For a break from studies, Rutgers provides numerous opportunities for recreation. The Golden Dome Athletic Center offers students an extensive program of athletics and recreation, including basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming in a twenty-five-yard, eight-lane pool, water polo, karate, racquetball, handball, indoor soccer, floor hockey, and table tennis. The facility also has a state-of-the-art weightroom, an exercise room, and locker rooms with saunas. There are step aerobics, water aerobics, weight training, and yoga instruction classes, to name a few. Alumni Field, equipped with lights, has a running track and softball, soccer, and baseball fields. The recreation department sponsors skiing, hiking, whitewater rafting, sailing, snowboarding, and kayaking trips.

The Robeson Campus Center schedules movies, concerts, and other programs regularly, and has a game room, an art gallery, and lounges. The city of Newark also offers many diversions. The Newark Museum has a notable permanent collection and features special exhibits, concerts, and lectures on varied subjects throughout the year. The Newark Public Library has an active schedule of concerts, lectures, and exhibits. Symphony Hall offers something for all tastes, from opera to rock. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, which celebrated its inaugural season in 1997, brings world-class entertainment to the city. For lovers of the outdoors, Branch Brook Park is said to have more cherry trees than Washington, D.C.