viewbook for the college of new jersey
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Introduces students to the exemplary education and private feel of one of New Jersey's most competitive public colleges.TRANSCRIPT
* BWOC = Big Word on Campus
Hi*
* BWOC = Big Word on Campus
THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY
Hi, I’m JohnFinance major hired by JPMorgan Chase a year before graduation
Professor Mayo will come right up to you in Working Capital Finance and ask a question. Then he’ll go to the next person to support you or disagree. He might ask the entire row before he confirms the correct answer. You have to be prepared and engaged. My friends taking the same course at another university check Facebook in class. —John Rizzi
Rizzi in front of the New York Stock Exchange
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Hi, I’m NiviInteractive multimedia major tapped as Amazon UX designer after auspicious internship
One of my projects was to rethink Amazon’s Selling Coach widget, a recommendation tool for merchants. I held a design lab, which brings together project stakeholders to brainstorm and tease out requirements. It was a great experience for me to lead that. —Niveda Harishankar
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Hi, I’m Mi-YeonInternational studies major who backed a year’s study in China with intensely competitive U.S. grants
I’ve taken two courses with Professor of History Jodi Weinstein, one of which was an independent course on Sino-North Korean relations—an interest we both share. Her letters of recommendation for three scholarships were pivotal: I received all of them. —Mi-Yeon Park
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Sky’s the limit 8 Everywhere 18 Warm 24
Successful 34 Take charge 40 Winning 48
Kick back 54 Yours 64
Y
ou already know if TCNJ
is right for you. You’re the
student who stands out in
high school for welcoming an intellectual
challenge. Deepening your grasp of the world
feels good; it excites you. That attitude, paired
with restless curiosity, is a bedrock mindset
among the students with whom you’ll go to
class and the professors who’ll lead the way.
It makes for an incredible college experience.
This urge to go that much further is such
a point of pride, we even have a name for it:
The TCNJ Way.
The blend of mentored intellectual
pursuit and value makes TCNJ a rare find:
a public college offering the exemplary
education of an elite private school—
without the price tag.
The TCNJ Way is…
Sky’sthelimit
We are small enough to dote on you, but our expectations are outsized: At TCNJ, you will add to the world’s collected knowledge. With our help, of course.
CLOUDSOURCED An ice crystal viewed at the atomic level with a customized microscope—one unique to TCNJ—is helping physics professor Nate Magee and his team understand how the light it scatters might affect climate.
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about The TCNJ Way 1Communication majors
Kristen Kiernicki,
Amanda Burd, and Janna
Raudenbush study the
connection between the
prevalence of AIDS in African
countries and the degree
to which each government
controls the media. Their
findings later appear in a
paper presented at Oxford. 4Understanding Modern Iran, a
First-Year Seminar, thoroughly
captivates Rob Handerhan. That
summer he’s off to Dushanbe,
the capital of Tajikistan. He
soon designs his own major:
Persianate studies.
5Aspiring geneticist Syndi Barish is
invited to attend a summer research
institute at New York’s Cold Springs Harbor
Laboratory, where she presents her research
and dines at the home of James Watson,
who won the Nobel Prize for discovering the
double-helix structure of DNA.
2Interactive multimedia major
Josh Lewkowicz makes a short
film, wins a national Campus
MovieFest award for special
effects, and, after graduation,
heads to DreamWorks in
Los Angeles to follow his bliss.
3Chemistry major Dylan Nguyen investigates
a protein involved in blood clotting—the
von Willebrand factor—at TCNJ’s Mentored
Undergraduate Summer Experience.
By August, he kills in his ability to think
more broadly than ever before. Watch
Nguyen at admissions.tcnj.edu/dylan.5stories
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Cookie-cutter education? No, thanksIt’s true. With few graduate students on hand, TCNJ flings convention
aside and makes advanced opportunities available to undergraduates.
Why label, we say. Be open about what rouses you, and you’ll find
outstanding faculty here who can mentor and, very likely, take you on as
a junior research collaborator. The TCNJ Way takes you further faster.
13:1student-to-professor ratio
. . . . . . .
Up to 75%of students do
research with faculty
. . . . . . .
Thrilledyour reaction to having contributed to a better
understanding of our world
YOU’RE ON Folake Ayiloge co-presented at a recent University of Pennsylvania conference on cultural partnerships between universities and their cities with her professor, documentary filmmaker Lorna Johnson–Frizell. Watch @frosted_folakes at admissions.tcnj.edu/folake.
