social life at northwestern...

college2004 · October 15, 2004, 8:25am

how is it? is there one?

i've been reading around online, and the gist of what i've been reading is as follows:

the school's pretty intense, therefore
1/3 of the students never coem out of dorm rooms
1/3 of the students are out doing some extracurricular activity
1/3 of the students regret going to NU, and wish they were at a state school where their friends are having fun etc. etc.

...is this true? i don't know. are you surrounded by people that study all day? i'm not looking for just fun in a college, i know- but some schools are just known for their academic intensity (ex: uchicago...)...

what's your two cents?

tenisghs · October 15, 2004, 4:21pm

College2004,

I'm not sure where you got the statistic that 1/3 of NU students wish they were at a state school. I could have gone to my state school (Michigan) where there would have been countless of opportunities and many undergraduate students (3 times the size of NU) but I don't regret coming here. I like the individualized attention I receive here with the small class sizes, vast opportunities to get involved (state schools have competition) and personal attention from faculty. Even the TAs I have for courses know my name so I know people notice and care about me.

Sure, there are some students here who feel lonely and outcasted. However, many of them don't take the intiative to get involved and make friends. Just have an open mind and participate in class, clubs, etc.. Those who succumb themselves into their dorm/books are the ones who are missing out. I think the campus life scene this year has improved from last year (I don't want to specify the details). As an upperclassman, I tell freshmen how lucky they are.

poison.ivy · October 16, 2004, 2:11pm

Northwestern's Medill is just not for me. :(

glamourbaby19 · October 16, 2004, 4:33pm

Poison, what happened? I thought Medill was one of your top choices?

Tenacious_J · October 21, 2004, 11:27pm

To be honest, my brother (Class of 04') didn't seem to have the greatest time here. That is what has really put me off of the school despite the fact that it would be a good fit for me.

wattsski · October 22, 2004, 12:52am

At NU make sure you are living with people that are like you. North Campus and South Campus have very very very different cultures. All of the science and engineering students live up north and I have to tell you as a Radio/TV/Film major it sucks. My roommate is great and everything, but it is difficult to get academic help from other students and it is a mile walk to class every morning. Plus, if you are artsy at all it is difficult to fit in the mathmatically minded students up here. Other than that I have no specific beefs with NU, somehow though, even being extremely outgoing I've had a difficult time making friends. I think the biggest issue is that you don't see the same people that often and the people in my dorm are nothing like me and don't even share academic classes or interests. I would say I'm kinda slacking off here, doing most of my work but I'm a bit behind. I need to do more work on the weekends and be able to focus better on the weekdays. There is a party scene here if you want to take advantage of it, one of the guys upstairs hasn't been to class in three days because he's been out partying, yet he's gotten amazing grades on his mid-terms... I hate people like that. :-P I WISH I WENT TO A SMALLER SCHOOL, IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN I WOULD GO TO COLORADO COLLEGE AND BE CLOSER TO HOME AND HAVE TINY CLASSES. I'M TOTALLY JUST A NUMBER HERE DISPITE JOINING 4 CULBS AND ACTIVELY TRYING TO MEET NEW PEOPLE.

tenisghs · October 22, 2004, 1:50am

Well, I live on South Campus and as a CAS/SESP student, I have had no problems where I live. As a freshman, I lived in a residential college and I forged many friendships where I still have contact with the same people despite I live in a different dorm now. Wattski, I'm sorry that you live on North Campus where your classmates don't share similar interests. You will just have to make an extra effort to make friends outside, or possibly bring a bike (I brought a bike this year) to mak the travel distances shorter.

As for feeling like a number, I don't receive that impression here at Northwestern. I went to a high school with only 270 students, so you can imagine that NU is many times larger than my high school. Everyone I know, faculty and students, know my name. Sure, my Student ID and Net ID are important, but my real name is the most mentioned whenever I meet people. I know I would have never received this kind of interaction from larger schools. Granted, the social life here isn't the greatest but it's whatever you make it to be. Don't join clubs for the sake of it if you're not gonna participate or don't share no interest at all. It's a waste of time especially if you have homework to do. Be yourself, be flexible, be optimistic.