First-year students are required to attend the non-credit First-Year Colloquium. The FYC meets three to four times a semester. The goals of the FYC are fourfold: to provide a basic introduction to issues of professionalization, to offer guidance and information about the Rutgers graduate program, to enable first-year students to share their perspectives on making the transition to graduate study, and to introduce students to the extracurricular intellectual life of the department.
The format of these meetings varies: some meetings will feature visitors with expertise on the topic under consideration; sometimes attendance at an afternoon lecture or job talk will be required. Brief readings may be assigned.