Miss New Jersey's next goal: An MBA at Rutgers

As Miss New Jersey 2009, Ashley Shaffer spent much of her waking hours meeting the public. She spoke at schools, marched in parades and even sang the national anthem at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

But at Rutgers, Shaffer is enjoying relative anonymity as she focuses on grades rather than glamour. The 24- year-old Millstone resident entered the MBA program at the Rutgers Business School in Newark and New Brunswick in September, and has quickly forged a reputation as an energetic, involved student who helped start the program’s first student blog.