Northern Illinois University Admission
Northern Illinois University Undergraduate Program
Northern Illinois University Application

The Facts

Northern Illinois University is a large, publicly funded institution located in the town of DeKalb, Illinois and is home to over 16,000 undergraduate students and approximately 8,000 graduate and part-time professional students. The students are able to take courses at one of the university’s six undergraduate schools or two graduate schools, which offer academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences, as well as a wide selection of courses in preprofessional studies. These academic divisions offer broad majors in the areas of biological science (which includes a popular program in nutrition), business, communications and the arts (which includes an extensive foreign languages program), computer and physical science, education, engineering and environmental design, health professions, and social sciences. Some of the most popular majors at Northern Illinois University are business, engineering, sciences, education, and communications.

Admission to Northern Illinois University is quite competitive, especially as the number of highly qualified out-of-state students who apply increases with each passing admissions cycle. Last year, over 16,150 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 10,025 of those students were accepted; of those, about 3,250 matriculated. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1010 to 1090, and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 22 to 28. Additionally, more than 65% of those admitted were ranked in the top 10% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of about a 3.58.

Northern Illinois University has a manageable student to faculty ratio of 18:1, which is quite good for a public school of its size. Some of the general education classes are held in lecture form; however, they are almost always supplemented by a smaller seminar class where students get a chance to discuss the content of the previous lecture. In general, students give their professors high marks in terms of accessibility and willingness to help students out when they may need it.

The Social Scene

The town of DeKalb is quite small, and doesn’t really offer students much in the way of entertainment besides a movie theater and a couple of local bars, shops and cafes. However, the city of Chicago is only about 65 miles to the east, and many students own cars, making weekend mini-road trips into the city quite popular. Northern Illinois University is also a major mecca for Greek life, as it is home to a whopping 37 national fraternities and sororities. In fact, over 20% of students join a Greek organization at some point in their college careers. The Greeks basically dictate on-campus social life, and their massive parties dominate the weekend entertainment scene. Even though the town doesn’t offer a whole lot, the campus certainly does.

The dating scene is quite active and very diverse. Chances are, there’s something here for everyone...

What’s Good

“The party scene is absolutely amazing! You wouldn’t even believe how crazy some of the parties are here.”

“The university has great resources, and they provide you with the best equipment and facilities possible.”

“I love all my professors. They really check up on you, and make sure you’re getting all the material.”

What’s Bad

“The whole partying thing gets way out of hand and really obnoxious. It’s impossible to get anything productive done on the weekends.”

“I hate the whole Greek scene here. Sometimes it feels like the campus is divided strictly into the Greeks and the non-Greeks.”

“I wish we were closer to an urban area. It’s such a hassle to get into Chicago that you basically end up not going at all.”

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