Rutgers University - New Brunswick

Date: Sep 13 2011
Major: Sociology (This Major's Salary over time)
For many years, most kids from New Jersey have considered Rutgers to be a safety school. However, over the past 5 years or so, I have noticed kids have started seeing the school as one of their main choices. Rutgers was my safety school when I applied (I wanted to go to school in Boston), but money was tight and my father (an alumnus) convinced me to go.

I started at Rutgers back in 2000, but left after 2 years to pursue an opportunity I couldn't pass up. After a 7 year break, I decided to finish up my degree. Between when I was first at the university and now, there have definitely been a lot of positive changes to the school. One huge change is that there is now one undergraduate school, the School of Arts and Sciences, which was something the university needed to do. Before the change, it was a nightmare for some students dealing with different requirements for different colleges (part of the RU screw you may have heard about). Another positive change is the fact that, despite state budget cuts, Rutgers has been trying to invest in and modernize the campuses, most notably Livingston campus (it was in serious need of a makeover).

Some other positives:

I was a Sociology major (originally IT) and minored in Psychology and Music. For the most part, all of my professors were as helpful as they could be even in large classes; most psychology classes are between 100-400 people. However, you have to make yourself known to your professors in large classes. Every professor I had in the Sociology and Music departments were really helpful, sociable, interesting, and challenged the class. The bottom line is that in a big school, your learning experience will be based on how much you care to put into a class.

The dining hall food is pretty solid. Livingston just finished an amazing new dining hall and Busch also has a great facility.

New Brunswick has plenty of great, unique little spots to grab food and it seems to only be growing. There have been some projects to revitalize the city.

You're a train ride away from NYC, Princeton, or Philly if you want to get away.

Our sports teams have had their ups and downs, but tailgating is always fun at games.

There are TONS of clubs for so many different things you can become a part of.

It's a research university, so you shouldn't have any problems finding good libraries to go to.

Negatives:

While there has been some revitalization of the campuses, the school is still far off from the beauty of many other public colleges (let alone private) that I've visited (ie. UNC, UCal-Berkeley, Colorado-Boulder). I think a big part of this could be that the alumni giving rate is probably pretty low and state funding isn't what it used to be. Don't get me wrong, it's not HORRIBLE by any means, but it's definitely no Princeton or Duke.

Being that it's a large school it may be difficult for some people to get accustomed to. All of the resources are at your disposal, but you have to go out of your way to find/use them.

It's still a somewhat dangerous city at night (although it has been imporving). Never go around downtown by yourself late at night.

Overall, my experience at Rutgers has been pretty great and I've made some amazing lifelong friendships. While the school may not be everything you dreamed about, it is continuously improving, has a great academic reputation, and plenty of opportunities to excel. In my honest opinion, if you're from New Jersey it really makes sense to go here. You will pay 1/3rd to 1/4th the cost of any other school you apply to (unless you get a big enough scholarship). It's a good time and you won't be in loads of debt. Save your money for the "big name" grad school.