The College of New Jersey – Jackie Pacifico

The following is North alumna Jackie Pacifico’s response to our questions about her college decision process, the student life and culture at The College of New Jersey, and more.

Pacifico graduated from North in 2019. She is a part of TCNJ’s class of 2023.

I did not come to the decision to go to TCNJ until about three weeks before decision day. It was really hard for me to make a choice with colleges, but I knew I wanted to go to TCNJ by how I felt seeing the acceptance. It was perfect for me since I wanted to be close to home and at a small school. It was also a benefit to get in-state tuition.

Overall, I am happy with my decision to attend TCNJ. The campus is pretty and easy to get around. The professors I have had since attending are really nice and super accommodating.

Adjusting to college can be hard since you are no longer around family and friends from high school. For me, being close to home really helped since I could easily go home when I was feeling homesick.

One thing I do miss about North is having friends in my classes. Typically in college you are not in the same classes as friends since you are most likely not in the same major.

Photo Credit: tcnj.edu

One of my favorite things about TCNJ is the class setting. The class sizes are very similar to high school, which is something I was looking for when choosing a school. Another great thing is always being able to hang out with friends since we all live at school together.

The hardest part about attending TCNJ, or really any college, is adjusting to only having classes a couple times a week and being able to time manage.

TCNJ has a very welcoming community. Before your first semester of classes freshman year, you attend something called welcome week. The goal during these four days is to immerse freshmen into the TCNJ culture by doing activities, getting to know their floormates, and teaching you techniques for the school year.