Montclair has recently become a lot more competitive in accepting students. Strong candidates for admission have a 3.0 GPA or greater. As far as academics go, Montclair has a lot to offer, but it really depends on the student to take advantage and make the most of it. I chose to be a part of the Honors program, which has pushed me to take more rigorous classes and to challenge myself academically. Being a part of the Honors program means you take Great Books I and II instead of College Writing I and II, so the focus is on analyzing, questioning, and interpreting literature instead of learning how to write good papers. The Honors program accepts students that already know how to write well. As an Honors Student you also must take 20th Century Civilization and Contemporary Civilization, as well as an Honors Seminar in Science unless you are a science major. These classes all cover general education requirements that students must take anyway in order to graduate. Honors students must also take 3 other elective classes - meaning you must take 8 total Honors classes to graduate as part of the program. Many of the professors teaching these classes are highly qualified and also very highly regarded by the academic community. Many of the classes have been my favorites out of my two years at MSU so far.
Outside of the Honors program, from my experience a lot of the rigor of the class depends on the professor and also how much initiative the student takes. Many students will search ratemyprofessor.com to find the easiest class they can take and therefore they choose to be underprepared for a competitive workforce in the real world after graduation. Something I have really enjoyed was choosing to live with other Honors students the past two years. We were able to form strong friendships and study groups to help and push each other. Living communities like the Honors one I was part of exist for other subjects like the Arts, Science and Math, LGBT, Men's Interests, Women's Interests, Language Immersion, etc.
I have really liked nearly all of my professors at MSU so far. They are very warm, welcoming, and eager to help students. Most of them knew my name after the first couple classes and many offered their home phone or cell phone numbers in addition to email and office hours for students to take advantage of if they had questions. That's not to say that they hold your hand though. They expect you to be a responsible adult and manage things for yourself but they are happy to be available for students to reach out to them if help is needed. Still, there will always be students who just try to slide by. The easiest class I've taken so far was French I and that was because my professor did not push the students and the students in the class were extremely lazy. Like I said, it is really up to the student to make the most of it. I believe I've been able to accomplish that so far by being a part of the Honors program, taking on a minor, and always pushing myself to do my best. Due to this, I have a 3.9 GPA and I will have completed 90 credits by the time I start class again this fall, meaning I'll be a senior by credits entering my third year as a junior. If I was only doing my major and not the Honors program or my minor I probably would have been able to graduate in 3 years. Take advantage of all the opportunities offered to you and make the most of it!