Rutgers Social Life and Whatnot

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rutgers University
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<p>soo..I've noticed that this entire board is full of threads about chances for acceptance, sat scores, general admission logistics, the one thread about safety, but does anyone want to talk about anything other than academics? ie dorm life, greek life, weekends, the classes themselves, gen. demographic, etc.</p>

<p>I just figured since a lot of people are receiving acceptance notifications (and for those of you who haven't, I'm sorry!) right about now, it'd be good to talk about these kind of things. There's a lot other than academia to be considered when deciding on a college.</p>

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<p>Well, what do you want to know?</p>

<p>It's a huge, diverse school, and there's something for everyone IMO.</p>

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<p>haha no, I meant I go to rutgers and I have answers for people who have questions. I guess I should have made that more clear.</p>

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<p>I come from a fairly intellectual household. Would I not fit in at Rutgers? (I would be in the honors program). If you're in departmental honors classes, are the classes smaller/more difficult? Is it depressing to go to a safety school if you were a high achiever in high school or do you just find your own clique and get in good classes?</p>

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<p>How are the dorms quality-wise? Is New Brunswick itself a good hang-out or is it worth taking the trek to New York?</p>

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<p>I am hoping to get in soon, but I want to know how the Engineering courses are there (I leaning towards Civil Engineering) and if it would be beneficial to go to that specific dorm.</p>

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<p>To kungfumaster:</p>

<p>amazingly enough there are intellectual people at rutgers. (well, it was surprising for me, at least.) And especially if you live in an honors dorm, you will be surrounded by at least not total idiots. I live in a wing in jameson on the douglass campus. it's all girls, all honors. we all had the same concern before coming: that everyone would be super-academic, super closed off and socially aloof. </p>

<p>But I love the people on my floor. yes, they are intellectual; they study; they get good grades; they're the top students in their classes, but they all like to hang out and have fun. </p>

<p>But also half of my floor goes home or disappears on the weekends. This can be beneficial in that I don't mind when some people do leave because, quite honestly, I wouldn't want to hang out with them anyway. But also I don't get to know them half as well as the people who do stay.</p>

<p>so to answer your first question, if you live in an honors dorm, it is more likely that you will fit in.</p>

<p>So on to the next question: I took a 3-credit honors seminar last semester, and there were only 10 people in there (other people that i have talked to have around the same number of people in their honors classes, but a little more, like around 15. at the most, 20). The honors seminars are 3 hours, once a week. I did find it more intellectually stimulating than my other classes. And it was more work (lots of reading, lots of essays). But then I found my professor more approachable because of such a small class size. She was very open, very friendly, very helpful. I could always talk about my grades with her, if not to change it, but to understand what I needed to do better. </p>

<p>And the class size was beneficial in that I got to know everyone in that class. Everyone had a distinct perspective that contributed to the overall class dynamics. It was definitely more of discussion-based rather than lecture-based, such as my microeconomics class that had 400 people in it. My professor barely knew who I was, though I contacted her multiple times during the semester. </p>

<p>So I would definitely recommend the honors classes/seminars. They are taught by the top faculty (mine was the director of undergraduate communications studies at rutgers) and tend to focus on more interesting topics than non-honors classes. Everyone I know loves their honors classes.</p>

<p>Next question: is it depressing? Hmm. it was in the beginning, before I got there. I dreaded going to rutgers (My family can't afford private school. We're comfortable, but not wealthy and I have siblings in college as well.) and I was expecting the worst. But I got there and everyone on my floor was friendly. Our first night we all decided to meet in the lounge and get to know each other with icebreakers and whatnot. It was cheesy but it definitely made me feel more comfortable being there. Then orientation was sucky, but we all bonded over how much we hated orientation and how we all wanted to go to other colleges (everyone I know got into some prestigious schools (bc, villa nova, barnard, nyu) but chose rutgers based on affordability, like me!). </p>

<p>so my answer is: going to a state school like rutgers with such a mediocre reputation may seem depressing, limiting, disappointing, whatever you want to call it. But I enjoy it. It is very confidence-boosting and refreshing, for the lack of a better word, to be one of the smartest, if not the smartest, student in the class. There are going to be some people in your non-honors classes who are not the brightest kids ever, but believe me, they are everywhere you go. Even at the ivies.</p>

<p>And I apologize if this sounds harsh, but cliques are very middle school-high school. It just sounds so exclusive and elitist. If by "clique," you mean "group of friends," then yes, you will find a group of friends, most likely in your dorm. </p>

