When I was about to enter college nearly 60 years ago, I applied only to Rutgers and UPenn. I was accepted to both, but decided on Rutgers, and I am glad I did. First, it was more affordable, even though, as a PA resident, I had to pay out-of state tuition. Also, I was interested in UPenn because of its architecture school, but it was a 5-year degree program, which made it even more costly. I thought I could postpone architecture to a shorter post-graduate program, which is what I did with the help of a scholarship from Columbia.
Rutgers was a very different place from what it is today. Still in transition from a relatively small, all-male student body on a campus with vestiges of a quasi-Ivy past, to a large, diverse, public research university.
For any young person wanting to expand horizons, Rutgers clearly enjoys the advantage of physical location, in proximity to so many opportunities. UPenn was a good alternative because of Philly, but I had no interest at all in Penn State, stuck in the middle of Pennsyltucky.