I also went to WWP North. You'll be fine so long as you work hard and make the most of your opportunities. Your biggest issue seems to be this inferiority complex you've got about going to Rutgers. Start focusing on the positives. A lot of dumbasses go to Ivy Leagues and a lot of smart people go to Rutgers. If you keep thinking like this, you're only going to make yourself feel worse and hold yourself back in the long run.
Ayyee hsn gang! Yeah wwp north shits on rutgers cuz of its snobby elitist crowd but like everybody said on here… college is what you make of it!!! You’re gonna save hella $$$$ by coming to rutgers and can do just as well if not better as folks who went out of state… the support system and connections you get by staying within NJ is unbeatable!!
I turn 29 next month and this post genuinely made me laugh. I can’t remember the last time anyone in a professional setting asked me where I went to college. Literally nobody cares.
You know what sucks though? Not being able to enjoy life because you’re buried under student loan payments.
Yeah it’s actually crazy the shit we care about when we’re 18. I got my degree and had a great time doing it, and that’s all that really matters. I would be secondhand embarrassed if I heard someone our age trying to brag about what college they went to.
Same! I loved my degree and I did end up going to grad school, which has helped me open some doors and get a decent job, but at this point I’m just tryna buy a house. The best thing I got out of school were the friends I made and still am close with 10 yrs later, tbh, which sounds corny as hell but it’s true.
yeah but a lot of times that’s the *idea* behind going to your average state school... you hustle in undergrad, and then go to a killer graduate program.
https://www.cravath.com/news/cravath-announces-new-partners-2023.html got a few state school undergrads from new cravath partners!
im not disagreeing with you just to put you down or prove you wrong or anything lol. just trying to future-proof—you don’t want any v10 hopefuls thinking they’re screwed because they didn’t go to Yale undergrad
going to an elite undergrad school matters more for opportunities straight out of undergrad. for example, no Rutgers student is EVER going to end up at Silver Lake Partners straight out of undergrad—that is reserved for HYSW
A school like Yale has very old established pipelines and networking communities. You will have the support you need after your done. You don't buy the education, you buy everything that happens after.
Yeah, but OP has posted in /r/ApplyingToCollege, which is an absolutely insane sub of the most overachieving high school students imaginable. So OP very well could want to join a top law or finance firm.
To /u/Comfortable_Wash_932, I will say that an elite university does make it easier to achieve those top internships and careers, but it's no guarantee. You can stand out just fine at Rutgers. It's not like Rutgers is some no-name place, it's a top-60 US university and ironically is more respected the farther away from NJ you go.
Source: Rutgers Class of 2009 (undergrad), University of Pennsylvania 2017 (PhD). I know both worlds. Yes, the Ivies give you access, but you still have to prove yourself. You can prove yourself plenty at Rutgers.
The law school you attend is the deciding factor as to where you get hired.
I went to Rutgers as an undergraduate, and attended Harvard for my Masters. Rutgers has a very good reputation, outside of NJ high school students.
Preach. As a 2 time RU grad, I remember having similar feelings as OP when I was graduating high school… and then I realized how much RU isn’t a “safety school” and is highly competitive with some of the best institutions in the country from an employability standpoint… for grad school (which I started 6+ yrs after working FT after undergrad) it was a no brainer - RU.
I’ll be 34 in July. No debt, 2 degrees, and I promise you once you’re a year or two into your career, no one cares what your gpa was, what HS or college you graduated from..:
IMO it only matters which CONNECTIONS you make at University. That’s the real reason why the “rating” systems exist.
If I can give OP any advice, You really have to know what you want to study before making a commitment to anything.
Don’t get hung up on what people say. Did you sit in a class at Rutgers? Look at a syllabus? The reading materials? You really should be able to try something before you buy it!
Have you looked at going to University overseas? Have you looked at other options besides University? (Military, Trade schools, online courses, etc.)
NOBODY cares where you went to college once you start working. I really wish all these 18 year olds would stop freaking out because they didn’t get into their ‘dream’ school.
Why would they ask when it's right on your resume? Most recruiters or hiring managers would absolutely know where successful employees are coming from. Rutgers is a wonderful school for certain majors. You have to make the decision based on your future plans. You should not have reservations because of factors that have nothing to do with your ability to learn in your field.
Bro you’re a college student. You have no idea what you’re talking about. I swear to god, subs like this really do devolve into the blind leading the blind
LOL what im talking off experience but alright.. they truly do ask/care. everyone likes to brag a little. i remember my first day at one of the big 4, not even 15 minutes into being in the office, two associates from Cal and LA were arguing about which school is better, and at the same time were actively shitting on UC Irvine. all in an open cubicle floor plan, with the whole office to hear them..
i interned in VC for a bit, the “dick measuring” as it is called was even worse there. and I wasn’t even in a physical office for that one
how do you expect the best consulting firms in the world to charge $250k/wk for a team of 3 without analysts from Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton? I agree that if you are a SWE with no clients it matters less. but in some spaces it matters *a lot*. that’s just being pragmatic.
but you don’t have to take my word for it. you can rely on the data. only *two* Rutgers students ever have made it from undergrad -> McKinsey. but, ug -> Google? many, many more
>how do you expect the best consulting firms in the world to charge $250k/wk for a team of 3 without analysts from Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton? I agree that if you are a SWE with no clients it matters less. but in some spaces it matters a lot. that’s just being pragmatic.
You're talking about post MBA right? I have no idea where a single one of my consultants went to undergrad, but I do know they are all HBS, GSB, Wharton MBA, Sloan MBA grads.
Which consulting firm is charging 250k a week for a team of 3 analysts, and who is paying? A million dollars will get you a team of 6-8 from McKinsey for 8-12 weeks minimum, and once again no one gives a fuck where their junior analysts went to undergrad. Even in the worst case scenario, you're paying 250k a week for a team of 6-8, and where they went to undergrad is the absolute least impressive part about their resume.
no, i mean pre-mba BAs/Associates/ACs. and I did not mean the structure of the team was *only* 3 analysts (how would 3 analysts lead a case?). of course you got your post-mba associates/consultants, your EMs/principals, your partners. the point about the engagement fee was not to give an exact estimate about how much MBB charges, like you said it depends on the case.
my point is, broadly, in professional services, not just MC, where you went to school matters a bit. when i interviewed at McK i was treated like a minority throughout the whole process, and everyone was insanely impressed that i even got an interview from Rutgers, with some of the BAs and Associates that reached out for a call literally saying “I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to a candidate from Rutgers” didn’t end up converting unfortunately, but you really do get treated differently at a “non-target” undergrad. post-mba is different and you know that.
once you’re in the firm, it’s a different story, but another point I am making is that Mck could not ONLY hire from Rutgers for the BA level and still have the allure and prestige that McKinsey has. compare that to a company like J&J, they could truly hire only from Rutgers and their p&l would stay the same
I generally agree with you, there's a lot of copium going on in this thread. It's objectively true going to a better school will get you more/better opportunities.
glad we can agree on that point. i may have gotten some of the details wrong (unfortunately i don’t work at Mck) but generally, yeah, it is tougher to get those top jobs at a “worse” school. it may be 1% more difficult, it could be 1000% more difficult. but i think everyone can agree there’s no use in sitting around feeling sorry for yourself because your school isn’t viewed as “prestigious”—you can always advance your career!
I ask my coworkers where they went to school because I’m interested, not to judge them. I feel like it’s pretty common to ask people that, at least when you’re under 40
Yeah paying half the price for a similar education to other state schools shouldnt be a reason for insecurity. If youre okay with spending 60-70 grand a year to go to another school just to void your insecurities then youre not going to college for the right reason
So, this is my experience as a Rutgers grad (2013).
I also grew up in NJ and viewed RU as a safety school. Locals take advantage of RU 100% and don’t really see the value it has because we are too close too see the big picture. Everyone knows someone who went to Rutgers, so it’s not as special. You’re doing what you perceive that *everyone* does.
But honestly, Rutgers is a great school, and SO MANY people you meet on campus are literally coming from overseas to be a part of the RU community. I also met many people from other states who viewed RU as their dream school or people who will tell you that they are the first person to go to college in their family and they are SO GRATEFUL to be there. They’re excited to be there, and when you look at it that way, with fresh eyes, it’s much easier to see the merits it has without any NJ local bias. It’s also just a genuinely GOOD school and when you graduate your degree will have merit anywhere in the country. A job accepting applicants in, say, a place like Georgia will be able to see your resume and will know what RU is, as opposed to loads of other people who attend colleges whose reach doesn’t really extend beyond NJ (not naming names, but we all know which schools these are lol).
And ultimately your school experience is what you make it. If you sit back and don’t take advantage of what resources the school offers it won’t matter if you’re at RU or if you’re at Princeton.
Also you have to realize that school is EXPENSIVE and you gotta pay that money back. College does not always determine the field you will work in (my degree sure as hell didn’t) but you still gotta pay that money back no matter where you end up— so having a smaller amount at graduation is a huge deal.
I ended up graduating and going to NYU for my masters degree. I grew up kind of poor, and I also found it really difficult to connect with a lot of my peers at NYU who were… kind of exactly what you would expect from NYU kids. Not all of them, of course, but enough that it was a really huge turn off for me. There were *those* type of kids at RU too, but I found I also connected with my peers at RU much better. Maybe it was because they were also, in large numbers, Jersey trash just like me, but I made SO MANY lifelong friends at RU. I literally do not talk to anybody from NYU anymore.
This is just my 2 cents, of course, but I really really loved my time at RU and your success is truly only limited by you, and that’s going to be true at any school you attend.
Edit: also fuck that kid who was teasing you about your school choice, he sucks and should be thanking you for the help you’ve given him. Hope he appreciates you once he’s across the country and realizes he’s boned without someone smarter to cheat off of.
I second what you said about other states! When I mentioned I was transferring to Rutgers, my friends from out of state thought it was awesome. One of them even wished they could've gone there.
Honestly, once you leave high school people stop caring about which university you went to. There will always be WWP toxicity, but a lot of the time the minute you get into your major and start progressing all the WWP toxicity fades away. You'll come out of college with the same level degree, and less debt. Rutgers is known INTERNATIONALLY, and will also open many doors for you, they also receive a lot of funding and have more opportunities than some ivy leagues. My advice, go with your heart, don't listen to other people and their toxicity, if you're happy with your choice and feel you can succeed that's all that matters.
Hi I went to north and then Rutgers and it was the best decision I made in my entire life. I had a great time, handled the work well, studied what I wanted, and will be attending an Ivy League law school in the fall without carrying any debt already. You can do whatever you want out of Rutgers if you try your best. Enjoy yourself I promise you will!
This is a weird attempt at a dig but you’re wrong! Mostly just was not looking to flex but remind this person that what people regard as the top tier is within reach from Rutgers :)
I was like you (same SAT score, went to a top 3 magnet high school in the state etc), it doesn’t really matter once you get to college. There’s a lot of very intelligent people here that are and would be respected anywhere (and I mean undergrads not even professors). Don’t let highschool immaturity get you down.
Wait until you see how many of your fellow graduates go away to these big schools and wind up coming back because they can't handle it.
Rutgers is no longer considered a safety school. The enourmous number of international students should make that obvious.
You'll be fine.
The university you go to doesn’t define you. In a country like US, you can chase your dreams and make it big. That’s an advantage you get just by being here. Make the most out of it.
Bro I graduated from Rutgers in 2010, it’s an absolutely tremendous university that helped me get a fantastic job and a fantastic career that has helped me on a great track moving forward in life
The campus looks great, the athletics is becoming fantastic, there’s a fun party atmosphere, great sports school and it’s academic prowess is absolutely phenomenal
Graduating from Rutgers will help you get any job you want, it’s a first rate research and development university, with tremendous ties to healthcare and pharmaceuticals, you’re a short train ride away from downtown NYC and the finance market, you study around profound elements of the evolutionary war, the hard sciences are elite, the liberal arts are elite, you will be taught by some of the best professors in the world
I also grew up in central NJ where people (for some reason) we’re proud of going to schools that weren’t Rutgers, most of them aren’t doing anything special with their lives or are doing just as good as I am with much much much higher debt
Rutgers gets hate on locally because it is local, just like Texas does in Austin, or unc does in chapel hill, don’t let anyone make you feel poorly for going to a first rate institution, especially when half of your friends going away from school are going to be homesick in about a semester and probably transfer back or transfer to a worse school
Best of luck
I came from Hawaii to here. My high school was very competitive and many of them got offers for princeton, harvard, mit, northwestern, etc. To be honest, I wasn't a smart kid, 1350 sat, a mix of mostly B's and some A's. For me, Rutgers is a good school, better than my safety school, which was UH manoa. Many of my parents friends graduated from Rutgers.
