Ask an NU freshman!

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<p>This is ABSOLUTELY not the case for Theatre students, since NU is considered FAR superior to any Ivy in undergrad Theatre, and probably the same is true in Journalism. In fact, D knows several Theatre kids accepted to Yale, Princeton, Brown and Stanford who were rejected by NU Theatre, but who would definitely have preferred Northwestern. At least one is actively trying to transfer to NU. D would have applied to Yale and Brown had she not gotten into NU ED, but NU was by far her top choice.</p>

<p>Not sure if this will be helpful…if you are at all interested in sustainability…check out:
2251 Sheridan…aka…GREEN house…my daughter was involved in negotiating with the administration to establish this specialized dorm:
[Residence</a> Halls: Living @ NU - Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.northwestern.edu/living/options/undergraduate/residence-halls.html#bldg=31]Residence”>http://www.northwestern.edu/living/options/undergraduate/residence-halls.html#bldg=31)
Weinberg Students Among Those Living Green at GREEN House
By Nicole Rohr
Two years ago, an ambitious group of Northwestern students decided to take environmental sustainability issues into their own hands—or at least present a remarkable idea to the administration. The freshmen’s idea was to create a dormitory on campus that would engage its residents in activities that work toward not only a greener living space, but also a more sustainable campus and a healthier world.</p>

<p>The result of their efforts was GREEN House, short for Group Residence for Environmental Engagement at Northwestern, located at 2251 Sheridan Road in a former fraternity house. The dormitory is home to students of all ages and majors, all of whom include an essay in their housing applications explaining why green living is important to them.</p>

<p>Photo by Marcelino Benito (J10)/Courtesy Northwestern magazine</p>

<p>Kate Stewart, a freshman psychology major at Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a resident in the GREEN House, was excited to contribute in any way to a greener world. Growing up in San Antonio, Texas, Stewart said that her parents encouraged a “green, crunchy granola” lifestyle in their household. Northwestern’s overall environmental friendliness, GREEN House included, put the school at the top of her list during her search as a high school senior.</p>

<p>There are a few things that make daily life in GREEN House a little different than in other dorms. Students use low-flow toilets and set timers when they shower. Motion-detectors turn off unneeded lights in the basement and bathrooms. And even the dorm’s social activities get a shot of “green” power when solar panels, donated by the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and attached to mobile charging carts, are used to power music equipment and other electronics for outdoor events.</p>

<p>Yael Wolinsky, faculty advisor for GREEN House and Director of the Environmental Policy and Culture Program at Weinberg College, considers the GREEN House initiative to be a huge accomplishment for Northwestern’s students and administration.</p>

<p>“It’s not really possible to start [constructing] all new buildings, but within the environment that we have, there are two important factors,” Wolinsky said. “One is that physical changes can be made and the second is behavioral. I think that in this way, GREEN House has been really important, offering a new way for students to integrate sustainability into their lives, not just as a principle, but as a way of life.”</p>

<p>Wolinsky explained that more and more residence halls and Greek organizations now participate in campus-wide green events, making the sustainability movement almost contagious. “I think GREEN House has overall raised awareness about the issues they care about and that we all should care about, but that some people still view as secondary,” she said.</p>

<p>GREEN House President Paige Humecki said that she lived in the dorm her freshman year and, after loving the close community there, ran for president and won the election. Humecki, a sophomore pursuing environmental engineering at McCormick, now works with GREEN House faculty advisors to champion new environmental initiatives on campus and to help expand programming to other parts of the university.</p>

<p>“During our first few years, it was really difficult to get people to apply. This year, I think we had more freshman than what we had space for,” Humecki said. Students living in the building participate in two weekly events: Green Tea, a gathering every Wednesday where residents drink tea and listen to lectures on a range of environmental topics; and Munchies, a family-style meal every Sunday night that allows the students to socialize.</p>

<p>The most popular campus-wide green event is Green Cup, a month-long competition at the beginning of spring quarter that challenges each residence hall to use the least amount of water and energy. There is an actual “green cup,” made of bright green recycled glass, which sits proudly on the mantle in the common area of GREEN House.</p>

