Hi y’all! Congrats to those just accepted. I’m a sophomore in McCormick (MaDE major) with a minor in Weinberg, though I started out undecided in Weinberg and transferred into McCormick after a quarter, and I’m open to answer any questions anybody has about my student experience at NU or about the school in general. Fire away!
I’ll only be doing this until the end of my break (Friday night), so if there’s something you want to know, ask soon.
how soon do engineering courses start your freshmen year? is their time/room to search around for what type of engineering is best for you/if engineering is right for you at all?
How’s the research opportunities and if applicable can you share your experiences?
what are the rigor of the courses? ^ and also the previous comment about research
@dopamine17
Engineering classes start first quarter if you’re starting in McCormick. There are opportunities, however, to start a quarter behind in engineering (starting engineering classes in winter of your freshman year) and have absolutely no problem with your academic progress (like me). Some people even start engineering their sophomore years and manage to graduate on time, but that usually means they can’t take any cool humanities/social sciences/etc classes their last three years at NU.
There’s definitely time to search around for which engineering major is right for you when you’re starting out: each of the four introductory Engineering Analysis (EA) classes, which you take as a four-quarter sequence, are taught by professors from different departments (EECS, Civ Env, MechE, and Applied Math), and you have plenty of space to experiment with different majors with your basic engineering classes. However, beware, as some majors (like mine) require a very specific set of basic engineering classes. Changing majors is easy as well, especially freshman year (all you have to do is submit one form that you don’t even have to have anybody but you sign), and I don’t think you even have to declare a major until the end of freshman year, so you have plenty of time to figure things out within engineering.
As for figuring out if McCormick is the right place for you at NU, that’s a bit tougher, but still definitely doable. Starting in Weinberg as I did, after taking some engineering classes winter quarter of my freshman year I had an experience outside McCormick that I could use to compare my experience in McCormick. From that comparison, I was able to figure out what I would have the least regrets doing (a kind of sad way of figuring things out, I’ll admit, but it worked), which happened to be engineering, and I’m really happy with it now. Sorry, that was a lot about me, time to get down to what would happen starting in McCormick and trying to figure things out. As a freshman engineering student, you should be able to take 3 engineering/math classes and 1 non-engineering/math class per quarter. You could compare the math (taught in Weinberg) and other non-engineering classes to the engineering classes, or just see how intellectually engaged and interested you are in the engineering classes, to find out what you want to do. If you don’t feel like that would give you enough of a taste of other schools, talk to an adviser to figure out what you should do.
That was extremely helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to answer in such depth! One more question, if you don’t mind: do you think those 4 first quarter classes freshmen year give an accurate representation of engineering at NU? Or are they just boring intro courses? Basically I’m wondering if I will be able to figure out whether I want to stay in McCormick or transfer to Weinberg after one quarter. I don’t want to get too behind, if I do decide to transfer!
@oilJspill
I don’t have all that much experience with research at Northwestern, but I’ll tell my experience with it and give a few examples of people I know who have gotten involved.
Summary of the following: Ask as many professors about research as you can, try Undergraduate Research Grants (URGs) in summer.
First off, I’ll just say that I’m not that interested in research, so don’t take my personal research stories that seriously, since I kind of half-buttocked my efforts. I asked around in the department in which I have my minor in Weinberg (German) as to what sort of research professors are doing, and one of them had a really cool project. Unfortunately, the professor had a sizable delay in getting it started so I never got myself attached to the project. I have also contacted, or tried to contact, the main lab for my department, and only got one email back saying they weren’t considering any more undergraduates that quarter (this past quarter), so I gave up, since I’m studying abroad all of next year and I won’t be able to get seriously involved in research because of my absence.
As for other people, one person asked like all the professors in his (larger, with more labs) department in his first quarter at NU because he knew research was something he wanted to do, and got a research position either tht quarter or the next one.
A few other friends of mine, engineers, also have research positions in labs in their department, though I don’t know exactly how they got those jobs. But, the point is, it’s definitely doable to get started doing research. Just ask around.
One way I know people can make your position more permanent is through an Undergraduate Research Grant. The website is here: http://undergradresearch.northwestern.edu/
@dopamine17
Glad to help!
I’m not sure if you could get a good picture of what engineering is like from only the first quarter classes or not in a general sense, but for me, it was enough. I took the freshman design class, DTC, Math 234 (not an engineering class), and EA 1 as well as a class in the German department in my first engineering quarter, and the combination of the “this is what you’ll actually be doing” of DTC and the cool math stuff in EA 1 convinced me. A lot of people found the EA 1 and DTC material be boring, however, even though I didn’t. Boringness depends on interest, and can thus be a good gauge of if the subject is the right one for you.
Another guy I know dropped engineering after his first quarter, too, fyi. I guess the first quarter was enough for him, too. However, I know a couple people who wished they switched early on because they hadn’t got it figured out earlier, and now they’re unhappily marching toward engineering degrees. So it really depends.