<p>I hope this was helpful. Best of luck.</p>

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<p>To supername:</p>

<p>They vary. Honors dorms are considerably nicer. (I live in jameson on douglass, and I almost have too much room. My floormates have the same problem. We don't have enough stuff!)</p>

<p>Davidson on Busch is the notoriously sucky place to be. Just a heads up. Get your housing app in early to avoid this dorm. and the BAMM dorms on Busch are alright. They're what you expect from a college dorm: average-sized, perfectly decent bathrooms, sociable, drunk people running around the halls at 4 am, the norm. </p>

<p>Busch suites are beautiful: air-conditioned, nice lounge, bathrooms are as clean as you make them. The problem with these freshman year (honors dorms are housed in the mccormick suites, a high-rise building that is five minutes away from the campus center/dining hall) is that you are limited to the five other people you live with. If you get lucky, you'll enjoy hanging out with these people. If you aren't so lucky, you will most likely be spending your thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday nights on your computer with headphones on. Of course, you can always meet people outside of your suite, but it is easier to meet people, based on the personal experiences of friends, if you live in a non-suite dorm. The suites are very nice, though. (And mccormick has themed parties :)</p>

<p>Livingston: hmm. quads are supposed to be kind of gross. They didn't have running water for a few days (as did busch) earlier this semester. I have friends who live there, and I think they like the sociability of them. I haven't been inside though, so I can't really tell you. This is the impression I get from people I've talked to who live there. The towers are supposed to be nicer. And honors dorms are housed in the quads.</p>

<p>College Ave: is the quintessential party campus. The river dorms are supposed to be nice, I guess. I haven't been inside any of the rooms, though. The impression I get from these dorms is that they're sociable, I guess. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. </p>

<p>But for an honors dorm, brett hall is very fun. I can tell you that much. And there are singles in brett for upperclassmen, I think. I may be misinformed. That should be my little disclaimer in all this advice-giving.</p>

<p>I love douglass. The campus is beautiful, scenic. I'm biased because I live here but I love my dorm. Katzenbach, Lippincott, and Bunting-Cobb (for the science-y) are all frosh dorms, all-girls on douglass. Except for lippincott, they've been starting to integrate this dorm due to lack of space. I don't frequent cook very often but they sound good. New Gibbons is the dorm by mason-gross, so I'm assuming this is where the artsy kids live. And I know some music majors that live there and trust me, they're pretty artsy. </p>

<p>And there are henderson and newell apartments that are supposed to be nice as well. </p>

<p>in short, all the dorms are perfectly decent-nice, except davidson (although the bathrooms are nice and new) and the quads, based on popular opinion.</p>

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<p>To Fabled:</p>

<p>I am more of a humanities-I want to teach special ed. kind of person, but here's my impression based on what people say and what i've heard: The Engineering Program is supposedly rigorous. I believe it's a five year program. and whenever someone says they're an engineering major, the immediate response is like, ohh, don't you have to go study right now?</p>

<p>That was my facetious way of saying that the engineers are studious, by the way.</p>

<p>and if you're heart is set on engineering, then why not live in Barr if that's where all the cool engineering kids are? There's a lot of dudes there, though. I don't know if you're a girl or not, but if you are, that would be fantastic for you, wouldn't it?</p>

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<p>Thanks naoise. I meant group of friends by clique, but did imply some sense of exclusivity in that Rutgers is a huge school and any group of friends one would have would be comparatively small. I suppose I meant niche.</p>

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<p>thank you!</p>

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<p>Thanks Naoise. I expect Engineering to be hard, but I hope managable for me. I'm not sure if I'd want to be in the all-Engineering dorm or not, probably because I'd want some diversity in terms of everyone's majors. Glad to see that someone replied! And I am a guy.</p>

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<p>true true. diversity is good. But I find that the bunting-cobb kids on douglass get along swimmingly, probably because they all share similar academic interests, which could translate into other similar tastes. And bunting-cobb kids all have little study groups together, which is all very cute by the way. it could be convenient. just something to think about.</p>

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<p>naoise has been awesome in answering all your questions. I was weight listed to the honors program and attend Rutgers right now. I turned down UDEL JMU GETTYSBURG URSINUS AND VTECH for Rutgers and for the most part am satisfied with my choice. Rutgers is a big school, and you definitley feel like a number when you are going to a football game or email a dean. But the truth is Rutgers is a pretty good school, and socially you all will be fine. Like any other college, you will immediately make friends and be going to social outings together by the second weekend.</p>

