Prepare to Return

Register for On-Campus Courses

Depending on your term abroad, you will most likely need to register for on campus course while you are oversees. Here are some tips and guidance to help you navigate the process, but be sure to be in close contact with your School Adviser if you have questions.
  • You will register online through CAESAR, just as you would at Northwestern.
  • Multi-factor Authentication will remain active with CAESAR. If you have a U.S. phone number registered and that phone or number is not available to you while abroad, email consultant@northwestern.edu. 
  • Your enrollment appointment time will appear on CAESAR in Central Standard Time. Because of time zone differences and/or limited Internet access, you may not be able to register for classes at exactly the time your enrollment period begins, just as you would not be able to register right away if you had a class or other conflict on campus. Keep in mind that once your enrollment period begins, it will remain open for a few months!
  • Some departments perform pre-registration a week prior to normal registration to allow majors and minors of that department special access to course selection. Not all departments perform pre-registration, and instructions differ by department. Generally, you should contact the specific department and tell them up to two courses that you would like to register for in your major. They will either register you themselves or give you a permission number to use when registering.
  • If you have any outstanding financial obligations to Student Accounts, Student Loans, or the library, you will be unable to register.
  • If you have serious extenuating circumstances (not including personal travel or time zone differences) and will not have Internet access during your registration time, or if you are encountering problems, contact the Office of the Registrar.

Find On-Campus Housing

Use the following information and resources to help secure housing when you return to campus.

Winter and Spring Quarter Housing

If you will be abroad during the fall, you should not participate in the returning student housing procedure held in the spring quarter. Instead, use the email procedure listed below.

  1. In mid-October, you will be sent an email from university housing that includes a link to the online application for housing.
  2. Complete the online application.
  3. Housing assignments will be made. In early December, you will be emailed an online housing contract, which will tell you where you were assigned.

University housing cannot guarantee a specific room assignment to study abroad students. However, to date, every student returning from fall quarter study abroad who has applied for university housing has received a university housing assignment.

Fall Quarter Housing

If you will be abroad in the winter/spring quarters, university housing can help you participate in the returning student housing procedure.

  1. In February, you will be sent an email from university housing that includes preliminary application information.
  2. Register online for randomly generated priority numbers for fall quarter housing.
  3. Your friends on campus can then participate in the fall quarter self-assignment process, or undergraduate housing can assist you with the process. Students who were living on campus in the fall quarter and studying abroad for the winter/spring quarters are treated as returning residents. They may have difficulty selecting a room in the system, however, in which case the Undergraduate Housing Office would need to assist. 

Greek Housing On-Campus

University housing oversees assignments to Sigma Alpha Iota and Phi Mu Alpha. If you wish to be assigned to one of these two buildings, following the steps outlined above. For all other Greek units, contact your fraternity or sorority directly.

Additional questions about on-campus housing?

Contact university housing at housing@northwestern.edu or (847) 467-4663.