Choosing to go away for college and live on campus can be a scary and nerve-racking experience for some, especially if that college is multiple hours away from the comfort of your home. For South Jersey residents, the choice for a higher-education institution is simple: insert Ramapo College of New Jersey.
“Ramapo is a great choice for South Jersey students because it offers all the benefits of going away to college at an affordable in-state cost,” explains Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Christopher Romano. Not to mention, the commute from South Jersey to Ramapo, located in Mahwah, is only a mere couple of hours.
“As the smallest state school in New Jersey, Ramapo has less than 6,000 students, which enables faculty and staff to mentor students on an individual basis,” says Romano. “Here at Ramapo, students truly are a name and not a number.”
While the college may be small in size, this does not put a limit on their students’ future plans. The liberal arts college has over 35 majors to choose from and focuses on preparing their students for a lifetime of success regardless of their major. Students even have the opportunity to work directly with the faculty in their desired interest to prepare themselves for graduate school, the workplace or even time abroad volunteering.
“Research shows that the average individual will change jobs at least seven times in their life, and three of those will be significant career shifts,” explains Romano. “So, we focus on hands-on learning through internships and co-ops that not only prepare students for their first job, but for these additional changes.”
As if the academics alone wouldn’t draw students in, the dorms definitely should. “If you choose to call campus your home, we make sure it feels just like it,” says Romano. “In fact, at Ramapo, the word ‘dorm’ is not allowed because our rooms are so much more.”
And boy, are they.
Rated as the best residence halls in New Jersey in 2015, students at Ramapo enjoy all of the modern amenities and comforts of home starting with no communal bathrooms, individual suite layouts, WiFi, cable, air conditioning and free laundry to name a few.
Ramapo also understands the difficulty of living with someone new for the first time, which is why they have made roommate matching a specialty at the college. “In fact, 75 percent of sophomores at Ramapo live with at least one of their first-year roommates,” explains Romano.
“After all, if students are going to live here for the next four years, it should fit just right.”
Ramapo invites prospective students and their families to check out the college for themselves at one of their fall open house dates: Sunday, Sept. 25, Saturday, Oct. 15 or Sunday, Oct. 30.
“Open house provides prospective students the opportunity to tour campus, speak with faculty from every major that we offer and learn about all of the programs, services and opportunities that Ramapo has to offer,” says Romano. “If someone cannot make the open houses, we offer two tours daily Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. For students who want to meet with an admissions counselor when we visit their high school or college night, they can visit our website to sign up for an appointment.”
If you can’t visit the campus in person, don’t worry. Ramapo has an online virtual tour where a guide willwalk you through many of their campus locations where you will also be able to view photos and 360 degree videos.
Sign-ups for open house, tours and high school visits and a link to the virtual tour can be found at Ramapo.edu/Visit.
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Mahwah, N.J.
(201) 684-7300
Ramapo.edu
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Family Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 7 (September, 2016).
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