Northern Illinois University Top Questions

I wish someone told me that your social and partying life will be highly dependent upon the people you meet and get to know. So, if you don't know any fun people, you'll probably do what I did and just write your papers and chill in the dorm most of the time. It is NOT a given that you will be at every party that is thrown your freshman year. Moral of the story: This generation needs to put their phones down and stop being so anti-social so the not-so-anti-social people, like me, will have more amazing friends and fun memories. Please and thank you.

I wish I knew how often people commute.

Advisor can only give you advise, go to upperclassmen about your classes and schedule. Getting involved does not always have to mean join a organization, just join and help events.

the lack of safety, and advising the school provided

How helpful applying to scholarships can be, and how important it is to regularly check-in with your advisors. Scholarships help you with all the unforeseen expenses as well as tuition. Scheduling appointments with your advisors keeps you on track, and can lead you to the easiest, quickest path to your goals.

I wish I would have known I wanted to go to medical school as a freashmen becuase that would have made my time management and planning much more effective and my life a lot easier for the past four years. If you can try and pick something you are passionate about and go for it full force as soon as you can.

I wish I would have known about rate my professor to make sure I would like my professor. I also wish i would have known how big some of my classes would be.

I wish I would have known the extracurricular activites offered or just more things to take part in. There is not much that I find interesting out here.

I wish I had a better grasp on community events and on the public transportation provided at the school. For the firs couple of weeks, I often found myself somewhat lost and confused. I definitely wish I had paid more attention to campus maps and the bus lines. It is also important to go out into the community and assimilate in order to make sure you have an enjoyable experience.

How much money I would have saved if I had done scholarships. Also, I wish I would have known more people before coming to Northern Illinois University.

I wish I had realized just how much it would cost me. No college is really 'affordable'.

The smell is awful because of the feces used to fertilize the soil around the area.

i wish i had known that on campus apartments are really high and all of my financial aid doesn't cover it.

I already knew alot about NIU before I came here because my relative also attended NIU. The only thing that I wish I knew more about was getting scholarships and how to find the right ones for me.

I wish I knew a little more about the dorms before I chose. This way it would have been even easier to select the dorm hall that best suited my personality.

I wish I knew that the work would be more crucial. I don't feel that the work is harder, but you have to be more involved in it. I've learned that in college the goal is to "understand." In high school it is sort of forced upon you to just "remember" material. Remembering can sometimes be a short time thing, and what is the point of remembering if you don't understand the concept.

I wish that before I came to this school, I had better study skills. I also wish that I would've known how to study better and stay focused. I now know that it takes a lot out of a person to stay focused and be able to be the best possible student I could be and thats what I'm currently doing. I'm being a focused, college bound student.

I wish I had known how frigged the winter was going to be.

Nothing, I loved coming and not knowing really anything about it.

I wish I had known how hard it is to get across campus. NIU is big, with my parking pass I can only park in certain lots, but there are so many students, it'd be hard to drive between classes anyway. I also wish I'd known where the off-campus bookstore is.