Potential applicants: Read

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
41

<p>I don’t think anyone besides the OP claims to have any knowledge concerning it. I have a close friend on SAHAS (Sexual Assault Hearing and Appeals System), and he says the total number of cases brought before it in recent memory was something like 8.</p>

<p>I would just say this: wary obviously has some axe to grind, and it’s at the very least a second hand account of a friend, meaning at least 2 sources of bias, if not 3. So I would perhaps take that with a grain of salt unless you can find another source of similar complaints. </p>

<p>I was under the impression that despite standard under-reporting, NU actually has a particularly low incidence of sexual assault, as far as anyone can actually know anyway.</p>

42

<p>1835 Hinman. If I could do it over, there is no way it would have been in my top 10. It is not close to anything except the beach and journalism classes, which have no bearing on my life whatsoever. It’s not even that close to downtown Evanston. So unless you are a really lazy journalist then I wouldn’t recommend living here. It’s an 8-10 minute walk from everything that matters at NU.</p>

43

<p>What’s the difference between north and south campuses? just curious</p>

44

<p>I’m bettin’ you’d be an unhappy person wherever you went. “Oh my God, the glass is half empty – nobody should ever apply to NU again!!!”</p>

<p>Grow up.</p>

45

<p>As an NU student who has just finished his junior year, I feel compelled to throw in my two cents. My goal is not to persuade anyone to accept or reject admission but rather to present my own experience for consideration. </p>

<p>It’s true that many students at NU, like arbiter, are satisfied with it. But just as many, like the OP, amaze4, and myself, are not. Here are big factors which no one has yet mentioned:</p>

<p>1) NU is comprised of six undergraduate schools:</p>

<p>Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
Bienen School of Music
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
School of Communication (which includes NU substantial theatre dept.)
School of Education and Social Policy (SESP)
Medill School of Journalism</p>

<p>Your undergraduate experience, including your overall satisfaction, will be heavily, HEAVILY dependent upon which school you choose to matriculate. As someone who was in SESP for one year and in WCAS for two, I can tell you that the experiences, advising, opportunities, expectations, peers, and day-to-day schedules are worlds apart. Having friends from each school confirms this; the fact that we all attend the same university often seems circumstantial compared to these other differences. </p>

<p>2) That being said, the students at NU who tend to be the most satisfied with the university are those who came to pursue a very specific degree in a specialized, comparatively rare program and thus belong to either the School of Music, School of Communication, SESP, or Medill. This makes sense: When deciding among national programs during their college search, not only was their choice of schools more limited than those wishing to pursue liberal arts or engineering, but their programs here are tailored directly to their goals. Thus, they are more content to be here and have fewer hypothetical greener pastures they could have pursued. These programs also tend to be smaller, allowing for stellar advising, smaller peer groups with people of similar interests, and a closer proximity to professors which one does not generally find in Weinberg or McCormick. </p>

<p>3) Additionally, I’ve noticed that the students who seem satisfied with NU are those who are NU students <em>first</em> and people <em>second</em>, by which I mean that those who enjoy being part of the university system and who strictly adhere to its standards of success and entertainment tend to enjoy the university immensely. On the other hand, those who attempt to fit the university’s resources and opportunities into their otherwise established lives tend to become disillusioned with the place fairly quickly. This is the opposite of what I experience at, say, NYU or Berkeley, where those who attend seem to be people first and university students second and had complete lives outside of the university.</p>

<p>4) Socially speaking, I must heartily agree with the OP. Northwestern students are, in my experience, exceptionally catty and gossip-obsessed. (Good luck attempting to develop a romantic relationship without it being dramatized and discussed at great length.) I’m not sure what to blame for this predisposition to immature judgements and insecurity, but it is certainly worse here than at other universities where I have siblings/cousins/friends. However, I must again stress that those who belong to smaller academic programs in which their extracurriculars neatly tie together with their studies tend to avoid this with the close circle of friends they tend to create. </p>

<p>In conclusion, it is perhaps unsurprising that those who are happiest here are the same who feel as though they are getting something at NU which they could not get anywhere else, whether it be a heavy Greek scene, a large theatre program, a respected music school, etc. I have no other agenda than providing my honest observations - I wish someone had done as much for me.</p>

