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Information for New Students

Welcome From the Graduate PRogram Coordinator

I’m Justine, the Graduate Program Coordinator for Northwestern’s PhD in Political Science program. Welcome to our incredible department! We are so excited to have you join us this Fall. We will work closely through each milestone of the program to ensure you are well-informed and meet all important deadlines. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out or schedule an appointment with me here! 

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This page is intended to be a starting point for the variety of resources available to new students and to help answer questions that often arise before your arrival on campus. 

Recommended Links to Review

International Students

Please review the important information and the arrival checklist provided by the Office of International Student and Scholar Services (OISS) well before arriving in Evanston.  Don’t hesitate to consult International Office representatives for more information; they are available all summer and host drop-in hours for your convenience!

Orientation

Our Department of Political Science Orientation will be held the week before the start of classes, date TBA. You will hear from Political Science staff and faculty, and lunch will be provided, followed by a casual reception with faculty! 

The Graduate School (TGS) will host a virtual orientation for you to complete at your own pace. TGS will email a link to the virtual orientation to your Northwestern email address once the course has launched. Please complete this virtual orientation before the start of the Fall Quarter on Tuesday, September 16, 2025. Plan approximately 90 minutes to complete all the modules.


Math Camp

Though not required, Math Camp is a fantastic experience for students to brush up on math skills before classes start, meet their peers, attend faculty and current student panels, and have breakfast and lunch provided. There is typically a morning session with the Math Camp professor beginning at 9 AM, a lunchtime panel, and a lab session in the afternoon with the Math Camp TA. Math Camp typically occurs during the first two weeks of September.
There is typically a morning session with the Math Camp professor beginning at 9 AM, a lunchtime panel, and a lab session in the afternoon with the Math Camp TA.  
Please contact Justine to confirm your attendance.  

Obtaining a Northwestern Email

Your Northwestern email is a very important piece of your time as a student, and we encourage all students to obtain their NU email as soon as possible.  During the summer before your arrival, you will receive communication from Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT) about how to activate your NetID and set up your email account.  Be sure to not delete this email by accident!

Here is a helpful link to help you get started.

Connecting with other students

The Commune will send helpful information out to incoming students over the summer, with details about how to find housing, how to connect with current students, and how to connect with each other.  We encourage incoming students to make contact with each other before arriving on campus!

New to Fall 2024, we will be connecting incoming students with current students with shared interests.  Stay tuned for more information!

Graduate Student Life

Check out our Graduate Student Life page for more about what our Department community does each year.

Housing

To learn more about housing options through northwestern, you can visit the housing link provided by The Graduate School. Currently, there is no roommate finding service for graduate students, although our Department and the Graduate Student Association are sometimes able to send emails to their listservs with roommate requests.

Information on university housing can be found at:

Alternatively, the Evanston campus is readily accessible by public transport from Chicago.

Current students created a helpful handout about how to search for housing as a grad student.