Rutgers University-New Brunswick Top Questions

What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?

Tiffany

I believe the worst thing about the school is the disconnect between the way faculty perceives students' lives and the way students actually live their lives.

Sohyun

As the school itself is rather large, first-year classes are have hundreds of students in them.

Hanif

The worst thing about my school is the way things are relayed to the students and faculty because the school takes a while to do it and they don't always make sure that everyone gets this information.

Michael

The size of the student body is definitely an unfavorable factor when it comes to Rutgers University. The large population really prevents students from getting the attention they need from proffessors.

Carl

The worst thing about this school is how large it is. It may be a bit too big for some students.

Kintan

Two things I do not like about Rutgers is the size of Rutgers and its busses, and the the lack of events that were offered this year. Rutgers is a huge campus and sometimes getting from one campus to another is very time consuming. The bus system is not the greatest, and sometimes you feel as if you are on the other side of the world when you go to a different campus. Also, something that irked me was the lack of concerts held by Rutgers. I expected to see live music and have fun, but I was left disappointed.

Anh

Parking.

Edward

The worst thing about the school is the bureaucratic nature of the school. You need to go through a lot of rules and regulations so anyone who does not actively seek out the requirements for degrees and whatnot can be severely punished which is why the term "RU Screw" is used regularly. Also the commuting time between campuses can be a hassle if you're in a rush but that's just the inherent nature of a school that has 40,000+ students.

Kate

If you aren't used to living in a "city," New Brunswick is a bit crowded and full of aggressive drivers.

Michael

Many of the classes were too large.

Samir

Parking and commuting are often the worst qualities about this university. The university public safety issues tickets to students who do not have valid parking permit or park off campus in New Brunswick during weekends and off-peak hours. During inclement weather, there is intense traffic congestion on the highway for cars and the university bus shuttles. Course registration can be troublesome for both undergraduate and graduate students. Often, students have to be put on the waiting list to recieve a special permission number by the professor.

Victoria

I would consider my school to be the best thing that has ever happened to me but I can't. As much as I love my school for the education, location and numerous opportunities that it provides I must say that I hate it for how expensive it is, especially for an out-of-state student like myself. Even though my full time single father covers all of my tution I still do not think it is fair for anyone to have to pay as much as college students have to to be successful.

Sara

The size of Rutgers would be what I consider the worst. It is a pain when your classes on on different campuses so you have to make note of travel time when you pick classes.

Anthony

i consider the size per faculty as the worst thing. I dont mean in the classroom, i mean within the career services centers. There are so many students but minimal career services faculty.

Samantha

There is no personal attention paid to students attempting to determine their career path. I received no academic advising throughout my four years at Rutgers, and the only person who took an interest in helping me to find my career and my major was a professor I had in my sophomore year. Very little personal attention given.

Eric

The worst thing about Rutgers would have to be the transporation. Due to the four different campuses i was forced to catch buses back and forth to get to class. Many times the buses would take a long time to arrive, especially when the weather got bad.

BARRY

Nothing

Kenny

The worst thing for me during my first semester was the size of the campus. It can be overwhelmingly big to newcomers.

Lawrence

The classes are way too big.

Genesis

The microwaves are sometimes broken. Sucks for a commuter like me!

Benjamin

The worst thing about college, and not just Rutgers University, is the cost of higher education today. This is a moot point to be arguing but it is increasinly difficult for young adults to pay their own way through college. Having to focus on getting the term bill paid takes away from the learning in the classroom and on campus that is the entire college experience. Paying my own way through college though has allowed me to develop a deeper appriciation for my education.

Beth

Also probably the busing situation because there are never enough buses and they're never big enough to hold everyone.

Viviana

I have not found anything really wrong academically with Rutgers University. The classes are hard like sevral other colleges, most teachers try to help their students as much as possible. The only real negative thing I could say about this University is its food. The food could be improved because the cooks are always inventing new things which do not seem appealing to eat. I think they should just keep it simple. However, mu overall time at Rutgers University has been a complete pleasure with lots of oppertunities to expand my education.

Darron

It is a very large school, therefor, whether you're a freshman or a transfer student there is a shock to the system feeling as if you're just a number in a classroom. It can be disheartening and overwhelming, especially if the professors treat you more as an annoyance rather then a student looking to learn.

Emily

The worst thing about Rutgers is it's lack of overall organization and information availbility. When you want to find out information, whether pertaining to classes, social events, financial aid, tec. it is usually a long and confusing process.

Raena

The worst thing about my school is the traveling on buses through rain or cold . It's a huge thing to get used to since most people rely on cars for transportation but everyone eventually figures out the bus routes and feels more comfortable with it after a while.

Kevin

Once again, the size of the school. At times the buildings are very cluttered and classrooms can reach up to sizes of 400 students. It becomes difficult at times to talk to professors after class or schedule meetings. The buses are often crowded and move slowly, making travel a strenuous process to go through daily.

Spencer

The worst thing about my school is the large size of the classes because it is harder to get a one on one connection with the professor. This leads to students falling behind in the class because they get lost in the material and it is harder to get help from the professor. Students then end up using the teacher aides and their fellow peers for assistance, which usually is not as helpful.

