<p>“I think I might be more academic/intellectual than the average student at Rutgers, but that’s alright.”</p>
<p>Think again, sayin. You’re going to have to study.</p>
<p>Kendallandkaylan, I was unclear with what I meant by the ranking of the Rutgers graduate program. (I am posting this reply under the assumption your comment about hiring Rutgers graduates was aimed at me. If it wasn’t, ignore this post.) The Philosophical Gourmet ranks the faculty of universities as well as the strength of their graduate programs. The Rutgers philosophy professors are extremely accomplished in their field, but some of these professors are so popular that you won’t necessarily be able to take a course with them. Instead, you may take a course with a graduate student. But this is not a problem because the graduate students in the philosophy program are strong philosophers, and this is what/why I mentioned the strength of the Rutgers philosophy graduate program.</p>
<p>Sorry to butt in, but this thread is really interesting. I’m a high school senior in NJ, and was accepted to Rutgers SAS as well as SEBS for this fall. But it really does have a bad rep around here, that’s for sure. My friends think I’m insane for considering Rutgers over University of Wisconsin-Madison as well as University of Delaware (which I was also accepted to). In the end, do you all think that an education in Biology/Genetics at Rutgers will be able to compare with UWis-Mad and UDel??? I’m really torn…but Rutgers is a lot cheaper than either of those schools. If anyone has any thoughts, I’d really love some advice.</p>
<p>I dont’ know about the rep for other things, but the undergraduate acting program has one of the top reputations in the country. One thing I have noticed is that that students I have spoken with don’t really claim Rutgers. They just say Mason Gross. :)</p>
<p>Rutgers has an amazing reputation out of state. In state kids just downplay it because “everyone goes there”. I don’t know the reputation of wisconsin but it is definitely at least as good as if not better than udel.</p>
<p>Rutgers is definitely better than UDel. UW-Madison is also a great school. I agree with the statement that Rutgers has a better rep with HS students outside the state than inside, although all the kids I know that go there, even if it wasn’t their top choice love it.</p>
<p>Seems like Rutgers has a pretty solid academic reputation (some depts better than others, as is true almost everywhere), but one of the reasons it gets a bad rap compared to other states’ universities is the unappealing nature of the multi-campus system. Yes, there are nice parts, but schlepping by bus between College Ave., Busch, and Cook-Douglas campuses is time-consuming and extremely unappealing. Not the case at schools like U Delaware, Penn State, Michigan, UNC, etc. And parts of New Brunswick are pretty seedy.</p>
<p>It’s hard to overcome that dream that so many high schoolers (and parents) have of attending college in a beautiful setting, all green quads, walking along tree-lined paths to all your classes, etc. That said: I know several very accomplished kids who are attending Rutgers and absolutely love it, and are glad they are not laying out big bucks out-of-state.</p>
<p>Rutgers has gone downhill over the years, and now with the budget cuts, it has pretty much fallen apart. The pharmacy school is so bad it can’t keep it’s faculty - the average tenure is about 3 years, and many leave sooner. If you have an option, go elsewhere. You’ll have better mentorship and opportunities. Rutgers is just a name - if you go there, you’ll have to do all the work yourself - no one will guide you.</p>
<p>My son just graduated this month from the School of Engineering. He has received excellent guidance from two of his professors and from the Dean. It may be a big university, but you can get personal attention, assistance and care. As a parent, I am very pleased with the education he received at Rutgers.</p>
<p>posts above are completely biased and simply inaccurate. If you complete the readings, put the time in to study, and show up to class, there should be absolutely no reason for failing a class. Most of the professors are passionate about their subject and are willing to help you out during office hours or via email. I’m not sure about the physics or calculus exams since I’m not required to take the former and I’m exempt from the latter but one exam grade should not cause one to fail. Even if there are 3 exams and you get a D on one, just study extremely hard to get a B on the other 2. I currently work two jobs, and commute to Rutgers and I don’t share any of the sentiments of the above poster. When life gets hard, you can’t sit down and cry about it. Rutgers is a school whose goal is to educate a massive amount of students and prepare them to enter the workforce. The professors aren’t here to baby students. Teachers do that at high school and it sets students up for failure once they enter the real world.</p>
<p>The above posts are completely ridiculous. Almost all of the points are atrocious; in this post I will a) refute only some of the points that were made by the above poster, and b) tell you the ups and downs of Rutgers with the most unbiased view possible.</p>
