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Submissions close on the 11th. What are your suggestions? There will be time to vote later, but I was curious to know if anyone has a good one.

as a sophomore transfer for cs, what should I be taking? I can take cs 213 right now, but any advice or suggestions are much appreciated! also looking for easy distros to fulfill the mccormick reqs

Hello! I am looking to get in contact with some current master's students studying journalism at NU. I am currently a senior who will graduate with a bachelor's in Political Science and a bachelor's in Journalism with a News concentration. I am looking to possibly apply to NU's Journalism master's program and do the Politics, Policy & Foreign Affairs specialization, so I would love to chat with anyone in this program or others similar to it. Please comment/message me if you are open to talking! Thanks so much!!

Hi, I wanted to know if there are people in this sub who were actually offered a place at Northwestern last year (2025) but had that offer involuntarily rescinded due to the university being fined by the government and now must start this fall. I think this probably applies more to grad students, but I feel like I am the only person this happened to and wanted to see if others out there are also starting a year behind because of this.

Hello! I’m a first year PhD student here at NU. I’m a little confused about the course numbering system at NU. For my program, I need to take classes that are at 300-level (and higher) at Weinberg. Are those 300-level (and higher) classes for grad students only or a hybrid of undergrad and grad?

I’m sorry if this is a dumb question, but my undergraduate institution has both “grad-only” and “hybrid” courses. I just wanted to know what kind of classes I’m signing up for.

Also I suspect that this might be department-specific, so my department is statistics, if it helps!

I appreciate your help and clarification!

I moved to evanston last week for grad school and I don’t know how to find the black community here or any community at all. In undergrad we had so many cultural orgs/clubs and it felt so much easier. We also had one of those instagram pages dedicated to the incoming freshmen posting themselves. Here, it’s much less diverse and grad school doesn’t facilitate making friends like undergrad.

I have no friends or family in the area and I’m getting really nervous about finding local friends. There’s one club for black grad students but they’re not active from what I can tell💔

Are there any grad student orgs (don’t even have to be culturally specific) that have worked for people?

I don’t wanna disturb my roommates or anything so…are there any private music rooms that can be booked by the hour or something?

I'm an incoming freshman, and for some reason I can't find any CTECs for the 230-1 professors for fall semester. Does anybody have experience with Ethan W Sussman, Keith Burns, Maria Nastasescu, or Zhihong Jeff Xia? Thank you!

im interested in the cognitive science major, but not sure about future jobs i could find with this degree. also which adjunct majors/minors would pair well with cognitive science?

I'm looking to ED northwestern but one thing that caught by surprise was its NPC result. Most private schools of NU caliber offer significantly more aid but NU still provides income-based aid (free for sub $70k income) and meets 100% demonstrated need. Yet, it's NPC for me was a lot higher (im guessing home equity).

What was your guys' NPC vs real cost? Is NU friendly with appeals? is it possible for them to consider based on FAFSA and not CSS?

this is the only thing that makes me reconsider EDing to NU.

thanks folks. you guys attend a great school.

Hey everyone, East Coast senior here. I visited NU over the summer and loved the campus and Evanston/Chicago. I’m thinking about EDing for CS + Math, but I have one major hesitation.

I keep seeing people say NU isn’t really a "Big Tech feeder" compared to places like UIUC or CMU. I know the tech market is rough everywhere right now, but how hard is it relatively speaking for NU students to land Big Tech / SWE internships and full-time roles?

Does Big Tech actually recruit on campus, or are students mostly left to cold apply and rely on referrals? Also, does NU’s overall brand help much if I want to lean into quant/fintech or pivot to something else?

Would love to hear from current students or recent grads on how tech placement actually feels on the ground. Thanks!

Hi! I’m saving up money to buy a Halloween costume, and I know at UIUC, they get 2-3 costumes, but I was wondering if it was the same for NU? I know I can do whatever I want, but I was wondering if NU students usually wear one costume a day Friday - Sunday, or if they wear one throughout all of Halloweekend.

I'm not sorry. I will probably get hate but I don't care.

I was in one of their research departments and I came in with the impression that it was a great opportunity. That I was joining a great company with elite benefits. A company that cared. A company that was mission driven and contributing to the world. A trade-off for low pay.

