Northwestern University Top Questions

It may have seemed hard to get in here. Trust me, its harder to stay in school. The quarter system moves so quickly that you forget where you're life is for 10 weeks at a time. The good news, everyone pretty much feels the same way. Even the professors joke about how quickly they cover material.

The Economics department although a great program is very difficult. It tries to hard to keep up with the ivys and in doing so makes Northwestern students get lower grades than the inflated grades of the ivys. The classes are too big and the teachers for the most part are too intelligent to teach. Or their accent is too thick to understand.

Academics are good. Some of the classes require a lot from the students and because the students oblige, the professors can continue to do this.

Academics are obviously one of NU's strong points. I have taken a number of great classes here, not just good but great. There are also a lot of very engaging, interesting and accomplished professors here. One of my professors, freshmen year, wrote the book for the class and was also a great lecturer. Another of my history professors was the head of the department and the most engaging speaker that i have seen here. Class participation is very common and there are some students who go overboard but, aside from that, there isn't too much competition and students are very helpful to each other.

Classes are challenging at Northwestern. Unless you are just incredibly gifted, you should come in expecting to work hard. That being said, if you put in effort, good grades are extremely manageable, at least in the liberal arts classes I take. I also find most of my Northwestern classes to be very interesting, and I think most people here would agree. I am a history and philosophy major, and am looking into a business minor. I find that I learn an incredible amount in my classes, but sometimes the quarter system makes it feel rushed and provides a tense atmosphere. Still, I like the fact that we switch classes every 10 weeks instead of every 16. Some students are close to their professors, although I haven't fostered more than a few relationships. Many professors make an effort to know everybody's name. Of course, my Modern Cosmology professor couldn't learn almost 500 names, but my Intro to Macro professor impressively learned upwards of 200. Professors are required to hold office hours, and I have found most to be approachable, willing to help, and interesting people, although there are a few exceptions. By far the strangest class I have taken at Northwestern was a Freshmen Seminar called Searching for ET: Science and Strategies. It was a class devoted to learning about the search for aliens, and we pretty much discussed far flung theories every period and then threw up our hands at the end and said "who know?"

I love my classes, teachers are great. However, I wish I had an adviser, like a counselor. My freshman seminar teacher is nice, but does not know much outside of her field. Since I am undeclared, there is no one else to help me

This is a top tier school, academically, to be sure. A diverse course offering makes picking four (or five, for the particularly ambitious/anti-social) classes three times a year an exercise in self-denial. While many students aspire to double and triple major, some just pick one and enjoy the myriad of engaging elective courses taught by brilliant professors. You can bury yourself in work if you like, but for the most part school is manageable. There is, though, a decidedly varied degree of difficulty from one major to the next. Pre-meds don't go out. Humanities majors can drink five nights a week and still skate.

Class participation is frustrating because there are usually only a few kids in each class that participate. I try to speak in almost every class, but there are kids who go all quarter without talking.

Professors rarely know my name. My favorite class is the Presidency because the topic is interesting and my teacher is really logical and intelligent. My least favorite is Intro to Fiction because the professor was annoying and repeated himself a lot. Participation is common. Journalism requires a lot of work but it is rewarding.

They are pretty good. 'nuff said