<p>The common app asks for unique characteristics of NU. I'm not really sure where to start...could anyone give some ideas? I know about all of NU's traditions, famous alums, etc.</p>
<p>try reading wikipedia</p>
<p>I've got the same problem - I looked at that section of the application and got stumped... </p>
<p>^^ you think wikipedia will have enough? (or the right stuff?)</p>
<p>Personally I think NU's "uniqueness" is something you cannot find on a wikipedia page. It should be whatever makes the university special for you, the reason(s) you want to go there, the undergraduate experiences that you personally cannot receive anywhere else. Perhaps for some that information can be found on wikipedia, but I don't necessarily think that is the case for everyone.</p>
<p>^ that's what i thought.. these types of essays are just not my speciality.. i've read some of the essays that my past friends who have gone on to college, and there were many really good ones (one of which i could even see the person's face as if she were saying what was in the letter)... it's just hard for me to write an essay with that type of impact.. i guess it'll just take a few days' time and a lot of revisions</p>
<p>try looking at the alumni magazine--here's a recent article:
Mud</a> and Bubbles, Fall 2008, Northwestern University</p>
<p>or read the newspapers, the Daily Northwestern and North by Northwestern.</p>
<p>Go to the particular school you would apply to and read its pages--see what visiting lecturers are scheduled and so forth.</p>
<p>I've never been to Northwestern but am flying there in just over a week to accompany our son, an incoming freshman. When he applied, he wrote a fairly vague WHY paragraph (it is short, isn't it?). The paragraph isn't what's going to get you accepted. What it does do is get you to dig into NU to see what it's about--to see if it belongs on your list.</p>