What a Northwestern grad would do differently

knowbefore
Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:00:15 +0000

I see that this thread has gotten confusing.

I think this is because I did exactly what I did not want to do with it: introduce more than one main topic.

So, I’ll try to summarize the various concerns I and others have with NU and higher education in general:

1) It’s not necessarily going to place you in a great, interesting job right out of college unless you add something yourself.

2) It may not have good training in legislative politics and quantitative public policy.

3) Many NU students are dissatisfied with the quality of the education. The professors may not be great teachers or may not have much free time for undergrads, the class offerings may not interest them, or they may feel grading is unfair. The academic environment among students may not be that great depending on your group of friends or major. In most of my classes, students were unable to discuss the readings most weeks because they don’t do them until the test approaches.

4) Many NU students and college students in general may not be mature enough to pick the right school and then study hard at a college.

I experienced #1 and #2 and to some extent #3 and #4. I would say that a decent way to avoid #3 is to study something that doesn’t rely on great teaching. I would guess that the hard sciences and mathematical subjects have been around for so long that their curricula are as complete and well-structured as possible.

This is not to say that other elite schools don’t suffer from the same problems, but I do not believe that there are no differences among schools and that students wouldn’t benefit from a more extensive search, if only so they’re not disappointed by what they get. This may not be news to you, but it’s something I wish I’d at least taken seriously when I was 17.