really outstanding work and its really ok to recognize that.
TCNJ is a school on the rise and Rutgers is a very good school. They have very different vibes. I’d go wherever you feel more comfortable. Forget about UCLA.
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researched has Rutgers behind TCNJ for all undergraduate studies including med
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including med? Do you mean for the med school or what?
Sorry guys, just jumping into this thread…is it possible to gain residency in CA for UCLA after a year as a student and thus gain the in-state tuition…or is that near to impossible?
No, it’s not possible. The state of Calif is very strict about that. You didn’t go to high school there. Your parents didn’t move there. You’re only going to that state for school.
If you’re the parent, then you don’t pay taxes there.
“lack of prestige” Why are NJ kids so convinced there’s some deadly issue about Rutgers? On many lists, various depts are very highly ranked, by others in those same fields.
The CA colleges are quite specific about residency considerations and (like so many state colleges across the country,) do not accept living in-state “for educational purposes” as meeting residence requirements. You can find it on the UC web pages.
It would be like a Michigan kid saying UMich is gross. It’s just a state stigma because you’ve grown up with it all these years.
Stay in state if you can and save yourself the money! Rutgers and TCNJ are both fine schools and you won’t lose out by choosing.
@TheDidactic, RU and TCNJ aren’t UMich, but for a pre-med, paying a lot more for another state school (or even a private) doesn’t make much sense.
“RU and TCNJ aren’t UMich”
You and I know that from being around CC and hearing the tremendous amount of positive things about UMich and their programs but do you think a current junior in an average Michigan high school thinks that? I actually did see one Michigan kid on here have a lackluster attitude towards UMich. That same junior could also think Rutgers is great because he can get away from Michigan, be close to NYC and study in a new environment.
My point is that everyone (including the infamous Jersey v. Rutgers attitude) has that state school stigma. Cali residents may want to stray away from UC’s. Texas kids may not want to go to UT Austin and NC kids might want to stray from Chapel Hill. There’s nothing wrong with either going with your state school or not going with the state school but in the subject of pre-med you want to save as much money as possible…AND Rutgers and TCNJ both have very solid programs.
@TheDidactic,
CA (and TX to an extent) do have the advantage of being big states, so kids there can “go away” to a public somewhere that’s pretty different from home even if it’s still in-state.
Also, top students in CA, VA, IN, and even WI+MN & TX have choices that are pretty good. So they can tell themselves that they chose a school.