Student Profile
Thom
- Class: Junior
- Major: Journalism
- Gender: M
- High School: West Windsor Plainsboro Highschool South
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
Overall, Rutgers is a pretty decent University. I feel that I have a decent amount of fun here and that I'm getting an enriching education. However, thats not to say that I wouldn't change several things about the school. In high school, when i first told my fellow graduating class mates that I was going to be attending Rutgers, it was kind of frowned upon to a certain extent. "Oh, so you're staying home for the most part? Not going/doing anything exciting for the next four years?" was the most common response I would receive when telling friends that I was, in fact, staying in Jersey for my college career. However, i have found that what lacks in adventure category has certainly been made up in the convenience one. The NJ transit ride to get too and from school and home is a mere 12 minutes, making it very easy for me to rush home if I have a need for any supplies, rent checks, or emergency family issues. But all proximity qualms and compliments aside, the school still has a few issues which have never sit well with me. The school is too big. It's not that there are too many students, but that it is literally and physically too large. The five plus campuses that make up Rutgers University are too spread out amongst the towns of New Brunswick and Piscataway. The school has a very divided sense and lack of unity considering the only thing that really connects its give campuses is the highway of route 18. This almost gives the university a Disney World type feel, reminding us that the path from MGM to Epicot is not too different from the path to Busch Campus from College Avenue Campus. Considering this division, it makes the school have a much larger feel. If you meet someone on Busch Campus and you live on Livingston, it is possible you will never bump into or see them again. The amount of people is a good thing, but everyone being separate is not.
Academic Life
When you first arrive to RU as a freshman, professors most certainly do not know your name. This is because the chance of you being in a class with 400 other names is more than likely. Introduction courses are frequently held in massive lecture halls with many many other students. I personally never found this to be either a particularly good or bad thing but it does tend to discourage some students from speaking up or asking questions amongst so many peers. As classes get more specific to one's major they get much smaller, more interesting, and more engaging.
Student Body
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.
The Best Things
The price you pay for the quality of degree
The Worst Things
Its lack of unification amongst campuses
