Rutgers University

Awesome! Best degree granting institution on the East Coast.

Well, since this address is on the College Avenue Campus, I’ll focus the review on this area only.
This is a very lively part of Rutgers. Numerous shops, bars, and eateries (including Thomas’s Ice Cream Shop — reviewed separately) are situated in this general area. You can even find some food trucks here too. This is also where the Barnes and Noble Store (reviewed separately) is located. The New Brunswick Train Station is close by too.
Various housing facilities are available here too. Most of the buildings on this campus looked good (either historical or modern). The buildings contained either housing units or classrooms. There was always a lot of activity going on here, which was great.
The College Ave. Student Center is a place where students can relax, hang out, or even study. Just like the other student centers, they have various offices, and rooms for events and more. They do have a Spirit shop for snacks, Rutgers clothing and academic essentials. Food-​wise, they do have a Wendy’s, Subway, Au Bön Pain, a pizza café, a place where burritos are made, and a restaurant where gyros are served. Usually, my friend and I would chill there, but we had no time during our most recent experience.
During our recent experiences, I assisted my friend in locating his classes on this nice campus. At least now he knows where to go! We did notice that they were constructing some new buildings. We wondered whether or not classes would be held there. But that makes no difference to us since he’s graduating by January, and I already graduated. After the locating, we simply hung out at Thomas’s.
I take away one star because of the parking. The credit card meters charge $ 1.50 per hour. Really?! This isn’t a beach town, so why charge students, alumni, and everybody else so much? Well, it is what it is.
We didn’t have time to snap some photos of this campus since we were pretty occupied with class locating and ice cream. Overall, I’m a fan of this campus. This alumni will be back again only if a certain occasion exists.
RU! (’13)

Oh, man RUTGERS!!! It’s been a year since I graduated and I miss it so much. As I’m sitting in my cubicle, I feel so nostalgic just remembering my undergrad years. Now I know why people say that your college years are the best years of your life.
To those students who are deciding to whether or not attend RU. Here are the reasons why I love RU and why you will too:
1. Yes it’s a huge school — (number one reason why people say they don’t want to go here) BUT seriously once you attend, you realize it doesn’t feel like you’re lost in an abyss. You seriously have best of both worlds. You will have the small community (it naturally happens) since you’ll start knowing everyone in your campus/​major/​roommates AND you’ll have the big school feel by taking classes on other campuses or going out. You have a bus system which takes you all over with multiple bus stops in each campus. I lived on Busch all my time at RU since all my classes/​part time job were there but then I also went to College Ave a lot to go out. I love that I could have the college party experience on weekends but then go back to somewhere a bit more chill to study.
2. So much diversity! I’ve met so many people of so many different backgrounds whether it be their personality/​ethnicity/​perspectives — which means there’s a place for everyone! So many organizations/​clubs because of this reason.
3. Academics + Departments — I was an electrical and comp. engineering major so I can tell you that the engineering department is great — all the Deans are so welcoming and helpful. Note that this is a Research University so professors have not only teaching as their prime concern but their research as well so expect to teach yourself. The Professors/​TAs also hold office hours + there are tutoring centers in all campuses for you. I also took some women & gender studies/​political science classes and it was a good change. I love the fact that I had options each semester.
4. Housing is awesome — I lived on campus all of my undergrad years and I loved it. Yeah some dorms are crappy — but to be honest none of that matters. The fact that you have everyone around your age living around you is the best part.
5. Job hunting — career fairs are your best friend. Many companies come to RU to hire interns/​full time so it can be very easy to get a job.
6. Gym/​rec classes — if you get the flex pass you can go to different classes like kick boxing, zumba, etc. + you have the standard gyms.
Tips to the prospective student:
GO OUT — meet people from the dorms + halls/​bus/​classes. Just talk to everyone, you’ll be surprised how many people just want to talk to you.
Also don’t get excited at the dining hall and eat too much (this is highly inevitable so Idk why I would even try to persuade you) because you’ll get fat — trust me! Freshman 15? Yes definitely happens.
If you’re an engineering major — go to OSD (Office of Student Development)! It will be your family away from home.
Have fun! Study and go out on weekends! Enjoy this time at RU because the real world is not like that — it’ll probably be the only years of your life that you can live with everyone your age, make your own schedule, and have so much freedom.
About each Campus:
1. Douglass campus — aka the «country» — womens studies — poli sci classes
2. College Ave — aka Party campus — frat houses, bars, restaurants
3. Busch Campus — aka Busch — Science, engineering, pharmacy — greenery — calm — best dining hall (although Livi is pretty good)
4. Livingston Campus aka Livi– (used to be crappy but now it got renovated) — best apartments — top notch dining hall
Bottomline: GO RU!!!