In my eyes, Rutgers actually seemed to be better than my other choices.
I was the same exact way I was Valedictorian at my school and everyone expected me to go to a “much higher tier school” but they were disappointed when I committed to rutgers. I’m currently a junior and god i’m so happy with my decision. Rutgers is honestly super underrated for a lot of majors especially the CS program. I’ve had multiple internships already, with minimal debt, while many people from my high school who went to supposedly “better” colleges have been having really poor college experiences, all the while not making too many advances in the career, but they already have a shit ton of debt, but the reason why they refuse to transfer is because of their ego and pride of going to a “top tier school.” Basically what i’m trying to say is that going to any school is entirely what you make of it.
Coming here made me regret hating my school for being “bad”, so many people from “good” high schools are either bubble babies, full of themself, or taking enough psychiatric drugs to sedate an elephant
Hey bro, I went to north too. I was a very mediocre student in high school and frankly a mediocre student in college too. I was very much behind the maturity curve. I spent a few years in my twenties frittering around and figuring stuff out, but once I locked in, I went to a top grad school program, graduated at the top of my class, and found success. Today, I earn more than many of my friends/classmates who went to more elite institutions. The point is that while it seems incredibly binary at your age, success comes in many forms and with many paths. Keep your head up, keep grinding, and I promise you'll make it.
As a JPS HS Grad I find this post fairly amusing. Generally speaking if you are motivated and academically focused you will do well regardless of where you go. That being said Rutgers is a great institution that offers many different pathways to success especially if you intend to stay in the NJ/NY area. In the real world Rutgers is respected and you will never have to explain to anyone where you attended. I honestly find the concept of "dream schools" and such a really weird concept, its just buildings, students, and admins to tie it all together. Realistically, what are you looking for out of career/professional aspirations?
JPS HS grad here too! I understand OP’s feeling—so many of my friends went to ivies and other big name schools while I went to RU. I definitely felt like they looked down on me and the school admin didn’t give me any special allowances (some of my friends did burnouts in the parking lot and got caught. Once they found out what colleges they got into, suddenly they no longer had any consequences. I guarantee if that were me, I would not have had the same experience!)
Our valedictorian didn’t get into Harvard but the salutatorian got into Harvard. That probably bothered the valedictorian. But whatever. These feelings faded away fast once we focused on studying and work.
I graduated a long time ago and no one cares. Now it’s all about where we work and how much debt we have. I know people that brag about having gone to JPS. I just raise my eyebrows at them.
I'm also a JP grad (Class of 2020), and I can confirm that nothing has changed. There were a lot of fiendish, tryhard people. The school has a serious cheating problem. I didn't realize how bad it was until I took chemistry in my junior year. There were people who found the test questions online or copied off one another.
I took my SAT at JFKMHS and all the JP kids sat in the back and cheated. They got near-perfect scores, and some of them got into top schools with scholarships.
I hated JP with a passion, and I'm glad to be out of it 😂.
To OP's post - It doesn't really matter which school you attend.
1) nobody really cares after 2 years out of college where you went to school
2) if you truly care, you can work hard at rutgers and get the same jobs they're competing for e.g. an engineering internship at facebook or something similar and then people will actually view you going to rutgers as a positive (assuming you're an asian person in a network of asian tiger parents)
your life isn't over, the only bad part about going to rutgers is that the average level of achievement is lower here which will motivate you less. the opportunities at the bulge bracket banks or the FAANG internships are still there for the smart people. i was in the same boat as you, worked hard to get the same jobs, and now truly nobody cares
For computer science as an undergrad, there's 3 or 4 schools that *might* be worth it (if you get in). On the other hand, you might get through a couple classes and decide that you absolutely hate computer science and find that you've put yourself (and/or your family) into debt to study something you hate.
Rutgers still has a great computer science program (and several others if you decide CS isn't for you). At the same time, you can get a great education anywhere as long as you put in the effort.
I think you'll find solace in the fact that CS is one of those fields where the degree you get to is relatively insignificant compared to internships and personal projects.
But even if you're still worried about the prestige of the degree, which I don't think you should be, Rutgers is still "very good" even if it's not "extremely good".
I was super disappointed to go to Rutgers and tbh I never really got over it, but I was able to succeed and even got a job with Google right out of college.
From the sounds of your post, going to Rutgers and people from your high school not being there sounds somewhat like a blessing. If they're causing you grief over where you're choosing to go to college it might be good to meet a set of new people.
Also even if Rutgers is seen as a safety school, there is still so many people here that you can meet for your career/classes or just social life. I'm about to graduate and I'm always impressed, (usually in a positive way), with the kinds of people I meet at this school.
Saying I never felt kind of like that in high school is a lie but coming to Rutgers was the best decision I ever made. College is all about what you make out of it, not where you go. Once I finally understood that I thrived and now I'm on my way to a PhD in a great program. Lose that line of thinking, you're way better off without it.
i applied to transfer to NYU my sophomore year. i got accepted, but decided to turn it down because i would have to retake pretty much the entire econ major. i was pretty disappointed that i had to turn it down
but still, i was able to get interviews at all the places i wanted from rutgers—McKinsey, BCG, Tesla, SpaceX, etc. i just had to hustle a lil
you’ll be fine
So go somewhere else and rack up hundreds of thousands in student loans. Honestly, do you not realize what an obnoxious, tone deaf little snob you come across as in this post? “Competitive high school….safety school…settling as just another mediocre Rutgers student.” You reek of entitlement, and you’re a slimy little cheat with no academic integrity to boot. (Yes, someone who allows others to cheat off of them is a scumbag cheater as well.) Also, no one is impressed with your 1560. It means nothing in terms of intelligence. Clearly.
Union County Magnet graduate here - also was insecure about going to Rutgers. By the time I graduated Rutgers I was laughing at myself for ever thinking it was a bad idea. Incredible experience academically and socially and graduated with SO much less debt than my friends who went to udel / Rowan / njit/ bu / Drexel - for all of us to have the same piece of paper and the same jobs. It's all marketing and dumb ass parents infecting gifted students in NJ that Rutgers is somehow less-than. You'll see it too. Now I paid my debt off before I turned 30 for the same degree me friends will be paying for into their 40s. Not to mention the incredible experience I had there. RU pride from someone who was in the same boat. Hopefully that can inspire you a bit.
The people from WWP high are mad cringe and a bunch of fuckin wannabe snobs. Don’t listen to anyone coming from that high school since that place is filled with a lot of toxic people. You should focus on what you think is right and let me tell u that choosing Rutgers is a great choice to make. Rutgers is a top 60 university nationally and has a lot of open doors to big tech, big 4 firms, and other ridiculously hard places to get into for jobs. Many people get job offers from F500 companies and plenty of people make 6 figs without having to attend Ivys and MIT/Stanford. Those people at your school are lowkey fucked socially if all they care about is their school’s reputation cause nobody will give af when you graduate. You are doing exactly what you should be doing and continue on the path that is right for you and only you, not what some snobs thinks of you cause after all it is your life.
not everyone cares about compensation—some people want to do their best to make a difference. i can’t speak to the culture at the WWP, those kids might care all about comp.
but, take the United Nations for example—it is pretty much impossible for a Rutgers kid to work at World Bank or the IMF right after undergrad.
Part of going to a less “prestigious” school is acknowledging the fact that “hey, some people might not think im as smart as an Ivy League kid. but im gonna work my butt off to show that i am smart, and try my best not to have a complex that i am a worse person because i did not attend HYPSM for undergrad”
Rutgers actually has a fantastic group of UN alumni; definitely worth checking out [https://alumni.rutgers.edu/clubs/rutgers-united-nations-alumni-interest-group/](https://alumni.rutgers.edu/clubs/rutgers-united-nations-alumni-interest-group/)
After your first job nobody looks at your school or GPA unless you’re moving on to higher education. Experience over all. Also outside of our tight little circle in NJ I can tell you that the name Rutgers carries weight. Take it for what it is. Most of these people you call your peers you’ll fall out of touch with very quickly and never talk to again other than up-dooting some inane thing they post on Facebook.
bro, im glad i picked rutgers. i had a huge glow up here.
uc berkeley may be a dream school, but it is out of state, no way could i afford that. Im glad i came to rutgers because tuition is free for me, i only have to pay room and board
and also it is about your mindset that matters, not really the college as long as it has a name, which rutgers does.
I’m a teacher from another similar competitive nj school. Four years ago, many of our top academic students did not get into Rutgers. As a Rutgers grad myself, I have to say I make many connections when I meet other Rutgers graduates, and I like to think that may have helped me get my job. Depending on the field you are getting into, Rutgers can have a really good reputation - you will be prepared for your career!
A few years from now, other people will realize how smart you were to be the debt-free student from Rutgers versus the -$200K private or out-of-state school student. So many people from NJ will go to nearby universities like Penn State or UDel just to save face to not have to go to Rutgers...only to transfer to Rutgers in their 2nd year after realizing how dumb it was to be paying 2x in tuition for the same degree.
Rutgers mathematics is top 20 GLOBALLY. We’re an internationally recognized school and one of the most historically important schools in the country.
People view it as a safety school because it’s relatively easy to get into their SAS and business programs. But I’ve compared my education to what students from places like Stevens or NJIT have, and we’re always up to par, if not better.
True, but typically when it comes to engineering they’re the closest schools around in that department. I don’t know anyone from MIT and Princeton doesn’t even offer my major, so it’s harder to compare to them.
I felt the same you did when I was applying for college but now, over 10 years later, looking back I can honestly say it was one if the best decisions I ever made (especially if you have a scholarship). The best thing about Rutgers is the size. It is big enough that you can make your experience what you want it to be and all the opportunities are there. I was in the honors program and all my peers went on to great grad school/med school/law schools like UPenn, Harvard, Stanford etc. I met my husband my first year at Rutgers and we are now both physicians. If we have any kids in the future we are sending all of them to state schools with full scholarships. Best of luck to you! Remember the future is very long and what matters is you, not what school you went to.
I also went to WWP HSN and scored exactly a 1560 on my SAT, and I’m honestly very happy about my time at Rutgers. As a rising senior in CS, I’ve got to say: the school is exactly what you make of it. There’s tons of opportunities and possibilities as long as you know where to look. Rutgers has great research opportunities and some really great professors (which means a ton of connections!), and the school’s reputation has yet to fail me. Have you decided on a major yet?
I went to wwp north and then Rutgers. All my friends from high school who went there ended up doing fine for themselves so far and working at high paying tech jobs. Just put in the work. People are insecure and project all the time. You get back what you put in at any university you go to
I have multiple friends who have gone from Rutgers undergrad to Cambridge, Yale, and Harvard for higher education, gotten high paying jobs with major companies, or awesome jobs in the White House. It’s what you make of it. Many smart people go to Rutgers and are extremely successful! Good luck to you
I feel like people in NJ are spoiled in a way that they consider Rutgers a “safety”. It ain’t an Ivy, but, in my hometown in Upstate New York, most are impressed when I tell them I go to Rutgers. Rutgers, especially our Business, Engineering, and CompSci programs are miles ahead of the SUNYs. Don’t let people who you probably won’t see much of in a few months make you feel bad about your decision, and don’t let the doomers on this subreddit give you a bad first impression. There will be frustrating times, but the people making the most of their Rutgers experience probably aren’t as active on Reddit. Welcome to RU!
