Dhruv Sethi Is Named Class of 2025 Salutatorian

Nurtured by the small class sizes and devoted faculty at Middlesex College, Dhruv Sethi is now thinking big.

“Middlesex College focuses on developing real-world skills rather than just giving good grades,” said Sethi, the Class of 2025 salutatorian. “I had a lot of professors who said that they cared more about our growth and grades are just ancillary. That’s what I will miss the most.”

Sethi moved to Middlesex County — within walking distance of Middlesex College — from New Delhi, India, when he was 16.

In his time at Middlesex College, Sethi has been active in various extracurricular activities. He has served as president of the Computer Science Club, organized computer certification workshops for his peers, and participated in the Princeton Transfer Scholars Initiative, a program that extends Princeton’s academic outreach to students considering transfer from community colleges in New Jersey.

Sethi has been previously recognized as a national Terry O’Banion Student Technology Award winner and for winning first place with his team for Best Overall Hack at HackTCNJ 2024. He’s also fluent in three languages.

Sethi shares that his motivation to continue learning outside of the classroom is partially due to the encouragement of Computer Science Professor and Computer Science Club Advisor Dhruv Chunawala.

“In computer science, I believe the skills you have on your resume are more important than what the College can teach you in the classroom,” Sethi said. “College can teach you theory, but the foundational skills that every candidate has, the certifications you get, and the tools that you learn are what companies ultimately hire you for.”

Sethi has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA and has been offered a full scholarship to Rider University, but he is still waiting on the final decision from a pair of Ivy League schools. Another lesson he learned while at Middlesex College: take advantage of every opportunity presented.

“Professor Chunawala would tell me to apply for everything, because the hardest thing to achieve is something you never apply for,” said Sethi, smiling. “The worst case is you get rejected, but if you don’t apply, you’re 100 percent getting rejected.”

Sethi is interested in studying practical uses for artificial intelligence in the medical field. He tells the story of a friend’s father who was diagnosed with a tumor. Upon hearing the news, Sethi wondered if there was a way to tweak the diagnostic technology to find markers for such things sooner.

Sethi is incredibly proud to be recognized as salutatorian by Middlesex College, the place that gave his education and self-confidence a major lift.

“In one of Steve Jobs’s commencement speeches to Stanford, he said you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only do that looking back,” said Sethi. “I draw an analogy to that and Middlesex College. If you give 100 percent to an opportunity, if you get rejected or accepted, it all happens for a reason. I think I’ll look back and see Middlesex College as one of my dots that led me to a brighter future.”