Northern Illinois University
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NIU may not feature the same world-class constellation of academic stars as a school like Harvard, but hey, our tuition costs about 3 SUVs less per year than an Ivy League school. Most students will tell that you get what you pay for in coming here. There aren’t many exceptional academic programs at NIU, and you will find few “pioneers of their fields” among the cornfields here. Still, the engineering and accounting programs have recently seen a spike in national recognition, and deservedly so. Required classes with little relevance to your career path are a major drag, but classes inside your major can be invigorating if you can tough it out to sophomore year. A few bad apples aside, there are many teachers who care about their jobs and their students with the same passion as professors at other schools with better academic reputations and more well-off students. It’s up to you to make the effort to come in for help when it is offered, which is fairly often. Lack of flexibility and heavy accents are common criticisms of faculty, but those problems exist on most any college campus. Professors and instructors sometimes have a tendency to hijack classroom discussions with their own agendas, political and otherwise. However, if you can get past these annoyances, you can get a good (though maybe not necessarily great) education at NIU.

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Academics at Northern Illinois University

stacyheliotis

Nursing '15

3.5

B

Nursing Major

I am a nursing major, which is one of the most widely recognized majors as being difficult. Nursing is challenging at Northern Illinois and very competitive. I would rather have a hard rigorous program than an easy one because it will prepare me much more when it comes down to working in the field.

May 10, 2012

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Academics at Northern Illinois University

greatgoose28

Theatre, Arts, and Media Management '14

3.1

B-

Ok Campus

campus is ok, wish there were more activities or at least more information to recieve about activities on campus, the web site for activities need to be updated with current email addresses so the gropups could be contacted, also the fees that we pay are sometimes double fees, one fee doubles if you were to read the fee. technology sercharge and then another one almost the same fee different name

Mar 20, 2012

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Academics at Northern Illinois University

ksmythe

Nursing '15

4.6

A

Known for Nursing Program

NIU has a renown reputation for their nursing program. It is extremely competitive to get into and stay in, and is a very common major. As I am a freshman, I haven't gotten into the nursing geared courses yet, but there are so many girls I know going into the program. It is nice having so many people to study with and discuss your major with. They also have an extremely high pass rate for the test to get your degree, so I would highly recommend it if you are considering nursing.

Mar 11, 2012

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