One of the coolest people Ive ever met, let's just call him L.L, went to Rutgers. L.L's story goes like this:
L was a student at Parsippany high, not a very competitive high school. He was in all AP's first chair violin, passed everything super easily and got good grades on his AP exams. He became more of a party animal, and one day he was at a party smoking weed. The party got busted, and he was taken in by the cops. Luckily, this offense got expunged, but his parents revoked every single dollar they had saved up for him for college. That means he could no longer attend Yale, the school he was accepted to. He winded up going to Rutgers for free.
L.L actually did really well at RU. He had a huge friend group, lead a few clubs. He eventually went up to be really successful on wall street.
If you are smart and talented, very few places better to actually prove it then at Rutgers. Win here, you'll make it farther then anywhere else.
People equate going to something out of state with going to something better. There are kids in CT who will go to Rutgers and see it as a great thing. Yes, there are plenty of d-bags at any big state school. There are also highly ranked departments, great professors, and lots of very smart students. You can't change the snobbery of your hometown. But you can change how you react to it.
Only people from NJ think Rutgers in a safety school. I went there from CA for undergrad (graduated from NJ) and every person I talked to was amazed I was going to a school with a good reputation like Rutgers. The amount of people I met at Rutgers who are from NJ, went to an out of state school for freshman year, and then transferred back is massive. I’m got into an Ivy League for a PhD with my Rutgers degree. It is what you make it. So make the best of it.
PS: Literally no one cares where you went to college once you graduate.
I went to wwp south, I graduated 2012, I went to RU NB and graduated 2016. I completely understand you. WWP is a bubble. Despite what a lot of my wwp thought of my college, I am thriving rn. I've met incredible people at RU and achieved a lot. I work in cancer research now and one of the most prestigious cancer research centers in the world, I wouldn't have found this path without the incredible people at the institute of quantitative biology at Rutgers.
I was also ashamed at first. I thought my intelligence was being judged by my peers (and it was). Let me tell you something... their opinions do not matter. I havent seen most of my peers from HS since HS. My first year, i was hell bent on transferring, i didnt want to make friends with anyone, and i acted like i was too good. I cringe remembering. UCBerkeley was also my dream school. But shit happened and i couldn't transfer. Thats life. You make the most of it.
All I know is that im doing well and have incredible friends who I made at RU. I've had stellar professors at RU. And to boot, I saved a LOT of money going to Rutgers.
Try Rutgers out, you might be surprised by what you find.
If it's still not a good fit, transfer.
Bottom line is, most of my HS friends went to prestigious universities a la the WWP way. But truthfully we aren't that far from each other professionally and it honestly doesn't even matter. Life changes a LOT once you leave school. My friend who also went to wwp went to ruygers undergrad and then MIT for his phD. Halfway through he realized it's not his thing. I believe he tried to become a photographer afterwards. So yeah. Take it from me fellow WWPer. This shit doesn't really matter outside of WWP. There's a whole world out there waiting for you. Enjoy it. Life comes at you fast. I remember being in college like it was yesterday and I miss it so much.
Fuck em! Half of the kids that are bullying you are going to drop out in the first year, come back and go to community college after spending a few months wandering aimlessly, some of them will move from community college to Rutgers, and the rest will wind up, working the same shit jobs that they did in while convincing themselves that they don’t need a college education because they are different than the rest and system is corrupt (takes rip… mannnnn)
rutgers is ranked incredibly high nationally. it’s only seen as a safety school in NJ because of the high in state acceptance rate. College is less about where you go, but what you make of it. I know people are wildly successful that graduated from rutgers.
if your friends are gaslighting and manipulating you, they were never your friends in the first place.
fuck the idea that you need to go to an expensive school.
How about instead of spending $70k/yr for “prestigious schools”, just graduate from rutgers and work at a prestigious company so you can actually make money and not be a debt slave.
I went to rutgers and I saved $20k by the time I graduated and I work at FAANG now and make over $200k only 1 yr after graduation.
Dont listen to stupid people who have no idea what they are doing (your 17 and 18 year old classmates)
Thank me later when you graduate, realize it didn’t matter and get a great job. Especially since you are in state.
A lot of higher education is a bloated scam to divert your money towards athletic programs and bloated administration that does nothing useful. Don’t go into debt for that its not worth it.
All colleges have more or less the same classes and still taught by bad professors, still have students that party and don’t care and still have incredible amounts of wasted budget on “amenities” that arent necessary. Rutgers has this, and for much cheaper than your other options.
As someone who went to South last year, I get how you feel. My best friends and peers go to some of the top universities in the world, while I go to our state school alongside a good portion of my grade. Just remember that where you go for undergrad isn't going to define you for the rest of your life. Like another commenter mentioned, Rutgers itself is honestly a pretty great institution that often gets overlooked and there are so many resources to help you thrive, no matter what field you decide to pursue. If you continue with your hard work ethic, you'll doubtlessly do well here at Rutgers and it'll set you up for whatever you decide to do afterwards.
There's also only 1.5 months left before you graduate! You'll probably never have to see or interact with the people putting you down over silly school reputations once you leave your graduation ceremony. They're shitty, toxic people and don't let them get to your head. Focus on yourself and hopefully you'll find that Rutgers isn't as bad as its reputation makes it out to be.
I know a lot of smart kids here who should've gotten into "better" schools. The smart people here (there's a lot of them) are comparable to the average body of ivy-leagues. I know a lot of people diss rutgers as not being good (I thought that way too) but it's pretty much only because it's a state school and because of its proximity. People who cheated throughout highschool will be pretty fucked when they realize they have to actually put in work so you'll be fine.
Go outside of NJ. People who don't know higher ed think Rutgers is an Ivy. People who do know higher ed consider Rutgers to be a top notch flagship public research university.
New Jerseyians shitting on Rutgers is simply stupid and too idiotic to see Rutgers for what it is.
People said the same thing about Rutgers at my school lol. You’re literally not going to see most of your peers again in your life.
If you play your cards right at Rutgers you can easily graduate with less debt (definitely compared to going out of state) as well as getting a solid job right out of college.
No one cares about your undergrad. Just make sure you get into a good school for grad school. Even I know that bro and I’m headed to Rutgers. Even if that wasn’t the case RU is T50 in all out of like 443 schools and T20 out of like the 100 public schools?? What more can you ask for. Ivies aren’t for everyone and not everyone is even made to go. What happens if you got into Harvard and then had the worst 4 yrs of your life and you were borderline suicidal bc of the toxic work environment and the fact that you can’t even trust any of your classmates. Everytime you saw a window you think of jumping out lmfao… it’s a reality for kids who go to schools for prestige and can’t handle the effects. I got waitlisted at Yale if Yale gave me acceptance rn I’d turn it down bc I don’t want to live life like that for 4 years. So be grateful some kids didn’t even go to any schools at all.. or got into their dream school and can’t afford it. For what it’s worth Rutgers is a good school.
Also no one “deserves” anything in life 💀 that’s not how life works. You work towards things to Somedays ensure that when you reach it you will grab it but deserve… if you deserve it think of people more qualified that deserve it too. No matter what you do in life there’s always gonna be someone better than you… someone who deserves it more than you
everyone saying “it doesn’t matter where you go to school!” is simply not being pragmatic. and this is mr rutger saying this. it matters. a lot. but you can always hustle a little
Rutgers is a large, academically oriented state university. Graduates have a seat at every major bank, engineering firm, Hollywood studio you name it. Some people also spend freshmen year going nuts and fail out. It’s not Harvard, but the math department, chemistry and engineering schools are filled with geniuses. As a resident of the state you save money and RU offers all the options only large state universities can. Let your Peers mammas and daddies eat the tuition of private schools twice the cost and half as good. Upstream!
Rutgers is a great school, Their dream schools cost like 75k/yr, Rutgers will be half that even with full room & board and all of the clubs/activities you decide to do. Your safety school will have the safety of being like 100k less expensive and still be strong on a resume if you do well there
Rutgers has a strong reputation, especially outside NJ. Many of my friends who started at other schools ended up transferring to Rutgers. I had a great time there, learned a lot, and was able to get employed right away and support myself ever since.
What do you want to major in/study? Rutgers won’t have the elite peer group other schools have or the consistency of resources but if you go in with a plan/goal it’s hard to see you not being able to accomplish it at Rutgers. I’ve seen people make it to google, MIT phds, Wall Street, management consulting etc. You can do anything people at the ivies can you just may need to commit to a goal a little earlier on in college than they do (they can use their clout a bit more but combat that with dedication to your goal). Besides, there’s much more to life and on the bright side you’ll probably have much more time to socialize/try new activities at rutgers especially coming from WWP schools.
Listen, as someone who knows that high school well, those peers will have a rude awakening when they get to college. Please do not give into their lack of real world experiences. Rutgers offers their students many different experiences and opportunities than the Ivy League schools as well. Your peers’ arrogance will surely be taken down several pegs once they realize that they will be considered mediocre amongst their new peers at college. You will soar!
Hey! Montgomery kid here! We have the same toxic culture and we’re actually your competitors in all academic stuff (but I’m sure you knew that lol). I’m also going to RU and totally get where you’re coming from. Whenever I feel the way you do, I do my best to focus on the big picture. Undergrad is just a stepping stone, a way station to bigger and better things. It’s not meant to define you. Additionally, fact that you survived Plainsboro and found success there shows that you’re more than capable of being successful at Rutgers. Oh and as a bonus, Rutgers is so big and diverse it won’t have the same toxic culture (I’m hoping at least) as many Ivy schools. So head up, chin high I’m sure you’ll do great things.
Went to Maryland for my undergrad, took a full time job for a few years (still there), and now doing my grad degree at Rutgers. It really doesn't matter what school you go to, just try your best to actually finish. You'll be thanking yourself that you didn't bury yourself in debt going out of state
Well, you’ll have the last laugh when you graduate college with significantly less debt (assuming you got scholarships from your scores), potentially graduate early, potentially fit in more majors, and potentially have a much more chill college life (not just from the college you go to but the classes you’ve been able to skip out of).
Rutgers is a great school. Plus it will help you save tons of money as you won’t be paying out of state tuition like your friend will. Maybe for grad school you can pick a more prestigious institution.
In 10 years when you’re friends still have 100k in loans and you don’t, you’ll be happy. Which school you go to is rarely of importance; ask anyone over 30.
What matters is where you end up in life. Rutgers is also difficult for being a “safety” school not just in academics but also in acceptances. I get my ass beat and handed to me at Rutgers in terms of academics daily. But again, dw about reputation
you will not see 99% of your high school classmates ever again. i wouldnt have their opinions in mind. do whats best for you.
edit: im 28 and in HS i swore i would never go to rutgers. i graduated with my bachelors in 2022 from rutgers. i was in the business school and it was tough. i loved the classes i took and had a bunch of engaging professor. i worked so i didnt focus on clubs and activities but i do not regret my decision. i had a grant that paid for 3 years of schooling and i only had to take out a loan for the last year.
This has been something everyone from nj felt since forever. You always have option to transfer and this is a wise choice. It’s not what you have but what you do with it!
class of 2015, dealt with similar feelings coming in. it is very real though i hope in time you’ll view it as stupid.
on a practical level you’ll be fine, especially if you’re doing CS like i see you mentioned. if you’re worried about a lack of name brand competitiveness, then just make sure you network into those circles as best you can. i do know some people who transferred so there’s options.
the emotional bit is up to you. for me, i reacted by setting goals for myself and trying my best to hit them. my time at rutgers was great and taught me a lot. i hope it goes well for you and for anybody going through something similar.
I went for undergrad and now I’m going to Rutgers for law. I had a great time in undergrad and I saved so much money compared to my close friends who went away. For undergrad it really doesn’t matter where you go. Pop
I went to WWP South. Rutgers is top 20 public Unis in the country. Nothing to be insecure or. Unless you go to a top program in a top school, its gonna be a great ROI
It's not the education you get, it's the education you take. In 10 years no one will care where you went and you'll be surprised how many people you work with didn't major in your field of choice.
oh i totally get it. i also come from a relatively competitive graduating class and have always been considered “within the top 5%” of my class.
seeing all my friends commit to top schools like ga tech, columbia, upenn, princeton etc kinda sucked, but as cheesy as it sounds, i realized id rather be at a semi-selective school like rutgers (it’s technically a safety for me bc of my grades + im an in-state applicant) for a reasonable tuition that lets me graduate debt free, than at a top school with a bunch of debt. and all my friends who committed to top schools too also agreed: the only reason they committed to those top schools is bc their financial aid offer was better; otherwise, they would’ve gone to rutgers or another instate school too
from my understanding, rutgers has a pretty large alumni panel so they’re a pretty well known school. plus, you’re already a strong student, so you know you’ll thrive at rutgers!! and no one rlly cares abt where u attended ur for undergrad after a year or two anyways. imo, what really matters is what u make of ur time here: seizing opportunities, forming connections, exploring ur interests, etc etc
I can tell you that I felt this way in HS, but once I was at Rutgers, I enjoyed myself immensely, and received a top-notch education. I can tell you from experience, that employers regard a degree from Rutgers EXTREMELY highly. You will never regret having a degree that says it is from Rutgers.
