(Northwestern) I came to NU for the journalism school, and to this day, it is my favorite part of NU

How this student rated the school

Educational Quality	A+	Faculty Accessibility	A+
Useful Schoolwork	A	Excess Competition	A+
Academic Success	A	Creativity/ Innovation	A-
Individual Value	A-	University Resource Use	A
Campus Aesthetics/ Beauty	A	Friendliness	A+
Campus Maintenance	A-	Social Life	B+
Surrounding City	A+	Extra Curriculars	A+
Safety	B+

Describes the student body as: Friendly, Afraid, Snooty Describes the faculty as: Friendly, Helpful

Female

ACT:33

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SAT1780

Quite Bright

Lowest Rating Social Life	B+

Highest Rating Educational Quality	A+

She rated most things higher than other students did.

Date: Mar 21 2007
Major: Journalism (This Major's Salary over time)
I came to NU for the journalism school, and to this day, it is my favorite part of NU. Medill is small and approachable, and the professors that I have had have all been really friendly while still knowing an incredible amount about every aspect of the field. At Medill, they really care about you and your goals. For example, every journalism major does a Teaching Media internship for one quarter at a magazine, newspaper or broadcast news outlet, and everyone I've talked to has gotten one of their top 3 choices. For your TM, Medill really tries to match you up with your needs and desires, in terms of location, future goals, etc.

In addition to majoring in journalism, I am also pre-med, so I can compare my science, journalism and liberal arts classes (in Medill you take every type of class imaginable to ensure you will actually understand what you're writing about…from economics to art history to poli sci to the social sciences). Anyway, some of the pre-med and engineering kids here kind of scare me. They lack social skills and sleep at the library. But I guess that's how it would be almost anywhere. I find my journalism peers refreshing after spending so much time with grade-grubbing pre-meds. Medill kids want to do well but aren't obsessed with grades. They are engaging, bright and motivated. I fully expect to see many of their names on the bylines of some major newspapers/magazines, etc., in the future.

The people here like to complain about how the social scene sucks, but if you want to waste four years getting drunk, you should save yourself some money and go to a state school. Don't get me wrong…I have tons of great friends at NU, and we like to have fun together. But if you hear someone talking about how they despise the "party scene" at NU, realize that there are all types of people here, from partiers to the aforementioned people who sleep in the library. If you are motivated, bright and like to work hard, you will find your niche.

Responses

Hi - Thanks for your nicely written comment. My daughter is interested in Medill, but would like to study abroad for a year. Is that possible given the structured year-by-year journalism curriculum?

Hi! You/your daughter definitely should have time to study abroad. I know tons of people in Medill who have studied abroad (and loved it). I'm not personally studying abroad, but as long as you plan ahead, I don't think you will have any trouble fitting everything in. Also, the journalism residency (required quarter-long internship) has sites in India and South Africa, so that's another way to see the world. Hope that helps!

Your ACT score was high (a 33!), what is the likelihood of someone with a 29 ACT and a 4.0 GPA getting in to NU? I have a strong interest in journalism but the finality of the sepreate schools with predetermined majors intimidates me. Could you shed some light on Medill and major flexibility and study opportunities within? thanks

I honestly have no idea what your GPA/scores mean to the admissions committee…many other factors, such as your high school involvement and experiences, are also highly important, and I feel that at the smaller schools within NU (such as Medill) the adcoms look at each applicant more holistically than, say, the huge college of arts and sciences. In terms of the separate schools within the university, I know many, many people who have transferred into/out of a specific school (ie- arts and sciences into journalism, engineering to arts and sciences) and while it's obviously easier to spend all four years in the same school, I don't think transferring is all that big of a deal. It entails filling out some forms and an interview, I think, although it may depend on the school. So don't worry about getting cloistered into one part of NU…the university definitely realizes that students change their minds about their career paths. Now for the last part of your question: if you graduate from Medill, you receive your BS in journalism. There are three "tracks:" magazine, newspaper/print and broadcast, so you will have a sub-specialty within journalism. Also, the Medill curriculum is flexible enough that almost everybody has at least a minor in another subject (ie- political science, Spanish…and I'm managing to complete all of the pre-med requirements, along with the Medill requirements, with credits to spare). I think the best study opportunity in Medill is the required "journalism residency," which is essentially a stellar quarter-long internship that the school gets for every student. There are tons of publications to choose from (or TV stations if you're broadcast) and since the magazine, etc., knows you're from Medill and that you're getting credit for the internship, you get to really get your hands dirty by pitching stories, interviewing, writing, editing and getting published. It's a sweet deal…Medill is awesome. I could go on and on…

Hi,
My daughter and I just got back from a visit to NU and Medill. She fell in love with the place and turned in her forms/deposit the same day! I'm happy to read about your experiences at Medill. My daughter wishes to be pre-med and your experience doing this would be invaluable to her. Do you think you can email us offline about how it is to juggle both lives and how much planning it takes to do this right?

I'm happy to correspond with you, but I'm not sure how to find out what your e-mail address is. Maybe it would be easier if you just posted some questions here and then I'll post the answers as well?

I'm going into my senior year this fall and loved when I visited Medill. I have a fear that I will feel as though I will always striving to catch up to my peers. Would you say that NU overall is a high-pressure environment? Also, would you consider yourself very social? Did you feel like you had to really put in some major effort to have a decent social life?

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