Honestly About Rutgers

Introduction
As of now, Rutgers is a complicated place. There are four different schools for studying Arts + Sciences- Livingston, Douglass, Rutgers and University College. Because Rutgers College bears the name of the university most students think that it is the best Arts + Science school at Rutgers University; This is not so. The President is currently trying to combine all of the colleges into one school of arts and sciences to eliminate this confusion. The place is great though- there is so much diversity, so many things to do, half-hour train ride to NY or Phili. Most residence halls are pretty dilapidated though. They're not very attractive inside or out. Windows are too small for fans or air conditioners- no central air in most, it gets hot. It's an urban area except on Cook Campus (natural science and agraculture campus) so if you're not studying environmental stuff- you better like a city atmosphere.

Campus Life and Social Life
We have a lot of great Recreation facilities- pools, gyms, tennis, frisbee golf, golf course (good one), soccer fields, basketball courts, etc... Lots of clubs for all sorts of things. The student government is great to build leadership skills. Partying is pretty good since there are so many kids here but it's kind of hard to get a regular source of alcohol if you're under 21. There are a lot of college bars and they're really strict about ID's because kids who are caught misbehaving are used on sting operations to catch bars that don't check ID's. There is always fum for people who are looking for it, tons of pretty girls and hot guys. Rutgersfest every spring brings a bunch of great bands like Kanye, Nas, Weezer and the like. Advertisement
Academics
Since NJ ranks 47th in the nation in funding higher education, we have a lot of non-tenured professors. This is not a big deal because most of these people are great but you don't get to learn from the established big names untill you have a couple of years under your belt. You'll have to go to class a lot because most teachers take attendance and test mostly based on their lectures. If you take a lot of math, or science classes you're going to have to take a bunch of exams on the weekends because students used to tell their friends what was on the test if his/her class was on later or on a different day. Now they take all calculus students- for example- and stick them in a huge lecture hall to take a 'common hour exam.' Overall, the academics a very good at Rutgers.

Student Body
There is no typical Student at Rutgers. We are the most diverse student body in the country. As a white male, I'm very much in the minority. we have a lot of students from Asia, quite a few latino students, many African-Americans- I'll stop there because it ofter seems like we have atleast one student from every country and ethnic group in the world. Aside from nationalities, there are people who drink a lot, many are still virgins, some have sex with different people every night, honor students and slackers, a very strong Israel Supporting Jewish group and a thriving Palistinian Student Union, we have a large student group consisting of gay, lesbian and transexual students. Rutgers is REALLY diverse- you'll find people like you

In Closing...
Consider Rutgers. If you live in Jersey, you might want to get away and see some of the country and that's understandable. I used to think Rutgers was an OK school at best since I grew up down the road but it really is a special place. You'll be in a fast pace city, your room will probably suck, if you move to an off-campus house your rent will be crazy-high and the place wont be very nice but the people here will really make you never want to leave.