Certificate Program for Undergraduates

Prerequisites

To be eligible for the Kellogg Certificate Program, you must complete a series of prerequisite and corequisite courses. Most of these courses are offered in both the Weinberg School of Arts and Sciences and the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. Prospective students may take the prerequisite and corequisite courses in either or both schools.

Prerequisite and corequisite updates

Beginning in academic year 2020–21, students applying to the Kellogg Certificate Program will complete the same set of prerequisite and corequisite courses for both the Financial Economics and Managerial Analytics certificates. These requirements are outlined below. These changes have been implemented to increase accessibility to the program to students from a more diverse array of backgrounds and majors.

No major changes have been made to the prerequisites and corequisites this year. However, we have clarified that both the Data Science Major and Minor course sequences (STAT 301-1,2,3 and STAT 303-1,2,3) will count towards the Econometrics/Statistics Corequisite. Additionally, MATH 235-0 and STAT 228-0 may now be used towards the Calculus requirement (in lieu of MATH 230-2).

New prerequisite and corequisite requirements

Students interested in the Financial Economics or Managerial Analytics Certificate must take upper-level prerequisite and corequisite courses in five subject areas:

Prerequisites:

  • Calculus
  • Microeconomics

Corequisites:

  • Probability
  • Econometrics/Statistics

Read detailed prerequisite and corequisite course options. You can also view them on the Financial Economics and Managerial Analytics pages.

Many of the Certificate Program prerequisites have prerequisites of their own, so advanced planning is important. For more information, consult the Northwestern Undergraduate Catalog, or contact the appropriate academic department.

Additionally, some of the program corequisites are prerequisites for specific Certificate Program courses. You should familiarize yourself with the course prerequisites, which can be found on the FE and MA Prerequisite and Corequisite links.

Requirement 1: Calculus (prerequisite)

Option 1: Regular Math
MATH 230-1 and
MATH 230-2

Option 2: MENU 
MATH 290-2 and
MATH 290-3

Option 3: MENU Accelerated
MATH 291-2 and
MATH 291-3

Option 4: ISP 
MATH 281-1 and
MATH 281-2

Option 5: MMSS 
MATH 285-2 and
MATH 285-3

Option 6: McCormick 
MATH 228-1 or 
ES_APPM 252-1 (Honors) 
and
MATH 228-2 or 
ES_APPM 252-2 (Honors)

Option 7: Data Science
Math 230-1 and
MATH 235-0 or STAT 228-0

Requirement 2: Microeconomics (prerequisite) [select one]

Requirement 3: Probability (corequisite) [select one]

Requirement 4: Econometrics/Statistics (corequisite)

ECON 310-1*

MMSS 211-1 (MMSS students only)
MATH 314-0*

MATH 310-1*

MATH 311-1*

STAT 320-1*

STAT 383-0 (ISP students only)

MATH 385-0 (MMSS students only)

IEMS 302-0

ELEC_ENG 302-0

BMD_ENG 220-0 **

CHEM_ENG 312-0 **
Option 1:

ECON 381-1

Option 2: MMSS students only

MATH 386-1

Option 3:

IEMS 303-0** and
IEMS 304-0

Option 4:

STAT 320-2 and
IEMS 304-0

Option 5:

STAT 320-2 and
STAT 350-0

Option 6:

STAT 383-0 (ISP only) and
STAT 350-0 or IEMS 304-0

Option 7: Data Science Major or Minor

STAT 301-1 or 303-1 and
STAT 301-2 or 303-2 and
STAT 301-3 or 303-3
*ECON 201 and ECON 202 are prerequisites for ECON 310-1
*MATH 226-0 is a prerequisite or corequisite for these courses. Please see the course catalog for more information.

**Students are not permitted to take BMD_ENG 220-0 or CHEM_ENG 312-0 in addition to IEMS 303-0. Only one of these options may satisfy its respective corequisite requirement.
**Only available to students who are in the Data Science Major or Minor

