Rutgers University - New Brunswick

Academics:
Upon beginning my college career at Rutgers, I expected college coursework to be equivalent or a little more challenging than the AP classes I've taken in high school. However, I found that the difficulty level of the academics here to fluctuate greatly depending on the department. My calculus and CS classes provided the most challenge whereas my Statistics, Psychology, and writing classes were easier than expected. Much of your grade is determined by 2 or 3 exams, plus assignments and quiz grades. One annoying part is the SAS core curriculum, which business majors have to follow as well, although i was able to get rid of half with my AP credits. My overall grade of academics is a B (so far).

Professors/Advisors
Professors are a hit or miss. So far I've had pretty good professors who are caring and help you in office hours. Something I do not like is how the TAs teach the class and, while helpful in their office hours, have thick accents and are hard to understand at times. However, the amount of learning and tutoring resources makes it easy to raise your grade up.

Advisors on the other hand are not the best and again are a hit or miss. My current advisor is clueless and does not know much about anything. The other business advisor is the Dean and knows a lot, however. Going to a big school you have to seek for help on your own and no one is there to hold your hand.

Social Life:
Social life at Rutgers is the best in NJ compared to other state schools. Tons of parties every weekend, and if you are not the party type, there are a lot of people who stay dry as well. A lot of clubs and organizations to be involved in. Definately contributes to great college experience.

Dorm Life/Commuting
As a commuter, I do not experience the dorm life. However, it is just like any other college is. Some of the buildings are new (Livingston Apartments, the Yard, BEST) while others are old (Quads, Towers, Davidson). Roommates are a hit or miss.

Commuting is not that bad itself, but the school really treats us bad. Rutgers never cancels classes, they make you park in only one lot until the evening, and you have to go on the buses that take forever at times.

Transportation:
The buses are annoying, but it's really the only mode of transportation (besides walking ) to get around from each campus. Commuters are able to park anywhere after 6, but this still is an annoying facet to the college experience.

Scheduling:
One of the most aggravating aspects of Rutgers. I'm a semester ahead of other freshmen credit wise and still not able to take business core (even though I finished SAS core). So my advisor told me to minor or take summer classes (thankfully my minor is relevant to my career). Classes fill rapidly. I suggest you take AP exams to make you register early.

Honors:
Although I'm not in honors, plenty of my friends are. From their experience, honors is not really a huge deal, besides the "better" housing and advisors. They dont get priority scheduling and basically take the same classes as non-honors people do. The Honors College appears nice, but the perks are usually only evident freshmen year. If you get into honors, I would suggest trying it out freshmen year to see if you want to handle the unnecessary requirements. All in all, Rutgers is a great school with quality education. It is what you make of it. Obviously lack of financial aid from other schools caused me to go here, but it's a good bang for your buck if you're looking to save money. It has name recgonition and is perceived as a stellar school outside of New Jersey. Prgrams like Philosophy, Pharmacy, Business, Engineering, and Math are among the best. I don't regret coming here.