Reflections from a 1st Year

Introduction
I was looking for a school in the heart of a city with good academics and wanted a private unaffiliated school that wasn't going to act like another set of parents (I'm leaving home for a reason!). NU is great if you are responsible and can manage your time well because we are so close to great things such as Newberry St and Fenway Park, but the academics aren't easy so you have to stay on task and get your work done as well. Everyone always complains here about how much the university watches over us and the security in the dorms being a hassle, but it is good to know we are being protected and it is very reasonable compared to other private universities.

Campus Life and Social Life
As a member of a DI athletics team, I have only certain times when I can party and others I need to sleep for early am practices or competitions. I have found it is easy enough to avoid the parties when you want to and on the other hand most nights there is plenty to do if you want to. The NU frat/sorority scene is pretty lame but it’s not hard to get into BU or MIT (sound's lame but is actually a lot of fun and very close to NU) frat parties. There are also tons of parties in upperclassmen housing, and a big trend is to just drink in the freshman dorms. But, as I said before, I have found it is very easy to find entertainment that does not involve alcohol and the dorms are controlled well enough that it is never too loud most nights.

The only bad things about on campus social life is the events aren't very well publicized or attended. In general, the events are pretty lackluster, and with the exception of Springfest and Sex Week I think people would have trouble naming many of the big ones. The other thing is that while most people stick around on the weekends, most long weekends people head home so for people like me who have to stay because home is far or have other commitments, it can get boring for a few days. Luckily Boston always has fun things going on! Advertisement
Academics
I was in the college of business and hated it (the dept was great but just wasn’t for me) so I am in the process of switching into the health sciences college. If you aren't sure about your major don't just pick one!! They make it hard to switch your major, and while its not terrible it is a bit of a hassle and I have to take a class this summer. The academics vary by college. Business, communications and cj are notoriously easy, while engineering and health sciences are difficult majors. Overall the academics are challenging but manageable. Co-op is such a great opportunity, everyone I know that is graduating has had at least 2 great job offers that are above entry level work and pay. Professors are generally good, a few bad ones but most genuinely care and love the subject they teach. Intro level classes are lectures but outside of that generally small classes are great. A few intro level classes are taught by TAs but I have only had one and she was terrible but I heard many people have had amazing TAs, so again it varies. Workload is manageable, again the 'hard' majors always have more work than the 'easy' majors but it seems to come in waves, I will have a week of little to no work then a week with a bunch of homework or tests. It can be frustrating but if you can manage your time well it’s not much of a problem.

Student Body
NU has a fairly diverse campus, you have your typical frat boy and sorority girl stereotypes but there are so many people here that you are bound to find people with similar interests. There are a ton of on campus groups and clubs to meet people with similar interests. A good amount of people are from MA and a lot from New England, but there are a lot of students from around the country and even a good amount of international students. There are complaints about racial diversity on campus, and it is true that NU is predominantly white, but from my own observation there is no discrimination against anyone and I think the campus is fairly diverse, especially compared to other large universities.

In Closing...
I love NU so much, and even though people complain about red tape and the athletic teams not being as good as they should be, my only complaints are that there is not enough upperclassmen housing and that they keep raising the price of tuition. YEAH DAWGS!