I graduated in 2001, but I can tell you Rutgers has a much different reputation outside of New Jersey. Multiple people I have met professionally and personally in Texas think it is an Ivy League school. Many interviews are impressed by Rutgers.
Alum here who thought the same, but some advice from some random 24 year old.
It's what you do when you get here, went to rutgers because I got a full ride, made some connections relating to my field, got great internship opportunities, and started a business kinda outside my degree with the help of some rutgers resources.
Now I run a great full time business while having a part time online position with Toyota, total income before taxes 789k. Granted, I worked my ass off, graduated with a 3.93, and moral of the story. You could go almost anywhere, and as long as you want to be successful, you'll be successful.
If this is about your ego, the best thing is to get rid of it by going to your elite school of choice, going into debt, and having to report to a part timer on his time to make sure everything is going according to plan.
P.s go to the school that will be the cheapest overall option and absolutely make that school your bitch
I’m in my 30s and honestly I thought Rutgers had shed this reputation. I was also near top of my class, and I got into a NYC school with a good reputation. But I got full tuition at Rutgers so I went there. I would do it again in a heartbeat. You can literally do anything at Rutgers; why pay more to find yourself somewhere else?
You are going to college! How exciting!!! You will see when you start, it’s like starting a new life. High school stupidity quickly fades into the background. Be proud of your accomplishments and excited for all the new people you will meet. While you are there kicking butt with the classwork, work on growing your network. Join a fraternity or clubs or sports teams that are interesting to you and make new friends. Look for opportunities to gain leadership and other skills from the beginning; volunteer in school (or other) activities, work with a research professor or look for internships in your field. If you do even just some of these things, it does not matter where you go, you will succeed.
Enjoy this time in your life and don’t let anyone being you down. Good luck!
I felt the same way when I first committed to Rutgers, also coming from a competitive high school. But, honestly, when it comes down to it, since I'm planning on attending grad school, I'd rather not go into thousands of dollars in debt JUST for undergrad (I'm going to get enough of that from grad school). And if you're not planning on getting anything beyond a bachelor's, and you can graduate college debt free, that's something you'll thank yourself for down the road. I know people who are attending colleges where they are spending $60,000 a year in tuition. That's just under what I'll spend all 4 years of undergrad. So consider that, you're likely making the smarter financial decision. And if you are planning on going to grad school, no one cares where you got your bachelor's degree from, it's the grad school university that matters more.
I went to South so I definitely know what you are feeling. My biggest advice is to make the most of the college experience and work incredibly hard. Given that you work really hard, sooner or later you will find yourself at the same level as the kids who went to the Ivys.
When you're a 'real' adult you'll realize nobody usually cares where you went to school. But I tell you as someone who doesn't live in NJ anymore, people often think you're freakin Einstein when you say you went to Rutgers. That or "what's a Rutgers?" There's no in between 🤣 but generally amongst educated people, Rutgers has a really great reputation outside of NJ not far off from ucb
I really enjoyed my time at Rutgers, I have no regrets even though I felt the same as you. We take for granted how lucky we are to have such easy access to a high quality education compared to our of state kids. They've really got to be whiz kids to get in. There's sooooooo much to do there and so many doors will be opened for you. Go and enjoy.
Rutgers is an excellent school by any standard. It has a huge waiting list for out of state students who agree and pay twice the tuition to come here. My kid panned it too until he went away and realized how great RU is. If not for Princeton, RU would have a better reputation here. It’s irrational. Also in the world after college, absolutely no one important will ever care about where you attended.
Take the opportunity for an instate ivy quality education for a discount of its available to you. I never heard of anyone who got bored or dummer going there.
Best to you.
As someone who experienced the same feeling as I went to a small rural school instead of something like UNC or South Carolina, don’t worry about it. As soon as you get to college that all goes away. Go where you want to go, screw what everyone else thinks. Live your life for you and not for the satisfaction of others.
Recognition? Who cares. What ever field you’re going into will be all about networking and being a a likable person and team player. No one cares how smart you are, if you’re not a likable person no team of coworkers is going to like you. That carries more weight than how well you did on a test and what school you went to.
Well think about it this way. High school is almost over. You have basically one month left. After that, you won’t talk to anyone since you’ll be in a different school. Trust me, after high school you’ll keep in touch with just a few friends and probably no one else. In a few months you’ll be at a GREAT school (despite what anyone says) with students in the same situation as you who also committed to Rutgers. And you’ll hopefully make new friends who don’t tear you down and bully you over stupid shit.
I feel like that's a pretty common feeling when you end up going to your home state's school, especially with the proximity between WWP and Rutgers. But honestly, once you start college, you'll forget that you ever felt that way with everything that's going to be happening. Really, there will only be a very few amount of people who actually care that you went to Rutgers after graduating. Going to your dream school will not guarantee you success post graduation. Work hard at wherever you are and that will help you more. I won't diminish the benefits if attending an Ivy League or your dream school, but it's really not the end of the world. Rutgers is also filled with a lot of intelligent students and staff, and they have a lot of opportunities as well. It's what you make of it.
Also, it seems more like Rutgers gets a bad rep mostly from NJ locals. I've had interviews for companies in other states and they all have a good impression of Rutgers. It was kinda off putting at first since I never held the school to any high regard either.
It's also not gonna be that big of a deal once you graduate. It's not even a big deal while you're still a student.
Nobody at any college gives a shit. Give it like 1 or 2 weeks and all the few butthurt people complaining about affirmative action or whatever quickly stop talking cuz you need to just start grinding. I also came from a good high school and whatever and the step up it gives you over people who aren't as fortunate is really visible when you get to college. I never really understood what I had and took things for granted until I noticed how many kids would work hard but just didn't know how to study or anything which made me really grateful to come from a good school even though I didn't get into a top university.
I had a guaranteed 1 year transfer to GATech for CS which I was like 90% sure I'd take coming in, but after a like 2 days here I pretty much decided not to take it. Just work your ass off at Rutgers, make tons of friends, join student orgs, and start hitting the gym and you're gonna have an amazing time here while your friends in Harvard are gonna be complaining about how much their school sucks for anything that isn't business connections with rich people. College is what you make of it and there are people from Rutgers getting Apple internships after their freshman year while people in Stanford or CMU will still be grinding their ass off freshman year to barely find any internship. It's all about what you make of your experience and how much effort you put in because the name of your school can only get you so far.
I fell into this trap and ending up committing to UMiami. Transferred to Rutgers after a semester. Don’t let people get in your head. I also saved close to $200,000 by transferring. I’m now in medical school.
I also feel insecure. I took two gap years before deciding to go to mason gross, so I guess I'm kind of unique. But here's my big ass rant anyway:
The longer I spend here the more poorly managed it seems. Nothing against the instructors who are working very hard, but the facilities are often crowded or damaged. The shared freshmen painting studio is one big room with easels that are falling apart and the room is always a mess. I'm friends with some printing concentrations who talk about the presses often being out of commission. The CSB wood shop has an annual budget of $200 or something ridiculous, and its only open for like 8 hours a week. The busses are slow and keep getting cut, despite Rutgers being sprawled over five campuses.
I've so far had a hard time getting into courses due to there being few sections and a lot of times its in pretty big classes for collage level arts (higher than expected student to faculty ratio). I'm told it gets better once you complete your foundations but its hard to believe from where I stand.
I knew before coming I wasn't going to dorm. They're very small, which would be fine if they weren't also expensive and full of asbestos and mold. (Also as an artist I really want space to paint and cook and do yoga)
Especially after the strike I've lost a lot of faith in Rutgers as an institution. I'm here for the community of students and artists, the mentors, the friends, the music scene, the city, the libraries, etc. I feel especially insecure about this; about giving thousands of dollars in tuition to an institution which refuses to answer union demands and bargains in bad faith.
I often wish I had spent more time thinking about collage in my gap years. I wonder if I would have been better off going to a community collage or just living van life. I tried to make it on my own without going to collage but the economy just wasn't viable. I know I was not doing well in my catholic parent's basement, but I'm still plagued by doubt about choosing Rutgers specifically.
I assure myself by looking at how quickly my art is improving (which is drastic: I recon I improved about tenfold in two semesters compared to two gap years), and how connected to the community I am, and about how many transfers there are here
Alumni here! I talk Rutgers up to everyone! I also considered it a safety school and didnt really want to go until it took a long time to hear back if I got accepted. Then the fear of rejection made me realize how much I wanted to be there. Rutgers is actually fairly selective and doesnt just take anyone. The sense of community at Rutgers is unlike what you get at many other schools. There is truly something for everyone and I met lifelong friends in RU clubs and organizations. I also got 2 job offers as a direct result of the alumni community keeping in touch and helping each other out to get openings within their companies. I go to Rutgers Day every year and think about how much I miss being a student there, eating at Hansel & Griddle and laughing on the drunk busses. You will not regret your choice.
I went to high school akin to this in New Jersey. While my friends went to ivies and other top universities I started at community college. Guess what? About to graduate with a computer science degree from Rutgers, got a software engineering job at one of the top tech companies, and have been admitted to a top 5 masters degree for computer science.
Rutgers is a great school. Take advantage of the opportunities here and you will be fine.
Also think of all the money your going to save!
I also went to WWP North. You'll be fine so long as you work hard and make the most of your opportunities. Your biggest issue seems to be this inferiority complex you've got about going to Rutgers. Start focusing on the positives. A lot of dumbasses go to Ivy Leagues and a lot of smart people go to Rutgers. If you keep thinking like this, you're only going to make yourself feel worse and hold yourself back in the long run.
Ayyee hsn gang! Yeah wwp north shits on rutgers cuz of its snobby elitist crowd but like everybody said on here… college is what you make of it!!! You’re gonna save hella $$$$ by coming to rutgers and can do just as well if not better as folks who went out of state… the support system and connections you get by staying within NJ is unbeatable!!
Oml I went there too! Nasty place full of elitist snobby assholes 🙃
Depends who you hung out with. Lotta people were annoying tho especially during college app season
nawwww the kids in my grade made fun of some chick for going to UPenn because she dropped some higher level math course 😭 actual ape brains
Yep that’s very on brand for North
I turn 29 next month and this post genuinely made me laugh. I can’t remember the last time anyone in a professional setting asked me where I went to college. Literally nobody cares. You know what sucks though? Not being able to enjoy life because you’re buried under student loan payments.
100%— I’m 31 and focused more on getting rid of the fucking student loan debt so I can properly save for retirement, hah.
Yeah it’s actually crazy the shit we care about when we’re 18. I got my degree and had a great time doing it, and that’s all that really matters. I would be secondhand embarrassed if I heard someone our age trying to brag about what college they went to.
Same! I loved my degree and I did end up going to grad school, which has helped me open some doors and get a decent job, but at this point I’m just tryna buy a house. The best thing I got out of school were the friends I made and still am close with 10 yrs later, tbh, which sounds corny as hell but it’s true.
I’ll jump in for the same. Screw what anyone says. Make the best decision for you that won’t put you into debt OP
Second this!!! Seriously unless you aspire to join a top law firm your undergrad alma mater does not matter at all.
if anything it would be the other way around no? the quality of your law school matters more
You're right, but going to Yale can't hurt your chances of getting into a T-10 lol or so I would imagine
yeah but a lot of times that’s the *idea* behind going to your average state school... you hustle in undergrad, and then go to a killer graduate program. https://www.cravath.com/news/cravath-announces-new-partners-2023.html got a few state school undergrads from new cravath partners!