Frequently asked questions

  • Applications for Spring 2025 will open in mid-November and will be due in early January.
  • Admission decisions will be released in February.
  • Only if you have also attended a college/university other than Northwestern University. In that case, we will need an official transcript from that institution.
  • No. You may only apply to one certificate.
  • Approximately 50 students per year, per certificate (100 students total).
  • You may apply for the program during your sophomore or junior year (or when you are completing the prerequisite courses). However, we recommend applying for the program as a sophomore to allow for the greatest flexibility in scheduling during your junior and senior years.
  • You are encouraged to have an overall "B" average in prerequisite courses. The middle 50% of students admitted to the Certificate Program in the past have prerequisite GPAs between 3.2 and 3.9.
  • You should complete the prerequisite courses prior to the winter quarter of the year in which you apply to the program. One prerequisite course may be taken during winter quarter of the application year if necessary. This is often ECON 310-1. In other words, if you are applying to begin the Kellogg Certificate in Spring 2025, and you completed your calculus prerequisites in Fall 2024, you could choose to take ECON 310-1 in Fall 2024 or Winter 2025.
  • You are encouraged to take as many of the corequisite courses as possible prior to applying, but we understand that this is not always possible.

    If you apply as a sophomore you should work on corequisite courses during your sophomore year, including during the winter quarter in which the application is due and the spring quarter when you take your first Certificate courses.

    Applying as a junior, you are strongly encouraged to begin corequisite courses during your sophomore year and complete them by the end of your junior year.

    All Certificate Program students must complete corequisite courses within one year of starting the program. You are also responsible with familiarizing yourself with the Certificate course prerequisites, as some of the courses require that you have completed certain corequisite courses prior to beginning the course.
  • As provided by the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, now known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, you are entitled to request and receive a copy of Northwestern University's Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. This Report includes statistics for the previous three years concerning reported crimes that occurred on campus; in certain off-campus buildings or property owned or controlled by Northwestern University; and on public property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from campus. The Report also includes institutional policies concerning campus security, such as policies on drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault, fire safety and other matters. You can obtain a copy of this report by contacting the Northwestern University Police Department Deputy Chief at 847.491.3256. The report can also be accessed and printed from the University Police website.

Prerequisite and Corequisite FAQ

  • Beginning with students applying to join the Kellogg Certificate Program in spring 2021, the linear algebra requirement has been removed from both certificates. The optimization requirement has been removed from the MA certificate and the Econometrics II (Econ 381-2) requirement has been removed from the FE certificate. Additionally, FE students now have the option to take two courses from the STAT and IEMS departments instead of ECON 381-1, which was previously only available to MA students. FE and MA students now complete the same prerequisite and corequisite requirements.
  • The prerequisites and corequisites have been simplified to reduce confusion in course planning and to help make the Kellogg Certificate available to a wider range of students.
  • In most cases, yes consult the Northwestern Undergraduate Catalog or contact the appropriate academic department.

General FAQ

  • You are encouraged to have an overall "B" average in prerequisite courses. The middle 50% of students admitted to the Certificate Program in the 2020 had combined prerequisite and corequisite GPAs between 3.2 and 3.9.
  • Equal consideration is given to students who have taken honors and non-honors courses, although we recognize that taking honors courses may have an impact on your grades. You may mix and match honors and non-honors courses.
  • Most prerequisite and corequisite courses are offered in both the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences and McCormick School of Engineering. You may choose to take courses in either or both schools, depending on your major and/or class schedule.
  • You should complete the prerequisite courses prior to the winter quarter of the year in which you apply to the program. One prerequisite course ma be taken during winter quarter of the application year if necessary. This is often ECON 310-1. In other words, if you are applying to begin the Kellogg Certificate in spring 2023, you would complete your calculus requirement in fall 2022 and could choose to take ECON 310-1 in fall 2022 or winter 2023.
  • Yes, many of the prerequisites and corequisites, including the calculus prerequisites, have prerequisites of their own. For MATH 230-1, those prerequisites are MATH 220-1 and MATH 220-2 (or equivalent). If you are beginning the calculus sequence with MATH 220-1, it is still possible to apply to the Kellogg Certificate during your sophomore year, but you will need to take a math courses each quarter of your first year and the fall quarter of your sophomore year. You should consult with your academic advisor to determine if this makes sense for your schedule of if you would be better suited to apply during your junior year.

 

Contact us about the Certificate Program for undergraduate students

Certificate Program for Undergraduates
Kellogg School of Management
KelloggUndergrad@kellogg.northwestern.edu
847.467.4600
Amanda Stasinski
Program Director, Certificate Program for Undergraduates
Kellogg School of Management
amanda@kellogg.northwestern.edu
847.467.1602
Kellogg School of Management
555 Clark Street, Lower Level
Evanston, IL 60208-2800
847.467.4600