College life at Northwest is as varied as the students who come here.  Some are 18 years old, have moved away from home for the first time in their lives, and are living in residence halls. Others are living with parents and commuting long distances to take classes.  Still others have families or full-time jobs--and some have both.  Some students are from other states or foreign countries and rarely step foot off campus.  Others take all of their courses off campus or online and rarely step foot on campus.

The material in this section does not attempt to address the many different forms college life may take for students.  Instead, it discusses some common experiences that students will share, regardless of their background or their method of taking classes. 

Many of these remarks are aimed at entering first time students fresh from a high school experience, because the educational approach in college can be rather different from those of high school.  At times, there can be a bit of a learning curve for young students as they adjust to a set of differing expectations.