<p>“GREEN House does a great job competing in Green Cup—obviously they’ve got a lot at stake as far as their reputation goes,” faculty advisor Julie Cahillane said. “They’ve always been very progressive and strong competitors, and worked really hard with their own residents to engage them.” For the past 16 years, Cahillane has been Manager of Recycling and Refuse at Northwestern. As a sustainability information go-to for administrators, faculty and students campus-wide, she recognized early on that working with GREEN House would be a fantastic way to spread the word about environmental initiatives at the school.</p>

<p>While the students’ enthusiasm is impressive, Cahillane also explained that the passionate residents at GREEN House sometimes become frustrated with the reality of their ability to effect change. “There are so many things that students don’t control, as far as how efficient the buildings are that they live in or study in or work in, and I think what they need to focus on are the things that [they] can control,” she said. She often reminds students that smaller efforts, like turning off lights and using less water, make a huge impact, as well.</p>

<p>And these changes, however modest, could be making an impact well beyond Northwestern’s campus. “It’s now becoming something that people care about when they look at colleges,” Humecki said.</p>

<p>I also disagree with the NU admit =Ivy Reject label.</p>

<p>My son considered Penn and Yale, and decided on NU.</p>

<p>He also considered and rejected MIT and Caltech, but they are not Ivy’s.</p>

<p>So, although cubecul might feel that way, clearly it’s an opinion not a trend.</p>

<p>Cubecul, I think you’re projecting a bit based on your own experiences. While it’s true that most students at NU probably did not get into HYP or didn’t apply because they didn’t think they could get in, nearly all non-HYP institutions (including 5 of the Ivy League schools) are made up of students that didn’t get into HYP. There’s nothing wrong with that. </p>

<p>Furthermore, because admissions to HYP schools are highly arbitrary and they turn away massive numbers of extremely qualified people (in part because of their athletics, development cases and whatnot), the rest of the top 20 national universities are filled with these people who were rejected at HYP but are still extremely impressive in their own right. As a result, there is virtually no or very little statistical difference among the students in the top 20 schools.</p>

<p>I have not found at all that Northwestern students feel inferior towards schools ranked higher. This is because students drawn to Northwestern tend to be socially well-adjusted and can’t be bothered about minute differences in rankings (I mean, how uncool and dorky is it in real life to be parsing out these differences? :)). Socially popular students in both the traditional and academic sense, in particular, tend to choose Northwestern for its social image/brand that goes along with its academic prestige. </p>

<p>I am shocked by the suggestion that Duke is considered above Northwestern. I respect Duke highly but I’ve always considered the two schools on par with each other. This is evidenced by rankings of undergraduate and graduate programs at the national and global levels. I would agree that HYP are obviously a notch higher, but I’m not convinced there is any significant difference in quality or prestige between Northwestern and other non-HYP schools.</p>

<p>Also, about 40% of the incoming class were admitted to Northwestern through the ED round and it’s not a stretch to think Northwestern is a first choice for many other students who will be admitted RD. Northwestern is a first choice for the majority of students who are there.</p>

<p>Did I mention I got into one or more of the HYP for undergrad? :)</p>

<p>can students in the college of arts and sciences take courses in the other schools? specifically, the school of journalism?</p>

<p>also, can you give me any examples of specific internships that undergrads at northwestern have had? not a program, but a specific place (i.e. at the chicago tribune, etc)</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p>No no no no no. Wrong wrong wrong. Obviously, I haven’t gotten over the rejections! If I could amend the post, I would. So readers, listen to what the other people are saying regarding that whole reject point.</p>

<p>How does it feel to see northwestern lose their 7th bowl game in a row?</p>

<p>I don’t know about others but I’m just happy we became bowl-eligible. I personally just go to these games to socialize/show school spirit. A win would be nice but as long as we make it to a bowl, I’m pretty happy. This isn’t a reflection of low expectations but a different attitude towards football. I doubt anybody ever thinks about the loss long afterwards like a lot of southerners/public schools seem to.</p>

<p>Yea, yea just make sure you’re rooting for the B1G on Monday. ;)</p>

<p>It feels exactly the same, but with the aftertaste of the death of hope. How does it feel to be a taunting jerk? Also, it’s the 9th.</p>