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Arts and CommunicationArt educationArt historyCommunication studiesInteractive multimediaMusic
EducationPerformance
Visual artsFine arts, graphic design, lens-based arts
BusinessAccountancyBusiness administration
FinanceInterdiscplinary businessManagementMarketing
Economics
EducationEarly childhood education Education of the deaf and hard of hearingElementary education Special educationUrban education option
EngineeringBiomedical engineeringCivil engineeringComputer engineeringElectrical engineeringEngineering science
ManagementPolicy and society
iSTEM educationMechanical engineeringTechnology education/ pre-engineering
Humanities and Social SciencesAfrican American studiesCriminologyEnglishHistoryInternational studiesJournalism and professional writingPhilosophyPolitical sciencePsychologySociologySpanishWomen’s and gender studies
Nursing, Health, and Exercise ScienceHealth and exercise scienceNursingPublic health
ScienceBiologyChemistryComputer scienceMathematicsPhysics
Majors with a teacher certification option, five-year master of arts in teaching program, and seven-year MD and optometry programs: admissions.tcnj.edu/academics
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Our Five Signature Experiences define a TCNJ education. The first two are universal experiences, and you select from the rest based on your own interests. But what appeals overall, in the words of business major Jessie Geevers, are TCNJ’s “endless opportunities.”
› personalized, collaborative, and rigorous education
› undergraduate research, mentored internships, and field experiences
› community-engaged learning
› global engagement
› leadership development
Take
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50majors+
SHARPEN YOUR WITS Plaid-clad undergrad Steven Thompson and Professor of English Michael Robertson team up in class.
These two are classmatesOne of our humanities courses matches you with a professor to do
research and attend a weekly class together, where you are drawn
deep, over bagels and juice, into freewheeling discussions with other
student-professor pairs. Sounds like graduate school to us.
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Every whereGlobal study at TCNJ is more
popular than ever before.
We’ve seen international
experiences—both full-semester
programs and shorter TCNJ
faculty-led trips on themes
such as apartheid in South Africa
and the Armenian genocide—
spike by nearly 30 percent.
Our 500-plus choices include
China, Haiti, France, Ireland, Italy,
Kazakhstan, and South Africa.
We dare you to choose just one.
CUBA, SÍ TCNJ students headed for Havana just days after President Obama announced that the U.S. would normalize relations with the country in 2015.
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Still life with study-abroad iguanaBiology major Andrew Goldfarb (center) does
global studies in an epic way. Freshman year,
he starts with a Holocaust study tour through
Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic,
where he earns honors credit for lecturing to
his peers on the science and pseudoscience
of the Third Reich. Sophomore year, it’s the
Netherlands to study genetic disorders in
a lab. Summer before senior year, he’s in
The Galápagos (pictured), where he picks
up Darwin’s trail, the spot that sparked the
botanist’s theory of evolution.
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WarmIn a recent poll about why students chose us, the top
answer—flat out—was, “It felt like home.”
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CULTURE SHOCK Communication studies major Lindsay Thomas tweets about summer break away from campus.
M aybe this default friendliness gets ingrained
during Welcome Week, an intense, headlong
introduction to college that launches lifelong friendships—
and, years later, even marriage proposals. (No lie.)
Or maybe it’s innate.
For the last two years, TCNJ has landed on GrubHub’s Top 20
Most Polite Colleges in the nation based on the number
of students who say “please” and “thank you” when placing
delivery orders.
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How long does it take to cross campus? (in minutes)
16116bike board foot stopping to say “hi”
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4 SeasonsOnce home to woods and wheat fields, our compact 289 acres, sheltered by a canopy of trees, look fantastic blanketed in fresh snow (top left). Under a cerulean sky, Alumni Grove (top right) is an ideal study spot. Most campus buildings are in homage to the Georgian Colonial architecture of Green Hall (bottom left). TCNJ has two small lakes (bottom right), where you can take part in a Chinese lantern launch—or just relax.
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What matters most? Having a professor who cares about
you as a person and gets you excited about learning
actually doubles the chances you will “thrive in all areas
of well-being,” according to a recent Gallup/Purdue
University poll of college graduates. You can count on
this happening at TCNJ. In the words of one senior:
“My professors have always had my back. I cannot
thank them enough.”
Success ful
BUSINESS PARTNER TO THE ENVIRONMENT A TCNJ graduate with a thirst for surfing, Matt Scapardine took inspiration from management professor David Prensky and lined up a job at Bloomberg LP before he put on his cap and gown. Watch Matt at admissions.tcnj.edu/matt.
