<p>northwestern is baller: always a bunch of things to do; involved student community; parties are awesome; bars are sweet; people are chill as hell</p>
<p>northwestern is awesome tho it wasnt my first choice
i really like it here now :)</p>
<p>What don't students like about Northwestern? And leave out the cold-weather thing, because it's not like it's exceptionally cold - anyone from the Northeast or Midwest should be able to handle that just fine, and the whole city of Chicago deals with it.</p>
<p>Honestly, even if you don't want to hear it, I think it's the weather. My son is a sophomore, the youngest of 4 children and a very social animal. He had visited his older brothers and sister at their colleges and had a good sense of what college life was all about. He's got a pretty busy life at Northwestern and the lone complaint is that in January and February, people stay indoors so much that the university loses a little liveliness - they're not congregating outdoors, running into each other on campus, etc. They're just trying to get from one place to the next as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>The interesting thing is that I think a lot of northern colleges (Dartmouth, Colby, etc.) deal with bad winter weather by upping the alcohol consumption.
It seems like Northwestern students drink as much as anyone but they also like their extracurricular activities and being productive so spending a whole weekend drowning their sorrows isn't typical. Cold climate schools like Middlebury or Univ of Montana have a lot of outdoor activities that fill the winter void but Northwestern isn't that kind of place.</p>
<p>The weather couldn't possibly be an issue for anyone FROM Chicago, other major midwestern cities such as Minneapolis, or anyone from New England, NYC, Philadelphia or upstate New York. And that encompasses a pretty good chunk of the population who lives in similar cold-weather climates. I don't buy that - it's exactly what most other people in this country deal with routinely.</p>
<p>It gets cold in Evanston in the heart of the winter just as it does anywhere in the northeast or midwest. But some of the difference at NU lies in its immediate location/surroundings. With Chicago's music scene, restaurants, pro sports, theater, etc etc all a few El stops away, cabin fever is never the problem here it can be in more isolated locales. Lots of incredible escapes from January's chill.</p>
<p>I would argue with Pizzagirl, because even for students from the Midwest, Northeast, etc. there is a big difference between cold and cold with wind. I can handle when it's just cold, but I've never lived near a large body of water so the wind coming off the lake was what really affected me. In a way, my friends from California handled last winter better than I did because they were expecting for the absolute worse but found that they could handle it. I didn't think it'd be a huge problem but it ended up being so much colder than I expected, mostly due to the wind. I hate wind, ha.</p>
<p>Even if you are from somewhere where it gets really cold the winter still sucks.</p>
<p>The Northwestern social life is what you make of it. Frats and sororities dominate social life, and you can find something to do every night whether it's going to a popular student bar (mostly Hundo and the Keg, but also the Deuce, The Union, Hamilton's, McFadden's, etc.) and of course, Chicago is only an El ride away.
I WOULD say that it would probably be very difficult to have a fun social life without a fake id.
As for the weather, it's cold. I have friends who are from 5-10 miles away from campus, and they said that the weather was never really a problem before coming to NU because now they have to walk everywhere, be outside more, etc.
Northwestern may not be a "party school," but I think that's part of going to a school with such strong academics. Football games are fun, frat parties and college bars are fun; I think any Northwestern student would choose the NU social/academic scene over "party schools" which are pretty much regarded as stupid/trashy. You can definitely have a good time here, any night of the week, any time of the year.</p>
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I WOULD say that it would probably be very difficult to have a fun social life without a fake id.
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<p>Or at least know someone with one...</p>
<p>And a good illustration of the point: There was recently a "party like a state-school" themed party. I think that is a pretty strong illustration.</p>
<p>"I WOULD say that it would probably be very difficult to have a fun social life without a fake id."</p>
<p>Yet I've done it for years..... :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Well, EPD has really been raining on our parade lately, in regards to the bar scene, (re: keg last monday). I mean, I don't have a fake at the moment, lost it a couple months ago, and the only thing I've really missed out on is going to the nice bars downtown (enclave, reserve, etc) which is kind of expensive to do anyway, and such a trek. When it comes down to it, it's what you make of it.</p>