Northwestern University Top Questions

Whenever I say I go to Northwestern people are impressed and say "you must be smart." The academics here are remarkable. I often here students complain about the professors- that they are too old, don't speak english, or are just boring. But then there are those who rave about their professors. Many of the professors here actually wrote their textbooks which is so cool to see, but also hard to question the book! The professors are really accessible and are willing to help students in any way possible. My only complaint is that registering for classes is a pain at this school. There should be a shopping week where people can see what classes they want to keep, drop, or add. I just had to add a class late which was a pain!

The classes are challenging but not in a way that I find conducive to learning what interests students. Most of the courses are taught in lecture form that is not efficient for students to retain the information they received. Most importantly, the quarter system makes studying and classwork almost unbearable at times due to the constant testing.

Pretty tough academic scene. We definitely work significantly harder than almost every other school in the nation. ITs competetive and students are highly motivated. There are no easy classes and requirements are strict. I haven't had time to take many elective classes. In fact, the only class I have ever taken that was not required in some way was Public Speaking (besides 2 classes during my study abroad). I was able to graduate 2 quarters early which is nice to save some money.

I love academics at northwester. Almost all my professors know my name, if not them, then the T.A.s do for sure. My favorite class was Intro to Fiction, Jules Law was amazing, I also am in Love with my Earth 101 Class (most unique class). I don't really have any bad experiences, I guess my first freshman seminar How to become an expert was really hard? But its made every other class feel really easy. I study all the time, like every day at least a couple hours outside of class. I think that goes for most of my friends. Well cass participation varries on size of class, the smaller the class the more the people participate. Yes, i've had many conversations about abortion, religion, politics...ect. My friends and I love sharing interesting stuff we learned about in class and it sparks conversation. YES! Students are really competitive. And i wasn't expecting that. When i get back from breaks, everyone asks "how'd you do" which means, "did i get more A's than you?!?" I haven't had much experience in my department yet. I haven't spent too much time with professors outside of class, mostly just in office hours, which I like to go to, because I can't imagine being on the professors good side is a bad thing. I like NU's requirement system. I don't know much about the job part because I am only a freshman, getting distrobutions out of the way!

Every once in a while in class there's still that token person that you wish just wouldn't open there mouth, but the academics are still infinitely more interesting than high school.

In your first couple of years, don't be afraid to take higher level classes, because they aren't that much harder and they are much more interesting. Once you are an upperclassman your classes are small, your professors are engaged, and it's generally just a better academic experience. It's a tough school, but it's not impossible to put up a good GPA if you try hard. The one thing that is different about NU is that we are on the quarter system. At first, I hated it because our breaks never align with semester-school kids, but by now I have come to like it. You get to take more classes, and if you don't like a class it goes by much faster.

Size of classes depends on your major: lots of big classes in science, many small classes in other majors. Lots of studying. Many professors make the effort to get to know students' names and to make themselves available during office hours and via email.

I love that students take school seriously and are challenging themselves, yes people go out but they also want to achieve something great in their lives as well.

NU professors are a diverse group and all really smart and entertaining.

My favorite class was Enterprise Reporting in Diverse Communities. The Medill class was based in Chicago, so it was amazing to be able to go out and interview people outside of Evanston and the campus community. The professor was invested in the class, made an effort to know the students personally and even invited us over for dinner one night for pizza and to listen to a speaker.