<p>My son is admitted to McCormick and attended the admitted student day. One of his concerns is the relative lack of group study space. Could anyone comment on how collaborative chem e and computer engineering departments are and where these students meet?</p>
<p>Hang in there. I emailed my kids with your question- one is a McCormick ChemE grad, and 1 is a current ChemE McCormick student. They both had lots of collaboration with other kids in the dorm & my kids have both commented that it is imperative that you have a group or groups that you work with – so I think this is part of the mindset. I can also tell you that the NU Freshman Design project helps teach and encourage this collaborative learning - My wife and I were much impressed by the presentations that we were lucky enough to see. I might post here, or might PM you when I hear back. Don’t know when that will be though - so I hope you have some time. NU keeps the kids pretty busy, </p>
<p>Here’s my current student’s response: </p>
<p>"There is the library, and most residence halls have rooms for group interactions/studying. You could also go to tech at pretty much anytime and there’s tons of space, even if some people might be using parts of it.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t think I would worry about this. There’s just so many buildings."</p>
<p>Good luck with the decision. If you have other questions you can PM me, and we’ll answer as best we can.</p>
<p>This is precisely what I heard from my S - current EE and ISP student.</p>
<p>Thanks to both of you and your students for this information.</p>
<p>My ChemE Grad checked in: </p>
<p>" I can only comment with certainty on ChemE, but I assume it’s similar in all Eng classes based on what I saw friends do. You become friends with people in your classes because you study together and do homework together. Freshman year you can sign up for study groups lead by class TAs, and later on, all your fellow majors hang out with you in the department computer lab literally all night. It’s good fun. The engineering program in general encourages collaboration because, frankly, that’s the best way to get work done in the real world. No one person has all the answers"</p>
<p>Unlike many other schools where many don’t get to do group design projects until their junior or senior year, all NU freshmen are <em>required</em> to work on group design projects. The collaboration begins in the first year.</p>