<p>try looking at the alumni magazine–here’s a recent article:
[Mud</a> and Bubbles, Fall 2008, Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/fall2008/studentlife/dilloday.html]Mud”>Mud and Bubbles: Northwestern Magazine - Northwestern University)</p>
<p>or read the newspapers, the Daily Northwestern and North by Northwestern.</p>
<p>Go to the particular school you would apply to and read its pages–see what visiting lecturers are scheduled and so forth.</p>
<p>I’ve never been to Northwestern but am flying there in just over a week to accompany our son, an incoming freshman. When he applied, he wrote a fairly vague WHY paragraph (it is short, isn’t it?). The paragraph isn’t what’s going to get you accepted. What it does do is get you to dig into NU to see what it’s about–to see if it belongs on your list.</p>