It’s not a 7-year premed program. Do you even know what you are talking about?
TCNJ is basically totally unknown outside of NJ.
Try getting a job on the west coast with TCNJ on your resume instead of Rutgers. Rutgers has a national reputation, TCNJ does not.
P.S. I’ve been hiring folks for 30+ years and TCNJ does not impress hiring managers any more now than it did when it was called Trenton State College.
By that logic Rochester and Tufts would be consider “regional” as well.
It’s considered “regional” because it does not attract a nationwide student body.
Rutgers is “national” because it does.
See the difference?
“NESCAC-like”?
Seriously?
So now TCNJ is to be compared with Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan, Tufts, Hamilton, etc.?
Seriously?
I’m on the “pro-TCNJ” camp in this case too as it has an excellent Biochemistry program. BTW they do have a 7 year med program but you need 1500 on cr and math sat to be admitted. You will get scholarship money to TCNJ ( I’m guessing about 5,000 a year but probably not Rutgers because of the 3.6 GPA (they only look at UW for scholarship money) that needs to be about a 3.9 for the presidential full ride and a 3.7 for the $4500 scholarship.
Also I have heard Rutgers is overcrowded- my son has had a lot of friends transfer from Rutgers due to not getting the classes they need and having to wait for buses that are full when going to class and then missing class bc can’t get on a bus…
If you are planning on going to grad school it really doesn’t matter where you go to undergrad as long as you have competitive GPA and test scores. Wherever you go you really need to concentrate on your GPA for grad school acceptance and merit money. If you had a 3.8 gpa you would have qualified for Temple’s presidential scholarship (full tuition), but you will still get full tuition to Montclair right now with your stats. You will get in to most schools on your list but not much money unless you qualify for financial aid. If you are not worried about $$ then go to the school that you feel “fits” you the best as they are all great schools! Don’t be afraid of taking a full ride to Montclair if financials are a worry, its a great school and many in the honors program come out with full rides to grad school!
I live in the west coast and definitely know more about collages than average people. It sounds to me ridiculous to compare TCNJ, which I never heard about, with the big name east coast collages!
@rhandco: You have to learn what a tier is and how USNWR actually uses the term in their guide.
. The criteria is that of USNWR , heard of them? Try looking it up for yourself before you spout more untrues. With each post you make it evident you have no clue.
Really, no one knows TCNJ ?Thats a laugh. do your research, it’s recruited regularly by over 400 firms and has
a high percentage of students go on to higher ed as well. I find it not worth responding to people who posts things like
“no one knows TCNJ or they don’t have a 7 year med program” . Look up the facts. They are known strongly in the tri-state area and for better or worse that really makes them known in the most influential area of the country . They are very well know at the graduate level as they place well in top grad schools.
But facts are , its a small school with a undergraduate focus and it does that extremely well.
**notice- negative responses do not address all the accolades i listed.-- Yes rutgers has football and 40,000 students.
But TCNJ business program is ranked way higher by bloomberg and its accounting program is ranked 20th in the country vs #31 rutgers" So if you like a smaller school 7000 students, colonial type beautiful campus, a teacher student ratio of 1-13 and universally well respected programs its an institution to seriously consider. Use the money you save for grad school.
The “difference” is the quality and quantity of research. Top NJ students go to Ivies and other top-ranked National Universities, not TCNJ.
From USNWR:
"8. What are Regional Universities and Regional Colleges?
Like National Universities, Regional Universities offer a full range of undergraduate programs and provide graduate education at the master’s level. However, they differ by offering few, if any, doctoral programs."
TCNJ is #3 now, in the “North” Regional University category (North is a USNWR region, one of four US regions), among colleges which do not offer nearly as much as National Universities. It is the top public university on that particular list, which has around 140 ranked universities.
I am still not sure why someone would think that being ranked as the best among not-as-good (in some ways) colleges is equivalent to being ranked as top 50 in the list of to universities. Not that TCNJ isn’t okay, it’s just not Tufts, Cornell, etc. etc. etc.
it’s one of the top 75 MOST competitive schools in the country as per Barrons----so now post garbage about that too.
Its the top business school in NJ period! its #20 accounting program in the entire country period— and so on and so forth. Your arguements don’t hold water. They are terrific at what they do which is a small undergraduate school that focuses on the student with a higher teacher-to-student ratio and excellent results . There are MANY students at TCNJ they turned down your so-called better schools to attend programs like 7 year premed, chem program and my own son to attend the business school (he was accepted to several NESCAC schools) and prefered TCNJ. Facts.
