<p>happyclosedeyes: dfleish is right. Microwaves aren't "allowed," but if you let the RA use it once in a blue moon, you can have one (and everybody does). There isn't a general PE class. I don't think there are any athletics courses at NU. </p>
<p>And no, nobody cares what you wear. You see gear from all sorts of colleges on the NU campus. People just wear what they want to. I have a Northwestern hoodie and a hat, but that's about it. I go to grad school at Columbia, though, so I am now the "proud" owner of a Columbia hoodie.</p>
<p>Since you're from around LA, what airline do you use to get between LA and Northwestern? Is it better to fly into Midway or O'Hare? I've heard that Midway is less crowded, but that O'Hare is closer to campus. </p>
<p>My mom had originally been reserving flights on united so I could fly in to O'Hare, and since it's cheaper to do round-trip flights on united she was buying flights wayy in advance. However, southwest can be a heck of a lot cheaper if you keep an eye out for their special one-way deals between certain cities. They only fly to Midway, though... Midway is on the southwestern corner of chicago, while ohare is in the northwestern corner of chicago; so o'hare's quite a bit closer to northwestern, especially if you're taxicabbing it.</p>
<p>What I would suggest doing, since you'll probably be taxicabbing it with your family when you move in, is fly into O'Hare for that first time. However, you'll get used to taking the El while you're here, so it's cheaper (and relatively convenient) later on to just take Southwest Airlines out of Midway (once you're used to taking the El, and assuming you don't have THAT much baggage). If you're not a fan of the train, you can always find people to split cabs with to O'Hare later on.</p>
<p>Oh, and fyi: It's not efficient to take the El to O'Hare due to the spider-like layout of the El. Basically, to get to anywhere not on the Red/Purple line, you have to go to downtown Chicago (i.e. the opposite direction from ohare to NU).</p>
<p>In case that was confusing, take ohare the first time and take a taxi to nu. After that, el it to midway or split cabs to ohare.</p>
<p>This largely depends on your program and area of study, but I actually enjoyed the quarter system and, though it moves fast, found it very manageable. There are basically two drawbacks:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You're not in school until 3 weeks after all of your friends at semester-system schools, so the end of that first summer gets a bit lonely. Plus, at the end of the year, you're in school 3 weeks after everybody else is already out for the summer.</p></li>
<li><p>Midterms begin to pop up about 3 or 4 weeks into the term, so you've always got to be ready.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Otherwise, I really enjoyed the opportunity to take lots of electives (for me, it allowed me to really try several different disciplines before I settled on a major and minor that worked well for me), and I didn't ever find myself hopelessly behind. Of course, like anything, it's an adjustment, and as you spend more time in school, you begin to feel out how much reading you actually have to do vs. how much is actually assigned, and the workload becomes very routine. </p>
<p>For what it's worth, I've found graduate school on the semester system far more taxing than undergrad on the quarter system ever was.</p>
<p>Of course, if you're an engineering major (I wasn't, but I knew many who were), school is extremely stressful no matter what system you're on.</p>
<p>When does school end for NU Students exactally? (i'm just curious)</p>
<p>Which pre-orientation programs do you recommend going to if you recommend going to one at all..? I heard PWild is fun but what purpose do these programs have other than fun? I know they're a good way to meet people before school starts.. but if I don't go to one.. when I get to NU will everybody know each other except me?</p>
<p>School usually starts around the third week of September, but even for returning studetns, New Student Week (usually 2nd-3rd week in Sept.) is a great way to get acquainted and re-acquainted with NU. Most people come to campus with few or no pre-set connections. I didn't go on PWild or FUP, and while those groups tend to get a bit cliquey (I remember senior year, people were still running around with their PWild groups from 4 years earlier), they don't by any means make up any significant percentage of the class.</p>
<p>There's actually a timeline chart on one of the pages linked to the NSW site.. I found all the dates and such.. we're supposed to be getting something from NUIT on Wed... and roommates is late July.</p>
<p>What are the best Dorms on the North Side of campus? I like Elder, but i need a second/third/ and fourth choice. I want to live in the North side b/c i am doing a sport.</p>
<p>If you like to meet alot of people, and aren't particularly studious, then Bobb definately shoudl be 2nd, and I guess Sargent after that if you insist on being north campus. You could also do Hinman house or 600 Lincoln, those are all-freshman dorms in Freshman quads and I think they even get keys to elder, the dorms are alot smaller though like 50 people or something like that, but you become closer easier with people there. If you're pretty studious, you could try Ayers CCI, not a whole lot of people there party on a consistent basis though. That pretty much wraps it up I guess for north campus, the rest is really small houses which I wouldn't recommend at all and frats.</p>
<p>If you insist on living North, and like Elder, your list should probably go Elder -> Bobb McCullough -> Ayers -> Willard -> Allison. I can't imagine you getting Willard or Allison if you put them 4th/5th so that should be fine, and I feel like 600 Lincoln is so small you will get it if you put it 3rd or 4th. If you write ****ty essays for the Residential College form, you are basically sabotaging yourself from getting into Ayers and Willard, meaning you'd likely have to be in Elder or Bobb. If you don't mind smaller dorms, then throw in 600 Lincoln. And Ayers is definitely slightly less social than Elder and Bobb, but if you really want to live there, then write good essays. </p>
<p>That is my best advice to ensure ending up on North Campus, but you might get screwed over. It's probably a better idea to find 5 dorms you like, north AND south, and simply list them in your order of preference.</p>