NJ Colleges and Universities -- Class of 2014

[kacaju]

My daughter LOVES, LOVES LOVES Ramapo...Did I mention she LOVES it?? LOL!! She did very well for the first semester. She loves the campus, she is on the Dance team. We live about an hour from Ramapo and she never comes home. She takes shuttle up to he highway if they want to head to the mall, she was hiking in the reservation all Fall, and I am sure once it gets nice she will be back up there hiking.

It is such a hard decision for them to make..I am so happy my daughter got lucky and has such a perfect fit!!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

My daughter LOVES, LOVES LOVES Ramapo...Did I mention she LOVES it?? LOL!! She did very well for the first semester. She loves the campus, she is on the Dance team. We live about an hour from Ramapo and she never comes home. She takes shuttle up to he highway if they want to head to the mall, she was hiking in the reservation all Fall, and I am sure once it gets nice she will be back up there hiking.

It is such a hard decision for them to make..I am so happy my daughter got lucky and has such a perfect fit!!

So glad to hear she's happy and doing well. Thank you so much for coming back to let me know. It's great to "know" someone who has first hand knowledge. I have a friend who went to Rider and loved it, but it's been about 13 years since she graduated. I have another friend who went to Drew who loved it but it's been 8-10 years since she graduated.

Anyone have any knowledge of Monmouth University?

 

[kacaju]

Anyone have any knowledge of Monmouth University?

All I know is they have a great instant alert system in place!!
LOL..In my dd's senior year they somehow had gotten her cell number..she used to get all kinds of instant messages from them..
Beautiful campus...drove through there once

 

[PrincessKsMom]

All I know is they have a great instant alert system in place!!
LOL..In my dd's senior year they somehow had gotten her cell number..she used to get all kinds of instant messages from them..
Beautiful campus...drove through there once

Thanks!

 

[badblackpug]

Hi all! Digging up my old thread hoping some of you will want to share your updated experiences with colleges.

Anything is helpful!

Look into Rowan. www.rowan.edu.

They aren't a huge campus, they are located in a suburban setting, but only 20 minutes from Philadelphia. They offer a lot of artsy things, but they did just open a medical school, so they are heavy on the sciences, too.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Look into Rowan. www.rowan.edu.

They aren't a huge campus, they are located in a suburban setting, but only 20 minutes from Philadelphia. They offer a lot of artsy things, but they did just open a medical school, so they are heavy on the sciences, too.

Thanks. DD seems most interested (strictly by web pages and videos) in Monmouth, Rowan, Stockton and Rider but we're looking into many others. I'm looking at the calendar now trying to schedule visits.

 

[kacaju]

Thanks. DD seems most interested (strictly by web pages and videos) in Monmouth, Rowan, Stockton and Rider but we're looking into many others. I'm looking at the calendar now trying to schedule visits.

DD's friend is at Rowan..She did not like it at first (but i think it was due to being homesick) She was going to try to to transfer after Winter break...but ended up she stayed there and I have been told she is much happier now. We will see once summer comes if she goes back next year. Freshman year in college is such a life changing thing for them

 

[Ginny Favers]

Whoops, posted this before earlier in the thread.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Check out Centenary College in Hackettstown.
I'm hearing a lot of good things about them lately. It was actually on the short list for my niece. Price was pretty good from what Dsis said.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

DD's friend is at Rowan..She did not like it at first (but i think it was due to being homesick) She was going to try to to transfer after Winter break...but ended up she stayed there and I have been told she is much happier now. We will see once summer comes if she goes back next year. Freshman year in college is such a life changing thing for them

Funny you should say that. I had a friend tell me that one of her friend's (actually an acquintance of mine) daughter went to Rowan and hated it freshman year. But she went back as a sophomore, got into a sorority and is loving it. Wonder what it is about freshman year at Rowan that makes them unhappy?

Check out Centenary College in Hackettstown.
I'm hearing a lot of good things about them lately. It was actually on the short list for my niece. Price was pretty good from what Dsis said.

Thanks. Will definitely look into it.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Shamelessly bumping for the afternoon crowd.

 

[badblackpug]

Funny you should say that. I had a friend tell me that one of her friend's (actually an acquintance of mine) daughter went to Rowan and hated it freshman year. But she went back as a sophomore, got into a sorority and is loving it. Wonder what it is about freshman year at Rowan that makes them unhappy?



Thanks. Will definitely look into it.

