Collegiate Similes

I have been doing my "market research" on colleges in New Jersey and I am starting to get the lay of the land as I make notes like "Oh that sounds a lot like SUNY Geneseo or SUNY Stonybrook or Pace or Hoftstra". It appears that college planning in NJ is not going to be very different from NY at all.

Do you have any New Jersey colleges or universities on your list?  Have you thought to find an in-state school comparable to your out-of-state selection, weighing the costs and benefits?