If you want a good engineering program this is where to go. You get a personalized education with some great professors who will challenge you with the basics before heading to the U of M to finish your degree. You will actually get two degrees in five years and your education will have a strong christian foundation.
I graduated from Northwestern a few years ago. The art department is excellent! I couldn't have asked for more knowledgeable and caring professors. The only thing that discouraged me was that as a student of color, I felt completely out of place. I found myself conforming to the culture there, which consists mainly of white, conservative, upper-middle class folks. I felt a very strong disconnect between the other students and myself, sometimes even between the professors and me. Sometimes I'd ask myself, "What am I doing here? I don't belong here." I was an art major and it was only within the art department that I felt at ease. Everyone there was different, creative, expressive and open-minded. It was a little community of artists and I am forever grateful for that experience.
I loved parts of my time on at Northwestern. I was in choir, played on the men's soccer team, and participated in various student clubs. But let's be real, Northwestern is only a friendly place if you are a white evangelical who is cool with patriarchy and spiritualized ethnocentrism. Do not attend if you are a person of color. They are institutionally racist and theologically conservative. I majored in education ( I now teach in South Bronx) and was not trained well to educate a diverse classroom. I even had professors deny racism was a real issue ... In education, are you serious? (Can you say school to prison pipeline ?) The biblical studies department act like the Jesus police, and do not appreciate any perspective outside of selective biblical literalism. There are a few shining stars on staff who think outside the box, but they are literally apart of the underground and cannot speak openly in fear they will be excommunicated and fired. One saving grace is that Ron Ginn got me a placement teaching in North Minneapolis where I found great mentors. Such a sweet and loving man. This is a wonderful place if you are straight, conservative, classist, theologically conservative, white and plan to never interact with anyone outside of white evangelicalism. Be prepared to have loving people shame you with the bible if you think differently or look differently. Bethel is only slightly better, my wife attended there and said they are worse lol
This school needs to adapt to the supply and demand of skills in the market workplace. There are more students than there are jobs demanding the skills that this college and colleges in general is teaching. For example, the MIS program focuses heavily on programming and not enough in other IT skills such as business intelligence, data analytics, business/systems analysis, and quality assurance. Sure, this program and its current state of heavy programming courses has worked well for most alumni's to get roles in both programming and non-programming jobs but that is not the case for some students that do not have that high of a GPA. These students will have a TOUGHER time finding a job in a IT role that they want because they were not given the ability to choose more courses relevant to their career choices as opposed to a student that is more technical savvy and understand technology in general better. Not saying that these students with lower GPAs won't find a job but just that it will be 2-3 times as tougher. Companies are looking for more than just programmers but yet UNW and colleges in general continues to push a lot irrelevant coding courses on them that they will never use. I have been out of this school for a while and not once have I have had the need to use java, xml, and visual basis nor did the roles I have interviewed for (from the IT topics I listed above) have asked for it. A lot of companies are hiring for business/systems analysis, business intelligence, data analytics, and quality assurance but programming is the main focus for this program. This program is still stuck in the 80s-90s. This school needs to start adapting to the supply and demand of the workplace market.
I am a current student, and love every minute that I am on campus at Northwestern. I also work close to Northwestern, and no one has every told me that they had a bad visit at this university. I truly enjoy the high level of education, athletics, and religion. The college stands up for many great things, and gives many different things a good name.
Tuition is too high but the campus is beautiful and the people and professors are great.
After spending 4 1/2 years at UNW my thoughts and experience would take a book to finish. But I'll try to be short. Pros. I loved most of my professors. I had professors who actually cared for my success and are willing to go out of their ways to help. Many of my professors knew me personally and I wasnt just a number in their schedule. Which I can't say my other friends from other colleges can say. UNW pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me realize what my passions are; through realizing how much I disagreed with the institution, but nevertheless I matured. The friends I've made. True and great friends who all felt the same. lol
Cons: granted not every student is and thinks the same, but there's enough consensus to make me believe the school does way too little to better itself. Too much of the school thinks they're past racism. Whenever we reach a topic on anything related to culture or race we would have less than 2 days to talk about it while other topics used a week easily. Professors uncomfortability trumps the need to discuss out issues. Teachers have openly say diversity is the issue. 100% of school advertisement would showcase vast variety of diversity and multiculturalism, yet students of color makes less than 5% of the entire body. And 95% of the students in the advertisements don't even go to Northwestern. I know this because I know most of those students and they've graduated years ago. Academically it was subpar for the price of admission. Tuition jumped $10,000 within the time I was there. The school preaches love yet it's hard to find any. As a student of color, for years i felt so out of place. We were referred as a horde of animals, we were unvalued, and were expected to fit into that sameness the school holds on to. I've heard and seen many use their gospel to reject our presence. They're friendly on the outside but could care less about who you are.
There's more I can say, but my verdict is this: if you like monoculture, ethnocentrism, expensive decent academics, and want to go back to your tiny town, then Northwestern is great for you.
If you're a student of color who wants a supportive community, a student body that strives for cultural acceptance, understanding, and REAL gospel love equaled with high academic quality, go somewhere else. Save yourself A LOT of money.
For being a christian college their staff is incredibly arrogant and seems to in fact need Jesus. The athletic director did an excellent job at presenting the school as a hostile and disrespectful environment. I have never witnessed a professional get so emotional over something as minuscule as parents/family stepping on turf while waiting to greet their kids after a sporting event. It is completely inappropriate to escalate such an insignificant situation to point of yelling at parents/families. I will pray for this sensitive athletic director and hope no one else steps on his godly turf.
Any college experience will mostly be what you make of it, and who you choose to spend your time with. Northwestern provided excellent resources for academic and spiritual growth (legit professors, excellent dorm community, daily chapel opportunities, and local outreach ministries). But, the professors you take will change your experience a lot. So, choose carefully, ask for advice from older and more mature students, and spend time planning your schedule. Don't expect your advisor to help you pick the best profs who might change your life.
I went through the engineering program, which was amazing. Wouldn't want anything else. The academics are good here. But I also invested my life in the community, hall ministry, leadership opportunities, spiritual growth, and God did great things. It is incredible all he did in spite of all I am not.
Northwestern provides an environment for much potential, but it isn't everything. Rooting yourself in a local church will be of the utmost importance and it was equally important in shaping my time at Northwestern. Finding godly mentors and role-models is also a top priority. Last note, if you have godly roommates who are zealous for the gospel, living on campus will be an equally life-changing experience. It's worth the extra cash.
Very nice campus. Excellent teachers. Welcoming community. Tuition is high, but the quality of education is well worth it!
unwsp.edu
