Academics
At the New Jersey Institute of Technology, students are “learning on an ivy league level,” getting “practical career-focused education” at “a fairly affordable price.” Known for their “very rigorous” general education requirements, “particularly [in] math,” NJIT specializes in STEM, engineering, and architecture programs. Undergrads should be prepared to put the time in, as “their programs are increasingly difficult and challenging,” but these efforts pay off, as “everything [students] learn is applied and tangible.” Most majors allow soon-to-be graduates to put their academics into practice with a senior capstone, “where students are connected to companies or professors and given the opportunity to apply their skills over the course of a semester or a whole year.” The architecture program, which focuses on innovation and research, encourages “using and learning new programs to portray ideas...trying new apps, sites, or methods of doing your work.” It is “one of a select few colleges where students can get an architecture license in New Jersey,” and it rounds their program out with site visits and a “Makerspace” facility “dedicated to student projects and research.” Given the innovative approach to education, it’s no wonder many feel like NJIT is setting them up to be “the best they can be.”
Student Body
The New Jersey Institute of Technology harbors an “extremely diverse student body” which is “unified by their focus on finding professional success after graduation.” Although “predominantly male,” NJIT remains “ethnically and culturally diverse” with “many international students as well as a wide variety of people with different interests, hobbies, majors, and backgrounds” and “many coming as first-generation college students.”
As “a very competitive group of people,” it comes as no surprise that “most students are academically oriented.” However, this doesn’t mean that undergrads don’t get along. “My peers have always been nice, funny, and cool,” one student writes. “The student body at NJIT are some of the brightest inquisitive minds I’ve ever come across,” says another. “Everyone is either engrossed in research, club teams, or studying diligently...the students here genuinely want to make a difference in the world.” Although “the majority are commuters,” this continually inventive student body has no trouble connecting with each other. “The norm is for students to connect through social media apps for support through classes.” With the rest of the student body often just a text away, one student says, “I have never felt alone in any of my course[s].”
Campus Life
“Most if not all of the student body is actively involved in some type of club, research, or studying. It is an academically brilliant campus and even the extracurriculars reflect that.” At NJIT, “there are an abundance of clubs and research opportunities to apply what you’ve learned, so everything comes around full-circle.” Particularly popular are “major related clubs that allow us to branch and do more hands-on learning and experience the field in [the] real world.” Many students also share “standard nerd interests and hobbies” like video games, anime, and e-sports. Among NJIT’s roster of extracurriculars are also Greek life, student government, “where we can actually make a difference as students,” cultural clubs, environmental clubs, professional business and architecture organizations, and community service opportunities. “For freshmen orientation, they took us around Newark and we actually helped repair and set up schools,” one student recounts.
While on campus, students like to “spend time in lounges in the dorm buildings or academic buildings,” but say “campus culture is a little sparse.” NJIT’s “campus definitely has an urban feel and there is not much green space.” Students don’t have to rush to class, though, as “[t]he campus is very small and compact, you can walk across in less than 10 minutes.” Although the surrounding city of “Newark itself is a pretty rough city,” it is “safe during the day,” and students don’t worry for their safety, as “campus is patrolled very well.” Students also enjoy the proximity to New York City, which is “about half an hour away by train.”
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