You’ve poured over the course catalog, scrutinized (and maybe ripped apart) a copy of your degree audit and consulted ratemyprofessors.com. Some classes are everything you thought they would be and more. Others make you want to fling yourself from the Zakim Bridge. Her Campus Northeastern surveyed current students and recent graduates who weighed in on the best and worst classes they’ve taken at Northeastern to help you when making the ultimate decision: public speaking or world history?
Writer’s note: I couldn’t resist using this article as a way for me to prattle about my own academic endeavors here at Northeastern. The best class I’ve ever taken was Reinventing the News with Professor Dan Kennedy. He has remarkable insight into the media world and really valued students’ opinions. Maintaining a blog for that class didn’t even feel like work, it was something I actually enjoyed doing and cared a lot about. As for the worst class, Statistics is undoubtedly one of the most traumatizing experiences I’ve ever been subjected to. I would tell you the professor’s name but I can’t spell it. Or pronounce it. He had an indecipherable accent and would yell at the class for not completing our online homework when we still had 12 hours left to do it. He once marked me absent from a class when I left ten minutes early to go to Campus Health. I left class in tears on a weekly basis.
Best Classes at NU
Online Journalism – Professor Jeff Howe
“It is extremely hands-on and he really places an emphasis on giving his students the tools they will need to succeed in the industry. Professor Howe avoids busy work or random assignments as much as he can and, instead, focuses on projects that will enhance your ability to utilize the Internet for online journalism. He truly makes you a better candidate for potential employers when you graduate.” –Jenn Sinrich, Senior, Journalism
Principles of Organizational Communications & Applications of Organizational Communications–Professor Chad O’Connor
“[Chad O’Connor] is amazing and does a really good job of engaging the class while making the lessons interesting and relevant.”- Shannon Clark, Sophomore, Communication Studies
Intro to Sociology–Professor Arnie Arluke
“Arnie Arluke’s introduction to sociology was an INCREDIBLE course. I loved the readings and loved his lectures. I took the class during an insane Boston winter and was SO bummed every time class got cancelled because I loved him that much. Now that says something!”-Rachel Kossman, Recent Grad, Journalism
Understanding the Bible–Professor Shawna Dolansky
“Understanding the Bible was a class not directly related to my major, but I learned so much more than I could’ve imagined. I still think about the ideas that were presented in class. Iit also opened up my mind to a new way of thinking about ancient texts and their correlation to society today.”-Christina, Recent Grad, Theatre & Math
Photo Basics –Professor Andrea Raynor
“It’s a great class for design majors and non-majors who like photography, and Andrea makes it easy to understand and fun. You’ll get out of it as much as you want to put in. –Ally Koss, Junior, Graphic Design
Worst Classes at NU
Mathematical Thinking
“The professor was awful and I ended up dropping the class.”-Clare Coughlan, Sophomore, Journalism & Urban Studies
“Mathematical Thinking was supposed to be the easiest math class at Northeastern and turned out to be glorified symbolic logic. I did better in Statistics, which says something!”-Hanna Trudo, Recent Grad, Journalism
History of Journalism–Professor Chuck Fountain
“History of Journalism with Chuck Fountain was the worst class of my college career. And I don’t say this because he is an awful professor–actually he’s great otherwise–but this class made me want to pull out my hair on a daily basis. Our tests consisted of a few random facts among our hundreds of pages of notes and were scrutinized meticulously and the papers set you up to sound insanely boring. Who would EVER want to read about the differences and similarities between two old, dead, obscure newspapers? For 2,500 words! No one. J majors, beware.” –Her Campus NU Staffer, Senior, Journalism
(Editor’s note–Unfortunately, journalism majors have no means of avoiding this class..it’s mandatory!)
Intro to Physics
“The class was made for students who weren’t science majors, but it wasn’t structured right and the teacher tried to make us all science majors.”-Jennifer Gorden, Recent Grad, Journalism
This is just a small sample of what courses rock and which ones, well, suck. What are some of the best and worst classes you’ve taken at Northeastern? Let us know below!
Photos: Northeastern University