North Central College Admission
North Central College Undergraduate Program
North Central College Application

The Facts

North Central College is a rather small, private liberal arts institution located in the town of Naperville, Illinois, and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college is home to over 2,000 undergraduate students and approximately 500 graduate and part-time professional students. The students are able to take courses in one of the college’s programs in the liberal arts and sciences, as well several divisions in preprofessional studies. These academic divisions offer a broad range of majors in the areas of biological science, business (which includes a major in international business management), communications and the arts (home to an excellent broadcasting program, as well as a hard to find major in Japanese language), computer and physical science (which includes an interesting program in actuarial science), education, engineering and environmental design, health professions, and social sciences. Some of the most popular majors include psychology, business, education, as well as English.

Admission to North Central College is fairly competitive among the few students who apply. Last year, more than 1,700 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 1,170 of those students were admitted; of those, about 400 matriculated. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1150 to 1210, and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 24 to 32. Additionally, more than 75% of the admitted students were ranked in the top 10% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of about a 3.82.

North Central College has a very manageable student to faculty ratio of 14:1, and many of the students agree that one of the best parts of attending North Central are the small class sizes and availability of their professors. Professors have an open door policy, and are willing to not only talk about in-class issues, but personal problems as well. Students are really guided along by the faculty at the school.

The Social Scene

The town of Naperville is technically part of Chicago’s suburban sprawl; the city center is only about 30 miles away from the campus, making weekend trips to the city very popular with students. Most students own cars, or take public transportation into the city, as the traffic is notorious in the area. Unfortunately, the town itself is pretty suburban and family oriented, and doesn’t really offer students much in the way of entertainment. North Central College has no fraternities or sororities, which doesn’t seem to bother students very much. There are, however, over 35 student-run clubs and organizations that are quite popular with the entire student body.

The dating scene may not be the most eclectic, but there are certainly some lovely individuals on campus...

What’s Good

“The school is really nice and small, and it’s wonderful to be able to get so much attention from your professors.”

“The proximity to Chicago is one of the best parts of going here. You really have plenty of chances to explore the city.”

“There’s a good balance of work hard and play hard here. People know how to do both.”

What’s Bad

“I wish we had Greek organizations, because our party scene as of now is pretty lame.”

“I feel like there aren’t really enough majors to choose from. There isn’t really anything terribly unique here.”

”The on-campus diversity is just nonexistent. It would be nice to shake things up a bit from time to time.”

Let the Penn Group help you apply to college.

• View our services
• Send a request now
• Read articles about applying to college