The University of Northwestern St Paul

Date: Nov 19 2011
Major: Math (This Major's Salary over time)
I attended Northwestern for some PSEO credits a few years ago online, and I was in the dorms for a week before deciding to move out, take all DE (online) classes, and eventually transfer out altogether. The online classes are fine (other than the math classes), but I had a lot of problems with NWC as a whole. First of all, deciding to switch from all day-school to all DE was nearly impossible as they had me jump through hoops to get what I needed to get done. They seem to babysit the students and not give them freedoms. For example, I had to get signatures from all of my professors to drop classes; as an adult, I should NOT need permission to drop a class. The whole reason I decided to move out was because of the cost and the required minor. As a new college student, you are required to spend money on a Bible major. Don't get me wrong, I am a Christian, and this education is very good. If you are going to school to be in the ministry field, this is the place for you. However, why pay thousands of dollars for a minor you won't use in your career field when you can take those same classes through a church or community center? Secondly, the food plan is ridiculous. You have to pay $1700 a semester for a food plan as a freshman/sophomore. This is impossible. One meal for me was roughly $4. I would NEVER spend $1700 in a semester. Besides, living in the apartment dorms made me want to utilize my kitchen. This college is also very stingy about fines. They charge twice as much for tuition compared to a public school, and they'll fine you for anything. I heard that a guy once was walking through the halls of a girls' dorm building (not in a room) during non-visiting hours and got fined. Chapel, which is mandatory, is another area where you can get fined. If you miss more than the allowed 14 misses for Chapel, you get fined and possibly disciplinary action. This also takes away from the experience of Chapel. Being required to go to church every day takes away from the spiritual experience of going at all. I found that this was a big problem. Once I went DE, I was no longer required to go to Chapel. However, I received an email near the end of the semester saying that I missed a bunch of Chapels and was going to get fined. It also said that I only went to 29 (which I only had gone to like 4). This is just how messed up their system is.

Don't get me wrong. If you are going into spiritual disciplines, you will love NWC. The dorms are worth the money as well. They are very VERY nice. It is also a beautiful campus in a great part of the cities. But they are so disorganized, and they want your money. They babysit their students and don't treat them like adults.