Dear New Rutgers Student:

We're glad that you're interested in more information about the Rutgers-Newark Writing Program. I'm sure that you understand that success in all of your courses in your college career will depend upon your skills in reading, writing, critical thinking, and research. These are exactly the skills that we focus on in Writing Program courses, which are among the first courses that you will take at Rutgers, and which will form the foundation on which your future academic success will build.

From the moment the new student arrives on campus, the Writing Program will be ready to work with you to make sure that you get into the writing class that suits your current level of writing skills, and will get you the instruction you need to make sure that you'll be ready for your upper level courses.

The first step in this process is placement: most students will need to take a placement test to help the Writing Program to determine which course is right for you. The placement exam is given in the computer labs on campus, and has three components: a Reading Comprehension section a Sentence Skills section, and a short essay. More detailed information about placement may be found in the attached packet.

The Writing Program offers six different courses: English 101 and 102 (required of all freshmen), English 103 and 104 (for students enrolled in the Honors College and other students with excellent writing skills), and Communication Skills 098 and 099 (for students who need preparatory work prior to enrolling in English 101). Descriptions of all our courses are included in the attached packet. We offer dedicated Multilingual Learners sections of 098, 099, and 101 to help students whose first language is not English to succeed in academic writing. In addition, some students take Grammar and Composition, offered by the Program in English Language Studies (PALS).

All students are required to take one writing course per semester until they have completed their freshman composition requirement. After completing freshman composition, students also must take two writing intensive courses that are taught in various subject fields; at least one of these must be in your major. Scientists write differently from social scientists, who write differently from academics in the humanities, and you will be asked to do all of these kinds of writing during your undergraduate career, and beyond.

Throughout your enrollment at Rutgers, we stand ready to help you with tutoring in the Writing Center, with workshops attached to particular courses, and with Multilingual Learner support for students whose first language is not English. More information is attached. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Arena
Acting Director, Writing Program