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1of 2
Employers: American Cancer Society American
International School in Kuwait Atlantic Health
System Bank of America Bloomberg Deloitte
JPMorgan Chase Johnson & Johnson Lockheed
Martin L’Oréal USA Lululemon New Jersey school
districts Peace Corps Penguin Random House
Picatinny Arsenal St. Barnabas Healthcare System
TV Land U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
Wells Fargo
Graduate schools: Boston University
Columbia University Cornell University Harvard
Johns Hopkins Penn State Princeton Rutgers
Seton Hall Law School TCNJ University of
Pennsylvania University of Virginia Yale
High Incomes
High Graduation Rates
The College Scorecard
spotlights TCNJ as one of just
two small public colleges
nationwide that have
high graduation rates
leading to high incomes.*
See where our students
head after graduation.
We’re pretty proud.* U.S. Department of Education
admissions.tcnj.edu/highincomes
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$50, 000TCNJ loves entrepreneurs this muchPeter Okoh knows a lot about winning. When he was a teen in Nigeria, his
family won a diversity visa lottery to emigrate to the U.S. As a TCNJ sophomore,
he and two partners took second place in the Mayo Business Plan Competition—
the college’s version of Shark Tank—for a barbershop hangout in Campus
Town. A biomechanical engineering major now working on a brain-controlled
wheelchair, Okoh might consider entering again: The current cash prize pot
is $50,000—the largest in New Jersey higher education.
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TakechargeEffecting change is a powerful, in-demand skill you can build by
working to better a community or by strengthening your leadership
abilities. Both endeavors are at the core of a TCNJ education.COMMITTED TO THE CORE Nursing major Edric Vites is a TCNJ Bonner Community Scholar, one of more than 100 who perform meaningful community service in exchange for financial aid.
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For the common goodCommunity is ingrained in our culture—and our curriculum.
You can get started as early as Welcome Week. We offer
volunteer spots at more than 15 long-term partner sites, and
community–engaged-learning projects are built in to more than
40 classes. How committed are we? TCNJ grants scholarships
to our go-to crew: the 100-student-strong Bonner Community
Scholars Corps.
19,000hours of
Bonner Scholars’ service over the last decade
. . . . . . .
Spanishthe language students
taught to Romanian immigrants in Madrid
. . . . . . .
Boat pondside benefit of the
flood-prevention basin for South Dakota’s Crow Creek Indian Reservation being designed by TCNJ Humanitarian Engineers
PASSION TO SERVE In the last decade, more than 1,000 TCNJ students have hit the road to help New Orleans heal post-Katrina.
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Goal
$3,000Amount raised
>$5,600
To baldly go …Community service goes well beyond the
classroom. Twenty-five fraternity brothers shaved
their heads to raise money for pediatric cancer
research through St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
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A healthy disregard for the impossibleTCNJ-tailored leadership programs bring out your inner leader, connecting you with
your own capacity to spark real change. Even better? Leadership encompasses the very
skills—the ability to envision, build consensus, and direct action toward an achievable
goal—that prove your value within organizations, from workplace to community.
Operation LeadProgram for a select group
of first-year students to build their leadership potential
98Percentage of students
who called TCNJ’s six-dayLeaderShape Institute “valuable”
ZeroCost to attend the
LeaderShape Institute for participants
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Coach: Brian Bishop,
the only men’s swim coach the
college has ever had, recently
won the distinguished NCAA
Division III National Swimming
Coach of the Year award.
Despite having a seed time
more than seven seconds
slower than the team to beat,
the members of our TCNJ
men’s freestyle relay team each
swam the fastest 200 meters
of their lives, taking home an
NCAA National Championship.
We like to think we get athletics right. As an NCAA Division III school,
we see student-athletes as being spurred on by both intellectual and
physical challenge. We offer 20 varsity sports, racking up 89 national
championships: 40 team, 49 individual. Want to help us win more?
WinningMEN’S
Baseball
Basketball
Cross Country
Football
Soccer
Swim & Dive
Tennis
Track & Field
Wrestling
WOMEN’S
Basketball
Cross Country
Field Hockey
Lacrosse
Soccer
Softball
Swim & Dive
Tennis
Track & Field
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Coach: TCNJ alumna
Sharon Pfluger recently hit
1,000 career wins as coach
of not one, but two teams:
field hockey and lacrosse.
Field hockey made NCAA
history by being the first
team to win the National
Championship without
allowing any opponent goals
throughout the four-game
tournament. The player
hugging the trophy, Lindsey
Hatch, was later nominated for
NCAA Woman of the Year.
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Coach: Wayne Dickens
came to TCNJ with both
NCAA Division I and II
coaching experience, despite
starting as a college coach
at age 42.