Engineering forces you to make tough decisions sometimes, but I suppose that’s just life.
Because its easier to do a non-McCormick degree in less time than a McCormick degree, it might be a better idea to start in McCormick if you’re truly on the fence, as it would be easier to graduate on time going out of McCormick than coming in. However, I strongly suggest consulting an adviser or two about what you should do if you’re still on the fence. Advisers at NU (at least in McCormick and the German department in Weinberg) are amazing and there to help.
@jacobson123
Which courses are you asking about?
Ok thank you so much! When I get on campus I’ll consult an advisor ASAP. You are a lifesaver @thatrunnerkid
Hi, I have a question: as a Weinberg student, would I be able to be part of the engineer first program if I’m doing computer science?
@Pyrefox
You could always take the classes, but I don’t think you’re required to for the Weinberg CS major. However, as a Weinbergian, there would be other classes you need to take sometime that you would be getting behind in if you take the EA sequence and DTC, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. If you are seriously considering undertaking that, talk to an adviser to figure out exactly how you should go about it.
Helpful link (see page 37): http://eecs.northwestern.edu/images/docs/manuals/undergrad_study_man.pdf
I acknowledge I’m recommending talking to advisers a lot, but they’re seriously so helpful.
I’m gonna pop in and help answer some questions.
@oilJspill I am research assistant on campus, although I’m not an engineer or in any science-y sort of lab. There’s lots of opportunities to be either an assistant or come up with your own research. Overall it’s a pretty great system, and our undergraduate research opportunities are very good overall.
@Jacobson123 classes at Northwestern are really tough. Engineering courses especially. I’m not in any, but I have lots of engineer friends and it’s really hard.
@Pyrefox the Engineer First program is just the classes you take as a freshman. There is probably a way for you to do it, but if not you could always just come in as an engineer and just switch out later or something.
Thanks for the responses! @Crimsonstained7, what do you mean by I can come in as an engineer? Can I switch from Weinberg to McCormick that easily?
Yeah, there’s really not much to switching as far as I’ve heard. I haven’t done it, but I haven’t heard of anyone who couldn’t transfer freshman year to any other program. Only music would require auditions, everything else I’m pretty sure it’s a simple transfer.
@Pyrefox
I switched from Weinberg to McCormick, and it was very easy. All I did was talk with an adviser and meet with like one or two people.
Oh, I see, haha. Thanks again!
What is the social scene like at NU? I’m definitely interested in at least some partying, but I also really want to go to a school with a vibrant musical/artistic community. If you could give me any insight into your social experience and/or a description of the entire university community is, I would really appreciate it.
Oh, and how’s Dillo Day?
@thatrunnerkid and @Crimsonstained7
yes, if you have time, I second the last post. Could you elaborate on the social scene?
Could you tell us a bit about undergraduate housing, the student center, and where one’s life revolves…dorms, clubs, students in the same courses/major, etc…
Social scene is tough for me to judge, at least in the party sense. I don’t do well in huge groups of people with loud music, so I’m not into parties. From what I can tell, freshman mostly go to frat parties, sophomore also go to frat parties, but after that it’s mostly house parties. There’s almost always something going on thursday-saturday as far as I can tell.
As for the rest of the social scene, I love it. There’s always plays going on, and some of them are amazing (the rest are good, just not amazing). In particular, Arcadia was put on recently and it was honestly one of the best plays I’ve seen, not just by students, but really by anyone. Symphonic Wind Ensemble and NU Symphony Orchestra are astounding, which is to be expected from the top groups at a top music school. There are definitely things going on all the time.
People are generally pretty cool, there’s a wide variety of people. Honestly you can probably find anything you want here. I have a group of friends that used to just chill in a lounge and study (we no longer have a lounge right outside our door, but we still hang out). I go out to eat with people, take trips into Chicago, etc. Overall I’d say that the social scene is whatever you make it.
Dillo Day, last year, I had work for most of it. Chance the Rapper I got to hear a bit of on break, and I saw people flooding in. It’s honestly insane. You just have to wait and see.
Undergrad housing isn’t amazing. There are some great dorms, but it all depends on what you want. You’d have to be more specific on what you might want. Norris (the student center) is due to be renovated eventually, although I think it’s after I graduate that it starts. It’s not a great location, relative to residences, so it’s not as busy as it could be. It’s pretty cool though. Nice gathering rooms, Norbucks (Starbucks in Norris) is a great study space, there are good food options around, the game room is a great, underutilized resource. I’d say if it was relocated somehow it’d be pretty great.
Where your life revolves totally depends honestly. Freshman year, for me, it was mostly my lounge in my residence hall and one of my clubs. This year, a lot of it is the dining hall, Norris, and multiple clubs. I’d say that in general it doesn’t revolve around your classes or major, at least in Weinberg. The other schools do have quite a bit of camaraderie because they see each other in classes and clubs related to their schools more often.