CH4

Just today, I've heard my friend was applying to some colleges and I've encouraged him to apply to Northwestern...He is well qualified, and also good in character. So i've just told him that Northwestern might be a good match for him.
Well, then came a problem I've never thought about. He asked me "why should I go there?" and all I could say was "the university is high in rank..."
Are there any specific reasons why he should attend the university?
I see that the university has premier facilities and amazing professors...but whatelse?

tenisghs

Show your friend these websites:

Northwestern Facts, About, Northwestern University

Fast facts, Freshman, Office of Undergraduate Admission - Northwestern University

I am an NU alum and I enjoyed the variety of courses and activities available for students. It's more pre-professional oriented (journalism, education, music, engineering, communications) than some other universities. I also liked how I had easy access to downtown Chicago on the weekends. It is one of the most well-known universities in the world.

Sam Lee

Location is another plus:
Evanston and Chicago, Campus life, Freshman, Office of Undergraduate Admission - Northwestern University

Even though preprofessional programs are well-known; it also has great programs in humanities, sciences and social sciences. The best ones are art history, chemistry, and economics which are ranked in the top 10 in the nation. The german department leads with DAAD and Fulbright winners. Most others are in the top 20/30.

GoBlue81

ISP (Integrated Science Program)
Integrated Science Department

MMSS Program (Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences)
MMSS, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences, Northwestern University

Bala

Possibly what Northwestern does best is to do no one thing best. It's rather a place that offers something to everyone.


ACADEMICALLY, as already mentioned, the 6 undergraduate colleges offer an incredible breadth of choices few other schools can match (engineering, journalism, communications, music, education, theater, dance, etc., etc.). Despite this, the core liberal arts, as Sam Lee has mentioned, from art history to economics to chemistry, all range very strong to national top-10 ranked.

The CAMPUS has a great setting on the shores of Lake Michigan that can feel wonderfully isolated with 2 beaches, a sailing club, and open fields along with state of the art indoor facilities for IMs. Yet an easy El ride away is very inner city Chicago with all it has to offer (clubs, theater, restaurants, bars, museums, and yes, even the woefull Cubs).

SOCIALLY, there are dorm and residential college, Greek, and apartment and house parties competing for attention. The Daily Northwestern, WNUR, NNN TV offer great extracurricular involvement in media, opportunities in theater and music are unmatched, and hundreds of clubs encompass virtually every political, social, religious group out there.
The school's involvement with the Big Ten is another major perk allowing one to sample the highest level of college sports without compromising academic quality.


All in all, Northwestern offers a remarkable number of choices to a remarkably diverse group of people. This is not a niche school. It's one place where geeks and jocks, hipsters and nerds, pre-professionals and intellectuals, and grundge and Abercrombie can (and do) co-habitate.

k&s

^ Pretty much sums it up.

(The fact that some people thought that Duke had the most diverse student body on another thread a while back ago was a joke).

Pizzagirl

What a great description, Bala. The further out I am from college years, the more I realize what a gem NU was :-).

vip747

now that i read this i really hope i get in
lol

interestingguy

Northwestern is one of the two best schools in the Midwest. (The other is University of Chicago.) Its peers include Cornell, Duke, Vanderbilt, etc.

Sam Lee

FYI: Department Rankings and Special Programs

tk21769

>>Northwestern is one of the two best schools in the Midwest.

It's one of the two best universities in the Midwest. Or three. I think I'd add WUSTL.

pierre0913

Northwestern University
Academics
The strength of the school is its range. Northwestern students agree, vowing their school "has everything": "Intelligent but laid-back students, excel[lence] in academic fields," "great extracurriculars and good parties," "strong [Big Ten] sports spirit," and "so many connections and opportunities during and after graduation." Undergrads here brag of "nationally acclaimed programs for almost anything anyone could be interested in, from engineering to theater to journalism to music," and report "everything is given fairly equal weight. Northwestern students and faculty do not show a considerable bias" toward specific fields. The school accomplishes all this while maintaining a manageable scale. While its relatively small size allows for good student-professor interaction, it has "all the perks" of a big school, including "many opportunities" for research and internships. Be aware, however, "Northwestern is not an easy school. It takes hard work to be average here." If you "learn from your failures quickly and love to learn for the sake of learning rather than the grade," students say it is quite possible to stay afloat and even to excel. Helping matters are numerous resources established by administrators and professors, including tutoring programs such as Northwestern's Gateway Science Workshop. Those who take advantage of these opportunities find the going much easier than those who don't.

Student Body
The typical Northwestern student "was high school class president with a 4.0, swim team captain, and on the chess team." So it makes sense everyone here "is an excellent student who works hard" and "has a leadership position in at least two clubs, plus an on-campus job." Students also tell us "there's [a] great separation between North Campus (think: fraternities, engineering, state school mentality) and South Campus (think: closer to Chicago and its culture, arts and letters, liberal arts school mentality). Students segregate themselves depending on background and interests and it's rare for these two groups to interact beyond a superficial level." The student body here includes sizeable Jewish, Indian, and East- Asian populations.

Campus Life
There are two distinct sections of the Northwestern campus. The North Campus is where "you can find a party every night of the week" and "the Greek scene is strong." The South Campus, about a one-mile trek from the action to the north, is "more artsy and has minimal partying on weeknights," but is closer to town so "it is easy" to "buy dinner, see a show at the movies, and go shopping. People who live on North Campus have a harder time getting motivated to go into Evanston and tap into all that is offered." As one South Campus resident puts it, "South Campus is nice and quiet in its own way. I enjoy reading and watching movies here, and the quietude is appreciated when study time rolls around. But for more exciting fun, a trip north is a must." Regardless of where students live, extracurriculars are "incredible here. There is a group for every interest, and they are amazingly well-managed by students alone. This goes hand-in-hand with how passionate students at Northwestern are about what they love." Many students "are involved in plays, a cappella groups, comedy troupes, and other organizations geared toward the performing arts. Activism is also very popular, with many involved in political groups, human-rights activism, and volunteering." In addition, Northwestern's membership in the Big Ten means students "attend some of the best sporting events in the country." Chicago, of course, "is a wonderful resource. People go into the city for a wide variety of things-daily excursions, jobs, internships, nights out, parties, etc."

Sam Lee

^just want to clear up one thing: there's no physical divide between the "two sections"; the campus simply has dorms in two areas, one in the south end and another in the north end. The academic buildings are mostly in the middle.