<p>I could be completely mistaken, but I suspect that very few people choose a school of NU’s academic stature based on the quality of their football team. ;-D</p>

<p>That said, I think even students who care nothing about sports enjoy being on a campus with Big 10 football games included on the list of on-campus activities to partake in. I know even D attended some games this year with her a cappella group and had a blast!</p>

<p>Football isn’t most likely a factor in the decision, but it is a consideration. D asked me why Stan, Duke and ND have more successful athletic programs than NU?? High achievement in athletics AND academics is doable, if committed. I believe having high expectations and success in some sport? It has to add to the experience.</p>

<p>I don’t know why NU can’t get over the “hump.”</p>

<p>What do you have to maintain??? I’m getting 70’s in all my classes…should I be worried?</p>

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<p>Women’s Lacrosse and FLW College Fishing… Go Wildcats!! ;-D</p>

<p>To reiterate: North/South campus makes very little difference as far as classes are concerned. The social scene tends to differ - North campus has (of course this is a generalization) engineers and frats, so people in Bobb-McCulloch, Elder, and Sargent are situated next to the parties in the frats, while CCI and Slivka are the more laid back engineer hangouts. It also has the best sports facilities on campus (south campus gyms don’t offer as many facilities nor programs). South campus is where almost everything else apart from partying goes on, in my opinion. If you’re looking for concerts, guest speakers, plays, or poetry slam it’ll probably be found down south. A lot of the dining halls are situated south so that gives you a little more variety. Honestly you’ll make friends and have fun wherever you’re housed, though, and since a large part of the NU student population ride bikes the travel time to anywhere is cut down to 5 minutes at most.</p>

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<p>Since the '95 season, NU FB has been more successful than Stanford or Duke FB and over the past few seasons, NU BB has been more successful than Stanford or ND BB.</p>

<p>Of the academic schools in the BCS conferences, NU is the only one where both the FB and men’s BB programs have made the postseason for the past 3 years in a row, and likely, 4th year in a row (barring an absolute collapse, the BB team will at least make the NIT).</p>

<p>Didn’t expect the win this year b/c Persa was not the Persa before his achilles injury and the D was suspect all year, esp. the secondary (didn’t help that NU’s best and most experienced corner went down w/ an injury at the end of the season).</p>

<p>Also didn’t help that due to the efforts of AD Phillips, NU jumped some teams in the bowl selection.</p>

<p>TAMU is a team filled w/ talent which just underperformed at times over the season; if the 'Cats had faced UCLA in SF like what Illinois ended up doing, it would have been a win for the 'Cats.</p>

<p>Next season should be another 6 win or so season since the D will still have problems.</p>

<p>Look for the gridiron 'Cats to make some noise in '13 and make a run at the Leaders division in '14.</p>

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<p>It stinks, but that’s what happens when NU gets slotted up and/or faces top tier teams like Mizzou and Auburn.</p>

<p>Rather see the 'Cats go to a good bowl game and lose in a shootout (the bowl games against Mizzou and Auburn were among the best bowl games for their years) then go to the Pizza bowl and beat some 3rd place MAC team.</p>

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<p>Students nowadays should feel lucky; the FB and BB teams are competitive and will continue to get better (esp. since there are plans in place to do a serious upgrade of the sports facilities).</p>

<p>It wasn’t that long ago when the FB or BB team when 0-fer in conf. play.</p>

<p>No offense, but the Big 10 often received more bowl bids than the Pac 10 (assuming that’s how you’re defining “success” with NU’s 9 bowl bids since '95 over Stanford’s mere 7).</p>

<p>i was wondering what the workload is like, every thread i’ve read has talked about how driven and inspired the students are about academics obviously college is a huge step above high school, but have you ever felt the workload is just way to much? after talking to two current students, they both gave the impression it was tons and tons of work, and i’m thinking about applying but am worried that i wouldn’t be able to keep up with the work (i know the kids i talked to are a bit more intelligent than i am). thanks for any insight!</p>

<p>You either need to be intelligent, a grinder, or both. Needn’t be one or the other necessarily.</p>