Rutgers Newark experience

For financial reasons, my kid is considering going to Rutgers Newark and living at home. I'm wondering whether anyone has experience with this set-up. She and I have watched too many episodes of Gilmore Girls with Rory at Yale, so the thought of not having that residential experience is sad. But she'd graduate with very little debt.

She also got into Rutgers New Brunswick but the addition of room & board make N.B. more expensive than some of the private colleges she's gotten into, after scholarships and grants. (Tangential rant: can you believe that our state school costs ~$30,000/year and unless you're truly poor or at the top of your class academically or are 7 feet tall and like to play basketball, they give NO aid. Whatsoever.)

Thanks in advance for any insights!



Rutgers Newark has dorms, if interested. 

My sister did this many years ago - she commuted from our home in Montclair and lived on campus for a year.  I think she was the first group to live in the undergrad dorms when they were built in the 90s.  My neighbor's daughter is a recent Rutgers Newark grad (graduated in the last 5 years) - she enjoyed living on campus and commuting.


I think one of sac's kids did this and there have certainly been other CHS kids who did.  Maybe pm sac?

We found the same frustration. It turned out that with a partial scholarship it was cheaper for our kid to go to UAlbany than Rutgers!  And housing is so much cheaper.  You have to stay in the dorms freshman year at least which I think makes sense.  But rent in the community is cheap.


Sorry this probably doesn't help, but I did a search, and figured I'd post that for future applicants, there is a robotics scholarship at Rutgers for $5,000/year:

https://financialaid.rutgers.e...

(ETA: It seems like there is only one scholarship available per RU freshman class).


I'm curious is she considered applying for HLLC in Rutgers, Newark. Housing is free if accepted.


Maybe start at Rutgers Newark and if your daughter still wants the on-campus experience, she can transfer.


erin, if your neighbor has any thoughts on the subject, I'd love to hear them.

mantram, I did look at HLLC at Rutgers, Newark and spoke briefly with one of the students in the program. It seems geared to giving an extra boost to wonderful students who have overcome challenges - students with few family resources,1st generation students, veterans, older students, emancipated students, etc. My child is wonderful but her challenges have been more garden-variety (I think, at least).



nakaille said:

I think one of sac's kids did this and there have certainly been other CHS kids who did.  Maybe pm sac?

We found the same frustration. It turned out that with a partial scholarship it was cheaper for our kid to go to UAlbany than Rutgers!  And housing is so much cheaper.  You have to stay in the dorms freshman year at least which I think makes sense.  But rent in the community is cheap.

My kid lived in a shared apartment off campus.  I don't think she and her roommate(s) ever looked seriously at the dorms, but I believe the costs were similar.  She had taken time off before college so she never really had the traditional "residential" experience, but her experience was good for her.  She definitely saved a bundle compared to other options available to her.  In her case, she did her first two years at Essex County College and saved even more as a result of that choice.


My sister did two years at ECC and then transferred to Rutgers Newark.  I'm not sure if every program can be done that way, but the one she was in (BSN) did, and 100% of her ECC credits were transferred to Rutgers.  It saved her a ton of money, and she was able to start her career without worrying about being in debt. And as she said, her degree from Rutgers doesn't have a little asterisk on it saying she did two years at a county college. 


Basically, if the student takes most of the "Gen Ed" courses at county college they should all transfer.  In my kid's case, every credit transferred over, but one course in her major area did not end up being counted at Rutgers for the major because there wasn't an equivalent course in the Rutgers catalog or something like that.  If the student knows the desired major from the outset, then I think that the advisors at the county college can help them make sure everything will be transferable within the New Jersey state college and university system.



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