<p>It seems that my son has gotten his first "fat envelope" (actually, in this information age, it was an e-mail) congratulating him on his acceptance to Rutgers University. He was accepted at both Rutgers College and Rutgers-Livingston (both in New Brunswick). Of course, when he applied, he had not researched which would be best for him, so he applied to both campuses which had arts and sciences. He has applied to 8 other schools (both large and small), so he will make his final decision a bit later on. We would love feedback from anyone who knows anything about each of these campuses.
No Rutgers-bashing, please. Constructive criticism/praise is fine.</p>
<p>Livingston is considered the Siberia of RU. RC is the most desirable campus.</p>
<p>bxian,
Congratulations, Rutgers is a great school! There are definite differences in personality and "vibe" of the difference schools. Rutgers College is the original colonial college (1766) (originally all-male, gender integrated in 1970) and the main (College Avenue) campus has the old classic college buildings, quads and greens where the humanity classrooms, student center, and some of the dorms are. The science campus (Busch) is across the Raritan River (Shuttle bus) on the "Heights" near the football and soccer and lacrosse stadiums. There are other dorms there as well. Rutgers College is widely considered the most prestigious of the college units and generally speaking gets the better students. Although students in the other college units may disagree, it is a reality and this has caused a concern in administration to the point where the University has made the recent bold proposal to do away with the different college units academically and have a single admissions process. This has caused much angst in the college units in large part because it would end the separate women's college (Douglass), one of the few remaining all-women's colleges in the country. But also because of concern that the blending of the college admission standards will result in a reduction in the quality of students at the flagship college (Rutgers College) rather than bringing up the standards overall. The Administration counters that concern with a proposal for more money in merit scholarships and other incentives for high-end students to apply to Rutgers. Its not clear at this point how it will all come out but if the hypothesis is tested it really is unclear to me what the outcome will be: raising the standards of the kids who choose to go to Douglass, Cook (Ag school) and Livingston or lower the standards of the kids who go to Rutgers College. In the end it may not have any effect if the prestige factor is unchanged and the better accepted kids still choose to go to the Rutgers College campus.
Livingston College was founded in the 60s out of the tremendous growth in social awareness between the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War. Its strength was originally in the social and urban programs. I think that is still its strength but it also has a more intimate liberal arts college feel compared to the other colleges. As barrons suggests, it IS more isolated from the other campuses (its up on the Heights across the river but separate from the Busch campus but near the basketball arena). Thats not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what the student likes. It is clearly more separate and isolated but by the same token more intimate. You need to visit to really get a feel for the differences and what appeals to your son.<br>
Also, keep in mind that a student from any college can take any class at any other college. So it comes down to where you want to take most of your classes and which college you come to identify yourself with.
What other places is your son hoping to get into or comparing to Rutgers?</p>
<p>A mix of large state schools and LACs: Rutgers, Indiana, Pitt, Penn State, Towson; Dickinson; Union; Fairfield; Ursinus. Denison and Eckerd were on the list until the Rutgers acceptance came in and he decided to pare down the list a little.
I am glad to hear you say good things about Rutgers. We're in-state, so a lot of kids Rutgers-bash. However, all the kids who we know that actually attend Rutgers like it there. I have always had a strong LAC bias (spent 4 of the happiest years of my life at one of the LACs on his list). However, there are things he liked about the LACs and things he liked about the larger schools.</p>