Northern Illinois University Top Questions

What's the one thing you wish someone had told you about freshman year?

Caitlyn

I wish someone told me that your social and partying life will be highly dependent upon the people you meet and get to know. So, if you don't know any fun people, you'll probably do what I did and just write your papers and chill in the dorm most of the time. It is NOT a given that you will be at every party that is thrown your freshman year. Moral of the story: This generation needs to put their phones down and stop being so anti-social so the not-so-anti-social people, like me, will have more amazing friends and fun memories. Please and thank you.

Erica

I wish I knew how often people commute.

Clayton M.

Advisor can only give you advise, go to upperclassmen about your classes and schedule. Getting involved does not always have to mean join a organization, just join and help events.

Dagmar

the lack of safety, and advising the school provided

Donovan

How helpful applying to scholarships can be, and how important it is to regularly check-in with your advisors. Scholarships help you with all the unforeseen expenses as well as tuition. Scheduling appointments with your advisors keeps you on track, and can lead you to the easiest, quickest path to your goals.

Giovanni

I wish I would have known I wanted to go to medical school as a freashmen becuase that would have made my time management and planning much more effective and my life a lot easier for the past four years. If you can try and pick something you are passionate about and go for it full force as soon as you can.

Jessica

I wish I would have known about rate my professor to make sure I would like my professor. I also wish i would have known how big some of my classes would be.

Jade

I wish I would have known the extracurricular activites offered or just more things to take part in. There is not much that I find interesting out here.

Steven

I wish I had a better grasp on community events and on the public transportation provided at the school. For the firs couple of weeks, I often found myself somewhat lost and confused. I definitely wish I had paid more attention to campus maps and the bus lines. It is also important to go out into the community and assimilate in order to make sure you have an enjoyable experience.

Paige

How much money I would have saved if I had done scholarships. Also, I wish I would have known more people before coming to Northern Illinois University.

Alex

I wish I had realized just how much it would cost me. No college is really 'affordable'.

Olivia

The smell is awful because of the feces used to fertilize the soil around the area.

Jamia

i wish i had known that on campus apartments are really high and all of my financial aid doesn't cover it.

Tatiana

I already knew alot about NIU before I came here because my relative also attended NIU. The only thing that I wish I knew more about was getting scholarships and how to find the right ones for me.

Harley

I wish I knew a little more about the dorms before I chose. This way it would have been even easier to select the dorm hall that best suited my personality.

Malcolm

I wish I knew that the work would be more crucial. I don't feel that the work is harder, but you have to be more involved in it. I've learned that in college the goal is to "understand." In high school it is sort of forced upon you to just "remember" material. Remembering can sometimes be a short time thing, and what is the point of remembering if you don't understand the concept.

Brittany

I wish that before I came to this school, I had better study skills. I also wish that I would've known how to study better and stay focused. I now know that it takes a lot out of a person to stay focused and be able to be the best possible student I could be and thats what I'm currently doing. I'm being a focused, college bound student.

Kate

I wish I had known how frigged the winter was going to be.

Amy

Nothing, I loved coming and not knowing really anything about it.

Julia

I wish I had known how hard it is to get across campus. NIU is big, with my parking pass I can only park in certain lots, but there are so many students, it'd be hard to drive between classes anyway. I also wish I'd known where the off-campus bookstore is.

Maria

I wish I had known more about the weather here during the winter. Last year I had to practically walk in a mini-blizzard to get to my finals. I also wish that someone had told me that it takes extreme weather conditions to have school cancelled.

Janell

I wish I had known how chaotic registration was and how the counselors have no idea what they are talking about. I have been attending the Hill College Cleburne Campus and no one knows what they are doing everyone runs around like chickens with their heads cut off! Most of the time they can?t finish my paper work for financial aid so I get dropped from my classes. In January I will move to the Hillsboro campus so I'm sure the experience will be much better because it is the main campus.

Sierra

I wish I knew how the dorms are really set up. The diagrams don't show it all.

Mark

I wish I would have taken school more seriously first semester, and realize that you have to pu in a lot of studying to get the grade you want or you will fail, fall behind and then have to retake the class the following semester.

Caitlin

I wish that I would have known a little more about the town that the university is located in. I may have chosen something a little more exciting, but Dekalb is a nice size for a college town.

Ashley

Just that the social life is centered so much around drinking unless you are in a really tough program. This does not allow me to fit in too well socially as I do not drink, smoke, or party.

Carolyn

That it is harder than you think. Once you get to the college of your choice, you have to work hard at school to keep your grades and everything up. Other than that it is a learning experience when you get to school, a fun one. So there is nothing else that I would change.

Amanda

I wish I had known how much of a commuter school it was. It's only an hour away from the city of Chicago, so usually campus is really dead on the weekends. Also, I wish I knew how focused much of the school was on the business and engineering colleges. These colleges both are provided with the best computer labs, newest buildings, and resources. Whereas, for example, the building for liberal arts and sciences, where my area of study is focused, is old, outdated... with limited resources to computers.

Alyssa

I wish I knew that many students go home on the weekends.

Allyse

I wish I would have known more about the extra cirricular activities on campus

Amanda

How the living arrangements in the dorms would fit me.

Elizabeth

Life..........because then I would have stayed there.

Amy

That the advisors can be misleading and over look vital information regarding your credits. I also wish I would have known that financial aid is very limited.

Princess

I wish I had known the surrounding a little more and more people.

Andriana

I wish I would have gotten involved sooner on my campus rather than later in my college experience. I became involved in Gamma Phi Omega Int'l Sorority Inc, and I have loved every minute of it. I only wish I would have joined earlier in my college years rather than later.

Rebecca

I wish i would have known that there are a lot more resourses for tutoring than I knew about.

Adam

How to study for exams better

Brianna

Nothing

Kelsey

How to work as a group, and how to find the right people to work with

Samuel

Off the top of my head the only thing I wish I knew before I came here is where my classes were, but after a week it all came to me anyway.

Brian

Living on campus would be better then commuting

Megan

n/a

Angela

I wish I had known that this is a "backpack" school; meaning most students go home on the weekends. It is important that if you plan on staying on campus during the weekends that you find a group to get involved with, otherwise the only options for fun are the bars.

Harman

What exactly my major was going to be

Erika

I wish I would have known about the weather. In particular, the wind and the winters can be brutal but after experiencing them just once i knew what I was in for. As for the rest of it, I am glad that I learned it all as I went.