I feel truly blessed being accepted to such great schools and am finding it hard to decide between them. I haven’t really looked THAT much into either school so I am seeking any opinions/insight/anecdotes about these institutions. Lifestyle? Community? Location? Rigor? etc. I hope to become a doctor of sorts and major in biological sciences. I will be visiting Northwestern soon and going for an official visit to Cornell. Thanks
any answers?
Quick answers:
Lifestyle - lots of engaging work, and enough fun time if you allow it for yourself (many students, however, don’t). Most students are busy almost all the time with school- or extracurricular work, but I’d say the majority of students like or at least are interested by what they are doing and enjoy it even if the time commitment can be at times overwhelming. There’s lots of stuff to do outside of that kind of work, too, again, if you allocate yourself free time. Chicago is real close on by, there’s lots of theater shows on campus, you can go exploring nearby, and there’s frat parties if you’re into that kind of thing, weekends and some weeknights.
Community - I feel like there’s definitely a fair amount of Northwestern pride, but I wouldn’t say there’s a real “one Northwestern” community. Sports games aren’t very popular either. Most people are able to find a group of people that they feel at home around, I feel.
Location - Evanston is cool. Much greenery in the “city” (its a suburb) and surrounding areas make for pleasant adventures, there are beaches on and north/south of campus, Chicago is a short El train ride (trains are fun!) away, and there’s even multiple Metra (long-distance suburban train) stops near campus so you can get as far away as Kenosha, Wisconsin if you want. Evanston ain’t all that great for biking but you can get around by doing so as well.
Rigor - in the words of Hannah Montana, “life’s what you make it”. You can engage yourself deeply in a subject or two and get a masters in addition to a bacherlors within four years by working your ass off all the time, or you can slack off and barely graduate with one major and very easy courses outside of it, taking three classes in a lot of quarters because of school requirements and AP credit. Or anywhere in between.
That Hannah Montana quote applies to the other categories as well. You can have a lifestyle anywhere from / between work all the time and never take a break to chill out and only really study for an hour before tests (which some people actually manage to pull off not horribly); you can make or find a great community on campus, or you can stuggle and feel alone all the time; and you can enjoy Chicagoland and be outside or at cultural events a lot, or you can stay on campus pretty much 24/7.
I guess I described what I feel to be “normal” at NU. However, naturally, that is only my impression. Other opinions would be helpful too, and I see that’s what you’re trying to get with this thread.
And yes, those still were quick answers compared to what I could write. Haha.