<p>COOK/DOUGLAS- is by far the best campus, in my opinion. It has a small school kind of feel to it. The dorms are very nice on Cook/Douglas.</p>

<p>My advice is if you are like any other student right now suffering because of the economy and can't get into a top notch school like Swarthmore or Haverford and need to save money, go to Rutgers.</p>

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<p>A warning about Rutgers: </p>

<p>You are a number. You will not be coddled. You have to learn to self-study and make your own friends and all that crap. Rutgers is going through an academic crisis right now and the quality of education has dropped tremendously (and might continue to do so in the near future). Rutgers is going through a lot of budget problems because the state isn't giving them the money they need. </p>

<p>So expect 40 people recitations and lectures with 200+ people on a regular basis.</p>

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<p>Actually, I don't find Davidson to be that bad. I went in there a few times and it's really cozy. While BAMM LOOKS more like apartments, Davidson is more like the summer camp housing from your childhood. Instead of floors, you have a one level flat building so it takes up more land space. The hallways in Davidson are spacious and look new. </p>

<p>BAMM's rooms are bigger than jameson's. I think among first year housing, BAMM has the biggest rooms. However, "drunk people running around the halls at 4 am" is almost accurate, at least for my dorm.</p>

<p>Busch is a great place to be. I got my housing app in early (March) and chose Busch as my first choice. I wouldn't have minded Davidson.</p>

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<p>okay, davidson is not all that sucky. I have a friend who lives in the all-male wing and whenever I go in there, everyone has their doors closed. it just seems not very sociable. and his only outlet on his side of the room is up the wall, tucked up in the corner. And his room is kind of small and whatnot. Davidson used to be army barracks, and I know the previous year, it was having some termite problems. </p>

<p>I haven't heard any complaints about the termites of late, so they probably addressed that issue. And I know some people who live in the integrated wing of Davidson and he seems to be enjoying it, making friends and everything. It really depends on who lives there.</p>

<p>And my sister last year lived in allen on Busch and she had a corner room, what is supposed to be the largest room in the hall. It was kind of cramped in there and the lighting sucked and it smelled mildew-ey. She hated her floor. </p>

<p>But her boyfriend lived in metzger and loved it. He had a very spacious room and his floormates were friendly and everything. </p>

<p>So you know, it varies. </p>

<p>but I like Busch. They have very nice facilities there and you know, if you're into science, you're going to be spending lots and lots of time here. And the dining hall is good, not as good as neilson, (and I eat at both quite frequently. busch's weekend food is kind of lacking, and while neilson's isn't like a five-star eatery, it's weekend food is at least more than substantial. And of course, there is always the douglass cafe (which takes meal swipes)) but what can you do?</p>

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<p>Yes, the food on Busch during the weekend definitely lacks. It's like they don't put much effort since the campus looks like a ghost town on weekends, but whatever. I haven't eaten on Douglass yet, but I might next semester since I have a class there during the evening. Is the food so great that it would be worth a trip from Busch to Cook/Douglass on the weekend?</p>

<p>I live in Metzger this year. It's pretty decent minus the fact that in the beginning of the year some of the kids apparently didn't know a thing a two about hygiene or the "quiet hours" rule that they felt began at 2am, not 11pm -- well, on my floor at least. I'm in one of the "corner" rooms and I must say it's a pretty good size in my opinion. I was surprised on how big my room was when I first saw it! </p>

<p>But yeah, Busch definitely have some nice facilities. I don't know if I want to live here again, but I wouldn't mind.</p>

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<p>social life? what social life?</p>

<p>sorry i live in the camden campus and dont even know what a social life is</p>

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<p>like lurker said, lectures are HUGE...my fall 08 nature of politics had 500 kids or something nuts like that
also, i went to my dean a bunch of times to fix my schedule and figure out my life pretty much and she didn't know my name or remember me after the 5th visit. whatever.
but i like the independence. i personally hate coddling from adults. in college you're supposed to learn how to work for yourself.
i'm also in the honors dorms....and i live in brett on college ave. and i must say, IT IS AMAIZNG LIVE HERE YOU WON'T REGRET IT. =D everyone is supernice. and if you're not too crazy about the party scene, don't worry because not everyone is. i can find people to go out with or people to stay in and chill with on any given night. it's really cool.
i've been in the quads and the towers on livingston, and i think they are nice. the bathrooms are gross but whatever.
SO COME TO RUTGERS! it is so big that you will definitely find your niche, promise =D</p>