Northwestern University Top Questions

I have had amazing professors and not so amazing professors at NU. It really depends on the subject and class. In all my smaller classes, where I've had interactions with the professors, I've come away stunned. The same is true for some of my larger classes. For instance, I took a philosophy class where the professor got a standing ovation at one point! He was amazing. But there are classes where the book teaches me more than the professor ever did. Its too bad, but what can you do? Its going to happen at any college. These have mainly been in my large lecture based science classes, like Gen Chem or Biology. The TAs are still super helpful, but the professors, who would rather be doing researching that teaching, aren't always worth the time of day.

The professors at Northwestern seem to run the entire gambit. With science classes in particular it is easy to get the feeling that some of the professors are simply teaching the class to be allowed to continue their research at the university. In addition to this, even if the teacher cares about the course, most of the upper level classes are taught by professors who are fairly invested in their research and this can occasionally become evident in the quality of the instruction. Such professors aren't entirely bad, though: while their classes may not be the most engaging, they're still intelligent people who can often open doors for research opportunities or give you advice on your own pursuits.That being said, I've also had my fair share of excellent professors who are also excellent teachers (believe me, the two aren't the same). My main advice is to read the comments on the CTECs to help you understand whether or not the teaching style of a certain professor will match with your own learning style (when possible).

All professors are individual people. So, obviously, every professor is different, and every student has different preferences. In general, my professors have been very passionate about their fields, but not as interested in interacting with individual students as I would like. In larger classes, professors will likely not take the time to learn your name, as most of the grading and discussions will be done by TA's. However, in smaller seminar classes, professors often make individual meetings mandatory, and are usually very prompt about answering your questions and e-mails.

Senior David Rosenberg says that once you get in, Northwestern professors don’t let you any slack.