Well, its official name is Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, although for the last decade or so, it has generally gone by “Rutgers.”
I agree about the negative perception issue, especially among New Jersey’s top-tier students. I think there are a couple of reasons for that, but they’re outside the scope of this thread.
Large public schools with competitive sports programs are often viewed as prestigious because they have stronger overall brand recognition.
NJ has the strongest students in the country along with CA, NY, MA and TX. They are competitive anywhere in the country. I also suspect that the 80th percentile family wealth in the state is higher than in many other states such that they can pay to go OOS to many other schools. This allows them to look outside the state for higher ed. This is probably what you meant by out of the scope of this discussion.
Seems that that is the cover of the June 2026 issue here:
It is.
Oh no! There’s a jacket, too!
(Gotta give these poor children credit for sharing clothes, but I’d like to see one of them pull off wearing all three items, especially if they can find the matching shoes.)
and some small privates without competitive sports programs are often viewed as less prestigious because they are not very good academically. 
Is that maybe so they can get out of New Jersey? 
NJ has high parental education and wealthier parents. That results in stronger students.
it was a joke
@neela1 already posted the pic you shared a bit further up. The whole thing is a hoot.
I saw the cover photo- he wasn’t wearing those wild shots in that one? ETA - I see- it was further up.. sideways?? Maybe that’s a good thing/ a message 
I’d fit right in. I have a blazer almost identical to this and it’s one of my favorite pieces of clothing.
Adding, CT has a large number of prep schools and a fairly wealthy and smart population also. I do not know how this correlates with students applying to Ivies or considering rankings when looking for colleges.
Rutgers is one of the most interesting examples of a historic college with roots that predate the Revolutionary War and for a long time maintained a rivalry with New Jersey neighbor, Princeton, but struggled financially throughout the early 20th century; couldn’t quite make the jump to major university status without substantial help from the state and eventually became the flagship university in 1948. With better stewardship, it could clearly have been the 9th Ivy, but as it stands, the tiny Brownstone Row facing the railroad tracks is the only remaining hint of what could have been.
These reasons, and a couple more.
I didn’t want to make the picture about Princeton. So I cut it, and the camera was perpendicular. It was too much worK to rotate the picture on the phone. So I posted it as is — sideways.
I wish some of the dress sense rubbed off on my kid who went there. He has complete disregard for how crumpled his clothes are, even when going to work.
Maybe you can tell him where to get the jacket, shirt, and shorts that seem to get the attention here (and the pattern should hide any wrinkles).
That’s a brilliant suggestion. I am forever indebted to you for the suggestion.
Sadly, I remember when people used to dress this way for real (the Preppy Handbook days).
