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Course registration procedures

When and how to select your courses at Kellogg.

Incoming exchange students will receive an email regarding course registration roughly two months prior to the start of their exchange term.

You’ll select your courses during an exclusive pre-registration period which takes place prior to the course bidding process for full-time Kellogg students. Exchange students do not participate in bidding but you will be enrolled in courses on a first-come, first-served basis. As such, it is important that you do your research ahead of time and identify a list of courses, ranked in order of preference, prior to your registration window.

Course load requirements

Kellogg offers half-credit and full-credit courses. A half-credit course will consist of 15 contact hours and will meet for either the first five or second five weeks of the term while a full-credit course will consist of 30 contact hours and will meet for 10 full weeks.

The minimum course load requirement for Kellogg students is 3.0 credits. Exchange students pre-register for courses at Kellogg, meaning you select classes before full-time students are eligible to bid. For this reason, you are only permitted to enroll in 3.0 credits during pre-registration. If interested or required by your home school, you will be able to enroll in additional credits during the add/drop periods.

Academic curriculum

Kellogg considers exchange students to be second-year students, so they may only enroll in elective courses. Exchange students may not enroll in lab courses or courses that meet across more than one term.

Kellogg’s elective concentrations are:

  • Decision Sciences
  • Finance
  • Health Enterprise Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Management & Organizations
  • Management & Strategy
  • Managerial Economics
  • Marketing
  • Operations Management
  • Real Estate
  • Social Enterprise

The complete course listing for your term will not likely be finalized until a few months prior to the start. We will share this information with your cohort as soon as it becomes available.

Language

Due to the high level of classroom participation, group work, and interaction among students and faculty, exchange students must be proficient in written and spoken English. For reference, the average TOEFL score for a full-time student is 109 on the computer-based test.

To ensure you have the most successful academic and social experience while at Kellogg, we strongly suggest that you have scored at least 109 on the computer-based TOEFL, and at least 24 on the speaking section of the exam. We also strongly suggest that you have at least two years of full-time work experience so you can participate more fully in classes.

Course packs and textbooks

Course materials are extremely expensive in the United States, so please plan accordingly and be prepared for this. Individual textbooks often exceed $100. For a student taking four courses, we estimate $550 for books and course packs, but this can vary depending on the individual courses taken.

Course packs are available online via study.net for all classes that require them. Books can be purchased in the bookstore. eBay.com and Amazon.com are both sources for used books, which can be much less expensive, but you must plan ahead to have books delivered before the courses begin. If you purchase a used book, make sure that you are purchasing the correct edition required for the class.

Rules

There is a mandatory first attendance for all classes. This means that in order to remain enrolled in a class with this designation, the student must attend the first class session. Once the class has started, students will not be able to add themselves to the roster or waitlist, nor can they automatically move from the waitlist onto the roster. Before the start of the class, bidding and registration for Mandatory First Attendance classes works as with any other section. After the mandatory first class has started, only the Registrar can move a student into the class, based on a request from the professor.

Honor Code

All students enrolled in a course offered by the Kellogg School of Management agree to abide by the Kellogg Honor Code.

The Kellogg Honor Code governs student conduct pertaining to all academic, placement and extracurricular activities associated with the Kellogg School of Management. Each student agrees:

  1. Not to seek an unfair advantage over other students, including but not limited to giving or receiving unauthorized aid during completion of academic requirements;
  2. To truthfully represent fact and self at all times;
  3. To respect the property and personal rights of all members of the Kellogg community; and
  4. To uphold the Kellogg Honor Code by reporting all material violations, and by fully cooperating with and protecting confidentiality of any Honor Code proceedings.

All Kellogg students are also expected to adhere to all policies and requirements of Northwestern University and to abide by all applicable laws and regulations.

Additional questions

Please direct all questions regarding academics and course registration to the Kellogg Registrar.