Dispel my NU doubts...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

<p>I'm deciding between WashU and Northwestern. I visited NU early this week for their PreviewNU two-day program. PreviewNU is set up very well, and staying overnight in Willard (residential college) was the best part. Everyone was very open and friendly, and I felt like I really got a feel for the students and the school just by walking around and talking to people.</p>

<p>Now, after my visit, I've got some concerns about NU that makes me a bit hesitant about the school.</p>

<p>For one thing, I talked to a <em>lot</em> of people about the quarter system... Besides the obvious complaint of being on a different schedule from your friends, I heard mixed reactions to it. Personally, I'm not sure if I like the idea of moving so quickly, with midterms always around the corner and more finals in a year.</p>

<p>For another, while I definitely enjoyed my stay in Willard, I felt like the dorms were a bit spread out and kind of separate from campus.</p>

<p>I'll say I got a good feel for the students, but not as much for the campus. It seems kind of big (relatively), but does it feel manageable?</p>

<p>Feedback of any sort is much appreciated. :)</p>

2

<p>I had the same doubts about the quarter system. However, I've started to think that if there are more finals, won't each one cover a smaller amount of material? I don't think you'll be tested on MORE stuff just because there is a quarter system. However, not having talked to anyone who goes there about this, I can't say for sure. I would imagine it also depends heavily on your major. Engineering, for example, might be killer, while I've heard others are not bad at all.</p>

3

<p>You would be studying for 3 or 4 finals at the same time instead of 5 or 6. Also, the math and science sequences are taught at the same pace as those in semester so you finish the general chem or bio..etc in 3 quarters, just like others finishing them in 2 semesters. So you would be studying less material for each of those finals. Hope that helps.</p>

4

<p>Who did you stay with in Willard? I'm curious if I ran into you or not...</p>

<p>Also, campus is completely manageable, you can get across it in like 15 minutes at a brisk pace. I have never ever felt like our campus was too big, and I have to go north nearly every day from Willard (furthest south dorm).</p>

<p>Finally, I love the quarter system. More finals in a year maybe, but finals are easier because they cover less material. The midterm thing isn't that big of a deal unless you're science (are you?)... a lot of non-math/science classes don't even have midterms, or have essays or group projects or whatever... every class really is different. If you take a good mix of classes you will NOT be swamped.</p>

5

<p>Going north to south and vice versa during the winter can seem a bit daunting, but I've never felt that it's unmanageble. I go south everyday from one of the dorms up north and it's really not a big problem, especially since once I get down there I usually stay down there. This hasn't always been the case though, and it is kind of a pain to try to get from Kresge to Tech in 10 minutes.</p>

6

<p>Actually, I'm more Liberal Arts.. No clue what I want to major in, but I can say that it will not be sciences.</p>

7

<p>why are midterms a bigger issue for science?</p>

8

<p>here is what i wrote in another post about someone's speculation on the quarter system:</p>

<p>What she said:
"Trimester System: This is a tough one. There's the "being on a different schedule than friends from home" variable. That being said, the pluses are that you get to take a more varied course load (if you choose) because you're taking more courses in an academic year. There's less chance of a "boredom" factor because the "quarter" moves fast. The flip side is that there's more academic pressure because things are moving faster and some would say that it always feels like it's time for midterms."</p>

<p>What I said:
the quarter system does kind of suck for the first reason you listed. you will rarely catch all of your friends at home during most of the breaks, and if you do it will probably be only for a short perod of time. The main times you are at home, no one else will be, and the times you are at school, everyone will be home. However, i consider northwestern a good enough time that it's not as big of a concern as it would be at a school that is unpleasant to be at.</p>

<p>The up-side to this, i don't really count the "boredom" factor, is that if you have a rough couple of weeks because you are tired, partied a lot, family problems, whatever, it only effects one quarter's worth of grades and not an entire semester and thus 50% of your GPA for the year, which is a big plus for a future in getting a job, getting into grad school, etc. You get a "fresh start" more often.</p>

<p>The "always feels lke it's time for midterms" phenomenon is less of an academic stress, i feel, and more of "wow.. this quarter is almost over." it helps the year go by really quickly, all of a sudden you realize you have midterms this next week and that means your quarter is 50% over and you barely even realized it. You don't think you have covered enough material to take a midterm but somehow you have (which can also be a plus because you are only tested on as much material as they could teach you in 4 weeks or so... ie: not much) so the midterms tend to not be that difficult; very manageable amount of work. But in general, it just makes the quarters, and thus the school year, seem to go by much more quickly, i know because i transferred from a semester school last year, where the year just seemed to "drag on" and you just began to feel really lethargic and anxious for everything to just be over, but at the same time apprehensive of impending tests while in the moment there was nothing to do.</p>

<p>There is none of that with a quarter system, no worrying about impending midterms because "impending" probably means next week, not eight weeks from now while in the meantime you do nothing and wish school could just be over.</p>

<p>Just my description on how it actually feels to be on the quarter system.</p>

<p>ASIDE: overall, the quarter system does kind of suck, but not as much as i can imagine going to wustl would.</p>

9

<p>Midterms are worse for classes like orgo and bio because they happen more frequently (you can count on at least 2 midterms a quarter) and the material is really hard. So in this case the original poster is accurate. For most classes, midterms are not that frequent or stressful.</p>

10

<p>I'm a tour guide here, and what I tell people is that the quarter system is ideal for students who like fast-paced learning and who can budget their time. Otherwise, you <em>will</em> fall behind. </p>

<p>As for our campus being spread out, I completely disagree. I can walk from south campus to north in 10 minutes (I often have 10 minutes between classes on different ends of campus) and the dorms are definitely not separate from the campus. Willard is probably the most isolated dorm, as it's right at the end of the sorority quads, maybe it gave you the wrong idea about the rest of the dorms.</p>

11

<p>one thing to take into consderation is that even though the dorms are split north and south, they're all clumped in those north/south areas. Theres really no one isolated dorm, and even then the dorms are still relatively large so you won't run out of people to talk to</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
I'm a tour guide here, and what I tell people is that the quarter system is ideal for students who like fast-paced learning and who can budget their time. Otherwise, you <em>will</em> fall behind.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Hmm, I thought the pace wasn't bad at all - plenty of free time.</p>

13

<p>It depends on what classes you take, obviously. I have plenty of free time, but I also need to manage it properly so I don't fall behind in my classes. When you're covering several chapters in a week, it can be hard!</p>

14

<p>Yeah, it really depends on your major/classes. I have much less work this quarter than last quarter, yet I've found myself falling behind more because I tend to slack more when I have less work to do. So if you're like me and more motivated when really busy, then the quarter system is great for you.</p>

15

<p>I took 5 engineering classes in one quarter before. Nobody should worry. ;)</p>

<p>Though I got to say the two environ engg were pretty easy. The other 3 chemE ones were a lot harder. </p>

<p>So here's the dirty secret of McCormick: if you want easy engineering, do env and avoid chemE. :)</p>

16

<p>haha actually, i AM in chemical engineering... and i sorta like the idea of a quarter system, and being able to take more and broader classes/electives in a year. Otherwise, i have the same doubts... 'cept i'm trying to decide between NU and Upenn... and maybe UCBerkeley</p>