N.J. Governor Wants to Merge Thomas Edison Into Rutgers

[cookderosa]

Well, since you did take a lot of time to compose that reply, I'll go ahead and answer, however, I'm making more sweeping generalizations which you won't like lol. I'm not about to start quoting and citing, I like to play nice. I have walked a journey that some people are starting, so I have something to contribute. I re-read my post that upset you, but I'm still comfortable with what I wrote. I'll emphasize again that I wasn't responding to any one individual- and I shouldn't have used the word "everyone" since that was obviously me being dramatic- but there has been a tone in this thread as if the merger were a golden ticket, and that rubs me the wrong way.

Generally prestige questions are not really prestige questions, because people don't know how to ask what they want to know. Many people want to know if this degree will be accepted, legitimate, work for this career or that, etc. and they may use words that come phrased differently, but those people need to be able to ask questions. It is a legitimate line of questioning to determine if a school like TESC will actually meet someone's needs. So, that's never uncomfortable and I'm happy to help people understand what TESC is and what it isn't.

*the comment about "things getting ugly" was to Linda's link. If you read the link you will see that I mean things will be getting ugly within the state govt of NJ, not ugly here. This board is never ugly

Prestige is the word I chose, I wasn't quoting anyone. In fact, I don't know that anyone here specifically used the word "prestige" in a post. My reply was a response to a tone that I have witnessed from time to time over the past few years. I'm not going to start pinning that down on what specific people say, that's not helpful to anyone.

I'm not "into" prestige, so maybe I have little hairs that go up on my neck when I see people grasping at irrelevancies. I'm into regional accreditation, I'm into liberal CLEP policy, I'm into interesting credit completion options, ad I'm into building my own transcript without a set class list. So, I'm into TESC. That said, TESC isn't for everyone. If you want a sports team, TESC isn't for you. If you want classrooms, TESC isn't for you. If you want research or professors, TESC isn't for you. If you want a fancy name, TESC isn't for you. BUT THAT'S FINE!!

I don't like when people are excited about the Rutger's merger as if all of a sudden their TESC degree is now reinvented into something else. I find that excitement slippery, and I'm never a fan of slippery. That's what I mean by getting a back door Rutger's name- it's slang. *Front door would mean that a person actually apply TO Rutgers and earn a Rutger's degree by jumping through Rutger's hoops. We all know they are different- and possibly even legal issues regarding how you represent your degree....but that's for another day.

I reacted strongly because I have a strong opinion And my opinion, still, is that you should choose the college that best suits your needs and then go forward full speed. I have always felt that way- and I'm sure you can find about a zillion posts where have explained creative ways for people to use CLEP (et al) to meet the needs of their existing degree. I have never been in the "transfer to big 3 ASAP" camp, in fact, I'm sure you can find 3 posts of me suggesting a poster consider first trying out their home college's CLEP policy for every 1 post of me suggesting they enroll at TESC. I'm all for looking at the individual and the best plan for them. For me, that was a degree from TESC. I still believe that if you are not proud of where you are attending, you need to transfer NOW. For future jobs, resumes, casual conversation, etc this will come up. You will write or say where you went to college...100 times?!?! LOL If you're not proud of your path, you need to get on a new path.