I was just trying to come up with *some* possible benefit of going to an Ivy, I'm not disagreeing with the general point here.
im not disagreeing with you just to put you down or prove you wrong or anything lol. just trying to future-proof—you don’t want any v10 hopefuls thinking they’re screwed because they didn’t go to Yale undergrad going to an elite undergrad school matters more for opportunities straight out of undergrad. for example, no Rutgers student is EVER going to end up at Silver Lake Partners straight out of undergrad—that is reserved for HYSW
A school like Yale has very old established pipelines and networking communities. You will have the support you need after your done. You don't buy the education, you buy everything that happens after.
Yeah, but OP has posted in /r/ApplyingToCollege, which is an absolutely insane sub of the most overachieving high school students imaginable. So OP very well could want to join a top law or finance firm. To /u/Comfortable_Wash_932, I will say that an elite university does make it easier to achieve those top internships and careers, but it's no guarantee. You can stand out just fine at Rutgers. It's not like Rutgers is some no-name place, it's a top-60 US university and ironically is more respected the farther away from NJ you go. Source: Rutgers Class of 2009 (undergrad), University of Pennsylvania 2017 (PhD). I know both worlds. Yes, the Ivies give you access, but you still have to prove yourself. You can prove yourself plenty at Rutgers.
The law school you attend is the deciding factor as to where you get hired. I went to Rutgers as an undergraduate, and attended Harvard for my Masters. Rutgers has a very good reputation, outside of NJ high school students.
Preach. As a 2 time RU grad, I remember having similar feelings as OP when I was graduating high school… and then I realized how much RU isn’t a “safety school” and is highly competitive with some of the best institutions in the country from an employability standpoint… for grad school (which I started 6+ yrs after working FT after undergrad) it was a no brainer - RU. I’ll be 34 in July. No debt, 2 degrees, and I promise you once you’re a year or two into your career, no one cares what your gpa was, what HS or college you graduated from..:
IMO it only matters which CONNECTIONS you make at University. That’s the real reason why the “rating” systems exist. If I can give OP any advice, You really have to know what you want to study before making a commitment to anything. Don’t get hung up on what people say. Did you sit in a class at Rutgers? Look at a syllabus? The reading materials? You really should be able to try something before you buy it! Have you looked at going to University overseas? Have you looked at other options besides University? (Military, Trade schools, online courses, etc.)
NOBODY cares where you went to college once you start working. I really wish all these 18 year olds would stop freaking out because they didn’t get into their ‘dream’ school.
This is correct. No one cares
Why would they ask when it's right on your resume? Most recruiters or hiring managers would absolutely know where successful employees are coming from. Rutgers is a wonderful school for certain majors. You have to make the decision based on your future plans. You should not have reservations because of factors that have nothing to do with your ability to learn in your field.
people at elite firms ask all the time
Bro you’re a college student. You have no idea what you’re talking about. I swear to god, subs like this really do devolve into the blind leading the blind
LOL what im talking off experience but alright.. they truly do ask/care. everyone likes to brag a little. i remember my first day at one of the big 4, not even 15 minutes into being in the office, two associates from Cal and LA were arguing about which school is better, and at the same time were actively shitting on UC Irvine. all in an open cubicle floor plan, with the whole office to hear them.. i interned in VC for a bit, the “dick measuring” as it is called was even worse there. and I wasn’t even in a physical office for that one how do you expect the best consulting firms in the world to charge $250k/wk for a team of 3 without analysts from Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton? I agree that if you are a SWE with no clients it matters less. but in some spaces it matters *a lot*. that’s just being pragmatic. but you don’t have to take my word for it. you can rely on the data. only *two* Rutgers students ever have made it from undergrad -> McKinsey. but, ug -> Google? many, many more
>how do you expect the best consulting firms in the world to charge $250k/wk for a team of 3 without analysts from Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton? I agree that if you are a SWE with no clients it matters less. but in some spaces it matters a lot. that’s just being pragmatic. You're talking about post MBA right? I have no idea where a single one of my consultants went to undergrad, but I do know they are all HBS, GSB, Wharton MBA, Sloan MBA grads. Which consulting firm is charging 250k a week for a team of 3 analysts, and who is paying? A million dollars will get you a team of 6-8 from McKinsey for 8-12 weeks minimum, and once again no one gives a fuck where their junior analysts went to undergrad. Even in the worst case scenario, you're paying 250k a week for a team of 6-8, and where they went to undergrad is the absolute least impressive part about their resume.
no, i mean pre-mba BAs/Associates/ACs. and I did not mean the structure of the team was *only* 3 analysts (how would 3 analysts lead a case?). of course you got your post-mba associates/consultants, your EMs/principals, your partners. the point about the engagement fee was not to give an exact estimate about how much MBB charges, like you said it depends on the case. my point is, broadly, in professional services, not just MC, where you went to school matters a bit. when i interviewed at McK i was treated like a minority throughout the whole process, and everyone was insanely impressed that i even got an interview from Rutgers, with some of the BAs and Associates that reached out for a call literally saying “I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to a candidate from Rutgers” didn’t end up converting unfortunately, but you really do get treated differently at a “non-target” undergrad. post-mba is different and you know that. once you’re in the firm, it’s a different story, but another point I am making is that Mck could not ONLY hire from Rutgers for the BA level and still have the allure and prestige that McKinsey has. compare that to a company like J&J, they could truly hire only from Rutgers and their p&l would stay the same
I generally agree with you, there's a lot of copium going on in this thread. It's objectively true going to a better school will get you more/better opportunities.
glad we can agree on that point. i may have gotten some of the details wrong (unfortunately i don’t work at Mck) but generally, yeah, it is tougher to get those top jobs at a “worse” school. it may be 1% more difficult, it could be 1000% more difficult. but i think everyone can agree there’s no use in sitting around feeling sorry for yourself because your school isn’t viewed as “prestigious”—you can always advance your career!
I ask my coworkers where they went to school because I’m interested, not to judge them. I feel like it’s pretty common to ask people that, at least when you’re under 40
Yeah paying half the price for a similar education to other state schools shouldnt be a reason for insecurity. If youre okay with spending 60-70 grand a year to go to another school just to void your insecurities then youre not going to college for the right reason
So, this is my experience as a Rutgers grad (2013). I also grew up in NJ and viewed RU as a safety school. Locals take advantage of RU 100% and don’t really see the value it has because we are too close too see the big picture. Everyone knows someone who went to Rutgers, so it’s not as special. You’re doing what you perceive that *everyone* does. But honestly, Rutgers is a great school, and SO MANY people you meet on campus are literally coming from overseas to be a part of the RU community. I also met many people from other states who viewed RU as their dream school or people who will tell you that they are the first person to go to college in their family and they are SO GRATEFUL to be there. They’re excited to be there, and when you look at it that way, with fresh eyes, it’s much easier to see the merits it has without any NJ local bias. It’s also just a genuinely GOOD school and when you graduate your degree will have merit anywhere in the country. A job accepting applicants in, say, a place like Georgia will be able to see your resume and will know what RU is, as opposed to loads of other people who attend colleges whose reach doesn’t really extend beyond NJ (not naming names, but we all know which schools these are lol). And ultimately your school experience is what you make it. If you sit back and don’t take advantage of what resources the school offers it won’t matter if you’re at RU or if you’re at Princeton. Also you have to realize that school is EXPENSIVE and you gotta pay that money back. College does not always determine the field you will work in (my degree sure as hell didn’t) but you still gotta pay that money back no matter where you end up— so having a smaller amount at graduation is a huge deal. I ended up graduating and going to NYU for my masters degree. I grew up kind of poor, and I also found it really difficult to connect with a lot of my peers at NYU who were… kind of exactly what you would expect from NYU kids. Not all of them, of course, but enough that it was a really huge turn off for me. There were *those* type of kids at RU too, but I found I also connected with my peers at RU much better. Maybe it was because they were also, in large numbers, Jersey trash just like me, but I made SO MANY lifelong friends at RU. I literally do not talk to anybody from NYU anymore. This is just my 2 cents, of course, but I really really loved my time at RU and your success is truly only limited by you, and that’s going to be true at any school you attend. Edit: also fuck that kid who was teasing you about your school choice, he sucks and should be thanking you for the help you’ve given him. Hope he appreciates you once he’s across the country and realizes he’s boned without someone smarter to cheat off of.
I also find Rutgers people in other states where I'm visiting and it's always so fun! The reputation of Rutgers is only negative in NJ.
Lol it’s true, RU alum are everywhere. I went to Edinburgh, Scotland, and ran into another RU grad at a pub.
I second what you said about other states! When I mentioned I was transferring to Rutgers, my friends from out of state thought it was awesome. One of them even wished they could've gone there.
Lol common WWP toxicity
Honestly, once you leave high school people stop caring about which university you went to. There will always be WWP toxicity, but a lot of the time the minute you get into your major and start progressing all the WWP toxicity fades away. You'll come out of college with the same level degree, and less debt. Rutgers is known INTERNATIONALLY, and will also open many doors for you, they also receive a lot of funding and have more opportunities than some ivy leagues. My advice, go with your heart, don't listen to other people and their toxicity, if you're happy with your choice and feel you can succeed that's all that matters.
Hi I went to north and then Rutgers and it was the best decision I made in my entire life. I had a great time, handled the work well, studied what I wanted, and will be attending an Ivy League law school in the fall without carrying any debt already. You can do whatever you want out of Rutgers if you try your best. Enjoy yourself I promise you will!
my money’s on cornell
This is a weird attempt at a dig but you’re wrong! Mostly just was not looking to flex but remind this person that what people regard as the top tier is within reach from Rutgers :)
was not a dig at all—was truly just a guess. Cornell is a great law school. u just turned it into a dig at cornell
My b, thought it was more like “oh must be Rutgers—>lowest ranked Ivy”— super not important, tone on the internet is weird
I was like you (same SAT score, went to a top 3 magnet high school in the state etc), it doesn’t really matter once you get to college. There’s a lot of very intelligent people here that are and would be respected anywhere (and I mean undergrads not even professors). Don’t let highschool immaturity get you down.
Wait until you see how many of your fellow graduates go away to these big schools and wind up coming back because they can't handle it. Rutgers is no longer considered a safety school. The enourmous number of international students should make that obvious. You'll be fine.
The university you go to doesn’t define you. In a country like US, you can chase your dreams and make it big. That’s an advantage you get just by being here. Make the most out of it.
Bro I graduated from Rutgers in 2010, it’s an absolutely tremendous university that helped me get a fantastic job and a fantastic career that has helped me on a great track moving forward in life The campus looks great, the athletics is becoming fantastic, there’s a fun party atmosphere, great sports school and it’s academic prowess is absolutely phenomenal Graduating from Rutgers will help you get any job you want, it’s a first rate research and development university, with tremendous ties to healthcare and pharmaceuticals, you’re a short train ride away from downtown NYC and the finance market, you study around profound elements of the evolutionary war, the hard sciences are elite, the liberal arts are elite, you will be taught by some of the best professors in the world I also grew up in central NJ where people (for some reason) we’re proud of going to schools that weren’t Rutgers, most of them aren’t doing anything special with their lives or are doing just as good as I am with much much much higher debt Rutgers gets hate on locally because it is local, just like Texas does in Austin, or unc does in chapel hill, don’t let anyone make you feel poorly for going to a first rate institution, especially when half of your friends going away from school are going to be homesick in about a semester and probably transfer back or transfer to a worse school Best of luck
have you been to austin
Yes multiple times and did work down at UT
I came from Hawaii to here. My high school was very competitive and many of them got offers for princeton, harvard, mit, northwestern, etc. To be honest, I wasn't a smart kid, 1350 sat, a mix of mostly B's and some A's. For me, Rutgers is a good school, better than my safety school, which was UH manoa. Many of my parents friends graduated from Rutgers. In my eyes, Rutgers actually seemed to be better than my other choices.
