Rutgers University - New Brunswick

Rutgers is a good university for a certain type of student- those who are self-motivated and independent. You will not receive much attention unless you search with some tenacity. Instead you are left on your own. However this can work towards your benefit by making you more self reliant. However other times it made me feel neglected and simply a random number bouncing around. Since over 90 percent are instate, the campus clears out on the weekend (at least on Busch campus) The college is very hard to get around since there are 5 campuses (4 of which I had class on in one semester) and the bus system is poor. For this reason many students did not attend class. I felt that the atmosphere was not competitive as students did not seem concerned with school work. The college lacks a closeness or togetherness (due to the large size and spread out campuses and lack of exciting athletic teams) Spirit and pride lacked from what I see. Rutgers is a good state school academically. Professors are a lottery- some our great, some are bad. You must do research and find the ones which are good. Some departments are very strong. The computer science department is ranked in the top 20 nationally and I did harder work than a friend at Hopkins. Also strong are engineering, pharmacy, and poli si. English and psych are also good. However I felt that students around me were not as interested in learning and pushing themselves. Even extracurricular activities were weak, as many students did not care about them. The key to succeeding at Rutgers is finding friends who match your interests and researching which professors and classes to take. You can find amazing professors who care, however you could float by and never know a professors first name (or last for that matter). RU gives some great scholarships and therefore is appealing, yet few students realize how the campus is split up into different colleges - Rutgers, Douglass, Livingston, Cook - While these colleges have different requirements to get in (Rutgers College being the hardest) you have classes with all the colleges which seems confusing. Many people love Rutgers, some who go there disdain the place - my advice is to visit and see how it fits you. It has an extremely diverse group of students yet the closeness that many students experience at high school is lacking.

1st Year Male -- Class 2004

Faculty Accessibility: B, Individual Value: F