Cheryl

N/A

Timothy

Rutgers is spread out over far too much space.

tonisha

I really do not consider anything bad about Rutgers University. Rutgers is a great school full of diversity, various programs and known for their educational research.

Chelsie

The worst thing about my school is probably that it is so big. The Rutgers New Brunswick Campus sprawls in the most essential sense of the word. I have to take busses to get from one class to the next - which, even though it can be slightly irritating, came sometimes be fun too. Piling onto a corwded bus with your schoolmates - college tradition, right?

Daniel

I believe that the worst thing about my school is its location. While Rutgers is considered to be an above average university, its location places it in New Brunswick, a run down town which detracts from the possible beauty that the Rutgers campus should possess. While some areas are nice, the off campus student housing is crime-ridden leaving the students with no good off campus living opportunities.

Kimberly

The size of Rutgers University is both a blessing and a curse. Rutgers is a very large campus with many students. There is no possible way to meet every single person on the campus. Since I can come from a moderately small high school it sometimes feel like I am not truly at home. However, I do enjoy constantly meeting new people everyday.

Eva

Although there are many benefits and opportunities of going to a large university like Rutgers University, there is one big disadvantage that arrises. Some students may feel overwhelmed with such a large population of students and may not be aware of all the resources provided by the university. I find myself at times uncertain as to who exactly I go to for concerns about my academic future, but as time goes on, it gets easier to know all the details at a large campus and how to fully take advantage of resources

Sharlene

Overall the school is great, but the most daunting this is the size. The sheer mass number of students can make it exceptionally difficult to to get in contact with someone during busy times of the year, for example the beginning of semesters.

Gabriella

Large universities always have a lot of buerocracy. I personally have never met with an academic advisor or a dean. When I have had to deal with administration for final exam conflicts or to get permission to take summer courses I have had trouble getting responses and the information that I needed from various offices.

Mohamed

The lack of parking spots (which is usually at its worse when the football team is playing a home game); this proved to be extremely inconvenient to the students who commute to Rutgers.

Allison

The worst thing I consider about Rutgers is the size. Even though the big school atmosphere can be fun, it also can be a pain. Finding a job on campus is very difficult, as well as enrolling for the classes that you want. Also Rutgers has a horrible housing situation, which only guarantees housing for really only your freshman year. Students are placed into hotels, which is really an inconvience. Also, the options of off-campus housing are small and often overpriced. Rutgers needs to be able to accomodate all the students that it accepts in order to improve.

Jessica

I really don't have much to complain about concerning Rutgers, but if I had to say one thing that is a little bit aggravating is the class registration situation. It's all done online according to how many credits you currently hold, and if you are a freshman you get pushed out of many classes by the time it is your turn to register. Also, because it is all done online, everyone waits by their computers and pushes the "register" button at the same time, causing mass chaos and knocking alot of kids off the server entirely.

Anthony

I can't say much about my school is bad. I actually really enjoy going there however, I believe the very large environment it provides is difficult to adapt to. Having such large classes makes it really difficult to learn in at points. Such a large atmosphere also forces you to be responsible for your own actions. In a class with 200 or so other students, nobody is going to remind you to hand in your work as your teachers did in high school.

Allison

Since it is so large, sometimes things can slip through the cracks.

Katie

Without question, the worst part of my school is the adminstration. From the careless faculity to the incessant red tape, the classic 'RU Screw' has been experienced by every Rutgers student at least once. The frequency in which one is hindered from academic, social, or financial liberities is astounding. Rutgers University may say its due to of the large number of students; it seems more as if it is an excuse for the adminstration to hide behind and escape any sort of blame. Although this is frequent ins state schools, the entire adminstration needs to take responsibility for their actions.

Sara-Jean

The worst thing about my school are the high tuition. I go to Rutgers being an in state student and my sister goes out of state to Pennsylvania and we pay the same amount.

Indra

Rutgers has an insane party culture, and the school encourages it. Campus/ New Brunswick police are really REALLY leniant about alcohol and if you want to study on a friday or saturday night, it's practically impossible. The entire campus is packed with raging drunk kids thursday-saturday nights and they close the libraries and computer labs super early so there's really no escape. So pretty much you can either stay in your dorm and waste a night or go get drunk like the rest of the school. For kids who care about their grades it's lose-lose.

Sara-Jean

The prices of the parking passes.

Brenda

People associating Rutgers with high rates of STIs. On campus student has came up with a phase, RU SCREW. Which means that if you do not ask, they do not tell you about anything that might be very important and that applies to everything including housing, acedamics...etc. Financial aid is a very big issue. Sometimes I wish the school was not so big.

Melissa

I believe the worst thing about my school is some of the dining hall food. Some dining halls have great food while others have very little or no variety. There is a good way to counter this though, a few places on campus take meal swipes at places other than the dining hall. Also, there are many places to eat around campus and if you have an apartment, you can cook.

Meewa

too big, because it can be really crowded and difficult to find where you need to go, what requirements you need, etc.

Megha

only some campuses are really alive, others are dead on weekends. and there aren't buses to allow you to leave the college, so getting to go to the movies or a mall is impossible without a car.