Mediocre

Introduction
Northern Illinois, what can I say? The only reason why I chose Northern Illinois was because I was not accepted into m first choice. I did not know it was so cheap compared to other state schools in Illinois, but unfortunately this is a school where you do not get a bang for your buck. If you want cheap school with a dead town and if you received straight C's or do not want to leave far from home, granting you live in or near Dekalb, then Northern Illinois may be the school for you. If your goal oriented, driven, or have not done your college search and just want to attend a school that has "university" written on it then this may be the place for you.

Campus Life and Social Life
Partying B-: Northern Illinois is known as the party school where I live. This statement is somewhat true; there are good parties, and there are days where you wonder where all the people went.

Sports C+: Northern Illinois competes in the MAC(Mid Atlantic Conference) Division I and are strong/decent in some sports, most recently men's soccer (conference champs and Sweet 16 appearance), baseball (deep in MAC tournament), football (#1 leading rusher in the nation Garrett Wolf drafted to Bears) and women's basketball (Stephanie Raymond drafted to Chicago Sky and went deep in MAC tournament). What strikes me as odd is that even with the leading rusher, Wolf, Northern Illinois fails to attract a full crowd during football games and the future does not seem bright for ticket sales when he is gone. The students really seem they could care less when it comes to sports; women's basketball was doing extremely well their 06' season, but like football can not attract people to attend the games (men's basketball was a joke). For a Division I school in a mid-major conference, Northern Illinois' is rather mediocre at best with some programs breaking out every now and then. Overall, the sports are forgettable and the student body shows it.

Clubs F-: Sheesh. There are some bars, but none are located on the school campus. Molly's and Fatty's are bars/restaurants that seem to attract students and the residence, other than that the night life sucks. Does Walmart, which is located in Sycamore, count?

Weekends D+: Dead. Since Dekalb is located about an hour away from Chicago and the majority of the students are from the surround area flocks of students leave. Of course there are things to do, like study, hang out with friends, sleep, play video games, and work out in the Recreation Center, but other than that there is not much to do.

Social Life/Campus: It is decent. Many kids stay with their group of friends from high school the majority of the people either come from the same high school or from the surround area. Just say hi, be friendly, and join some clubs that have your interest and you'll do fine. The surrounding campus sucks: all pretty pictures prospective students see are somewhat a lie - class are held on the west side of campus, not the east side (the nice part). The west side of campus is rather nice, but it is just buildings with classes and dorms. Most people are friendly, but a majority of them do not say hi. Honestly, when I walk to class, I feel like I am in high school or at a community college. Oh yea, the Greek system sucks at Northern Illinois. The Northern Star, the school's student newspaper, published an article dedicated to how bad the Greek system is here at Northern Illinois. Almost half of the men's fraternities where put on probation for dangerous hazing or assault and battery. Advertisement
Academics
Northern Illinois' academics overall are rather poor. Most programs are easy and don not require a lot work. Can I be rude say a diploma mill? Yes, Northern Illinois is a diploma mill. People say college is what you make of it, at Northern Illinois you really have to try - your only given so much opportunity, which is not a lot. If you want to work close at home or stay regional, then Northern Illinois may be the school for you. It's major programs that are noteworthy are it's Accountancy and Business program. Nothing else it worth attending this university. Teachers and TAs range from good to rather bad. Classes, well the teachers make the class along with the students, are mediocre at best to pathetic. People rave about how cheap Northern Illinois is, but they forget how bad the overall quality is. This a biased statement, but it seems Illinois State is a better school. Honestly, academics here at Northern Illinois is sad. Plain sad. One can do better if he/she can get into a better school. Don not let the price and proximity of Northern Illinois trick you. Most of what the school claims are lies.

Student Body
The student body at Northern Illinois is not diverse. Students come from the either the two: Chicago or corn land. It feels like an inner city school in the middle of corn. That is really odd. A reason for this is that Northern Illinois accepts practically anyone. Students range from bright to a complete dumbass. This not Northwestern, University of Chicago, or University of Illinois, but the majority of the students that attend Northern Illinois are poor to mediocre . My roommate was academically dismissed and was accepted back to the university, but he will not be returning next fall semester to my pleasure.

In Closing...
After writing this review, I finally came to the conclusion that my experience at Northern Illinois as a freshman really sucked. I felt that I was smarter than the majority of the students (which is never) and I actually have resentment to some people there. In closing, Northern Illinois claims, like every school, that it is the best when in reality is has little to offer. It claims a lot, but cannot back it up, which is really sad. Pick Northern Illinois if you have not done your college search well.