Northwestern University
Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences


WCAS NU

Why Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences?

1. We’re a leading liberal arts college with the resources of a major research university.

What does that mean for you? The best of both worlds: a chance to work in the laboratories of prominent scientists, study with award-winning scholars, and engage with speakers from around the world. And an unusual degree of personal attention--in classrooms, around seminar tables, and in conversation.

Each year, roughly 1,080 freshmen enter Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, chosen from among more than 12,000 applicants. They come from all 50 states and more than 30 foreign countries.

Will you be one of them?

Why Weinberg: Introduction photo
2. Our world-renowned scholars are dedicated to teaching undergrads.

Every professor teaches, and more than 90 percent of the faculty teach undergraduate courses in any given year.

You'll get to know your professors as they help you chart your own educational program, from freshman seminars to independent research, field work, internships or study abroad. You may wish to follow a path to a long-held goal like medical school or law school, or you may be eager for the winding road with unexpected discoveries. Along either route, you'll encounter teachers who know that learning how to think is more important than just learning the answers.

Many professors invite undergraduates to join their research teams, often encouraging them to take on an unsolved problem. Undergraduates sometimes go on to publish their original work in a professional journal or present the results at a national scholarly meeting. Such experiences often stimulate career choices and provide valuable grounding for graduate and professional school.

Why Weinberg: Academics photos
Our unique Freshman Seminars give you a strong start. In Weinberg, you’ll take two Freshman Seminars limited to 16 students and designed to help you develop first-rate thinking and communication skills. A typical freshman’s schedule includes another small class of 20 to 25 students, a medium-sized class, and a larger introductory lecture course.
3. Weinberg offers amazing choices.

Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences offers more than 2,000 courses in its many liberal arts fields. Northwestern’s academic calendar – three 10-week quarters each year – encourages breadth of study while retaining the depth you’d expect of a great university.

We encourage you to cross intellectual boundaries, to bring the insights of several disciplines to bear on your interests. Choose two majors or couple your major with a minor, perhaps combining interests that are far apart on the usual spectrum. Major in Chemistry and minor in Business Institutions. Double major in Psychology and International Studies.

In addition, choose from a broad array of electives: learn to see as an art historian sees, understand culture as a sociologist, or read novels about the Asian American experience. It's up to you.

Weinberg College students may also enroll in courses in Northwestern’s schools of communication, education and social policy, engineering, journalism and music.

Why Weinberg: Introduction photo

Gallery of Images: Life at Weinberg | Northwestern's Office of Undergraduate Admission