I'm not sure it's Rowan, per se, I think it's more freshman year at college, especially if you are away from home for the 1st time. A lot of kids are miserable their 1st semester (away from home, don't know anyone) they make friends their semester and feel a little better, and really settle in their sophomore year.

 

[donac]

Our family could be the poster child for state schools.

Dh and I graduated Montclair and have our master's from Kean. I have taken courses from many colleges around the state. Ds1 graduated Brookdale and then Stockton. Ds2 is a graduate at Rowan and is now a grad assist going for him masters. My neice is grad of Montclair. ds1's gf is a graduate of Rutgers and loved it there.

Over the years we have been to most of the state schools. We have also been on Monmouth's campus since it right where we live.

Ds1 didn't like Stockton as a freshman and did 2 years at Brookdale and then went back.

Ds2 wanted a small to medium school and loves Rowan. He was very involved with their Honors program and the Newman House on campus. He also is involved with Engineers Without Borders and spent 2 winter breaks in Gambia working on projects. His gf has spent some time working on projects for ElSalvador.

I also teach the top seniors in my school and last year had a number of them go to Rutgers and TCNJ because of not being offered enough money from other schools.

Good luck with the search

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Badblack I'm sure you're right. I guess I just assumed the transition to college would happen sooner than an entire year. Wishful thinking on my part.

Donac: sounds like you have great experiences with many of our NJ schools.

 

[sue1013]

Both of my kids graduated from TCNJ. They both were very happy there. DD started at community college then transferred to TCNJ, DS did all four years there. DS met his fiance there went back to propose and also took their engagement pictures there. I know my kids didn't come home every weekend neither did their friends.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Sue1013, TCNJ is on our list but I'm not sure DD's grades/SAT scores are good enough to get in. She'll be retaking the SAT in March and I'm hoping for a better score, but she STILL has not done much to prepare. I fear we'll be dealing with the same area of SAT score (1600/2400). Even on PSAT she wasn't able to break a 600 on any of the areas and her Math actually went down from 510 to 500 from when she originally took the SAT. I'm made it clear to her that no effort now translates into having less of a choice of where she'll go. If she's fine with that, then I need to be as well. It's her life and her decisions to make.

 

[sue1013]

I know it's hard to watch them not do what you feel they need to. Sometimes they need to learn themselves. CC worked out well for my DD of course it wasn't what she wanted to hear at the time. She was accepted and supposed to go to Rutgers one week before she decides it's too big for her. She wanted to work for a year then decide where she wanted to go. But I was afraid if she took that year off school she wouldn't go back. Talked her into taking a couple classes at CC. She found out the CC was not what she had heard went full time then transferred. We worry but it will work out.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Well we finally did an open house. Rowan was our first school. While we both liked it, DD said it wasn't for her. She's still undecided but marine science is on the list of possible majors, and Rowan didn't offer it. I like the campus, the vibe and the tour but it's just not the fit for DD. So next on our list is Monmouth and Richard Stockton.

We've since added Coastal Carolina University in SC as a school DD is definitely interested in looking at. Huge marine science department.

DD is taking SAT again on March 9. I doubt her scores will jump significantly, so we've discussed tutoring over the summer and looking into Revolution Prep. A friend's daughter is doing private tutoring through them right now and I'm waiting to see how much her scores jump after the March 9 test. It may well be worth it to spend the money (against my original plan) in order to get more merit money later.

 

[java]

Coastal is getting popular around here. A friends daughter will graduate in May and she loved it. Plans to go to graduate school but not sure where!

We looked at nj schools for my son and his biggest concern was the "commuter school" aspect of many of em. They seemed to all empty out on the weekends. His friend at Rowan says that is not the case there.

But another friend at William Patteron said it's a ghost town on the weekends.

Good luck to her. We are starting the search with my daughter now( she's a sophomore)

My son ended up in Boston and loves it!

 

[princesspumpkin]

Although Rowan isn't at the top of DD's list, she will apply as it is definitely a financial and academic fit, and has her major and minor. Although the campus itself wasn't a hit for me, I did like the new construction going on. I also heard that Rowan has an active weekend culture.

On paper (or online, I guess), Stockton looked like a fit as well. But after doing their open house, we found that it wasn't.

Have you looked at Fairleigh Dickenson?

DD has a couple of Virginia schools on the map, and will be looking at some North Carolina schools soon. Wanted to fit Coastal Carolina in there, but may have to do a separate trip for schools south of NC.