Rutgers University-New Brunswick Top Questions

Diverse, diverse, diverse. There is a group for everybody at Rutgers, if you keep your eyes open, you will find an organization or club to fit basically any need you could imagine.

Because of its diversity, Rutgers has a very open and accepting community comprised of people from all walks of life. There's something for everyone at Rutgers, and I can't imagine someone would have a difficult time finding people to associate with. Most students dress very casually for class. Tables in the Busch Campus dining hall tend to be more segregated (the campus has many international students, who generally tend to keep to themselves) but the rest of Rutgers is extremely integrated and diverse. Rutgers students are from all over the globe, but mostly from within the state of New Jersey. Students are politically active, and tend to be left leaning (as with most colleges across the country) Students are generally down-to-earth and not concerned with things such as earning lots of money some day.

I am the co-founder and secretary of the Arabic Cultural Club here at Rutgers University. It seems almost impossible for a student to feel out of place at Rutgers. There are some clubs I never knew previously existed. There is a club or organization to touch the needs, values, and ideas of every type of student no matter who they are. These organizations allow for different types of students to interact. Religious clubs bring those of different races together, while racial clubs may bring those of different religious together. Similar interests bring a widely diverse group of people together. There are so many opportunities to meet those who are different from you, who share a similarity with you. The dining halls are not that of a typical highschool cafeteria. It's always hustling and bustling with everyone there with one thought on their mind, food. Together they can sit and discuss pop culture, politics, school, sports, etc. The conversations and topics are endless.

Diverse, diverse, diverse. It really is impossible to categorize Rutgers students because there really is a mixture of EVERYTHING. That's one of those things that's tough to get at another college since the surrounding area is also really diverse. There are lots of different religious and cultural organizations, but because of that there's kind of a clique-y scene here. There's not as much racial/religious mingling as you'd expect to see at a place like this. I've run into a few politically conservative people here, but they're in the minority for sure. Some students organize small rallies and whatnot for some political or social cause but they tend to annoy people rather than "open their eyes" or whatever. There's still a noticeable New Jersey mentality around here. Everything is fast-paced, and people here just seem busy in general. Otherwise, you'll find every kind of social group imaginable.

The vast majority of students at RU are from New Jersey

Last time I checked, Rutgers was ranked among the top schools (if not at the top) in the category of diversity. White, Black, Asian, LGBT, Indian, Hispanic. Whatever you are, it is here. The groups seem to be rather cliquey, but I am sure that is normal at all schools. The dress code is just like it is everywhere. Most of the dudes where their Abercrombie and Fitch shirts or their Greek letters and most of the chicks where Uggs and those ridiculous huge sunglasses. Obviously not everyone dresses the same, but that is the majority. Joe College and Sarah Sorority. As you can imagine, most of the student body at Rutgers comes from New Jersey. After that, New York sends us it's best and brightest. Since the school is so huge, we do get a lot of different students from different states and countries. Politics at Rutgers is vastly tilted to the left. Come to the school in early April and witness the ever popular Tent State University. This is an annual protest in which students camp out in tents on College Avenue in an effort to raise awareness of God only knows what. It is basically a congregation of hippies trying to change things through peaceful protest. No change has occurred since it's founding in 2003. It has, however spanned an international movement.

Through the Targum I've met with racial and LGBT groups on campus and I've found them doing great work to increase knowledge of their issues on campus. I went to an event on the lack of black male education and an event on whether homosexuality has biological elements. I definitely think different types of students interact because they usually discuss academics. I've made friends with students of different ethnicities through classes. I find that middle class to lower class backgrounds are prevalent. Everyone I know is worried about money and paying off college loans. I think students are politically aware, but not active. Most of the Eagleton political events have few student attendees. I am the only one in my group of friends that is up to date on the political primaries, unfortunately. Honestly, I think that students do not have enough time to devote to politics.

There are nothing but Asians and Indians. I have to be honest. I suppose that the white people, and African-Americans probably feel awkward. More awkward than usual. I feel like sweats are prominent in class. Different types of students have no choice but to interact. People need interaction for survival. One is mainly comprised of Asians and Indians, the other of generally drug-addicted people, the other of 'valley'-esq girls, and the fourth is a combination of all of these. Most Rutgers students come from Jersey. This is why I love the people. I feel as though none of us really have any money. Then there's always that one rare person who has something close to a million sitting underneath their mattress. The kids who aren't science majors specifically try to avoid talking about how much they'll earn one day. Because they won't earn much, realistically speaking.

Rutgers is a very multicultural University. It is definetly somewhat interesting because many students have come from highschool backgrounds that subjected them to multiple cultures and there are also many other students who grew up in towns that were not very diverse at all. That means that some students come to Rutgers and are shocked by the multicultural aspects and that there are other students who are not even remotely phased by the wide array of cultures within the student body. With an extensive multicultural aspect, brings a wide array of EVERYTHING. Whether its the vast spectrum of political beliefs, cultures, religions, music tastes, etc. there is something for everyone at Rutgers. The school may be huge, but your niche is there, it just requires some social digging and searching.