| Written by Manush K. |
Everybody has a different story to tell when it comes to why and how they chose Rutgers–Camden as the school to commit to. My story is different than a lot of students. I’m an international student, originally from Ahmedabad, India.
To add a little context to my story, it is important to know that, in India, sophomore year (10th standard) and senior year (12th standard) examinations are the two most important exams that a student take because colleges and universities in India heavily base their application decisions on these two exam grades.
In my sophomore year of high school, or my “10th standard” year, a senior and friend of mine was a brilliant both academically and non-academically. She did so well on her final exams that she got placed within the top three students in my state (and, by the way, my state has a population of 62.7 million people)! She applied to the best universities across the country. Now, one would assume that a student with such great examination results would get into any university that they should apply to. But that did not happen. She did not get into the best university and she ended up going to a university in my city, which is a good university, but not what she deserved. To save you from the complexity of the admissions requirements for a university in India, just know that there are specific quotas set for different types of students that get admitted, and the one which me and her belong to have the slimmest chance of getting a spot in any university. (By different types of students, I mean that there are four different types of education that one can receive and the one I and my friend opted for is considered the finest as well as most difficult out of all the four types.)
Her not getting into any of the universities of her choice was an indication for me to go to a university where my education and my extracurricular activities would be appreciated and respected. I wanted to go to a school that would value me. On the other hand, all of my first cousins, who were at least seven years older than me, either had gone or were going to a school in America. My family advised me and my parents to send me abroad for further education after high school and I did not have to think twice about it. I made my decision to leave India to continue my education. By the time senior year came around, my school teachers suggested that I prepare for my SAT and my TOEFL (English proficiency testing for international students).
Fast forward six months, I applied to various schools throughout America and, although I heard back from every school, I didn’t get into my top choice school. In fact, I didn’t even get into my second choice school. Rutgers University was one of the handful schools that sent me an offer of admission and now, at this point, I did not know where to go. I will admit, Rutgers University wasn’t the option I started with. I applied to Rutgers University (all three campuses) as a back-up school in case I didn’t get in anywhere else. My cousin sat down with me and my parents to weigh the pros and cons of every school that I got into. There were more cons than pros to all the schools, except for Rutgers University. So, we narrowed it down and the three Rutgers University campuses became the only options I had left! It was only a matter of time until I had to decide which campus I would pick out of the three (Newark, New Brunswick, and Camden).
I was aware that the quality of education at all three Rutgers campuses is the same, treated with the same standards and expectations, and it wouldn’t have necessarily mattered which campus I would have graduated from, since I would be graduating with a Rutgers degree no matter which campus I chose. I received e-mails and letters in the mail from all three campuses, but from Rutgers–Camden especially. Rutgers–Camden made me feel wanted. I could see that they wanted me to come there. I was offered a scholarship and spots in both the Leadership Institute and the Honors College. On the other hand, the other two campuses did not offer any benefits or incentives for me to go there. So, I decided to commit to Rutgers–Camden on April 28, 2016.
I was never able to go on a campus tour or visit the campus at all beforehand. All the schools I looked at was limited to checking out photos online, either on their website or via other websites. I had also never been to America before. Because I was an only child, my parents had to make the hard decision to let their only child go abroad so that I could get a quality education. They were nervous for me, since they did not expect how smooth my transition to a foreign country would be, a country where I knew nobody and had no friends to help me adjust. I, on the other hand, was excited. They surely were exciting times. On August 18, 2016, I came to America with an open mind, with no expectations, and started my life from scratch here at Rutgers–Camden!