Not to put any pressure on
prospective pigskin players, but
our team is tough on opponents
and on academics. Case in
point: A defensive lineman who
played all four years and started
all 10 games his senior year
graduated recently with
a 3.9 GPA. In finance.
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backKick At TCNJ, the immersive
experience of discerning who you want to be is happening simultaneously for the rest of your classmates. Then, mix this heady dynamic with our vibrant campus life. This is what gives rise to friendships that last a lifetime.
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Endless
150+ clubs: All-College Theatre American Medical Student
Association Black Student Union Circle K Circus Club College
Union Board (the people who bring many bold-faced names
to campus, below) Hillel Lions TV Muslim Student Group
New Jersey Christian Fellowship Order of the Nose-Biting
Teacups Pre-Law Society student newspaper The Signal Student
New Jersey Education Association Union Latina Student
Organization Water Watch Women in Learning and Leadership
WTSR 91.3 FM—plus, that new club you’ll launch
30+ intramural teams and sports clubs: Baseball cheerleading
crew dance team fencing flag football ice hockey rugby softball
swimming table tennis Ultimate Frisbee
Greek life: 15 sororities 13 fraternities 2 co-ed groups
Recent bold-faced names on campus: Actor and director
Zach Braff Laverne Cox of Orange Is the New Black Etsy creative
director Randy Hunt Ice-T Jerry of Ben and Jerry’s Journalist
Soledad O’Brien Panic! at the Disco Paramore Transparent’s
Jeffrey Tambor UGGs founder Brian Smith activist Cornel West
“Infinite” pretty much
describes the ways you
can spend your free time
at TCNJ. But we’ll keep
quiet on the countless
personal and professional
advantages this offers you.
That would spoil the fun.
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Life hacks: Recharge and relaxTry spaces that nourish your soul, like TCNJ’s Art Gallery
(top left) or our Spiritual Center. Dine at our award-winning
food court (top right) at Eickhoff Hall, a.k.a. Eick, which
serves up clean food like Mongolian grill, tacos, fresh salads,
and classic fare—with a website that displays Nutrition Facts.
A new 12,000-square-foot fitness center (bottom right) is
key to reenergizing (better yet: studies link regular exercise to
mental acuity). Or head to Campus Town, a new expansive
retail and apartment complex bordering campus that has
us pretty excited. You’ll find Panera, RedBerry Frozen Yogurt,
Yummy Sushi, pub/restaurant Brick Wall, Mexican Mariachi
Grill, plus others—and everything you need for a weekend
getaway: bank, car rental, and, of course, nail salon. A Barnes
& Noble (bottom left) serving Starbucks is fitting, given that
GrubHub calls TCNJ the sixth-most caffeinated campus
in the country.
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Float your boatDesign savvy? Luck? Excess optimism?
Just what does it take to be a Cardboard
Regatta champ? Find out each spring,
when teams vie for victory in blessedly
shallow Lake Ceva. (Tip for success:
join a team with engineering majors.)
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Halo Farm Ice Cream Chocolate Heath Bar, Lemon Cream Sorbet, and Madagascar Vanilla are some of the 50-plus choices to try at Halo Farm, a family operation known for eschewing antibiotics and artificial anything.
8minutes
DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies DeLo’s doesn’t make pizza, rather they put out the state’s best thin-crusted tomato pies, which give star billing to the famous Jersey tomato.
23minutes
Labyrinth Books A Princeton must-see, this independent bookstore is in thrall to words on paper. The store stocks titles that skew scholarly as well as popular titles. IQs jump just by being here.
23minutes
Jersey Shore It’s difficult to say which shore towns are the best, but two stand out: Asbury Park, for its music history (think Springsteen and iconic venue The Stone Pony), and Wildwood for its boardwalk.
1hour
2hours
Deepen your Jerseyness by experiencing
a dozen nearby Garden State legends. Approximate travel time by car listed.Destination: Jersey
Washington’s Crossing Re-enactment Each December, re-enactors don Continental Army uniforms and stage George Washington’s 1776 push through a half-frozen Delaware River to launch a surprise—and successful—attack on Britain’s Hessian troops.
17minutes
Eet Gud Bakery Even the most saintly student can be tempted by the sweets sold in this pink-neon legend. Do not skip the crème-filled doughnuts.
16minutes
4minutes
Slocum’s Bowl-O-Drome A TCNJ institution,
Slocum’s is an unpretentious, old-school bowling alley with
12 lanes and decent food.
Apple picking at Terhune Orchards CBS New York calls this farm one of the five best in the tri-state area. It’s not unheard of to leave with a bag of addictive, sugar-crusted cider donuts.
