<p>I was wondering if any current/past Northwestern students could give me an idea of how accessible Chicago is from campus. How often do students go into downtown Chicago?</p>
<p>D is at NU, and she goes into Chicago about once a week on the El. She has several classes that assign work in the city (in her case mostly attending performances), plus she has friends at other schools there and loves the Art Institute. She finds it very accessible and considers it a HUGE benefit of NU’s location. </p>
<p>She’s not yet sure how often she’ll go during the coldest part of the winter. ;-D</p>
<p>We were at Second City last week, and I’d say ~1/2 the audience that night was NU students, but it might have been some sort of special event as our S noticed that they were all gorgeous sorority girls. ;-D</p>
<p>Great! Thanks so much.</p>
<p>What classes is she taking that she gets assignments attending performances? That sounds exciting.</p>
<p>She’s a Theatre freshman, and one of the classes that assigns Chicago performances is the intro Theatre Survey course (I think they say the cost of tickets replaces the cost of textbooks) and another is a dance class. The third is something about Classics in the Cinema and I think her MT Workshop and Voice lessons might also assign some performances.</p>
<p>Strangely, I don’t think her 200-level math class assigns any Chicago performances. ;-D</p>
<p>Dorms often sponsor trips to Chicago to see performances, go ice skating, eat at nice restaurants, or just go exploring in the city. These trips are usually paid for.</p>
<p>Many classes also take field trips as relevant to what they’re learning (e.g. to Chinatown to interview public officials for an Asian American studies class) or have guests come to speak (e.g. Latina theater group advocating for social change) for a Latina activism class. There are also established programs that link students with internship sites, field sites, etc. I took a class once where an internship at a Chicago org was required, and the professors already had partnerships with orgs established. It was a great way for people without experience in the field to break into it. So yes, it is true that learning at Northwestern extends far beyond the confines of the classroom.</p>
<p>Btw students go into Chicago as often as they want (and as their studies allow). On Friday nights and Saturdays, the shuttles are usually full of students who are going exploring in the city. If you’re of age, the nightlife in Chicago is amazing. There’s a scene for everybody. The trains also run very late. The red line runs 24 hours, the purple line until 2 am and after the purple line stops running, there’s a CTA bus in Evanston that runs 24 hours.</p>
<p>There are also always events going on on-campus that are enticing enough for people to stay.</p>
<p>Chicago is pretty easily accessible. The train stations are walking distance from campus but you do have to wait on the platform twice due to transfer. Downtown is about 40-min ride but places like Argyle (for Asian food) and Lakeview/Lincoln Park (very popular and vibrant neighborhood) are closer.</p>
<p>I go into the city a good amount (1-2 a week, depending on my schedule) and am going to be moving to Belmont/Lakeview next year, most likely, since I already seem to spend a good amount of time there anyway.</p>
<p>Really depends on your interest and that of the people you hang with.</p>
<p>I’d go into the city as often as 2 times a week, but that’s mostly hitting the bar scene.</p>