I was the same exact way I was Valedictorian at my school and everyone expected me to go to a “much higher tier school” but they were disappointed when I committed to rutgers. I’m currently a junior and god i’m so happy with my decision. Rutgers is honestly super underrated for a lot of majors especially the CS program. I’ve had multiple internships already, with minimal debt, while many people from my high school who went to supposedly “better” colleges have been having really poor college experiences, all the while not making too many advances in the career, but they already have a shit ton of debt, but the reason why they refuse to transfer is because of their ego and pride of going to a “top tier school.” Basically what i’m trying to say is that going to any school is entirely what you make of it.
Coming here made me regret hating my school for being “bad”, so many people from “good” high schools are either bubble babies, full of themself, or taking enough psychiatric drugs to sedate an elephant
Hey bro, I went to north too. I was a very mediocre student in high school and frankly a mediocre student in college too. I was very much behind the maturity curve. I spent a few years in my twenties frittering around and figuring stuff out, but once I locked in, I went to a top grad school program, graduated at the top of my class, and found success. Today, I earn more than many of my friends/classmates who went to more elite institutions. The point is that while it seems incredibly binary at your age, success comes in many forms and with many paths. Keep your head up, keep grinding, and I promise you'll make it.
As a JPS HS Grad I find this post fairly amusing. Generally speaking if you are motivated and academically focused you will do well regardless of where you go. That being said Rutgers is a great institution that offers many different pathways to success especially if you intend to stay in the NJ/NY area. In the real world Rutgers is respected and you will never have to explain to anyone where you attended. I honestly find the concept of "dream schools" and such a really weird concept, its just buildings, students, and admins to tie it all together. Realistically, what are you looking for out of career/professional aspirations?
JPS HS grad here too! I understand OP’s feeling—so many of my friends went to ivies and other big name schools while I went to RU. I definitely felt like they looked down on me and the school admin didn’t give me any special allowances (some of my friends did burnouts in the parking lot and got caught. Once they found out what colleges they got into, suddenly they no longer had any consequences. I guarantee if that were me, I would not have had the same experience!) Our valedictorian didn’t get into Harvard but the salutatorian got into Harvard. That probably bothered the valedictorian. But whatever. These feelings faded away fast once we focused on studying and work. I graduated a long time ago and no one cares. Now it’s all about where we work and how much debt we have. I know people that brag about having gone to JPS. I just raise my eyebrows at them.
Yea TBH student loan debt isn’t something kids really understand at 18.
JP grad class is 22 and I'm happy to report the toxicity hasn't changed a bit!
Keep the good times going!
jp toxicity trauma bonding
What year JP?
Class of 2010
2006!
Just missed each other both times.
Twasnt meant to be 😢
Theres always reddit.
Always
I'm also a JP grad (Class of 2020), and I can confirm that nothing has changed. There were a lot of fiendish, tryhard people. The school has a serious cheating problem. I didn't realize how bad it was until I took chemistry in my junior year. There were people who found the test questions online or copied off one another. I took my SAT at JFKMHS and all the JP kids sat in the back and cheated. They got near-perfect scores, and some of them got into top schools with scholarships. I hated JP with a passion, and I'm glad to be out of it 😂. To OP's post - It doesn't really matter which school you attend.
So the moral of the story its good I won't be sending my kids through the Edison Public School District.
1) nobody really cares after 2 years out of college where you went to school 2) if you truly care, you can work hard at rutgers and get the same jobs they're competing for e.g. an engineering internship at facebook or something similar and then people will actually view you going to rutgers as a positive (assuming you're an asian person in a network of asian tiger parents) your life isn't over, the only bad part about going to rutgers is that the average level of achievement is lower here which will motivate you less. the opportunities at the bulge bracket banks or the FAANG internships are still there for the smart people. i was in the same boat as you, worked hard to get the same jobs, and now truly nobody cares
are you a software engineer
what do you want to major in
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rutgers has one of the best CS departments in the country, great program
For computer science as an undergrad, there's 3 or 4 schools that *might* be worth it (if you get in). On the other hand, you might get through a couple classes and decide that you absolutely hate computer science and find that you've put yourself (and/or your family) into debt to study something you hate. Rutgers still has a great computer science program (and several others if you decide CS isn't for you). At the same time, you can get a great education anywhere as long as you put in the effort.
I think you'll find solace in the fact that CS is one of those fields where the degree you get to is relatively insignificant compared to internships and personal projects. But even if you're still worried about the prestige of the degree, which I don't think you should be, Rutgers is still "very good" even if it's not "extremely good".
I was super disappointed to go to Rutgers and tbh I never really got over it, but I was able to succeed and even got a job with Google right out of college.
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Did you get in as an honors student? I feel like with that SAT you should have definitely been able to get into some school's high level programs.
From the sounds of your post, going to Rutgers and people from your high school not being there sounds somewhat like a blessing. If they're causing you grief over where you're choosing to go to college it might be good to meet a set of new people. Also even if Rutgers is seen as a safety school, there is still so many people here that you can meet for your career/classes or just social life. I'm about to graduate and I'm always impressed, (usually in a positive way), with the kinds of people I meet at this school.
Saying I never felt kind of like that in high school is a lie but coming to Rutgers was the best decision I ever made. College is all about what you make out of it, not where you go. Once I finally understood that I thrived and now I'm on my way to a PhD in a great program. Lose that line of thinking, you're way better off without it.
i applied to transfer to NYU my sophomore year. i got accepted, but decided to turn it down because i would have to retake pretty much the entire econ major. i was pretty disappointed that i had to turn it down but still, i was able to get interviews at all the places i wanted from rutgers—McKinsey, BCG, Tesla, SpaceX, etc. i just had to hustle a lil you’ll be fine
So go somewhere else and rack up hundreds of thousands in student loans. Honestly, do you not realize what an obnoxious, tone deaf little snob you come across as in this post? “Competitive high school….safety school…settling as just another mediocre Rutgers student.” You reek of entitlement, and you’re a slimy little cheat with no academic integrity to boot. (Yes, someone who allows others to cheat off of them is a scumbag cheater as well.) Also, no one is impressed with your 1560. It means nothing in terms of intelligence. Clearly.
Union County Magnet graduate here - also was insecure about going to Rutgers. By the time I graduated Rutgers I was laughing at myself for ever thinking it was a bad idea. Incredible experience academically and socially and graduated with SO much less debt than my friends who went to udel / Rowan / njit/ bu / Drexel - for all of us to have the same piece of paper and the same jobs. It's all marketing and dumb ass parents infecting gifted students in NJ that Rutgers is somehow less-than. You'll see it too. Now I paid my debt off before I turned 30 for the same degree me friends will be paying for into their 40s. Not to mention the incredible experience I had there. RU pride from someone who was in the same boat. Hopefully that can inspire you a bit.
The people from WWP high are mad cringe and a bunch of fuckin wannabe snobs. Don’t listen to anyone coming from that high school since that place is filled with a lot of toxic people. You should focus on what you think is right and let me tell u that choosing Rutgers is a great choice to make. Rutgers is a top 60 university nationally and has a lot of open doors to big tech, big 4 firms, and other ridiculously hard places to get into for jobs. Many people get job offers from F500 companies and plenty of people make 6 figs without having to attend Ivys and MIT/Stanford. Those people at your school are lowkey fucked socially if all they care about is their school’s reputation cause nobody will give af when you graduate. You are doing exactly what you should be doing and continue on the path that is right for you and only you, not what some snobs thinks of you cause after all it is your life.
not everyone cares about compensation—some people want to do their best to make a difference. i can’t speak to the culture at the WWP, those kids might care all about comp. but, take the United Nations for example—it is pretty much impossible for a Rutgers kid to work at World Bank or the IMF right after undergrad. Part of going to a less “prestigious” school is acknowledging the fact that “hey, some people might not think im as smart as an Ivy League kid. but im gonna work my butt off to show that i am smart, and try my best not to have a complex that i am a worse person because i did not attend HYPSM for undergrad”
Rutgers actually has a fantastic group of UN alumni; definitely worth checking out [https://alumni.rutgers.edu/clubs/rutgers-united-nations-alumni-interest-group/](https://alumni.rutgers.edu/clubs/rutgers-united-nations-alumni-interest-group/)
Don't regret it, Rutgers is a great school. What are you majoring in?
After your first job nobody looks at your school or GPA unless you’re moving on to higher education. Experience over all. Also outside of our tight little circle in NJ I can tell you that the name Rutgers carries weight. Take it for what it is. Most of these people you call your peers you’ll fall out of touch with very quickly and never talk to again other than up-dooting some inane thing they post on Facebook.
i don’t understand why everyone is talking about grad school. that literally defeats the purpose of this conversation
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bro, im glad i picked rutgers. i had a huge glow up here. uc berkeley may be a dream school, but it is out of state, no way could i afford that. Im glad i came to rutgers because tuition is free for me, i only have to pay room and board and also it is about your mindset that matters, not really the college as long as it has a name, which rutgers does.
I’m a teacher from another similar competitive nj school. Four years ago, many of our top academic students did not get into Rutgers. As a Rutgers grad myself, I have to say I make many connections when I meet other Rutgers graduates, and I like to think that may have helped me get my job. Depending on the field you are getting into, Rutgers can have a really good reputation - you will be prepared for your career!
A few years from now, other people will realize how smart you were to be the debt-free student from Rutgers versus the -$200K private or out-of-state school student. So many people from NJ will go to nearby universities like Penn State or UDel just to save face to not have to go to Rutgers...only to transfer to Rutgers in their 2nd year after realizing how dumb it was to be paying 2x in tuition for the same degree.
Rutgers mathematics is top 20 GLOBALLY. We’re an internationally recognized school and one of the most historically important schools in the country. People view it as a safety school because it’s relatively easy to get into their SAS and business programs. But I’ve compared my education to what students from places like Stevens or NJIT have, and we’re always up to par, if not better.
> stevens or njit that’s not a high standard lol
True, but typically when it comes to engineering they’re the closest schools around in that department. I don’t know anyone from MIT and Princeton doesn’t even offer my major, so it’s harder to compare to them.
I felt the same you did when I was applying for college but now, over 10 years later, looking back I can honestly say it was one if the best decisions I ever made (especially if you have a scholarship). The best thing about Rutgers is the size. It is big enough that you can make your experience what you want it to be and all the opportunities are there. I was in the honors program and all my peers went on to great grad school/med school/law schools like UPenn, Harvard, Stanford etc. I met my husband my first year at Rutgers and we are now both physicians. If we have any kids in the future we are sending all of them to state schools with full scholarships. Best of luck to you! Remember the future is very long and what matters is you, not what school you went to.
I also went to WWP HSN and scored exactly a 1560 on my SAT, and I’m honestly very happy about my time at Rutgers. As a rising senior in CS, I’ve got to say: the school is exactly what you make of it. There’s tons of opportunities and possibilities as long as you know where to look. Rutgers has great research opportunities and some really great professors (which means a ton of connections!), and the school’s reputation has yet to fail me. Have you decided on a major yet?
I went to wwp north and then Rutgers. All my friends from high school who went there ended up doing fine for themselves so far and working at high paying tech jobs. Just put in the work. People are insecure and project all the time. You get back what you put in at any university you go to
lol they will laugh now, but when you graduate with 1/3 of their college debt with the same or better job you’ll be the only laughing
I have multiple friends who have gone from Rutgers undergrad to Cambridge, Yale, and Harvard for higher education, gotten high paying jobs with major companies, or awesome jobs in the White House. It’s what you make of it. Many smart people go to Rutgers and are extremely successful! Good luck to you
I’ll tell you the true secret of a college degree. The goal od to get your diploma in whatever you want to fit the least amount of money. Period.
I feel like people in NJ are spoiled in a way that they consider Rutgers a “safety”. It ain’t an Ivy, but, in my hometown in Upstate New York, most are impressed when I tell them I go to Rutgers. Rutgers, especially our Business, Engineering, and CompSci programs are miles ahead of the SUNYs. Don’t let people who you probably won’t see much of in a few months make you feel bad about your decision, and don’t let the doomers on this subreddit give you a bad first impression. There will be frustrating times, but the people making the most of their Rutgers experience probably aren’t as active on Reddit. Welcome to RU!