15minutes
Quaker Bridge Mall Could there be anything more Jersey than a mall? The closest one is Lawrenceville’s Quaker Bridge Mall, with 90-plus stores, including Apple, H&M, Coach, Foot Locker, and Teavana.
13minutes
Delaware-Raritan Canal State ParkBike, hike, or canoe the Delaware-Raritan Canal. Start in Princeton, head north for 15 miles, and you’ll reach Rutgers. Or slow down and look for wildlife.
23minutes
11minutes
New Jersey State Police MuseumCalled “the nation’s favorite soap opera”
by TCNJ alumnus Mark Falzini, the 1932 kidnapping and murder of famed
aviator Charles Lindbergh’s toddler son is preserved—including the ladder used
for the break-in—at the New Jersey State Police Museum, headed by Falzini.
0minutes
Campus Town Sometimes the Jersey-est
thing to do is to stay put and grab a meal out with friends.
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If you’ve made it this far, you know that community means everything to us. A warm and supportive environment undergirds The TCNJ Way, for if you are to connect with your greatest potential, having people who’ve got your back means the world. Can you see yourself here?
Yours
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Get your app in We’ll be so pleased if you consider continuing your education
with us. You’ll find important dates, as well as step-by-step
application instructions for in- and out-of-state, transfer, and
international students at admissions.tcnj.edu/apply.
Watch our campus videoOur welcome mat is out in this brief, student-produced tour
at admissions.tcnj.edu.
Calculate your savingsCompare TCNJ’s costs with those at schools across the country.
admissions.tcnj.edu/valuecalculator
Learn about financial aidAs a public school founded in 1855, TCNJ has a public mission—
we exist to serve fellow citizens. We take seriously our
responsibility to be an engine of social mobility for our state,
to educate future leaders, and to offer students an exemplary
education. We work hard to be efficient and keep close tabs on
tuition. Approximately 75 percent of our students receive merit
or need-based scholarships. Find scholarships and eligibility
requirements at financialaid.tcnj.edu.
Come see usWe offer a rolling schedule of TCNJ Ambassador-led campus
tours and open houses. Find dates and details on traveling via
trains, planes, and automobiles at admissions.tcnj.edu/visit.
TCNJ: Private feel. Public cost.
Questions? We have answers.Office of AdmissionsP.O. Box 7718Ewing, NJ [email protected]
ILLUSTRATION Anne Smith
PHOTOGRAPHY @alyssajfreitas
@jillianhopes
@sophiecoy
@tcnjcub
@thesarlew
Bill Cardoni
Lynn DeLade
Dustin Fenstermacher
Matt Furman
Jack Meyers
Mike Morgan
Peter Murphy
Nick Romanenko
This book was printed on Finch Opaque,
a 30% post-consumer, FSC- and SFI-certified paper.
“A public college in the mold of
William & Mary”2016 Fiske Guide to Colleges
. . . . . . .
“Stands out for affordability”
Princeton Review’s Colleges That Pay You Back 2015
Fulbright distinctionTop producer of
Fulbright Scholars, 2014–2015 Chronicle of Higher Education
. . . . . . .
The only N.Y. metro area public college
in the top 10Money Magazine’s
The 25 Public Colleges Where Students Graduate the Fastest 2015
93percentage of 2014 students
returning sophomore year
. . . . . . .
5thnational rank among public
institutions of all sizes for four-year graduation rate
. . . . . . .
94percentage of 2014 graduates
calling TCNJ career preparation above average or excellent
. . . . . . .
96percentage of 2014 graduates employed/pursuing advanced
study one year out
. . . . . . .
7,406students
91 percent are undergraduates. Seventy percent rank
in the top 20 percent of their high school graduating
class, and average SAT scores range from 1130
to 1360. Students of color comprise approximately
25 percent of the most recent class.
“One of the most highly regarded public liberal arts colleges in the Northeast”
Forbes’ Top Colleges, 2015
. . . . . . .
“National leader in undergraduate research”Winner of the inaugural Award for Undergraduate Research Accomplishments
Council on Undergraduate Research, Washington, DC
#1 U.S. News & World Report 2016 (Public, Northeast region)
admissions.tcnj.edu
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Hi, I’m BrittaSelf-designed religious studies major and Circus Club founderVideo | admissions.tcnj.edu/britta
I probably hoop too much for my own good, but it’s my favorite thing. So if I’m writing a paper and I get stuck, I’ll go and hoop for two minutes and then run back upstairs. Or if I have an hour between classes, I’ll usually be in the driveway with my hoops. —Britta Nippert
2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ 08628-0718
tcnj.edu
FUNIVAL!!TCNJ’s annual spring event takes the edge off imminent finals.