<p>What areas are good at Northwestern? (illinios) Do they have a good physics/math program? Also, how hard would it be to get in?</p>
<p>Northwestern is good in most fields of study...especially in Engineering, Journalism and Economics. But Northwestern is strong in all the sciences and all the social sciences and humanities. </p>
<p>As for how difficult it is to get, in depends. If you are a 4.0 student with a 1580 on your SAT, Northwestern would be a safe match. If you are a 3.3 student with a 1200 on your SAT, your chances are next to nil. To most candidates in the middle, Northwestern is a match or a reach.</p>
<p>If you like sicence and have strong credentials, you can look into their Integrated Science Program (ISP); if you are also interested in econ or social science, you can consider MMSS (mathematical method for social science). There's also MENU (Mathematical Experience for Northwestern Undergraduates).</p>
<p>The math dept. is not that good.....</p>
<p>KK, that is how you know a university is top notch. Northwestern's math department is widely considered to be one of the top 25 in the country and yet, Northwestern students think it is not that good. That's because relative to other departments at Northwestern...and when compared to Northwestern students' expectations, it is weak. But it is still a respected program.</p>
<p>Ah. I see :)</p>
<p>They have top- notch theater and journalism programs, from what I hear.</p>
<p>How solid are the liberal arts; in particular poli sci and history?
I am interested in attending a top 20 law school and was wondering if the large lectures are a hindrance to learning as compared to smaller lectures with interaction. I am considering Wash U in St Louis and Emory.</p>
<p>Although NU has the reputation, friends of mine claim that the large lectures at NU make learning and prof intereaction a bit difficult.
I know this is the larger school dilemna although NU has about 8000 undergrads. I felt that a compromise in class size at an Emory might be better suited for learning. In recent years Emory has had good success in top law school acceptances. Both are fine schools.</p>
<p>I would say that Northwestern is as good at placing students into top Law schools as Emory. Here is a comparison:</p>
<p>Furthermore, Northwestern has a clear advantage with the great Midwestern Law Schools, Chicago and Michigan, placing roughly 10 students into each of those programs annually. Also, Northwestern Law school itself is ranked among the top 10 or so and on average, sends roughly 20 of its own undergrads into its Law program annually. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Emory probably has an advantage with the good southern Law schools, such as UVA, Duke, UT-Austin, Vanderbilt and Emory. </p>
<p>As for Washington University, it does not come close. There are currently a combined 2 students at Yale and Harvard Law...compared to 21 Northwestern students and 18 Emory Students. And there are fewer than 30 Washington University grads at Chicago, Michigan and Northwestern Law schools compared to 120 Northwestern grads.</p>
<p>Overall, I would not worry about Northwestern's "large classes". Northwestern is as dedicated to undergrads as any research university in the country...including Emory and Washington U.</p>
<p>how good is northwestern about financial aid? if they do meet 100% need, is that need met um, nicely? you know like, not forcing parents and students to take out TONS of loans, things like that.</p>
<p>The Fin aid here is pretty good......</p>
<p>the class size at northwestern.. is way smaller than some state public schools .. ie The University of California system...</p>
<p>I recently visited and the intro classes are large! One popular sociolgy class enrolled 700 in a lecture. Most large classes are between 100 and 250. I met with Profs and a Dean and their philosophy was that during a lecture, as long as you can see and hear, that is sufficient since lectures are not for interaction btwn students and prof. I was a bit surprised to hear this.</p>
<p>Hopeful, I cannot say that I disagree with the concept that lectures are for...well, lecturing. At any rate, you are going to have large lectures in every university. And whether a class has 100 or 1,000 students does not make a difference. Either way, the professor is probably not going to know the students individually and will probably not have much time for the students. But at most good universities, those large lectures are for classes that are basic and straight forward...even if they are difficult. As such, students must be able to tackle the course on their own. Those courses generally do not leave much room for interpretation and if a student is ready for college, the subject matter should not be too hard to handle. I doubt you are going to have large classes after your Freshman year though. Once you get past those intro level classes at Northwestern, you are going to have pretty small classes.</p>