Purple Prep is the first component of the orientation process for incoming students, serving as your single starting point for everything you need to know and do over the summer. The Purple Prep website for 2025 Transfers will go live right here in the first week of June.
How to Prepare for Northwestern: Webinar
Join staff and students for the How to Prepare for Northwestern webinar to learn about the programs and communications running from May through September that will prepare students and families for Northwestern, including an overview of the orientation process, planning dates, and advice from current students on navigating the summer. This live webinar will be on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, from 7:00-8:00p.m. CDT. Students and families are encouraged to register below. The recording will be posted on the Purple Prep homepage by Monday following the live event
Register for the June 17 Webinar
What is the new student orientation process?
The University has designed an orientation process with three components—Purple Prep, Before the Arch, and Wildcat Welcome—that help incoming Wildcats get set for living and learning at Northwestern.
Purple Prep: June 3–September 8
Learn and act upon foundational information delivered via a website (where you are right now), biweekly emails, and a checklist of summer tasks with deadlines each month.
Learn more about Purple Prep.
Before the Arch: July 14 –September 8
Take advantage of optional virtual opportunities to learn from current students about preparing for life at Northwestern.
Learn more about Before the Arch.
Wildcat Welcome: September 9–15
Arrive on campus to experience Northwestern traditions, build connections, learn to navigate campus, and register for fall classes.
International students move in September 7 and participate in International Wildcat Welcome September 8-9 and continue on to Wildcat Welcome through September 15.
Learn more about Wildcat Welcome.
Parents and Families
Learn how to register for the communications and programs that prepare families to serve as informed support systems during their student's transition.
Visit the Family Engagement website
Get to know Purple Prep
Become familiar with the first component of orientation: Purple Prep. Purple Prep will guide you as you prepare for your first quarter at Northwestern. We're excited to welcome you to the community!
Purple Prep Website
Find everything you need to know.
You are here! The Purple Prep website is the one-stop location for details on your summer tasks and other essential information. Explore this site by using the top navigation bar.Purple Prep Checklist
Keep Track of Requirements.
Your Purple Prep Checklist is a dynamic tool for managing all your summer to-do items, allowing you to track your progress as you complete and check off summer tasks each week. Opt in to weekly texts if you want frequent reminders and updates.
ACCESS YOUR PURPLE PREP CHECKLIST
Purple Prep Emails
Get biweekly updates and reminders.
Find a Purple Prep email in your Northwestern inbox on the first and third Tuesday of the month through September. It will provide updates on your upcoming tasks, updates about your entry to Northwestern, and other pertinent information.
View the email archive and schedule
Land Acknowledgment
Northwestern is a community of learners situated within a network of historical and contemporary relationships with Native American tribes, communities, parents, students, and alumni. It is also in close proximity to an urban Native American community in Chicago and near several tribes in the Midwest. The Northwestern campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. It was also a site of trade, travel, gathering and healing for more than a dozen other Native tribes and is still home to over 100,000 tribal members in the state of Illinois.
It is within Northwestern's responsibility as an academic institution to disseminate knowledge about Native peoples and the institution's history with them. Consistent with the University's commitments, Northwestern works towards building relationships with Native American communities through academic pursuits, partnerships, historical recognitions, community service and enrollment efforts. Learn more about land acknowledgments and the land on which Northwestern sits.
