Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey -- New Brunswick
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Sport Management
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Straight Male
Summary
I’m on the Club Lacrosse team and I’m involved in a fraternity.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Public high school in Phillipsburg, NJ with a graduating class of 470 people. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Sport Management
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I’m on the Club Lacrosse team and I’m involved in a fraternity.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
The fraternity did, just by meeting new people and being involved in something. I played lacrosse in high school and at the [Division III] level before transferring to Rutgers, so Club Lacrosse was to keep me active and involved in the game.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your classes?
There’s a lot of homework and I have exams about once a week. I have at least one quiz per week for my classes.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s very competitive. It’s not very often that you’ll find yourself in a classroom that’s under 150 people. Four out of my six classes are large lecture halls, and the two other ones were smaller with around 30 students in it. There’s one professor and maybe a TA. It’s competitive because there aren’t a ton of job opportunities coming out of college in the sports field, so I feel like whoever gets the best grades, extracurricular, internship opportunities, and whoever has the best resume is probably going to get the job. [In 2019-20, there were 358 classes, about 8% of all classes, that had 100+ students in it.]
How accessible are your professors?
Very accessible. Every professor has a certain amount of office hours per week that are open for an hour and a half or so. If you are struggling or have questions, they do give you an opportunity to access them one-on-one. None of the professors have given me an issue with emailing them. I always receive a response within a day or two.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I’m happy with my choice. I’ve always been involved in sports, so it was pretty easy to make the decision. The business school is extremely competitive, so I looked at it as trying to transfer into the business school or sticking with sports management. I feel like it’s better for me to stick with my major instead of switching. So far, it has been great.
How was transitioning academically as a transfer college student? Are there systems in place that help you transition?
They have a transfer center on each of the campuses that are dedicated to the transfer students. They have professionals trained to help the transition for transfer students. If I ever have an issue they are helpful and answer my questions. Each transfer has to take a 9-week course that is only one credit, called Students in Transition. It’s a smaller-setting class with around 30 students. It’s a pass/fail course, but each week we have different assignments that help you learn what Rutgers is about. They also have different library resources and career exploration facilities.
Reasons to Attend
1) There’s a great atmosphere and even though the sports teams aren’t good everyone rallies together and makes the most of it.
2) The professors are there to help you and want to see you succeed. A lot of the professors are alumni, which says something about it.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) The bus system. That’s the only flaw I have about the school.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Sophomore: University Center at Easton Avenue Apartment with three other students
How was transitioning from your hometown to New Brunswick, NJ?
My hometown has more of a country aspect, so it’s a huge transition to a city aspect. I’ve moved around before so it wasn’t that difficult for me, but I could definitely see someone who’s from a rural area and transferring into New Brunswick could have an issue. You have to be smart, there is crime and everything else a city brings.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
Through the fraternity, we have decent nightlife on the weekends and sometimes during the week. We have parties and the bar scene in New Brunswick is amazing. When I turn 21, that’s something I’ll be involved in. There are so many different bars and people going to the bars. It has a large school aspect where you could meet someone at the bar and you’ll never see them again, but it has enough of a small university vibe to it that if you do want to see that person again you will. It’s not too stretched out. I haven’t heard of many 18+ bars around, but there are a couple of clubs that are 18+. I usually just go to a fraternity party or hang out with friends.
What nights of the week do you regularly do things?
Thursday night, Saturday night, and sometimes Friday night.
What is the impact of Greek life on the nightlife?
You definitely need to be in Greek life to have a nightlife. As a transfer, I saw it first-hand. The freshmen also see it first-hand as well. You can’t rush a fraternity until your second semester as a freshman, but as a transfer, you can rush right away. Before I was involved in it, I would just walk around trying to find a party or an event that I could get let into. If you’re not an athlete or in Greek life, chances are you won’t have much of a shot of going out on the weekends unless you’re 21. You register the party through the school and have a list of people, so everyone in the fraternity and the sorority you’re mixing with. So, unless it’s a party that isn’t being registered through the school, which we don’t do very often, it’s tough to get in unless you know someone in the fraternity or you’re rushing. I usually stick to my set of guys in my fraternity, but you have a better chance of getting into other parties if you’re in Greek life.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I have a decent number of friends from my hometown that aren’t in Greek life. I wish it was different where anybody could get into the parties, but I see the reasoning behind it because if you let anybody in and something goes wrong, it’s a liability.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I met most of my friends through pledging the fraternity, but before I rushed I met my friends through the football games or on-campus events. The activity fair is huge. It’s a bunch of students walking around trying to figure out what clubs are right for them. In my building, during syllabus week there are lots of events where you can meet people on a different floor so I met a lot of people through there.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Rutgers?
It’s very cliquey. We have a lot of international students, so I see it through their eyes and from a transfer student’s eyes. The fraternities hang out with the fraternities, the international students hang out with the international students, and athletes hang out with each other. I wish it were different, but I think it’s just who you feel most comfortable with is who you hang out with.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
It’s very diverse, even in Greek life. A good part of my fraternity isn’t just the average Caucasian male. I haven’t been too involved with different sexual orientations. You definitely meet people of different orientations and there’s nothing wrong with that, but they are kind of cliquey and hang out with themselves. [The undergraduate population is 26% Asian, 7% African American, 12% Latino, and 38% White.]
How do you like the size of Rutgers in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 36,000] students?
I love it. I came from a school that was a little less than 15,000 and had a lot of commuters, so there weren’t that many students on campus, and going to Rutgers now with a lot of students and a lot of people live in New Brunswick. It gives you both the large school and small school vibe. The College Avenue Campus is where the majority of students do live. They offer the other campuses that give you the smaller school vibe. You can have the best of both worlds. It gives you a lot of opportunities that not a lot of universities offer.
Careers
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
Yeah, I actually took a class called career exploration through the career offices that gives you a guideline of everything they offer and what you can do with it. They help make resumes and cover letters.