When all of your high school friends are leaving for college in different parts of the country, it’s easy to feel as if you’re missing out by only moving to a different part of the state, sometimes mere minutes from home. And this feeling doesn’t always go away, even after the excitement of Welcome Week. Thoughts that you only have a new campus to explore, while your friends have entire cities and states, can bring you down no matter what year you are. Luckily, we Jersey collegiettes have some serious in-state advantages.
1. Close (but not too close) to home:
Many people see going to college as an opportunity to get away from home, making staying in state feel disappointing. What can first seem like a disadvantage, though, is quickly realized as one of the best parts of TCNJ. The campus has everything you need to live independently, but when you want to go home – and you will – you only have to get in a car, not on a plane. As senior journalism major Kelsey Wojdyla said, “I’m so happy I decided to stay in state because you get the perks of living on your own with the convenience of being close to home.”
2. Great location for internships:
While you may not be thinking about internships just yet, you’re in a prime location when you do. Besides great opportunities you can find right in New Jersey, you’re also only a train ride away from both New York City and Philadelphia. So while others have to wait until the summer to intern in these great places, you have the option of acquiring priceless work experience during the semester. This availability makes you very appealing to prospective employers.
3. Lasting connections:
The thing about a state school is that most of the student body is in state, making it even easier to bond with people – you already have two things in common: your state and your school. “You constantly meet people that know someone you know, and it just connects you to people faster and almost makes it feel like there’s a little bit of home everywhere you go,” said junior political science major Niriksha Kannan. And when breaks come and you don’t want to say goodbye to some of your closest friends, you actually don’t have to, because chances are you live pretty close to each other and will be able to meet up on a regular basis.
4. Less money, same great experience:
One of the most appealing aspects of TCNJ on paper is its price. This may have been what first drew you to the school or the deciding factor, but either way it played a role. After spending some time at the school, though, it’s clear that a lower tuition doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice any college experiences – TCNJ has it all. And after your four years, you’ll be grateful for the money you saved on tuition and travel costs; it will help you get out of your parents’ house that much sooner.
5. Bragging rights:
At the end of the day, TCNJ is a great school. We have dedicated professors, small class sizes and an awesome student body that will make your time here unforgettable. We’re ranked sixth of the northern regional universities, according to the U.S. News and World Report. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine ranked TCNJ 24th nationally in their list of the best values in public colleges. And we remain on The Princeton Review’s best values list. The acclaim doesn’t stop there, and neither do the opportunities available to you at TCNJ.