Rider University

Preface Note: This is my experience after two years. This is my own personal opinion and may not reflect your viewpoint of groups and certainly may not reflect your own personal experience. My words are not dogma but merely opinion. Please take it with a grain of salt and use your own judgment.

As I approach graduation soon, despite meeting some really good people and having my good days here, I have to be totally honest about this school. It's a hit or a miss. Like a coin that flips heads or tails depending on the day and who flips it.

As for the campus itself, it's nicely done and decorated, but the people are a hit or miss. There's plenty of friendly faces but also a healthy amount of snobs. This is a predominantly white female campus, so if you're male, non-white, non-heterosexual (or any combination), be prepared to sit in classes and watch the faculty worship the Ugg boot-clad, scrunchie wearing, latte chugging, cell-phone yammering, Daddy's SUV driving, whiny, spoiled little girls that populate most of this campus. Some of these girls are well mannered and nice but a lot of them are unbearable. The diversity here is 'alright'. It's pretty gay tolerant (meaning people won't bother you if you're gay), though most people stay in their respective racial and social groups. Even the nerds (a.k.a 'Fireside Kids') are arrogant and rude. Fortunately there's a minority of nice people of all races, genders, and orientations (including said majority) that make this place worthwhile, but you really have to be patient and sift through them.

As for the academics, again it's a hit or miss. Some 100 level teachers act like it's a 300, 400 level course. Many teachers there are not suitable for teaching. It's like the people, you have to read through reviews (ratemyprofessor helps!) and peel the layers to find the good handful of teachers around.

My major had mostly snotty types in my classes. As an ethnic and sexual minority male I was reminded of my place among the Rider hierarchy the first week I moved on campus (eyerolls, upturned noses and all). Most classes and their discussions are mini social clubs for the ruling student majority to whine and gossip while everyone (teachers included!) is either a supportive accessory (then they like you) or keeps to themselves (then they hate you). And remember their opinion is the one that counts in class discussions and anything else here. Especially in the English field.

The dorms themselves are okay. I stayed in Gee Hall my first year, and the bathrooms were dirty and the guys in my hall were loud. Olson Hall thankfully was a much different story. Clean bathrooms and noise levels are enforced. The beds are uncomfortable but the rooms are spacious and have just enough for you to put your things.

The food here is pretty disgusting. The main dining hall, Daly's, serves the same crap over and over again (Mongolian again? Seriously?). Unfortunately it's also the only place where the workers are semi-decent and it's free for those who dorm. Cranberry's is one of the two eateries, but you either have to use Bronc Bucks or pay out of pocket, and it's pretty expensive The food from Cranberry's is good, but the cashiers are awful. The Bronc Diner is the other available place to eat. The food is alright (very greasy) but most of the people that work there are extremely rude. I get that its a dead-end job and it's laborious work but seriously, our paycheck is going to these people. The least they can provide is good service and be respectful. There's also a Starbucks, who has a nice manager. Depending on what time of the day and who's serving, you either get really nice workers or really rude, ghetto servers. I've even seen one that was constantly on her cell phone while helping customers my first year! Aramark has relatively low hiring requirements apparently. Most of us are taking out student loans and shelling out a lot of money for this school and its expenses, the least they can do is hire competent workers that don't have a ghetto attitude or chip on their shoulder. Or at least train them to keep it to themselves. But I blame poor management as well as Rider's negligence to ensure its students are treated like paying students and not crap.

In a nutshell-
Positive
-some really good folk here
-mostly safe campus, few hoodrats or troublemakers
-there's a Starbucks (and half of the workers, the nice ones)
-beautiful environment
-close to Philly and most of Central NJ (easy location)
Negative
-the majority demographic (snotty, rude, stuck up, whiny, irritating0
-many of the workers are incredibly rude and ghetto
-expensive
-dorms lack air conditioning in the summer
-some of the professors are a waste