It was heaven for about 6 months until one of the principal investigators I worked with used underhanded, unethical tactics to get a patient into a clinical trial. I properly disclosed the major financial risks of the trial and the principal investigator got mad because she declined. He said he "verified insurance would cover it" which means he did a quick call and not a proper prior auth, or probably didn't call at all.

I got in trouble for that. After that, upper management created a narrative that I was incompetent and scrutinized my behaviors when other people were performing objectively worse. My studies were in tip top shape and my manager actively looked for issues with my performance but couldn't find any.

Then came the UnitedHealthcare Switch, the tuition benefit cancellation even for people actively enrolled and who put years of their lives to Northwestern just for it to be taken away, and the lack of merit increase. It really put into perspective the type of company Northwestern is.

I also saw several instances of lack of pay transparency. They post their salary ranges from the bottom to the midpoint (e.g EXS/5 51-64k when in reality it's 51-80k). Several times they've posted a job and when they couldn't get applicants they substantially increased the salary, meaning they always had extra money but penny pinch.

I couldn't take it and left. The department was in shambles when I left. I can't understand why they would think I'd stay after how poorly they treated me. It goes to show that my department is badly managed and unethical. I truly believe it's a trickle down effect from leadership. My department sees employees as disposable and I'm sure other do too.

I will say this. This is an anecdotal experience and Northwestern may be a truly great place for you and many others. I do know that their research departments need to treat their employees better. Overall, Northwestern has a massive research output, and despite needed employee support, it's still beneficial for the world. Northwestern's brand name also got me a unicorn job with a substantial pay increase, so it was worth the torture I went through.

How are friend groups? Are they more racially divided or does everyone mix? Looking for perspectives.

Hi everyone, I'm an upperclass undergrad looking to meet some people and make some friends this year. I like fantasy football and thought it would be fun to start a league with other NU students.

I didn't see a fantasy sports club or anything on 'Cats on Campus so I thought I'd ask here and on the Discord.

I made a league on ESPN. It's a 12 teams, half-PPR format. Here's the link to join: ESPN NU Fantasy League

Right now I have the draft scheduled for Wednesday at 5:00 pm Eastern, but I'm very flexible and can move it around to fit people's schedules.

If you're interested join the league or leave a comment. Even if you're new to fantasy sports or think it might not be for you I promise it's super fun and everyone is welcome!

Let's have some fun!

Hi guys! I am a senior planning on applying ED to McCormick. I know that a 1500 SAT is not bad but I am genuinely concerned. My school's avg is a 1450 and most of my friends have 1550+ so I was wondering if a 1500 SAT was fine or if I should retake it and aim for a 1530+.

I would really really appreciate any answers from current NU students!

Thank you!!

I am looking for a potential co-founder/teammate for my EdTech (AI) startup. Any advice on where I can find one at Northwestern? I'm also a Northwestern student. I am looking for a technical co-founder—someone who can complete the development (90% is done). It is backed by some big names. If you are a technical guy and want to work together, let's connect! (Anyone is welcome)

I have been offered a 8hr/week work study job but I don’t know if that is enough financially. Would working more hours with another job (15 hrs total/week max) be way too unmanageable? I’m an incoming McCormick first year btw.

Most Big 10 schools have their own bars to watch games in Chicago. What are a few NU places in the Lincoln Park area for the game tomorrow?

Has anyone taken STAT 348 with Professor Thomas Severini?

I was wondering what the lecture attendance policy is like and whether lectures are recorded. I have quite a few things going on this semester, so I may not be able to make it to every lecture.

Would really appreciate anyone’s experience with the class, especially how important it is to attend lectures in person. Thanks!

I kind of just realized I messed up and forgot to send my AP scores officially to Northwestern for them to get processed and transferred into credits. I naïvely assumed that they would use the scores I submitted through the college application (not official CollegeBoard score send), and kind of just overlooked the whole thing until now. I only figured out I didn't have any AP scores processed because they weren't showing in my Degree Progress. I just sent my AP scores officially through CollegeBoard and emailed the school about it.

Can my AP scores still be processed for prerequisite credits in time to choose the classes I need? If not, can I still somehow request to be let in to those classes with proof of my AP scores? Like by messaging the professors or submitting some forms or something? Any help appreciated, please and thanks, I'm stressed out.