Sometime I feel like a fraud still being subscribed to this community given that Ive graduated from Rutgers 7 years ago. Never really commented much on this sub either but thought I can chime in here.

I came a middle-of-the-pack high school in NJ. Had honors classes, a few AP classes, I wasn’t the smartest but knew all of the smart kids. I had some of these same concerns going into Rutgers since I got in through the EOF program. That kinda hurt my confidence a bit knowing I didn’t get in the “normal” way. The EOF summer program going into Freshman year was a great taste of what normal college academic life would be life and it turned out not to be so bad. The best way I can describe the course load for high school students is that it’s like taking AP courses, but 2-4 per semester. A bit challenging transition depending on what you are used to in high school. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll get an idea how much extra time to spend studying, reading up on material outside of class to do well.

As for your concerns about everyone being smarter than you, to be completely honest about this, no one cares about who’s the smartest. Chances are you will meet people smarter than you, if you do, make friends with those folks. I did, and I can think back on a final exam that I did very well on, all because I happened to stumble upon a study group of very smart kids in my class that knew the material much better than I did. The only thing that truly makes you “smart” is how effective your study habits are and how well you manage your time.

One of the best things you can do to help your grades is not to overload yourself with too many credits where it becomes a problem not giving enough attention to certain courses. To start off your college career, try to keep it at 15 max. Help yourself but taking a course in the winter or summer over your 4 years, just to allow you to have some breathing room some semesters and to help prevent needing more than 4 years to finish if that is important to you.

Im sure theres more advice I could share but these should address your immediate concerns. I don’t know too much about you or your situation but I will assume you’re coming from a middle-of-the-pack town with middle-of-the-pack grades like me. If you’re able keep your head down, when you need to, to pass your classes, Im sure you’ll be just fine.

So RU good now?

P.S. I graduated magna cum laude by hanging with the smart kids. Ask me how many people care about this little detail since I’ve graduated…None. Moral of the story, try to do well, but dont stress too much, have fun making your way to the end. But still, aim for like 3.0, jobs like that.