Rutgers University-New Brunswick Top Questions

Rutgers is a great place if you like to be the small fish in a huge bowl. It's a do it yourself school...which for an out of stater...really isn't worth the money. You don't have anything given to you, and no one will help you out...unless you really look. The campus is too spread out...with far too much traffic in between. It can take an hour to get from one class to the other when you rush. Parking is attrocious. I would definately say New Brunswick is a college town...I couldn't imagine the "college town" atmosphere anywhere else. Rutgers Administration is a joke. Full of red tape, nothing gets done...too departmentalized. There is a hell of a lot of school pride...extremely fun athletic events.

I literally have no complaints about Rutgers. This is a safe haven for people who like to destroy stuff everywhere. Freshman year, I caused about 2100 dollars of damage to the quad one tunnels on Livingston, which was later written about in the school newspaper. In addition I have been a chronic marijuana smoker since I was in 11th grade, and on several occasions I was comfortably able to smoke in my room without there being any consequences. Additionally when I was a freshman, on several occasion I TP'd many buildings and smoked weed where I shouldn't have. On probably about 3 occasions I had to run from the police, never being caught. I'm not exactly in the best shape and for me to be able to outrun a police officer from rutgers makes me think this: anybody can get away with absloutely anything. This school is the place that dreams are made of... wet dreams.

Best thing about Rutgers: a very diverse student body. There are enough of us where you can basically always find one or more people that share your study habits or some of your general interests. One thing I'd change: the course registration process. Sometimes the registration web site overloads within the first 30 minutes or so of it being opened up and if you're waiting to sign up for a popular course section, you might get screwed out of it. But I'm not sure what they'd do to fix it, I just know it sucks. School size?: I like it, but it might be too many people for some. I spend most of my time on campus in the apartment. They have nice apartments. College town: New Brunswick has a lot to do, lots of places to eat etc., just don't get caught in the wrong part of town after hours as there is definitely crime. Same for most college towns though. Rutgers admin: Never dealt with them too heavily, so no real opinion. The school is still running so they must be doing something right.

I just love the whole dynamic of Rutgers. I like that it's set in an urban area where public transportation is so close. College ave is blocks from fine dining, shops, and nightlife spots. I enjoy getting to go to a different campus everyday and I think the bus system is terrific. Rutgers and the city of New Brunswick makes for an interesting college experience, one that prepares you and sets you in the real world. Although aspects of this city are very dangerous and neighborhoods may not be very affluent, I feel it's good for students to see that. It's humbling, it makes you keep in mind what you're working towards by earning a college degree, the amount of people you can help. Living close to College Ave I get nervous when I'm walking home from the computer lab at 2 or 3 in the morning. But when I walk by a Rutgers Patrol car it puts my mind a little more at ease. The College Ave area is very well monitored and controlled. The city Rutgers is situated within also creates a wealth of internship opportunities and business connections. I feel there's a really strong sense of Rutgers pride. I love that Rutgers alumni help out undergrads as much as they can. I love that our stadium is painted scarlet with the red shirts of all the screaming Rutgers students and fans during football games. I'll never forget the chaos of rushing the field during the Louisville game. I'm extremely proud to tell people that I go to Rutgers.

I would say the best thing is the diversity here. There are so many different people and things to do. Even though the school is massive, it's very easy to find people to associate with. Sometimes, though, I do feel like another face in the crowd. There are so many students that seem superior or equivalent in their skill sets around you. However, I think it's better to get over this complex before actually entering the real world. There is always going to be someone bigger and better than you. But you can still distinguish yourself and do whatever is in your power to get where you want. At Rutgers, I was able to learn this mentality very quickly. If I would change anything, I would maybe institute a more comprehensive mentoring programs to help freshmen adjust to thinking like this. With so many campuses, there is always a plethora of options on any given night. Personally, I live close to home and work in a pharmacy a couple times a week. There are always interesting speakers and clubs at the various campus centers. Rutgers is also in near vicinity to the New Brunswick Theater district, which has recently hosted bands like Jimmy Eat World and speakers like former President Bill Clinton. Many of the events offer student tickets, catering to us poor, downtrodden students. The food is GREAT. In my opinion, New Jersey pizza in general is better than anywhere else, so you can't ask for much more. Of course there's always the grease trucks if you're really hungry. There has been a lot of noise lately about the considered budget cuts that maybe arriving in the upcoming weeks. With the approved stadium expansion, this has hit many students hard when they hear about a 20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} education cut. While nothing that drastic is expected, my class year already experienced a budget cut our freshmen year. Part of Rutgers' allure is the affordability of education for in-state students. If that changes because of a stadium expansion, something is wrong.