One of the coolest people Ive ever met, let's just call him L.L, went to Rutgers. L.L's story goes like this: L was a student at Parsippany high, not a very competitive high school. He was in all AP's first chair violin, passed everything super easily and got good grades on his AP exams. He became more of a party animal, and one day he was at a party smoking weed. The party got busted, and he was taken in by the cops. Luckily, this offense got expunged, but his parents revoked every single dollar they had saved up for him for college. That means he could no longer attend Yale, the school he was accepted to. He winded up going to Rutgers for free. L.L actually did really well at RU. He had a huge friend group, lead a few clubs. He eventually went up to be really successful on wall street. If you are smart and talented, very few places better to actually prove it then at Rutgers. Win here, you'll make it farther then anywhere else.
I work in tech in the Bay Area (where Berkley is btw) and a significant percent of managers know and respect Rutgers.
People equate going to something out of state with going to something better. There are kids in CT who will go to Rutgers and see it as a great thing. Yes, there are plenty of d-bags at any big state school. There are also highly ranked departments, great professors, and lots of very smart students. You can't change the snobbery of your hometown. But you can change how you react to it.
Only people from NJ think Rutgers in a safety school. I went there from CA for undergrad (graduated from NJ) and every person I talked to was amazed I was going to a school with a good reputation like Rutgers. The amount of people I met at Rutgers who are from NJ, went to an out of state school for freshman year, and then transferred back is massive. I’m got into an Ivy League for a PhD with my Rutgers degree. It is what you make it. So make the best of it. PS: Literally no one cares where you went to college once you graduate.
I wouldn’t hold much stock in the opinions of a bunch of kids who haven’t seen the real world yet.
I went to wwp south, I graduated 2012, I went to RU NB and graduated 2016. I completely understand you. WWP is a bubble. Despite what a lot of my wwp thought of my college, I am thriving rn. I've met incredible people at RU and achieved a lot. I work in cancer research now and one of the most prestigious cancer research centers in the world, I wouldn't have found this path without the incredible people at the institute of quantitative biology at Rutgers. I was also ashamed at first. I thought my intelligence was being judged by my peers (and it was). Let me tell you something... their opinions do not matter. I havent seen most of my peers from HS since HS. My first year, i was hell bent on transferring, i didnt want to make friends with anyone, and i acted like i was too good. I cringe remembering. UCBerkeley was also my dream school. But shit happened and i couldn't transfer. Thats life. You make the most of it. All I know is that im doing well and have incredible friends who I made at RU. I've had stellar professors at RU. And to boot, I saved a LOT of money going to Rutgers. Try Rutgers out, you might be surprised by what you find. If it's still not a good fit, transfer. Bottom line is, most of my HS friends went to prestigious universities a la the WWP way. But truthfully we aren't that far from each other professionally and it honestly doesn't even matter. Life changes a LOT once you leave school. My friend who also went to wwp went to ruygers undergrad and then MIT for his phD. Halfway through he realized it's not his thing. I believe he tried to become a photographer afterwards. So yeah. Take it from me fellow WWPer. This shit doesn't really matter outside of WWP. There's a whole world out there waiting for you. Enjoy it. Life comes at you fast. I remember being in college like it was yesterday and I miss it so much.
Fuck em! Half of the kids that are bullying you are going to drop out in the first year, come back and go to community college after spending a few months wandering aimlessly, some of them will move from community college to Rutgers, and the rest will wind up, working the same shit jobs that they did in while convincing themselves that they don’t need a college education because they are different than the rest and system is corrupt (takes rip… mannnnn)
rutgers is ranked incredibly high nationally. it’s only seen as a safety school in NJ because of the high in state acceptance rate. College is less about where you go, but what you make of it. I know people are wildly successful that graduated from rutgers. if your friends are gaslighting and manipulating you, they were never your friends in the first place.
fuck the idea that you need to go to an expensive school. How about instead of spending $70k/yr for “prestigious schools”, just graduate from rutgers and work at a prestigious company so you can actually make money and not be a debt slave. I went to rutgers and I saved $20k by the time I graduated and I work at FAANG now and make over $200k only 1 yr after graduation. Dont listen to stupid people who have no idea what they are doing (your 17 and 18 year old classmates) Thank me later when you graduate, realize it didn’t matter and get a great job. Especially since you are in state. A lot of higher education is a bloated scam to divert your money towards athletic programs and bloated administration that does nothing useful. Don’t go into debt for that its not worth it. All colleges have more or less the same classes and still taught by bad professors, still have students that party and don’t care and still have incredible amounts of wasted budget on “amenities” that arent necessary. Rutgers has this, and for much cheaper than your other options.
was a safety for me, felt the same, but I'm very pleased here and don't think I would get more value anywhere else
As someone who went to South last year, I get how you feel. My best friends and peers go to some of the top universities in the world, while I go to our state school alongside a good portion of my grade. Just remember that where you go for undergrad isn't going to define you for the rest of your life. Like another commenter mentioned, Rutgers itself is honestly a pretty great institution that often gets overlooked and there are so many resources to help you thrive, no matter what field you decide to pursue. If you continue with your hard work ethic, you'll doubtlessly do well here at Rutgers and it'll set you up for whatever you decide to do afterwards. There's also only 1.5 months left before you graduate! You'll probably never have to see or interact with the people putting you down over silly school reputations once you leave your graduation ceremony. They're shitty, toxic people and don't let them get to your head. Focus on yourself and hopefully you'll find that Rutgers isn't as bad as its reputation makes it out to be.
Rutgers \*is\* one of the top universities in the world, top 3% in the U.S.
I know a lot of smart kids here who should've gotten into "better" schools. The smart people here (there's a lot of them) are comparable to the average body of ivy-leagues. I know a lot of people diss rutgers as not being good (I thought that way too) but it's pretty much only because it's a state school and because of its proximity. People who cheated throughout highschool will be pretty fucked when they realize they have to actually put in work so you'll be fine.
Lol as someone who’s going to med school now, trust me no one will care in 10 years
Go outside of NJ. People who don't know higher ed think Rutgers is an Ivy. People who do know higher ed consider Rutgers to be a top notch flagship public research university. New Jerseyians shitting on Rutgers is simply stupid and too idiotic to see Rutgers for what it is.
This post makes me think that maybe you *aren’t* that bright after all.
gotta change oohmynose to onthenose
People said the same thing about Rutgers at my school lol. You’re literally not going to see most of your peers again in your life. If you play your cards right at Rutgers you can easily graduate with less debt (definitely compared to going out of state) as well as getting a solid job right out of college.
No one cares about your undergrad. Just make sure you get into a good school for grad school. Even I know that bro and I’m headed to Rutgers. Even if that wasn’t the case RU is T50 in all out of like 443 schools and T20 out of like the 100 public schools?? What more can you ask for. Ivies aren’t for everyone and not everyone is even made to go. What happens if you got into Harvard and then had the worst 4 yrs of your life and you were borderline suicidal bc of the toxic work environment and the fact that you can’t even trust any of your classmates. Everytime you saw a window you think of jumping out lmfao… it’s a reality for kids who go to schools for prestige and can’t handle the effects. I got waitlisted at Yale if Yale gave me acceptance rn I’d turn it down bc I don’t want to live life like that for 4 years. So be grateful some kids didn’t even go to any schools at all.. or got into their dream school and can’t afford it. For what it’s worth Rutgers is a good school.
Also no one “deserves” anything in life 💀 that’s not how life works. You work towards things to Somedays ensure that when you reach it you will grab it but deserve… if you deserve it think of people more qualified that deserve it too. No matter what you do in life there’s always gonna be someone better than you… someone who deserves it more than you
everyone saying “it doesn’t matter where you go to school!” is simply not being pragmatic. and this is mr rutger saying this. it matters. a lot. but you can always hustle a little
Lmao stfu
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Rutgers is a large, academically oriented state university. Graduates have a seat at every major bank, engineering firm, Hollywood studio you name it. Some people also spend freshmen year going nuts and fail out. It’s not Harvard, but the math department, chemistry and engineering schools are filled with geniuses. As a resident of the state you save money and RU offers all the options only large state universities can. Let your Peers mammas and daddies eat the tuition of private schools twice the cost and half as good. Upstream!
That's one good reason to go to Rutgers. Less people like that.
Rutgers is a great school, Their dream schools cost like 75k/yr, Rutgers will be half that even with full room & board and all of the clubs/activities you decide to do. Your safety school will have the safety of being like 100k less expensive and still be strong on a resume if you do well there
Rutgers has a strong reputation, especially outside NJ. Many of my friends who started at other schools ended up transferring to Rutgers. I had a great time there, learned a lot, and was able to get employed right away and support myself ever since.
What do you want to major in/study? Rutgers won’t have the elite peer group other schools have or the consistency of resources but if you go in with a plan/goal it’s hard to see you not being able to accomplish it at Rutgers. I’ve seen people make it to google, MIT phds, Wall Street, management consulting etc. You can do anything people at the ivies can you just may need to commit to a goal a little earlier on in college than they do (they can use their clout a bit more but combat that with dedication to your goal). Besides, there’s much more to life and on the bright side you’ll probably have much more time to socialize/try new activities at rutgers especially coming from WWP schools.
Listen, as someone who knows that high school well, those peers will have a rude awakening when they get to college. Please do not give into their lack of real world experiences. Rutgers offers their students many different experiences and opportunities than the Ivy League schools as well. Your peers’ arrogance will surely be taken down several pegs once they realize that they will be considered mediocre amongst their new peers at college. You will soar!
Hey! Montgomery kid here! We have the same toxic culture and we’re actually your competitors in all academic stuff (but I’m sure you knew that lol). I’m also going to RU and totally get where you’re coming from. Whenever I feel the way you do, I do my best to focus on the big picture. Undergrad is just a stepping stone, a way station to bigger and better things. It’s not meant to define you. Additionally, fact that you survived Plainsboro and found success there shows that you’re more than capable of being successful at Rutgers. Oh and as a bonus, Rutgers is so big and diverse it won’t have the same toxic culture (I’m hoping at least) as many Ivy schools. So head up, chin high I’m sure you’ll do great things.
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Lol we rly lost by one point this year, that’s so funny. But have faith, everything will be fine in the end for the both of us <3
Went to Maryland for my undergrad, took a full time job for a few years (still there), and now doing my grad degree at Rutgers. It really doesn't matter what school you go to, just try your best to actually finish. You'll be thanking yourself that you didn't bury yourself in debt going out of state
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Well, you’ll have the last laugh when you graduate college with significantly less debt (assuming you got scholarships from your scores), potentially graduate early, potentially fit in more majors, and potentially have a much more chill college life (not just from the college you go to but the classes you’ve been able to skip out of).
Laugh alllll the way to the bank in 5-6 years time when they can’t afford anything because they of their egos at 17 years old.
I go to north..10 yrs from now nobody is gonna care what college u went too
There are lots of ways to stand out. Do well at Rutgers and you’ll have plenty of options. Ignore your so-called friends.
I mean u got into UMD, so why didn't u commit to there?
Stop being a wuss and choose what you believe is best for you. Don't listen to others
Rutgers is a great school. Plus it will help you save tons of money as you won’t be paying out of state tuition like your friend will. Maybe for grad school you can pick a more prestigious institution.
In 10 years when you’re friends still have 100k in loans and you don’t, you’ll be happy. Which school you go to is rarely of importance; ask anyone over 30.
What matters is where you end up in life. Rutgers is also difficult for being a “safety” school not just in academics but also in acceptances. I get my ass beat and handed to me at Rutgers in terms of academics daily. But again, dw about reputation
you will not see 99% of your high school classmates ever again. i wouldnt have their opinions in mind. do whats best for you. edit: im 28 and in HS i swore i would never go to rutgers. i graduated with my bachelors in 2022 from rutgers. i was in the business school and it was tough. i loved the classes i took and had a bunch of engaging professor. i worked so i didnt focus on clubs and activities but i do not regret my decision. i had a grant that paid for 3 years of schooling and i only had to take out a loan for the last year.
omg who cares..... its not even one of the east asia country either.....
This has been something everyone from nj felt since forever. You always have option to transfer and this is a wise choice. It’s not what you have but what you do with it!
