Rutgers Visit -- Any Alumni here?

[Blue Hen]

We took this cool, overcast day to head north into NJ to visit Rutgers. This school for some reason was not on my radar to suggest to DS and I don't know why. As a Ceramic Engineer I met many Rutgers grads over the years and they alway impressed me with their engineering knowledge. Anyway the school popped into my head yesterday, I checked their website, signed us up for a couple tours and off we went this morning.

DS did a little checking of the school's website before we left so he was a little aware of the school. Our first tour was a bus tour of the four campuses in New Brunswick. My impression---oh my, what a HUGE campus. I didn't realize that Rutgers was so big or so spread out. I think it would take me four years to find my way around this place.

Our last stop was to see a dorm room. I found it to be similar in size to the dorm room size at LeHigh or Drexel, larger than U of DE. Each room has 2 beds, 2 dressers, 2 desks, a microwave & a mini-frig. Now the last two items I had not found provided by the university in any of the other dorm rooms. The rooms do NOT have WIFI! Each dorm has a lounge with a ping pong table, pool table, large-screen TV and maybe a few other items. Each dorm has a Grad student who has a special name...ugh, can't remember it. They are there to oversee the dorm. Each floor has an RA and every-other floor has a grad student to assist with educational counseling. Their role is to help your student find tutoring sources and other educational questions. Students are separated into Freshman dorms or upper class dorms. Housing is only guaranteed for Freshmen but "everyone" who wants a room gets one.

After the bus tour, which was very well conducted with a very informative & personable student, we headed inside for an information session.

While the Admissions Officier gave the talk there were topics that are normally covered in other information sessions that were left out. These include such topics as: How many students on the campus? What are the admission requirements? What is the cost? Is there an Honors program?

Rutgers does a rolling admission, disinterested in recommendation letters and does not accept the common application. Admission is based upon your class grades, SAT or ACT scores, activities & clubs, and your essay. Hmm, where does the homeschooler fit in? Scholarships are also based upon the above. When applying the student does apply to a particular College, and can apply to up to three colleges.

For the next tour I had signed us up for the Busch campus walking tour which is the Engineering and Science campus. The tour was lead by a Political Science major, entering his senior year who admitted to having spent little time on this particular campus. UGH!!! Why do they do this?????? I could have just as easily lead the tour and read the building names.

DS heard some things that sparked his interest in Rutgers :001_smile: The campus setting does suit him. Lots of possibilities to walk on treelined sidewalks, ride his bike from one campus to the next on designated bike lanes and seeing lots of green open space helped this semi-country boy feel like this place, close to NYC, could be home for 4 yrs.

Any Rutgers Alum out there? How is the school? Engineering? Any students apply there with BTDT stories to share?

Carole

[galtgrl]

Hi,
My hubby & I graduated from Rutgers in 1991. We were both at the Cook College campus ( now known as something like the College of Biological and Environmental Sciences...). It is a huge school, but the way the campuses are set up it really doesn't seem TOO big or overwhelming, in my opinion. Don't know that much about the eng. school, but there is alot of green space (as you mentioned) on or near most of the campuses. The big classes (e.g., General Bio or Gen Chem) were huge and they really didn't seem to care if you showed up/kept up/ did well/ were failing. That said, a self-motivated individual can do well there. The school is well-regarded and the eng. school has a reputation for being very competitive.
The other caveat is that the school has a pretty liberal attitude - more evident in the humanities/ poli sci type majors. A science major probably doesn't need to worry about it too much, except in the Honors program, should that apply. Of course, if you're pretty liberal yourself it doesn't matter. :)
Good luck - hope this helps. -Jen

[Blue Hen]

I didn't ask the one question I should have asked yesterday and instead sent an email:

Do you request or require any specific information from the homeschooling student during the application process?

Students who are home schooled should submit SAT or ACT scores as well as transcripts, syllabi, and /or other documents relevant to academic work completed. Please also attach an outline of your academic curriculum and indicate whether it has been conducted under an accredited program. Please include your name and nine-digit RUID number on all attachments.

Our mailing address is:

Office of University Undergraduate Admissions
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Room 202
65 Davidson Road
Piscataway NJ 08854-8097

Please note: If you plan to submit results of the ACT in support of your application, your scores must include results from the optional Writing Test.

Sincerely,
Deborah Epting
Associate Vice President
Enrollment Management

The public or private schooled student can apply online and not send anything in until after they are accepted, after they have chosen Rutgers. Rutgers doesn't want to see letters of recommendation from the public or private schooled kid either. Darn, I thought applying there would be so simple too.

Carole

[cathmom]

They don't sound very homeschool friendly!

I am a Rutgers-Camden alumni. Talk about your bad neighborhoods! :)

[Blue Hen]

I should have put that in my message. Sorry. We visited the New Brunswick campus.

And when we were on the bus tour, driving through College Ave campus we saw a nicely dressed woman get handcuffed and placed into a police car. hmmmm, what was that all about????

Carole

[cathmom]

I knew you meant New Brunswick. I was just chiming in for no real purpose.