<p>First off, the science classes at Rutgers are challenging, but in a way that promotes learning. They are not hard, they just require studying. Sure some of the larger lecture hall classes (Chem, Bio, Organic Chem) are huge, but others are small. There are many professors who are willing to help; TA’s are also helpful. Other students will certainly help out, the curve is honestly something that is taken into consideration for only one or two courses (Organic is one of them). </p>
<p>The good thing about Rutgers is the rampant research, the passionate professors, and the wonderful resources available (free tutoring, etc.). But there are downside: the flawed bus system, the multi campus system, the intense, difficult required english course for freshmen, and finally the large amount of students (but if one wants the attention, one will most certainly receive it).</p>
<p>Hope this helped.</p>
<p>To the previous poster; why do you say that the bus system is flawed?</p>
<p>The bus system is not flawed. The only downside I can see to it are the cook/douglas buses (because they live far away) and the weekend buses (wait 30 min for a bus).</p>
<p>I think the bus system is the biggest downside. The buses are pretty regular, but they are absolutely jam-packed during peak class hours, like the subways in Japan. People pushing to get on and stuck against the glass.</p>
<p>In good weather they are fairly ontime, but throw in some rain or snow and that slows things down a bit. </p>
<p>Also, the ‘next bus’ system is inconsistent. First it will tell you the next bus is in 11 minutes, then 9, then 20. One time my son waited nearly an hour and a half for a bus from College Ave to C/D. (It was raining and at night.) Meanwhile, next bus was all over the place. </p>
<p>So saying the bus system is ‘flawed’ is pretty tame.</p>
<p>In our family we have 2 generations of RU Alums:
- Dad - CCAS '50
- Sibling - Pharm '83, Wife - Douglass '85 & me Cook '86.</p>
<p>If you believe the bus system is currently flawed, you should have been required to utilize it then. It really was not good back in the 80’s.</p>
<p>New Brunswick has gentrified in the past 25 years. The neighborhoods between C/D and The College Avenue Campus have been challanging for quite a few years.</p>
<p>The infamous RUsty Screw existed prior to my father attending & gradualting from CCAS. It’s part of the school’s culture. Get used to it and deal with it; it happens in adult life. frankly, I learned very quickly in my time to challange the RU Screw and most times the situation resolves itself quickly and painlessly. </p>
<p>To this day, I maintain friendly relationships and annualy see the faculty in my department of study.</p>
<p>Yeah I graduated from Rutgers in the 80s too. My son goes there now. </p>
<p>Taking buses to class is a big part of quality of life at college. People who say the buses are great and ‘no problem’ are doing potential students a disservice. It probably is better than it was in the 80s, but it could use improvement. </p>
<p>Sometimes, the buses are packed when they arrive at your stop: you literally cannot get on, and you will have to wait for the next bus, whenever it may arrive. Or, you could actually make it on the bus, and the driver will ask you to ‘get off’, because it is ‘overcrowded’. Or, you could be let off at a stop along the way, and have to wait for another bus, as a bus is ‘going out of service’. </p>
<p>I don’t know what ‘bus policy’ is, but these are things than have happened in my son’s recent experience.</p>
<p>Comments pro and con on the bus system allow potential students to make an informed decision.</p>
<p>Our son is a 2009 RU grad. He attended Mason Gross.
Yes, the bureaucracy and bus system were challenging at times.
But he also obtained an amazing education at a (somewhat) reasonable cost.
He moved on to grad school and is now happily employed in his field.</p>
<p>He picked up some very useful life skills in navigating a complex environment.
Kinda like life.</p>
<p>I’m a current student and can definitely attest to the buses being overcrowded way too often. Once I got on a B bus after my class on Livi and the bus driver told me that I couldn’t stay on because I was in front of the line. I know it’s a rule and she is just following orders but when the same bus faces the same problem every day and forces students to get off, the problem should be addressed. At times, there are a ridiculous number of LX buses running while you could wait 15 min to see a REXL. Plus, students tend to congregate near the two doors and rarely ever stand near the back of the bus (after you go up the steps). It’s annoying when other kids fail to move and stand over there.</p>
<p>I’m graduating in a semester and I’ve realized rutgers is popular everywhere except in nj. It just joined the big 7 so it’s obviously going to be even more popular now. It’s an awesome party school with easy A classes (I used this app called Essay Editor for all my writing classes lol). Go here to enjoy life. Go to an ivy school to not.</p>
<p>Looks like I sent off the wrong signal when I said flawed bus system. RUalum, you are right to an extent. It is not like Japan LOL, but it can get pretty crowded to the point where you have little space to move. But its not still not bad. When I said flawed, I meant crowded, but not too crowded.</p>