Rutgers is huge. It's divided into 4 or 5 campuses in two cities, divided by a river. I think it's completely normal to take buses to class (yes, sometimes, 2 buses to get to one class). It's easy to get lost among the crowd. You have to assert yourself if you want to get noticed; talk to professors, join a club or three, just get involved.

Rutgers is huge. If you enjoy being an individual among many, then this if your school. If instead you'd prefer smaller classes, then reconsider, especially since the budget cuts last year, almost every class is as full as the classroom allows.

The best thing about Rutgers is sheer amount of opportunity it provides, for people of all majors and backgrounds. The school is small enough to have a close-knit group of friends, (especially if you get involved) but large enough "disappear" if you wish. People out of state tend to give Rutgers more credit, while in-state people usually have a baseless negative attitude towards it. I spend most of my time on campus within my clubs and organizations, along with the many libraries available for studying. The many Rutgers campuses offer many different "college campus feels," from the "college-city" feel of New Brunswick to the small college feel of Cook Campus. The Rutgers administration, unfortunately, is reflective of New Jersey itself in that I do feel there is a significant amount of corruption and disregard for the wellbeing of students. Controversies, however, are not too common. School pride is most evident at the football games, a great and exciting way to show Rutgers pride. I'll always remember the experiences I've had volunteering and participating in student organizations, which are all extremely diverse, which brings up another one of Rutgers' strong points. Diversity at Rutgers is unparalled, where people from around the globe come to study. The most frequent student complaint is probably the buses, which can be annoying at times but generally work very well for the amount of students they have to transport in and around the four New Brunswick campuses.

The best thing about Rutgers is how amazingly huge this campus is. I love the idea that I live in a town of college students. The houses, the apartment buildings, the restaurants are all filled with Rutgers students. It's quite surreal to me actually. Even in my third year here, I constantly find myself at awe that I'm in this world in between previously living at home and eventually entering true adulthood where I'll really be on my own. I think Rutgers provides a nice transition in that sense. Some might say it's too large, but I love the fact that I can meet anyone and everyone here. People usually respond pretty positively when I tell them I attend Rutgers, but I really don't think people really understand how great it is to actually be a student here. People always seem interested in knowing about the parties and coming here for weekends but Rutgers is so much more than that. When I'm on campus, I love spending time at my apartment building, Rockoff Hall. Being that it's the luxury apartment building of Rutgers University, it offers great facilities along with an entire apartment building of great people. I love hanging out with friends and knowing that when it's too cold outside, a party, a nice dinner, or a friendly hangout can only be floors away. Rutgers provides one of the most pride-filled populations I've ever seen. Not only are the students filled with pride, the faculty, and the entire town of New Brunswick as a whole stands behinds Rutgers. Being that our football team has done quite well recently adds to the feeling of pride that you attend Rutgers University.

Rutgers is a BIG school, and not just in terms of student population. There are really four separate campuses, and you have to take a bus to each. Taking the bus is predictably lame since their usually crowded and some have to drive through the heart of route 18 traffic. The Busch and Livingston campuses are sort of on the New Brunswick outskirts in a town called Piscataway. The Cook/Douglass Campus is technically part of New Brunswick, but also has some farm land to give it a more laid back feel. The College Ave. campus is really where it all goes down, and it's pretty much the heart of Rutgers. Each campus has dorms and academic buildings, but College Ave. is home to most of the really important administrative stuff--but most importantly, the bars, house parties, and restaurants are all within walking distance. New Brunswick itself is actually pretty sweet. I here a lot of people talk about how ghetto it is, but it's improved big time in the past ten years or so. There's the occasional mugging off-campus but otherwise I'd say it's pretty safe. There are tons of bars and pizza places that are open ridiculously late. Plus, there's always Grease Trucks, which is a collection of trailers that serve up "fat sandwiches." Basically, they pile anything (cheesesteak, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, fries, etc) all onto a bun. It's cool at first, but the novelty wore off after a semester or so.