Rutgers University - New Brunswick

Date: Jul 11 2003
Major: Computer Science (This Major's Salary over time)
New Brunswick is a huge campus. Douglass is the most beautiful campus but has mediocre to bad food. Busch is very plain and boring, but has the best food. These two campuses are 1/2 hour away by bus, so if you're doing something with pharmacy/engineering, don't live on Douglass. Livingston is a plain but nice campus. College Ave is a nice campus and seems to have the most going on, but the dining hall there is TERRIBLE. However, every campus has many events going on for students' interests, and as a benefit of being such a big university, there really is something for everyone. It's a disappointment that on weekends about 25% to 50% of the students disappear, but what these people don't realize is that there is always something to do oraganized by the students besides going to frat parties.

I've met many students and have found them to be, in general, friendly and reasonably open-minded. Most of the students are average to bright, and you can see many go-getter types who are organizing events and activities on campus. There are all different types of people there and one can find just about any ethnicity anywhere in the school. I admit there are some cliques but those are at any university and the school is big enough to avoid them or find your own. However, the students I have met, no matter what enthnicity, will open up to you once you show some interest.

Rutgers is very cold in the winter, especially when waiting outside for the bus. The bus system is not always punctual and is always overcrowded in the 20 minutes between periods but relatively empty in times besides those. Therefore I would not recommend scheduling classes back to back on different campuses because unless you like being squished on a bus in traffic. Traffic gets really bad around rush hour and can often take 45 minutes to get from College Ave to Douglass on the bus (it usually takes 15 minutes on an open road). The buses tend to waste a lot of time unless you know how to take advantage of them (i.e. studying on the bus). If you have classes on all differnet campuses you might end up spending lots of time at student centers. Most of them have quiet areas and comfortable chairs.

All of my professors have been helpful. In the case of large lectures, the professors usually won't know your name unless you introduce yourself. Office hours are usually very helpful to clarify the material from lectures, and professors usually can help you a lot more there than in lectures. In terms of class size, I've had more small classes (15-60 students) than large classes (60+ students).

The libraries are huge and very helpful for research; they seem to cater to the students. There are usually two computer labs on every campus and each one offers free printing, so there is really no need to have a printer. The network connection in the dorm rooms is amazingly fast, and the cable tv is great for the few times I've watched it (there's so much else going on, there's really not much time).

The other facilities are nice and maintained. The gyms are very modern and have free or cheap exercise programs. There's even an indoor tennis court and a rock climbing wall, though I have yet to use them.

Classes are usually closed out right after registration begins, but I've never had a problem getting into a class by asking the teacher for a special permission number. The one drawback about classes is that there seems to be a current lack in options; there are hundreds of classes to choose from in the coursebook, but when you look at the online schedule of classes, more than half of them seem to not even be offered. This is discouraging and ends up causing much frustration when trying to make a good schedule.

Overall, Rutgers tends to be the land of opportunity and options. There's really something for everyone, and that's why it's great to be at such a huge campus. The cost is very reasonable, and the dorms are reasonably maintained. I've never felt like just another number at Rutgers because I've gotten to know many students and professors. I feel like I'm at a place where people care about me and what I do, and I really like it despite the drawbacks. Rutgers was not my first pick; it was my safety school. However, I'm really glad I go there because I did not realize the opportunity I was given.