Well, it’s college applications season once again, my turn this time, and some tough decisions are going to be made. One of my options is Rutgers, and the # 1 thing going for it so far is its $0 price tag, via automatic merit aid. However, I go to a New Jersey high school, and people from around here don’t have much good to say about it. High school students seem to like to bash their own states’ institutions–Many students from my school would attend Penn State but wouldn’t consider Rutgers. I understand that the reverse is true for many Pennsylvanian high school seniors. What’s the straight dope 1) on the Rutgers undergraduate experience, and 2) on the university’s reputation outside of New Jersey. What do you think when you hear its name: “lousy,” “that’s a good school,” “that’s a great school”… ?
In case anyone would like to compare and contrast, I’ll be deciding whether to go to Rutgers for free vs. going to Wisconsin (Madison), Virginia, or Texas (Austin) for… not free. Possibly UPenn/Wharton as well, but I’m not sure I’ll make the cut necessarily. I’ll be studying math and economics, and taking some business classes.
My experience is that people outside of the state of NJ respect it a whole lot more than people from NJ. For some reason, the school conjures up “prestigious ivy league” in the minds of many. And they are mistaken.
To be sure, it’s a great school. It has fantastic resources (IMHO) by virtue of its size. As far as state schools go, it’s not bad. But it’s a second tier school. That doesn’t mean it’s crappy. It just means it’s generally good, but “not all that”.
I went to a top tier school for undergrad, and when I told my mentor I was going to Rutgers, he remarked–quite smugly–that I was “downgrading”. He may have been right, but I liked grad school more than I liked undergrad.
As far as Rutgers undergrads go, they are a mixed bag. I taught and worked with kids that were bright and high-achievers. I also taught and worked with the biggest dumb-bunnies ever (and of course, a lot in between). To be honest, I didn’t encounter such a spread in abilities where I went to college (perhaps because I was at the bottom of the curve :)) Half the students who attend Rutgers are first generation college students. This means many of the students have incredible pressure on them to succeed against the odds while simultaneously dealing with pressures to drop out and help out the family. In other words, there aren’t too many silver spoon/legacy cases at Rutgers. This is a good thing, but can also be bad if you’re very competitive.
It also has a diverse student body, particularly the Newark campus. I think this is a good thing but YMMV. And the school has a bunch of celebrity faculty and alumni (get used to the name “Robeson” if you decide to attend). Rutgers is definitely not a school most people haven’t heard of before.
So in summary, Rutgers isn’t nearly as great as outsiders seem to think it is. But it’s not as lousy as New Jersyians think either.
If I had to do it all over again, I’d go someplace cool, like the University of Hawaii or something. I’d major in surfing, with a minor in women and beer.
I used to think “eh” about Rutgers, but I’ve met a whole bunch of extremely bright and competent people who went there.
The other thing to keep in mind is that once you’re more than five years out of college, no one gives a shit where you went (with the possible exception of the Ivies/Seven Sisters super-high-prestige schools). It turns out not to matter a whole lot in the real world – so go to a school where you’ll get a decent education, if possible without running yourself into a lifetime of debt.
twicks, BA, University of California at Santa Barbara; MPhil, PhD, Drew University
If you’re planning on attending graduate school (law school, business school, etc.), the name of your undergraduate school is less important, as long as you do well wherever you go so that you can get into a respectable grad school. If Rutgers is going to be free for you, imagine how far ahead you’ll be without thousands in student loan debts and the money your parents will save.
When I started in the Engineering College at Virginia Tech in 1981, a LOT of people asked me why I hadn’t just gone to Rutgers. Apparently back then it had a good reputation out-of-state. Whether that reputation was or is still deserved is another question.
Also many people far away from New Jersey have no idea what Rutgers is, although they have heard of it. It sounded very elite to me till I realized a few years back that it was basically just the mediocre main state school of New Jersey. When a friend of my wife from Rutgers came down to Austin to visit a few people he encountered even thought Rutgers was some lesser Ivy leaguer like Brown or Cornell.
I’m the only one in my family who didn’t spend any college time at Rutgers, so I can’t really say anything bad about the school. It’s one of the oldest schools in the country (1766 – not as old as Harvard or Princeton, but older than most), it’s absolutely huge, and they’ve got a great library system (I used it a lot in high school), along with lots of original colonial documents (Peter Stone and David McCullough used it in researching 1776 and John Adams).
Part of the college experience, for me anyway, was getting away from home.
I remember not wanting to go to Rutgers because it wasn’t far enough away from home. It’s not that I hated my parents - it’s that I hated New Jersey. So I went to Syracuse and that still wasn’t far enough away. I transferred to the University of Colorado and finally that was far enough away. At the time, Colorado state citizenship was easily obtained and I paid in-state tuition for most of my stay there.
Anyway, if you’re not sick of NJ then going to Rutgers for free is a great deal. The only ‘lousy’ thing I heard about was the part of town that the off-campus housing was in (New Brunswick, that is). My sister went to Douglass College and met her future husband who got a civil engineering degree at Rutgers (they were both in the band). I played in a band with 2 Rutgers EEs both of whom have left the field and are interesting and accomplished people although I’d chalk it up more to them than to Rutgers. Well, at least Rutgers didn’t beat their creative natures down.
If you’re totally sick of NJ then maybe Austin would be a nice change. A college like Rutgers for free, though - that’s hard to pass up.
A friend of mine recently transfered from here (University of Michigan) to Rutgers (she’s from NJ) and she hates it, but a lot of that probably has to do with leaving behind friends and stuff here. She has complained about her profs specifically, though.
However, I go to a New Jersey high school, and people from around here don’t have much good to say about it. High school students seem to like to bash their own states’ institutions–Many students from my school would attend Penn State but wouldn’t consider Rutgers. I understand that the reverse is true for many Pennsylvanian high school seniors. What’s the straight dope 1) on the Rutgers undergraduate experience, and 2) on the university’s reputation outside of New Jersey. What do you think when you hear its name: “lousy,” “that’s a good school,” “that’s a great school”… ?