Hi guys,
I changed my major to civil engineering recently . I’m currently a student in WPU. I have gotten accepted into NJIT honors college and Rutgers. NJIT honors college pays my housing and Also I get financial aid , so basically I don’t need to pay anything, but for Rutgers I only get fianancial aid so I have to pay for my dorm. I know NJIT has for civil engineering program but I am 20. I wanna have some fun before getting too old for it. I really like go to a party school like Rutgers, but I am also worried about my life and school as well. I would appreciate if you could give me any idea. Thanks a lot!
I am a prof at an NJ University similar to WPU (William Patterson, correct?). Aside from $$, the choice will also depend on the courses you have taken at WPU. Rutgers would be somewhat more rigorous than NJIT, and they’re both more rigorous that WPU. If you have a lot of lower level credits, you will end up at more difficult upper level courses at both places right away. If you were at WPU for only a semester or so, then you may have an easier time to transition.
Who would be paying for the Rutgers dorm so that your can party more? Engineering courses at Rutgers are known to be difficult, and you will have to put in extra work because the level will be considerably higher than at WPU.
I probably have to work in order to pay for Rutgers because my parents can’t afford it. I’m not really worried about their program difficulty because I’m one of those students that always study enough to have an A.
I’ve been in William Paterson for 3 semesters.
If you think you can work and go to Rutgers engineering full-time, you are not going to have much time left over for all this fun you’re hoping to have. I assume you have finished all the calculus at WPU. Did you take calculus based physics at WPU as well? That’s the only type that will transfer. You will likely need extra semesters at either university because the engineering program have lots of courses and many of the sequences begin in sophomore year. Look carefully at both universities’ curriculum.
I am sure you are very academically capable. But colleges are still structured as if students are full-time without a significant work obligation. Have you calculated how many hours you will need to work per week so that you can pay for the dorm and other expenses at Rutgers? The NJIT offer would be less stressful on you financially, making you finish up quicker with a better GPA. FWIW, my kid goes to NJIT and likes it a lot.
Thanks for taking time and writing it. I have taken calc 1-2, general chemistry 1 and physics based on calculus1. I’m working in a retail store. I’ll quit by end of January and I think I will have enough money to cover for my spring semester. I hope to get a new job in summer and it will cover expenses for next fall semester. But I still think you right, it can be stressful.
Rutgers Cost of Attendance on campus is roughly $17000 a semester (incl. tuition) . How much financial aid are you getting? Even with a full tuition scholarship and/or grant/aid , you will need around 7K-12K per semester for dorm+food + books etc. What summer job in retail will pay that much , after taxes?
I see a lot of students like you at my university ,that are perfectly capable of the academics, having to drop out because they didn’t calculate the amount that they actually need to stay and finish college.