I also live in NJ and I'm also a Senior Executive for a major financial institution. Rutgers has an excellent reputation in the work force and is considered one of the top public colleges in the country. It is a well deserved reputation. I'm also a big believer that you get out of schoold what you put into it and you can have an excellent candidate from any school. In my case I never received my degree. Due to a series of events in the mid 80's I entered the work force and put all my time and energy into my career. It paid off but now at the age of 45 I'm enrolled at TESC and I'm working towards my degree.

I am not saying Rutgers is easy or that there is anything wrong with Rutgers. My husband is a Rutgers graduate and I wanted my son to go there and still hope he will eventually.

I was trying to make the point that local perceptions are not always the same as what the broader picture is. At my sons graduation 1 this year and 1 last year from the two local high schools, the principals made a big thing of talking about how many students were going to schools like Harvard, Georgetown, Stanford etc. Neither principal mentioned how many were going to Rutgers.

I do live in a poor town in one of the richest areas of the country. The children in my sons schools almost all had thier own cars lots of them new and most of them better then what I drive.

So I would say if you want to get a better job in todays highly competitive work place, get your BA or BS wherever you can get it fast and cheap save your money to get you into a good masters program with better name recognition.( I am mostly talking to those in the mid-thirties or younger, they still have plenty of time to get both a BA/BS and a masters and still have lots of years to build a career.)

__________________
Linda

EXAMS TAKEN
1/07 TECEP Psycology of Women (Needed/ acheived) 60/74
1/08 DSST Technical Writing 46/64
4/07 TECEP Word Processing Fundamentals 65/75
4/07 CLEP Info Systems & Computor App. 50/64
3/07 DSST History of the Vietnam War 44/66
11/07 DSST Intro to World Religions 48/65
5/08 CLEP Analyzing & Interp. Literature 50/69
5/29/08 CLEP Intro to Psychology 50/65
6/12/08 CLEP Intro to Sociology 50/69
1/27/09 CLEP Social Science & History 50/66
Finally 3 FEMA Done!!
Planned
Intro to Theater TECEP
Organizational Behavior TECEP or DSST
Physics I TECEP or EXCEL
Physics II TECEP oe EXCEL
Physical Geology TECEP or DSST
Calculus CLEP or EXCEL
Foundations of Education DSST
Intro to Education Psycology CLEP
2-3 FEMA credits
Global Environmental Change class
+ 43 B & M CC credits and 3 TESC credits and Finally on 6/30/08 an AA Degree
Eventually a BA in Natural Science/Mathmatics

I thought Rutgers was a good school? A friend of mine graduated from there and he said it was great.

But..........alas..just get your degree as quick as you can from a R/A School that is best advice for anyone...not a pedigree.

Linda, I agree. At graduations they will always make a big deal about the kids going to the prestigous Ivy league schools. I'm very pro-NJ so I may be extra sensitive at times.

My oldest daughter just graduated HS this year, she was a classified student and she will be attending Ocean County College next year. I'm with you on kids getting to much handed to them. My daughter is still driving the family mini-van, but we are shopping for a car. She has worked for three years and will contribute half to whatever we decide to purchase.

My 16 year old daughter on the other hand is ranked 12th in her class of 500 and because of the Star system in NJ can attend county college for free when she graduates in two years. Her guidance counsler echoed what you said, "get your BA or BS wherever you can get it fast and cheap save your money to get you into a good masters program with better name recognition." However, try telling that to a 16 year old who has her sites set on the schools you mentioned above!

Best of luck to you, and your son!