Repping my alma mater.
College Ave. has all the fraternity houses, restaurants, different dorms, and a lot of class room buildings.

I studied at Rutgers and I definitely consider myself to be a College Ave-​r. Everyone has their favorite campus and College Ave was my favorite. There are so many restaurants, bars, study areas and affordable fast food places to visit. There is also a Starbucks, Chipotle and a ⁷⁄₁₁ on George Street. Everyone comes to this campus to pick up a fat sandwich or get a drink at Stuff Yer Face.

Definitely my favorite campus at Rutgers. This campus is very tiny compared to the others but it has life. There is always something going on this campus: fundraisers, events, walks, and many more.
Many restaurants and bars are located a block or two down from college avenue. Due to this, there is a huge night life on this campus. This campus is also right next to the train station and a bus stop. You can use this to get to New York or Trenton. Whatever suits your fancy.
I would say the only con would be that there is construction going on and it can get a bit inconvenient. Some sidewalks are blocked currently and sometimes bus routes are changed. Even with all these issues, I still love this campus.

Rutgers Oh Rutgers!!! What can I say about this place? It was home, a haven from… well… life. And a source of serious financial debt that still haunts me years after I have left its low cobblestone walls and academic halls for that battle with life that we all initially dread. I escaped my frolicking days without a sexually transmitted disease, but I’m still carrying a scholastically transacted debt. School is a debt that is «worth it» though. Something I tell my own students. I went for the undergraduate and graduate experience thanks to loans.
Stayed on campus the first two years at Livingston Campus. The «Black» campus. Worked in the library there, and as campus security there, and I also volunteered for the concert organization. All of which provided some cherished memories. I was also part of the student government, and even attempted to start my own paper. I remember stealing trays to go sledding, having my own corner room in the Towers, meeting bands [Living Color, Rage Against The Machine, Cyprus Hill] and lunch dates in the cafeteria.
Spent the summers there as well: volleyball on College Avenue, working at the College Avenue dining hall.
And then it was Guilden Street. Sharing a house with six other guys like a mini fraternity complete with a finished bar and pool room in the basement. Finished up my undergraduate there. Noise violation tickets, hopping from house to house, and booze.
From there it was a plethora of domiciles. Finished graduate school and off to NYC to battle the Beast.
Academics at Rutgers is mixed bag. They let some really good writers go. They could beef up the ethnic and cultural studies. But I’ve had some interesting experiences on the undergrad level. Made lots of lifelong connections.

I went here, so I’m a bit biased — but nowadays let me rant. You can get a pretty darn good education for less than $ 10K a year (in-​state tuition) — add in a few scholarships here and there, and it’s really not a bad way to spend four years around young, beautiful, curious minded people. I have so many friends who went to $ 30K/​year private schools with $ 50K — $ 100K in debt, which sucks. When you get accepted into a fancy name school, no one tells you that you’ll spend the next twenty years of your life paying off that debt… so please, unless you’re going to Harvard or somewhere truly significant, stick with Rutgers.

There are only 2 Universities in NJ. Princeton and Rutgers (New Brunwick).
Well, only 2 that matter. Go RU!
Phi Sigma Kappa… for life.
That’s wassup.

Rutgers University is the best college on the east coast (in my completely biased and nostalga-​focused opinion). All bias aside, it’s definitely not a perfect school for plenty of reasons that I don’t feel like listing. But it’s still amazing. There was so much diversity and so many students that each semester I always met new people and learned about new cultures. By the time I graduated, I had such an eclectic group of friends. I loved it! Yes, the classes were huge (I almost never had a class less than 150 students) but I liked that. Accountability was put on the students to learn. If anyone needed extra assistance with the coursework, professors were always available after lectures. There are a lot of campuses and each one had its own vibe, which was also a plus. I wouldn’t change anything from my college experience and I recommend Rutgers to anyone applying to colleges!

Business must be slow for Rutgers since they keep cluttering up my office mailbox with their futile attempts to persuade me to enroll. I find their tactics to be offensive and annoying. Killing trees and taking up peoples’ time and space is not a polite thing to do.

