Northern Illinois University

Date: Jan 06 2009
Major: Music - Performance (This Major's Salary over time)
It is in your best interest not to attend Northern Illinois University. Although the school has a low price tag, unsatisfactory social life and poor educational quality plague the university. Northern is indeed a commuter school; on weekends, a vast majority of the campus flees to the Chicagoland and city. This produces a deserted campus and disenheartened community on the weekends. Few students attend any of the athletic events, which are all free with a student ID. The basketball team is horrible, and around 100 people (mostly alums, few students) fill the 10,000 seat Convocation Center on gameday. The social life is terrible, and the students certainly realize it. A "dark cloud" looms over NIU, and it creates a very negative environment. The majority of the student population are unhappy to be NIU students, as countless statements such as "I hate NIU", "I wish I went somewhere else", and "NIU sucks" are made. NIU is just another institution for those who miss out on the U of I. There is no school pride at Northern Illinois University.

Residence Halls: If you should decide to come here, do not live in Neptune North or Grant North. Neptune North is a run-down facility. There are claw marks and scratches on all of the doors, and the residents continually damage the toilets, showers, sinks and heaters. Grant North is a violent dormitory where many of the African American students reside. There are many stabbings, arrests and threats at Grant North throughout the year. If looking for the ideal residence, choose either Neptune East or West. If looking to live in non-university housing, choose University Plaza (called "U.P."). They are very spacious, and have tremendous amenities.

Campus Life: With the majority of students that leave on weekends and throughout the week, little goes on. Few campus activities are planned due to the foreseen habit of students leaving for the suburbs. The dining halls are frequently closed, and open for a very short time on weekends. Athletic events draw a very small crowd, and often does the visiting team have more fans present. Mainly alums attend the athletic events. Students are too busy driving home to the Chicagoland or getting a buzz off of Greek Row. The campus is not too appealing to one's eye, as the university still struggles to come up with a full time landscaping and maintainence service. The facilities are somewhat nice, but frequently empty. In addition, the campus is surprisingly small. Within the first two weeks, one should have already figured out the campus entirely.

The Future: Unfortunately, NIU is not doing much to improve the university in the future. The university has good potential, but little of it is actively used. The university is gradually beginning to lower the ACT requirements, eventually setting the minimum accepted score to below 17. With this, NIU hopes to attract a greater amount of urban students from the city of Chicago. However, this is creating a violent campus atmosphere, and the university may be following in the footsteps of Chicago State University. A tuition increase is expected for Fall 2009, as the university is obtaining a full time landscaping maintainence. In addition, the increase comes from a decision to add players' names to the backs of the football team's jerseys.

All in all, I would look elsewhere if I was a student looking to attend college in the state of Illinois. I transferred out of NIU after my first semester, and it is a worthy switch. The absent social life at Northern Illinois University creates a negative and drab atmosphere. Go to the University of Illinois, or another school with an improved campus society. UIC, Illinois State, DePaul and North Central would all be better choices.