I am the author of the previous review. That said, I am transferring back to my Big 12 school. Here is what I have learned in my experience at North Central:North Central, the positives:
1) Faculty are trained appropriately and demand a higher standard of work and performance from students.
2) Smaller class sizes gives faculty the ability to devote themselves to students, and become mentors.
3) Naperville is a thriving suburb with an abundance of opportunities.
4) BNSF Metra is one block away from the campus, making Chicago an easy destination for students. Express service puts you in the city in around 30 minutes, and for regular service around an hour and a half.
5) That said, Chicago is used as a major "satellite campus" for North Central students within their classes.
6) Administration cares about students being "central" in the colleges operations, and they follow their words.
7) As a whole, academics at North Central are of high quality.
8) For a small college, the facilities are nice.
North Central, the negatives:
1) Commuter campus. It's empty on the weekends. Around 95% of the student body is from Illinois. Of that group, most are from nearby suburbs.
2) Not many activities are planned due to the frequency of students leaving campus. In addition, the variety of student organizations in which to be involved with is also limited. Of course, you can form your own!
3) 70% of North Central students are athletes. If you remain in the 30% minority, it becomes harder to seek out similar students. Not impossible, but harder. Many students here have their own "team" of friends to belong to.
4) The cost of attending is near $35,000. On the whole, almost every student at North Central receives some sort of financial aid, but you can only cut the tuition tag down so much.
5) Naperville is a tremendous city, but it is not a college town. High-priced retail stores and restaurants dominate the scene, and for most college students, it's a problem. There are only 5 inexpensive restaurants within walking distance of campus- Noodles & Co., Potbelly, Jimmy John's, Subway, and Burger King.
6) Being in close proximity to Chicago, there is a similar "cold" social environment like what you would find in the city.
7) There are many "cliques" at this college. Most of them derive from which sport team you are a member of.Final Advice: for those of you out-of-state students looking to attend college near Chicago, hear me on this: attend a school IN the city of Chicago. After attending two colleges near Chicago, I have witnessed how students leave campus for the city or surrounding areas. It creates an empty campus with little remaining. If you want to experience college near Chicago, you might as well be IN it. Look at DePaul, Loyola, UIC or IIT. Make Chicago your college environment; don't be left on a deserted suburb.
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