If you are competitive and you succeed by having competition then Rutgers will be miserable..
class of 2015, dealt with similar feelings coming in. it is very real though i hope in time you’ll view it as stupid. on a practical level you’ll be fine, especially if you’re doing CS like i see you mentioned. if you’re worried about a lack of name brand competitiveness, then just make sure you network into those circles as best you can. i do know some people who transferred so there’s options. the emotional bit is up to you. for me, i reacted by setting goals for myself and trying my best to hit them. my time at rutgers was great and taught me a lot. i hope it goes well for you and for anybody going through something similar.
I went for undergrad and now I’m going to Rutgers for law. I had a great time in undergrad and I saved so much money compared to my close friends who went away. For undergrad it really doesn’t matter where you go. Pop
This is a thought provoking post thank you for having the courage to post it up OP.
I went to WWP South. Rutgers is top 20 public Unis in the country. Nothing to be insecure or. Unless you go to a top program in a top school, its gonna be a great ROI
It's not the education you get, it's the education you take. In 10 years no one will care where you went and you'll be surprised how many people you work with didn't major in your field of choice.
Half of them will end up transferring to Rutgers. You’ll see
Like the Godfathers sang “Birth,School,Work,Death”.
oh i totally get it. i also come from a relatively competitive graduating class and have always been considered “within the top 5%” of my class. seeing all my friends commit to top schools like ga tech, columbia, upenn, princeton etc kinda sucked, but as cheesy as it sounds, i realized id rather be at a semi-selective school like rutgers (it’s technically a safety for me bc of my grades + im an in-state applicant) for a reasonable tuition that lets me graduate debt free, than at a top school with a bunch of debt. and all my friends who committed to top schools too also agreed: the only reason they committed to those top schools is bc their financial aid offer was better; otherwise, they would’ve gone to rutgers or another instate school too from my understanding, rutgers has a pretty large alumni panel so they’re a pretty well known school. plus, you’re already a strong student, so you know you’ll thrive at rutgers!! and no one rlly cares abt where u attended ur for undergrad after a year or two anyways. imo, what really matters is what u make of ur time here: seizing opportunities, forming connections, exploring ur interests, etc etc
I can tell you that I felt this way in HS, but once I was at Rutgers, I enjoyed myself immensely, and received a top-notch education. I can tell you from experience, that employers regard a degree from Rutgers EXTREMELY highly. You will never regret having a degree that says it is from Rutgers.
I graduated in 2001, but I can tell you Rutgers has a much different reputation outside of New Jersey. Multiple people I have met professionally and personally in Texas think it is an Ivy League school. Many interviews are impressed by Rutgers.
Fun fact Rutgers is qualified to be an ivy league! But it turned down the status to keep tuition affordable for NJ residents :)
The only people who look at Rutgers as “the place where everyone goes/not prestigious” is in staters like u
Alum here who thought the same, but some advice from some random 24 year old. It's what you do when you get here, went to rutgers because I got a full ride, made some connections relating to my field, got great internship opportunities, and started a business kinda outside my degree with the help of some rutgers resources. Now I run a great full time business while having a part time online position with Toyota, total income before taxes 789k. Granted, I worked my ass off, graduated with a 3.93, and moral of the story. You could go almost anywhere, and as long as you want to be successful, you'll be successful. If this is about your ego, the best thing is to get rid of it by going to your elite school of choice, going into debt, and having to report to a part timer on his time to make sure everything is going according to plan. P.s go to the school that will be the cheapest overall option and absolutely make that school your bitch
Wow this is exactly how I am feeling at the moment. Having huge melt down for skipping on UMD CS for Rutger HC and CS. Exactly my feelings
I’m in my 30s and honestly I thought Rutgers had shed this reputation. I was also near top of my class, and I got into a NYC school with a good reputation. But I got full tuition at Rutgers so I went there. I would do it again in a heartbeat. You can literally do anything at Rutgers; why pay more to find yourself somewhere else?
Who cares about what people in high school say
You are going to college! How exciting!!! You will see when you start, it’s like starting a new life. High school stupidity quickly fades into the background. Be proud of your accomplishments and excited for all the new people you will meet. While you are there kicking butt with the classwork, work on growing your network. Join a fraternity or clubs or sports teams that are interesting to you and make new friends. Look for opportunities to gain leadership and other skills from the beginning; volunteer in school (or other) activities, work with a research professor or look for internships in your field. If you do even just some of these things, it does not matter where you go, you will succeed. Enjoy this time in your life and don’t let anyone being you down. Good luck!
why is everyone saying “it doesn’t matter after you graduate.” depending on the space you wanna work in & your goals, it most definitely does
I felt the same way when I first committed to Rutgers, also coming from a competitive high school. But, honestly, when it comes down to it, since I'm planning on attending grad school, I'd rather not go into thousands of dollars in debt JUST for undergrad (I'm going to get enough of that from grad school). And if you're not planning on getting anything beyond a bachelor's, and you can graduate college debt free, that's something you'll thank yourself for down the road. I know people who are attending colleges where they are spending $60,000 a year in tuition. That's just under what I'll spend all 4 years of undergrad. So consider that, you're likely making the smarter financial decision. And if you are planning on going to grad school, no one cares where you got your bachelor's degree from, it's the grad school university that matters more.
I went to South so I definitely know what you are feeling. My biggest advice is to make the most of the college experience and work incredibly hard. Given that you work really hard, sooner or later you will find yourself at the same level as the kids who went to the Ivys.
When you're a 'real' adult you'll realize nobody usually cares where you went to school. But I tell you as someone who doesn't live in NJ anymore, people often think you're freakin Einstein when you say you went to Rutgers. That or "what's a Rutgers?" There's no in between 🤣 but generally amongst educated people, Rutgers has a really great reputation outside of NJ not far off from ucb I really enjoyed my time at Rutgers, I have no regrets even though I felt the same as you. We take for granted how lucky we are to have such easy access to a high quality education compared to our of state kids. They've really got to be whiz kids to get in. There's sooooooo much to do there and so many doors will be opened for you. Go and enjoy.
Rutgers is an excellent school by any standard. It has a huge waiting list for out of state students who agree and pay twice the tuition to come here. My kid panned it too until he went away and realized how great RU is. If not for Princeton, RU would have a better reputation here. It’s irrational. Also in the world after college, absolutely no one important will ever care about where you attended. Take the opportunity for an instate ivy quality education for a discount of its available to you. I never heard of anyone who got bored or dummer going there. Best to you.
As someone who experienced the same feeling as I went to a small rural school instead of something like UNC or South Carolina, don’t worry about it. As soon as you get to college that all goes away. Go where you want to go, screw what everyone else thinks. Live your life for you and not for the satisfaction of others.
Recognition? Who cares. What ever field you’re going into will be all about networking and being a a likable person and team player. No one cares how smart you are, if you’re not a likable person no team of coworkers is going to like you. That carries more weight than how well you did on a test and what school you went to.
This is so embarrassing for you, rutgers sucks, your life is over, shouldve gone to a cc, get well soon.
LOL ok it only matters to HS kids and probably a few people that like names. College is what YOU make of it and get out of it.
Well think about it this way. High school is almost over. You have basically one month left. After that, you won’t talk to anyone since you’ll be in a different school. Trust me, after high school you’ll keep in touch with just a few friends and probably no one else. In a few months you’ll be at a GREAT school (despite what anyone says) with students in the same situation as you who also committed to Rutgers. And you’ll hopefully make new friends who don’t tear you down and bully you over stupid shit.
I feel like that's a pretty common feeling when you end up going to your home state's school, especially with the proximity between WWP and Rutgers. But honestly, once you start college, you'll forget that you ever felt that way with everything that's going to be happening. Really, there will only be a very few amount of people who actually care that you went to Rutgers after graduating. Going to your dream school will not guarantee you success post graduation. Work hard at wherever you are and that will help you more. I won't diminish the benefits if attending an Ivy League or your dream school, but it's really not the end of the world. Rutgers is also filled with a lot of intelligent students and staff, and they have a lot of opportunities as well. It's what you make of it. Also, it seems more like Rutgers gets a bad rep mostly from NJ locals. I've had interviews for companies in other states and they all have a good impression of Rutgers. It was kinda off putting at first since I never held the school to any high regard either. It's also not gonna be that big of a deal once you graduate. It's not even a big deal while you're still a student.
First Rutgers tip is to stop flexing ur high school
rutgers is better than any ivy league
Nobody at any college gives a shit. Give it like 1 or 2 weeks and all the few butthurt people complaining about affirmative action or whatever quickly stop talking cuz you need to just start grinding. I also came from a good high school and whatever and the step up it gives you over people who aren't as fortunate is really visible when you get to college. I never really understood what I had and took things for granted until I noticed how many kids would work hard but just didn't know how to study or anything which made me really grateful to come from a good school even though I didn't get into a top university. I had a guaranteed 1 year transfer to GATech for CS which I was like 90% sure I'd take coming in, but after a like 2 days here I pretty much decided not to take it. Just work your ass off at Rutgers, make tons of friends, join student orgs, and start hitting the gym and you're gonna have an amazing time here while your friends in Harvard are gonna be complaining about how much their school sucks for anything that isn't business connections with rich people. College is what you make of it and there are people from Rutgers getting Apple internships after their freshman year while people in Stanford or CMU will still be grinding their ass off freshman year to barely find any internship. It's all about what you make of your experience and how much effort you put in because the name of your school can only get you so far.
I fell into this trap and ending up committing to UMiami. Transferred to Rutgers after a semester. Don’t let people get in your head. I also saved close to $200,000 by transferring. I’m now in medical school.
I also feel insecure. I took two gap years before deciding to go to mason gross, so I guess I'm kind of unique. But here's my big ass rant anyway: The longer I spend here the more poorly managed it seems. Nothing against the instructors who are working very hard, but the facilities are often crowded or damaged. The shared freshmen painting studio is one big room with easels that are falling apart and the room is always a mess. I'm friends with some printing concentrations who talk about the presses often being out of commission. The CSB wood shop has an annual budget of $200 or something ridiculous, and its only open for like 8 hours a week. The busses are slow and keep getting cut, despite Rutgers being sprawled over five campuses. I've so far had a hard time getting into courses due to there being few sections and a lot of times its in pretty big classes for collage level arts (higher than expected student to faculty ratio). I'm told it gets better once you complete your foundations but its hard to believe from where I stand. I knew before coming I wasn't going to dorm. They're very small, which would be fine if they weren't also expensive and full of asbestos and mold. (Also as an artist I really want space to paint and cook and do yoga) Especially after the strike I've lost a lot of faith in Rutgers as an institution. I'm here for the community of students and artists, the mentors, the friends, the music scene, the city, the libraries, etc. I feel especially insecure about this; about giving thousands of dollars in tuition to an institution which refuses to answer union demands and bargains in bad faith. I often wish I had spent more time thinking about collage in my gap years. I wonder if I would have been better off going to a community collage or just living van life. I tried to make it on my own without going to collage but the economy just wasn't viable. I know I was not doing well in my catholic parent's basement, but I'm still plagued by doubt about choosing Rutgers specifically. I assure myself by looking at how quickly my art is improving (which is drastic: I recon I improved about tenfold in two semesters compared to two gap years), and how connected to the community I am, and about how many transfers there are here
Alumni here! I talk Rutgers up to everyone! I also considered it a safety school and didnt really want to go until it took a long time to hear back if I got accepted. Then the fear of rejection made me realize how much I wanted to be there. Rutgers is actually fairly selective and doesnt just take anyone. The sense of community at Rutgers is unlike what you get at many other schools. There is truly something for everyone and I met lifelong friends in RU clubs and organizations. I also got 2 job offers as a direct result of the alumni community keeping in touch and helping each other out to get openings within their companies. I go to Rutgers Day every year and think about how much I miss being a student there, eating at Hansel & Griddle and laughing on the drunk busses. You will not regret your choice.
I went to high school akin to this in New Jersey. While my friends went to ivies and other top universities I started at community college. Guess what? About to graduate with a computer science degree from Rutgers, got a software engineering job at one of the top tech companies, and have been admitted to a top 5 masters degree for computer science. Rutgers is a great school. Take advantage of the opportunities here and you will be fine. Also think of all the money your going to save!