Northwestern University Top Questions

Personally my favorite thing about Northwestern is its ability to provide the best of both worlds. It is not so big that one feels lost, insignificant or lacking community, nor is it so small that one feels suffocated and bored. Moreover, it has a beautiful, private and "homey" campus situated right on Lake Michigan, but only minutes away endless adventures and opportunities await you in Chicago. If I could change one thing about NU, I would desegregate the student body. There is a bit of divide between the theater world and the Greek world. Of course, there are some kids who do both - but in general they tend to keep to themselves. Those who don't do either are referred to as "indies" and who knows what happens to them! School pride is not necessarily abundant in the usual sense (aka sports), but in my experience, most students are still extremely satisfied with their experience at Northwestern and love being here. When I tell people I go Northwestern (especially the journalism school) they are generally impressed. That is, if they know what the school is. Back home and on the East coast in general, Northwestern is just not as well-known as the Ivy Leagues and Duke. In the Midwest, however, people are very impressed. At school I spend most of my time in one of three places: my sorority, my boyfriend's off-campus apartment and the library (widely known as campus' number one social scene). I also go to the gym (another place to see people) and the Norris University Center almost every day. Other than that, you can find me at the Keg or the Deuce (two popular local bars)! Two controversies have arisen as of late. First, the dean of Medill was caught by a student in his own school for potentially fabricating quotes. Second, the administration has come down hard on Greek life recently. Several houses have been placed on probation, and the oft-considered "top" frat was kicked off campus. Students complain about many things - school is too expensive (obviously); there is no 24-hour study space; wireless isn't available everywhere.

Northwestern fills a unique niche in the college spectrum. Northwestern rivals the Ivies on an academic level, battles midwestern state schools on the field, and challenges small liberal arts schools with specialized programs like theatre and journalism. There are about 8,000 undergrads at NU. 8,000 = perfect size! There is always someone new to meet but usually there is a familiar face wherever you go. Whenever I say I go to Northwestern, first I have to correct the person and say.. "Nope NorthWESTern, not NorthEASTern.." After we get over that little hurdle, they usually are impressed by the academics and then tell me, "Well you know, its cold in Chicago." Yes, thanks for that information I answer sarcastically. There is even a facebook group called, " Yes, damnit, I KNOW Chicago gets really cold, now shut the hell up about it!" Evanston has what you need for everyday things. It has some nice retail stores, cool coffee shops, great restaurants, and a couple of college bars. It is known on campus that "town-gown" relations are strained but I really don't notice it! It would be nice though to get some more 24 hour places to eat and hang besides the BK Lounge. And if you ever want something more from a city, Chicago is just an El ride away. ( Chicago is really an awesome city.) Out of a 1-10 scale, school pride is at 7.5. People are proud to go to Northwestern and often don purple sweatshirts but don't have crazy "Wildcat fever." It is a nice balance.

The best thing about Northwestern is that whatever you love or whoever you are there is a place for you to express yourself. I'm a crazy Arabic-loving, opera-singing Journalism and Middle Eastern Studies major, and there are people here who love all the same things I do.

The best and worst thing about Northwestern is probably its size. Classes are small enough that professors will remember your name if you introduce yourself. It's relatively easy to make a few good connections within your first few months. But in a school of 8,000, where Greeks dominate the party scene, chances are there's no avoiding the mistake you woke up in bed with last weekend. If you party a lot, you will keep running into the same people over and over, which can be either really fun or really awkward (depending on the circumstances of previous encounters). Northwestern is located in Evanston, a cute little town often described as a mini-Chicago. There are lots of restaurants and great shopping boutiques. Northwestern students spend a lot of time and money in Evanston. Since living on-campus junior and senior years is so totally uncool, most upperclassmen live in Evanston apartments. Clashes between Evanston residents and Northwestern students are common. We annoy them, but we're the greatest thing this town has, so they can't honestly complain. The biggest recent controversy has been Dean John Lavine's alleged made-up quotes in an article he wrote for an alumni magazine. Upon becoming head of the Medill School of Journalism, Lavine changed the entire program and caused a huge uproar in the Medill community. The accusation of his made-up quotes hasn't exactly earned him popularity points. There's a lot of whining about the heavy workload and the (lack of a)dating scene. One may question whether the two problems are correlated...how can you establish a meaningful connection with another human being with if your life consists of eat-study-sleep-repeat? Needless to say, Northwestern students are more actively pursued by campus squirrels than they are by each other.

Beautiful campus- the location, Illinois sucks- just right, it's small enough that you can always feel like you know someone, while still retaining some anonymity- Generally people ask if that's the school in Mass., nobody in NY seems to know NU, Most of my time on campus is spent at SPAC (Sports pavilion, Aquatic center)- college town- I've never felt more exploited in my life than by the NU administration, it feels like they are trying to suck every last dime out of us while we're here and couldn't actually care less about our collegiate experience- Mary Dessler cracking down on the Greek scene's drinking, putting many of our best houses on probation (unfairly)- There's a moderate amount of school pride- The rock is unusual- I will always remember being brutally hit by a bike my second day here- students complain most about the weather and how relentless the quarter system can be in terms of work load.