<p>Can someone expand on what this is ? Do you go off campus somewhere? Is it between the terms? Is it underwritten by the university ?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Can you or someone elaborate on this? In this NU forum, there has been discussions of how much the student academic life at NU is competitive or collaborative. I forgot which won offhand. </p>
<p>Re class discussions, are they usually moderated pretty well by the profs, or do the loudest get the chair? </p>
<p>Another question: Are there classes in the distribution requirements to graduate where speaking intensive classes are required? My daughter who is at a LAC needs to take these kinds of classes. Obviously cracking the course catalog might help on this last question, but I’d your input.</p>
<p>How is the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences? If you attend, are the classes engaging? Is the famous pre-professional emphasis at Northwestern evident in the classes and in how they teach?</p>
<p>There’s no “pre-professional emphasis” in liberal arts & sciences courses. NU has top-ranked pre-professional programs/schools but that doesn’t mean its liberal arts courses are weak. Many departments at WCAS are highly ranked.</p>
<p>@roderick RE: competitive vs. collaborative, I would argue it is both. Northwestern students help each other to continually improve, and all are highly motivated to succeed, which in my book the best kind of academic environment (even if the curves become pretty tough). If you meant “cutthroat,” then no, for the most part Northwestern students aren’t crazy gunners for As. If there are kids like that, you don’t ever really see them.</p>
<p>Granted, I have only been here for a quarter, but the professors that I have are all extraordinary. It is surprising how much having teachers who genuinely care about what they are teaching makes in a classroom, even in a large lecture hall. I am sure, however, that classes/professors can be hit or miss just like at any school. Also, I don’t see how a pre-professional emphasis can manifest in any class… I mean, if you’re learning chem or spanish or history, how do you make the education “pre-professional”? </p>
<p>One thing that I love about NU is the emphasis that it places on hands-on experience, which I think some people misconstrue as a pre-professional emphasis. From McCormick’s Engineering First curriculum, to the Chicago Field Studies program, to the Civic Engagement Certificate, NU has a focus on getting first-hand experience and on community service.</p>
<p>Finally, NU is one of the most academically diverse schools I know, so pretty much anyone can find their niche. One thing to note is that NU also has a huge number of extracurricular programs, and that some of them are non-Northwestern affiliated nonprofits, so they don’t get listed on the ASG website. </p>
<p>I can safely say I cannot imagine being anywhere else than here.</p>
<p>Yea I think the internships and hands-on stuff is labeled as pre-professional–since it allows you to take your learning beyond just reading the textbook and taking tests. Is it really true that Weinberg is not as oriented towards experience rather than just reading and testing? I have been told that professors tryto expand their curriculum as much as they can so that students get a feel for how they will use their education after they leave college.</p>
<p>WCAS offers “real world” experience, especially through their integrated programs such as ISP (Integrated Science Program) and MMSS (Mathematical Methods for Social Sciences.) My S chose Northwestern because of the ISP, which has a whole bunch of internships and research opps for undergrads, plus the integration he so desired. He’ll be finishing his first quarter at NU and is really enjoying himself. ISP has a seminar for 1st qtr freshman that focuses just on research … what kinds there are, which professors are doing what, how to approach the professors, etc. etc. The expectation in ISP is that the students will have such involvement.</p>
<p>I’m in McCormick.
It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun. This week has been miserable for me and the rest of this week will stay miserable, but I’ve done so many amazing things here in just my first quarter that I can’t even keep track of them all.</p>