@stones3: The fact that you actually need to (or feel you need to) defend/promote TCNJ speaks volumes as to its reputation. Nobody has to quote stats to prove the merits of Tufts, Cornell, Rutgers, or many of the other “national” schools discussed here.
Sorry, but this just not really true. I’ve been hiring for decades for top firms in NYC and frankly a resume with TCNJ on it is going to pretty much be treated the same as someone from a no-name state college in North Carolina – meaning it’s not going to be looked at as strongly as someone from a nationally known state U. (Michigan State, Penn State, Rutgers) or someone from a mid-level private (Syracuse, NYU, Rochester) let alone someone from an elite private (Wesleyan, Tufts, Cornell, Chicago).
forgive me for trying to EDUCATE this board but the prospective student deserves the correct information.
soze so i guess the big 4 are wrong for hiring all those accounting majors from TCNJ? And wharton is wrong for accepting the grade students, and all those hospitals are wrong for accepting all those med students,and those chem companies are wrong for recruiting those chem engineers? You do your company a diservice. If you were really interested in the best prospective employees you would consider all of the accolades piling up for TCNJ and start reconsidering your dimissive response. Especially, if you are from the area.
Seriously? Thread-hijack much?
Caution -I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on US news and world report rankings as most are done by peer reviews and have some specific requirements that may prevent a school from rising higher such as … published research, and quoted research in the field., etc Of course in that case large universities with huge research grants will come out on top, but that does not preclude someone from receiving a top notch education from a mid size school (such as TCNJ)…
If business is intended major, IMO better to look at say JP Morgan’s web site and see exactly where they are having recruiting trips to (TCNJ is one) and also where their interns were selected from (TCNJ also has a high number) surprisingly JP Morgan recruits Baruch CUNY as its #4 school where interns and job offers come from…
The original poster said they wanted to major in biochemistry or bio molecular engineering. This is a little more difficult to see where employers are recruiting from -as for those fields most need a graduate degree! With that said my advice would be to chose a school where you would have less debt and work on getting into a good grad school hopefully fully funded. Temple has many of its honors kids get fully funded acceptances to excellent grad schools such as Harvard, Yale, UC Berkley last year alone. I am sure a lot of these schools do. IMO you would be crazy to pay 250K for NYU undergrad (they only give need based scholarships) when you still have grad school to go to. Northeastern gives a lot of merit money and is a great school, Boston College not much money…
I read an article on CC that said STEM employers hire more from public universities than ivies, so there are cases where that big prestigious name (while you will no doubt get a great education) might not make sense $$ wise or give you that much of an advantage esp if you need to go to grad school or med school too…
the CIO of JP morgan and many other employees of said firm are alumni of TCNJ. Thanks for pointing that out.
Not correct. He went to USC.
my mistake -Guy Chiarello was CIO of JP Morgan as of 2013 is the President of First Data Corp. oops, but still impressive. He is a graduate and a decorated alumnus of the College of New Jersey, where he earned his Bachelor of Science
“If you are planning on going to grad school it really doesn’t matter where you go to undergrad as long as you have competitive GPA and test scores”
This is also incorrect. Of course it matters where you go to school for all kinds of reasons. Do you mean that where you go to school does not factor into admissions decisions for graduate programs? That is quite different than the original statement but it too is incorrect.
Many people posting on this site claim that medical and law (and business) programs don’t interpret grades and scores in light of the school. They contend that a 4.0 from Absurd University would be dealt with the same way as a 4.0 from Yale. I don’t know if that is true. But I can say with good authority that the college a student attends can make a big difference to the outcome of admissions to a research oriented graduate school (as opposed to professional training programs).
Most MA/s and doctoral programs confer academic degrees. Often the basis for decision making is research potential. And often the department faculty (and not a generic admissions committee) reviews applications. Those faculty members are often looking for students with some background in the sort of research that is being pursued in their program. And many times they look for students who gained experience working in particular labs conducting similar or related research. And such large labs can serve as feeder programs for specific graduate schools/programs. In this case, there will be a quick check to make sure that the grades suggest the potential candidate will make it though but the real weight is placed on letters of recommendation and research achievements while in college or after college. Excellent letters from key players in the field will trump grades and scores. Key players in the field (any field) are rarely conducting research at Absurd U.
With those stats, expand your list. CMU is great for engineering, I think you have a decent shot of getting in there.