So…
I would say my college experience at Rutgers was both an enlightening and alienating experience. I suppose it would be easier to leave it at that, but being the way I am, I need some type of explanation as to why it all went sour. Putting aside my own inexperience, I would like to offer you a sample of why Rutgers failed me as a student.
1) Too many campuses: When I went there, the numerous factions at Rutgers were obvious: Rutgers was the frat boy campus, Busch was the nerdy engineering spot; Livingston was the ghetto, filled with plenty of baggy pants wearing «opportunity» students (Don Imus was NOT off in his assessment); Douglass was the bull-​dyke college; and Cook was… well, insert whatever tool into whatever orifice of whichever farm animal you choose, and you’ll get my drift.
2) Run-​down buildings – I stayed in one dorm that was from the 30’s. Had charm to it, but we weren’t even hooked up to cable (this was the late 90’s). The River dorms perpetually smelled of backed-​up sewage, and there were always clouds of gnats hovering around in the spring. Cheap equipment in the classrooms which the professors could never figure out, and tech support took forever.
3) Too many graduate students «teaching courses” – I was happy with most of the faculty I dealt with. The rest were essentially student-​taught, and it was a mixed bag. You either had someone who didn’t give two shits about learning, or you got one that was training the future Nobel Prize winners. And then there were teachers who clearly had his favorites, which essentially fucked you out of the 3 or 4 A’s the teacher was allowed to give out per semester. You see, there was (and probably still is) a curve in classrooms. Fail everyone and it looks bad. Give everyone A’s, it looks equally as bad. So you give 5 of your «brightest» the top grade and work your way down. Pretty fair grading policy… not
4) Student body – Mostly composed of people spending mommy and daddy’s money on beer and condoms, perpetually getting wasted in hopes of having some random sexual encounter. Instead, puking on the floors, pissing on toilet paper rolls, and taking creamy dumps in shower stalls. This occurred regularly in every dorm; and the poor maintenance people had to clean it up. How is this preparing young people for the world, when they’re not even made to pick up after themselves?
And, number 5, the 2 ton elephant in the room:
Rutgers Football – Originally brought in to generate revenue, it has turned into the emblem of mismatched stupidity. An academic institution pushing Big East Sports in order to bring in the future poets, engineers and lawyers? What it attracts are the same type of people mentioned in number 4: Drunk-​ass jocks that riot when their «team» loses.
On one level I can see Big East Sports as a way for a state university – in an age of academic atrophy – to survive. But passing themselves off an institute of higher learning while pumping millions into a football team composed of people who aren’t even students? Please. Every time I pass that monstrosity of a stadium on River Road I want to projectile vomit.
So, you get a sampling of my Rutgers experience. On one hand I felt I had a decent education with the best the faculty provided. On the other hand, I’m forced to pull out huge of chunks of hair when I think about how mismanaged that place is, and how much better it could be.
Should you go to Rutgers? Re-​read my review and decide your priorities. Then haul-​ass elsewhere.

College is the best time of most people’s lives. Everyone is young, happy, beautiful, irresponsible. Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll is all around you; parents and teachers aren’t. Life is full of possibility. No one really expects anything of you — no one that is anywhere near you, at least.
I was walking around Rutgers earlier today, actually. I was struggling with my life of responsibility and adulthood in a big way, and… maybe it was fate, but there I was, walking around Rutgers on the second day of Fall classes. I escaped prison and found myself in paradise. It was bright. Really bright, sunny, a little disorienting. But I saw what I saw, and now I’m all nostalgic.
Seven years ago, I was a Freshman at Rutgers. I didn’t see it as the paradise it really was, quite yet. Actually, I felt anxious everywhere I went. I had freedom, but no clue what to do with all of it. If only I could go back in time, relive it all again… I would do so much differently. I might even be cool, the second time around.
Is college worth the money? Depends. Do you like cheap, greasy food, hot girls, and learning about whatever you feel like learning about? I could be wrong, but maybe paying off your college loans for the rest of your life is actually worth it in the long run.

I would love to give this school five stars but that would just be deception to future college attendees. The financial aid here is ridiculous, and the people working there even more so. The financial aid is only given to those whose family income is close to none, and consideration for those in the middle class is non existent. Getting placed into classes that are your first choice is such a nuisance, and the teachers are usually inept as well. There is a blind eye towards cheating in many classes, and rewards are most certainly given to those who are skilled at deceiving. The location is near an unsafe area where crime alerts are frequent. In addition, the buildings are atrocious. Livingston apartments is the only nice living situation, but it is extremely expensive. The only saving grace for this school is the diversity of people I have met and the friends I have made.

