Rutgers University-New Brunswick Top Questions

Is the stereotype of students at your school accurate?

Ryan

The stereotype that Rutgers is party school has some validity but it much more than that. 2/3 of students stop at 3 drinks or less and 1/5 of students don't drink at all.

Ryan

The stereotype that Rutgers is party school has some validity but it much more than that. 2/3 of students stop at 3 drinks or less and 1/5 of students don't drink at all.

Mara

No, not at all. Most people do not have sexually transmitted diseases and not all girls act like they go to "slutgers". We get a bad rep because its New Jersey, but we are just like any other big university.

Ryan

The first is true, the second a bit and the third not so much. Great parties to go to at least three days out of the week. People sleep around a bit but not more than any other university. Slackers don't last too long as Rutgers is too happy to throw you out on your ass.

Charlotte

No, no, and maybe. The school does accept a lot of kids with average academic ability, but it also attracts really smart kids who come for their specialty programs (with 30,000+ undergrads, you get some really diverse and esoteric course offerings) or smart kids who just didn't want to spend 120,000$ on an education. Their admissions standards aren't nearly as lax as other state schools, and the core classes that everyone is required to take are fairly challenging. As to the, ehem, rumors about the elevated STD rates, those rumors were based on a study done about 15 years ago. The survey polled only people who had come in to a clinic to get tested, so it's not surprising that within the population of people who had a weird, scary rash and went to the doctor to get it checked out, the incidence of STD's was unusually high. There was no control group for that study. That said, it's college, and people have a whole lot of sex. I don't think Rutger's student have more or less sex than students at other schools, and I'm willing to bet that college campuses in GENERAL have alarmingly high rates of STDs.

Betsy

I find this stereotype to be far from the truth. Every counselor I have come into contact with is more than willing to help each student in reaching their goals. This is an ignorant stereotype being perpetuated by students who have no basis for saying Rutgers doesn't care about its students.

Alex

for the most part, they are. all these stereotypes start from somewhere just like any stereotype does.

ryan

In truth I dont know one person who attends Rutgers that has thought about or who actually wants to transfer out of Rutgers. It is such an amazing school, its full of energy, there is a club or everyone to join, there is always something to do, ton of people to meet, and the courses here are challenging. Most people dont think much of Rutgers, but Rutgers students love it!

Akira

Overall, I feel that each stereotype has some relevance, but that does not necessarily mean that these generalizations seperate the campuses but allows individuals to have a greater awareness of each community. In fact, I would have never heard of these steroetypes from the people who lived in these communities if I did not explore every one of them. Overall, every community has stereotypes but these are only as dividing as we as individuals perceive them to be, so my advice to you; Ask your Douglass friend to go to a spa and on College Ave get crunk!!!

Taylor

yes

Tim

This has been statistically disproved, not sure where or when. As far as I know we're pretty much average as far as the stats are concerned (compared with most other large universities).

Amy

Rutgers is a huge party school. Thursday through Friday, and sometimes even Tuesday the streets of New Brunswick are a party in themselves with all the students meandering through the grease truck parking lot, on their way from one party to another with their group of friends. Rutgers students take whatever holiday they can and turn it into a party...snow days, St. Patty's Day, Halloween, Valentine's Day, and any football game. Rutgers students certainly know how to party. They certainly know the boundaries between work and play, though. It's quite an amazing thing to see someone run the beer pong table all Saturday night, and then see them Sunday afternoon sitting at the next table over from you in the library. Rutgers is an academically challenging school. A strong study and work ethic is required to succeed. Between exams, papers, and all-nighters at the library, students can become very stressed over their schoolwork. There's no reason good grades & long hours in the library can't be rewarded by letting loose on the weekends. Rutgers University is equivalent to every other major school in regards to STD percentage. This stereotype is false. People are just jealous that we have it all: brains & brawn.

Taylor

Rutgers students are an excellent mix of people. we are all about the diversity. So the first stereotype is true to an extent. But people get over themselves quickly and adapt to the culture at Rutgers. Being such a big school, there are so many things to do. And the note about the std's: NOT TRUE.

Sam

I've never attended another college, so it's hard to compare. Yes, I guess there are a lot of parties. College Ave has tons of frat houses, but the whole school isn't like that. As for STDs, it's just like anywhere else; don't be stupid, use protection, and you'll be fine.

Dale

-Not in my experience, this is the typical statement about Rutgers so I figured I'd throw it in -To a degree, many students from New Jersey attend Rutgers, but it is a very different atmosphere and certainly not taught like high school classes. -Yes, it

Patrick

The "high rate of STD transmission" is absolutely false. (Rutgers is one of the few schools to release its testing results) Class sizes can be a bit big for general education classes, but once you reach junior and senior year they decline significantly.

Jordan

Although Rutgers is definitely a party school, the fact that we are an STD infested population is not accurate. Granted, we do have high STD rates. STDs are a trend among college age people anyway so to assume that Rutgers seems to attract all the herpes, genital warts, and chlamydia of the world can't be right.

Kyle

1. This one is always amusing. The study actually said that a fairly high number (but still not even close to a majority) of the people TESTED turned out to have an STD. So let's think: why do you get tested for an STD? Probably because you think you're at risk for one. If you're looking for an STD, I'm sure you can find one, but I highly doubt the Rutgers population is any different than most schools. 2. True. I'm from New Jersey and I can attest to the fact that a huge chunk of my high school chose Rutgers. There's definitely a Jersey dominance here, but we won't shun you if you're out-of-state. 3. Ah, the RU Screw. It's hard to say if it's accurate or not, but it sure is easy to feel like you're getting screwed by the university. From academic advisers to parking nazis, I constantly hear about people getting the shaft. I think that's mostly a product of the fact the school is so big and active. It's hard to expect every official at the school to really care about all of your personal issues.

Daniel

Not that I'd know from personal experience, but I am pretty sure that disease ratio is an overexageration.

David

Fortunately, this stereotype is not true. After some google-ing I learned the roots of this stereotype. It seems in the 90s a newspaper took a survey of men and women at a Rutgers health center to see who had an STD. Obviously if you take a survey at a health clinic about STDs the numbers will be skewed. That is like taking a survey at a restaurant and asking who is hungry.

Andrea

Through research in health services with the Targum, I've learned that Rutgers has a rather low percentage of students with sexually transmitted diseases, but it comes off as a lot due to our population size. Additionally, students have been surveyed to find that the average student does not drink every weekend. This information was available in the SCILS building last year. Rutgers is a competitive school that has fairly high admissions standards.

Carson

Absolutely. Everyone has been RUScrewed. It's at least considered a weekly occurence.

Andy

I can't vouch for the STD stereotype as being either true or false. But as far as i know/hope its merely a ridiculous rumor. As for the RU-Screw...Several of my friends have been subjected to this ridiculous system and have come out class-less and credit-less in situations when they had earned their way.