Rutgers New Brunswick Honors College welcomes 500 incoming freshman.
NEW BRUNSWICK --The rain didn't dampen the excitement of move-in day for 500 freshman as they arrived at Rutgers-New Brunswick Honors College on Thursday.
The Honors College is unique at Rutgers, administrators said. It is the only residence hall where students and a few members of the faculty live in the same facility.
"Honors College is a living and learning facility for the students," said Paul Gilmore, the honors college's administrative dean. "We think that interaction outside the classroom is just as important as working together in the classes."
The community includes students from Rutgers liberal arts and professional schools including, the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers Business School, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and Mason Gross School of the Arts.
Incoming freshman, 16-year-old Nidhi Desai, of South Brunswick who said she is majoring in Cell Biology and Neuroscience, said she researched the Honors College before making her decision on which college she would attend. Her research revealed that Rutgers offers honors students great opportunities, she said. "I'm really excited about starting college here," Desai said.
Rutgers is one of dozens of state universities nationwide investing in honors colleges as a way to compete with elite colleges to attract the state's brightest students. The university has long had honors programs for students from certain campuses or schools. But the honors college for the first time brings together the top students of all academic majors under one roof.
NJ Advance Media Staff Writer Adam Clark contributed to this report.
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