I am a undergraduate senior at Rutgers right now, and I must say, New Jersey residents don’t give this university enough credit. Rutgers is a well respected school, both nationally and internationally. Yes, it’s a state school. It’s not as selective as an Ivy League, but that doesn’t mean the academics and research suffer as a result.
Programs such as Computer Science, Pharmacy, Engineering, Business and Philosophy are highly ranked compared to other schools. For the price you’re paying, it’s well worth it. If you’re worried about getting a job in this tough economy, I can say that a good 85% of my friends have jobs. The other 15% either applied for graduate school, staying an extra semester to complete another major/​minor or just plain didn’t apply to any positions.
Rutgers is under new management now, and is undergoing some major changes in the next couple of years. I am on the strategic planning committee to help drive some of the changes, and I can safely say that the experience here is only going to get better. New dorms, facilities and shops are being built on campus to enhance both the academic and social experience for students, faculty, staff and visitors.

Incredibly smart school, respected internationally — best in class, five star faculty, intellectually challenging environment with a traditional ivy atmosphere. Old Queens was established in 1766 by way of a Royal Charter. Rutgers is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning and one of the world’s premier research universities.

I love my alma mater… though it has gone through some tremendous changes over the past decade: new buildings, completely rerouting the River Road/​Rt. 18 area, consolidating the colleges into a single administrative/​academic institution… it is enough to drive a student or an alum a bit crazy. However, through all of the upheaval I’ve never forgotten about the great times I had as a student.
I worked in Higher Ed. for over 11 years before changing careers and the one thing that always annoyed me was hearing students complain about their college. You know what, college is what you make of it… you don’t want to get involved, you don’t like your classes or your professors, you aren’t making friends, you’re getting cappy grades… it isn’t the college’s fault, it’s yours. I took advantage of a minuscule amount of opportunities at Rutgers (compared to what was offered) and it was the three of the best years of my life (I transferred in after getting a year done while in the service).
There is so much history, so much to do, you have so many options for a major, and there are TONS of activities and student orgs to join. I honestly never wanted to go to Rutgers since I grew up in Piscataway, but I’m so glad I chose to attend rather than my other options.
Having grown up around the fun of Rutgers Football (and now Field Hockey), both my kids now want to go there… and to be honest, you can get every bit as good an education at Rutgers as any Ivy League school… IF you are willing to put in the effort. Will I actually SEND them to Rutgers? We’ve got a few years before we have to m are that decision, but if that IS the decision I will be proud to bring them to the banks of the ol’ Raritan my friends…

Having been a 17 year New Jersey resident (now a PA one), Rutgers has a special place in my heart. The university itself is not out-​of-​this-​world amazing — but don’t take that to mean that it is bad by any means.
Many friends of mine have attended (or transferred) to this place, and some of the programs are really great. The PharmD (6 Year) is very exclusive, as are some of the Engineering ones. Most programs within the regular college are not too difficult to get into, and tuition for in-​state residents is heavily subsidized.
The campuses are beautiful, and the residence halls aren’t bad either. Obviously, recent incidents of national proportions (**cough**webcams**cough**) have moved Rutgers into somewhat of a limelight, but as is rather obvious, don’t let one incident mar the reputation of a classic institution such as Rutgers.

I have had the privilege of attending Rutgers as an undergrad student and now as a master’s student. Just like any other University or College, you will run into professors that are quite horrible, but I can honestly say I had some really great and inspirational professors.
The campuses are beautiful and there is so much history to this University. The Livingston Campus is currently going through some renovations. The student center at Livingston looks amazing now.
There is hundreds if not thousands of organizations that one can join while attending Rutgers. Rutgers offers many opportunities for those seeking internships or studying abroad. Go RU! =)

This is awesome, we can rate the big RU! I know some will (if not already) mention the infamous RU SCREW… but it was every dollar I pay of interest on my loans. Best 4 years of my life, and I would have voluntarily been a Super Senior just to soak it up 1 more year.
1) Diversity
2) Fun
3) Great Education (variable depending on department)
4) Overall, well-​balanced
You make of it the experience you wish to have. Fully immerse for the best experience possible, and as always be positive.