Rutgers University - New Brunswick

CLASSES/PROFESSORS/EXTRA CURRIC.
Rutgers is a wonderful school for people who are willing to make the most of it. It's a large school, with lots of diversity and options. But you cannot sit in your room and expect them to come to you. Rutgers is the type of place where active students thrive, you have to seek out all of the hidden gems the school offers. While the size of the school may seem daunting, it is divided into so many subcategories (by campus, class, building, major, minor, even last name) that you can always find someone approachable, knowledgeable and friendly to help you if you need it.

The key to Rutgers is that YOU have to take an ACTIVE role in your education. Rutgers does not reward those who wait for everything to come to them. There are many academic counselors who are more than willing to help students plan ahead, schedule their classes, and even help get them into already closed classes, but they don't have ESP and won't come to you, you have to seek them out (which is VERY easy to do) and ask for help. Each dorm has Academic advisors, Dorm directors and resident assistants, all three will make the effort to get to know you personally, and help make the school feel smaller.

As for professors, I've never had one who was unreachable or unapproachable. They give their websites, emails, and even email back. Every one of them has office hours, where you can stroll in for help, to ask questions, or even just to discuss something from class. But again, you have to take the initiative to go to office hours. In just my first year, I had professors meet with me at campus coffee places, just to talk about papers. They WANT to see you succeed, especially if you show interest in their class.

As for the quality of the classes? They're varied. Some are "easy-A" classes, some challenge you beyond your comfort zone, trust me, in some classes it's almost impossible to get an A... not because the teacher wants to see you suffer, but because they want you to work that much harder to get it. However, you won't get anywhere sitting in your dorm room, doing nothing. Comprehension of the materials and attendance in class is a must. In fact, one of my few complaints would be about the attendance policy most professors have in place- 3 absences and you fail. It seems harsh, but I realized quickly, that chances are, if you miss 3 classes, you will fail anyway from missing too much material, attendance is important. Even in lectures, there is a sign in sheet. But I've had few lectures, and many small classes, from 10-20 people, with professors who make me want to go to class.

CAMPUS/NEW BRUNSWICK/SAFETY
College Ave campus is more of a "traditional" campus- old brick buildings, rolling quads, statues with humorous stories (ex. Silent Willy- who whistles when a virgin walks by... get it?)

Livingston is more drab, 70's era dull buildings, but plenty of green to surround them, great for those who want more space

Busch is very modern, and actually quite pretty. Most of the buildings are made in new brick, the dorms are in pretty quads, and it's home to the sports fields as well as an impressive recreation center

Cook/Douglass is on the other side of New Brunswick, and absolutely beautiful (but a pain to get to) lots of land, lots of trees, lots of pretty old brick and stone buildings, ponds, paths through the woods, etc. Also home to the agriculture department.

New Brunswick is a city- and just like any other city, it has it's good parts and it's bad parts. The heart of it is at George Street- a small street with plenty of up and coming shops and restaurants (yes, there's a Starbucks) go a little further, and there are some bad neighborhoods. NYC is an hour train ride away (at $10 a ticket) and the station is very safe during the day. However, it should be avoided at night. Easton Avenue is where more of the "college town" is, and runs parallel to College Ave. It's lined with pizza places and bars, as well as the infamous RUMart (number one stop for cigarettes / gum / soda) and random treats such as Thomas Sweet (amazing milkshakes) and StuffYerFace. The streets between College and Easton Ave. are mostly homes rented by students and are very safe to roam around on, even in the dead of night. You'll find this area never sleeps, and even at 3 am on a Tuesday, there'll be people out and about.

I've always felt quite safe on campus, there are a number of emergency phones set up around every campus and I've never felt threatened walking around at night. Just last year, within two days after the Virginia Tech incident, Rutgers set up and emergency text-messaging system. Safety is obviously a priority. They don't hide what safety problems they DO have from the students either, there is a email list-serv that all students are on that notifies you of any incidents recently, from muggings to petty theft. It's a good feeling that the university WANTS to keep us informed and uses us as a resource for helping stop what crime there is.

SOCIAL LIFE
I found it a little difficult to find things to "get involved" in, simply because after the activities fair, they all seemed to disappear. But by the time the year rolled on, I found out about plenty of opportunities by word of mouth. My suggestion? Just sign up for as many things as you're interested in the first week, then figure out what you want to stick to from there.

Like any large campus, there is a vibrant greek community. Although it's centered mostly on College Ave. Frat row (Union Street, incase you want to visit) is a place for constant partying... until it gets too cold! Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the big party days and an occasional Tuesday too (Booze-day Tuesday) There is a LOT of partying from September-November, and again from April-May, although it calms down a LOT during the winter months, both because of the cold, and because, even our frat boys and sorority girls actually study.

Of course, I can't NOT mention our upcoming football team! The season gets intense, and it's a huge conversation starter/saturday activity. The school takes a LOT of pride in their team and Schiano. Don't like him? You might be in for a bit of trouble.

THE PEOPLE
In a word? Easygoing. They don't care much about who you are or what you're doing unless you get in their faces about it. They're open minded and tolerant (although most of them tend to think New Jersey is the best state ever, lol) Again like, any big place, there are stuck up kids, and stupid kids, and mean kids. But on the whole, they're nice.

Smoking, drinking and Frisbee are pretty prevalent, but because the students are so easy going, they don't care if you choose not to, or if you do. It's certainly not essential to make friends.

DORMS/FOOD
Food is okay, dorms are nice.
There are plenty of dining halls to choose from, and most of them with the exception of Brower (the only dining hall on College Ave) have great food and lots of choices. Brower is lacking in comparison simply because it doesn't have the same facilities as the other dining halls. I've come to love Brower even through its bad themed food nights and its occasional treasure (mozzarella sticks!) but it's worth the trip to another campus sometimes to get pizza, which Brower rarely serves. The student centers make up for the lack of food though, and there are plenty of fast food options and takeout with free delivery to your dorm.

The dorms are clean, have windows, and you're provided with closets/desk/bed/dressers/fridge/microwave. What else could you ask for? Most of them have lounges and kitchens, and a main lounge Mine last year in Tinsley, had a flat screen TV, pool table, ping pong table, study lounge, and snack machines) they're all well lit and un-dungeon like. Lost keys are 50 bucks though- yikes!! And mail takes an extra 3 days to get through the RU system. Hmm... don't think I left anything out. Basically, it's a great place! You just have to commit to loving it, and make the most of it!

All colleges are much more competitive today than then; I doubt that Cornell would accept me today, but then again, I didn't go there. Rutgers was the right school for me in the 70s and probably would be today at that point in my life.

Rutgers is very well regarded nationally and internationally for reasons that have always mystified me. That counts for alot. Like most big schools, you will get out of it what you grab. If you're passive, you will be in trouble, if you're active, you will get a lot.

One of the best aspects of Rutgers is diversity.
Not in the recent PC sense, but in the fact that the most productive people don't evolve out of a homogeneous school system (i.e. one set of selective private schools), but rather out of a hetrogeneous hodge-podge of people who learn to excel at differing rates of speed, at different times in their lives.

Rutgers gave me that chance - later in my life and has given that to others.
So, if you haven't learned to get a 3.0 or 3.5 or 3.9 in High School - so what. And if you start off poorly in College, so what. Life is a long path - the issue isn't whether you've fallen down or are slow out of the gate. It's how you live your life and eventually contribute. I've worked with numerous people from more elite schools who lack a certain humility. I'm not so sure they'll ever pick it up later in life.