Rutgers University - New Brunswick

As my first year of Rutgers is rapidly ending, I wanted to give a review of how my experience is thus far.

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.

1st Year Female -- Class 2019

Social Life: A, Individual Value: C

Moved here from a private university that was the complete opposite of this diverse student body. I loved it. People are much more open minded. You get to work with every type of personality and ethnic background, so I believe it prepares you better to work in the actual type of environments you'll encounter in the real world. Other colleges attract very like-minded people (for the most part), while Rutgers attracts EVERYONE. It's a microcosm of the world. There was plenty to do and excellent teachers if you pick the right classes. If you are looking at a major that is available in both SAS or SEBS I would recommend SEBS. The profs care a bit more since it is a smaller school and they are more likely to remember your face. I still had some huge classes, but those professors (non-science) were great and took time for office hours and extra study reviews so it wasn't alienating. Some of my friends in SAS had a terrible experience because they felt more like a number in the more intensive science classes, so I'd recommend coming in with those bio/chem/physics credits. Otherwise, if you haven't taken it before, expect a C hahaha. Expos, expect a B/C. I've never heard of anyone earning an A on their first try (I know kids who failed then received an A the next time around.) Rutgers is interesting; it can give you the small campus, suburban feel on Cook/Douglass or a more urban feel on the other campuses. I enjoyed living on College Ave, because it was easy to go to all the events and parties, but if you don't like it occasionally being noisy on weekends then maybe you should consider Livi/Busch... Cook/Douglass if you wanna feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. I've had some bad teachers and some good teachers... thankfully ratemyprofessors is pretty useful along with many student groups on facebook. Network is huge so there are many more opportunities on this career site versus my previous, yet higher ranked (but smaller) school. Oh,

2nd Year Female -- Class 2015

Collaboration/Competitive: A+, Individual Value: C

I remember checking out this site back when I was a junior/senior in highschool and how much influence they had in my decision. I believe I owe it to this site and future others who are thinking about going to rutgers by writing this review.

I loved every minute,every second of my time here at Rutgers University. It was honestly the best fours years of my life and I have made plenty of great friends and met a ton of people. It is what you make of it. It's in your power to make your experience the best it can possibly be and the only way to do that is to get involved. I joined a Fraternity and was the best decision I have made in college. You don't need to join Greek Life here at Rutgers though because there are a ton of organizations you can be part of. Though I highly recommend it because truthfully, they are having the most fun. Come here, be active, and live it up. College Life is short, and Rutgers is a great place to spend it.

3rd Year Male -- Class 2014

Social Life: A+, Scholastic Success: C+