46

<p>juniorjunior, i bet you, the OP, and amaze had no friends in high school</p>

47

<p>juniorjunior’s comments are certainly fair. I will say, however, that I don’t know where he heard Medill students are more satisfied, or that McCormick students are dissatisfied. All the engineers I know are enormously satisfied, and most of the Medillians unhappy with the school to one degree or another.</p>

<p>I also don’t really know where this relationship thing comes from. Maybe me and my friends are just incredibly lucky, but I can count at least 10 long term relationships amongst my friends (including several multi-year ones). </p>

<p>But NU’s not some perfect wonderland, and juniorjunior’s points aren’t egregiously off base (though I don’t really know whether I agree with them or not).</p>

48

<p>This thread is toxic!</p>

<p>There is a simple fact that is being missed here. Undergraduate life varies greatly student to student, and depending on your background, talents, and goals, NU might be a horrible place, or an Eden on Earth. I found my experience to be in the middle.</p>

<p>The statement that NU is full of Ivy rejects is simply untrue. I turned down three acceptances to Ivys to go to NU. That is because NU (at the time) fulfilled my needs to a greater extent (or so I thought). I am no defender of NU or McCormick (I majored in BME), but the toxic rantings of the people in this thread are incredible.</p>

<p>If you want to be spoon fed classwork, grades, and the delusion that life will be “easy” after graduating, go to Harvard, not NU. NU weeds out the weak VERY FAST. In my graduating class in BME, the people who were left were tried by fire, and there were not many of us left. More than 2/3 of the students dropped out over the four years I was there. I can make this comparison with Harvard because I completed some of my surgical training there so I have direct experience with the students on all levels: undergrad, medical students, etc…</p>

<p>If the concern is strictly getting the best grades to go to med/law/grad school, you are right, the system is structured to deflate grades- not inflate them. So you will work harder for your “A” at NU than you will at Harvard or Stanford. That is a fact. Now, if you don’t really care about that, all the rantings mean nothing. </p>

<p>Anyway, the only lesson from this thread is that you need to understand that picking a college is somewhat of a crap shoot, and how you feel about your experience is more important than where you “are.” If you hate your college and college experience (for whatever reason) you will have a very difficult time. You point of view has great power over you and your future during this unique time in your life. The only good thing about that is that you have the ability to change your point of view, and make further changes (transfer, take a year off, etc.) if necessary.</p>

<p>If you do not want to take responsibility for yourself, NU is a VERY inhospitable place. If you are the type that makes your own way, NU will serve you well.</p>

49

<p>wow, this is a really informative thread.
OldNuGuy, Im planning to do BME too…should i go to NU?
I’m most definitely going to pursue either mba or med school. What is your experience of teachers as a BME? Would i be better off at University of Texas, a “public ivy” state school, for my gpa, job resources, etc.??</p>

50

<p>I am a senior at NU, and here are my 2 cents:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Academics vary a lot. Generally 300+ courses are very good (and this is what you really care about anyways), but it really depends. Professors at all research universities are hired solely for their research, but good researchers are often good teachers. Some classes are very easy some are really hard.</p></li>
<li><p>Do research with a professor. He/she will guide you into the best classes and mentor you throughout the experience. The benefits of this are immeasurable.</p></li>
<li><p>Social life is meh. Frats and sororities are huge here. I had many friends freshman year who stopped talking to me after they joined frats. I highly recommend joining one. Some of them are low key and without one you will have no social life.</p></li>
<li><p>On campus living and eating is horrible. Just put up with it for a year.</p></li>
<li><p>Social organizations are underfunded and politics rule funding. ASG, the student government gives out money but it doesn’t have much and fights result over who gets small sums of money. Most of it goes to the big organizations. This means that the only organizations that are really active are the “major” ones, like chess club, intermurals, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Unlike other posters, I think the campus is very safe. [crime</a> data](<a href=“http://www.northwestern.edu/up/jeanne/jeanne.html]crime”>http://www.northwestern.edu/up/jeanne/jeanne.html)</p></li>
</ol>

51

<p>You can still have a social life even if you don’t join a frat/sorority. And the food isn’t that bad. It’s what you would expect from college dorm food. People get robbed or mugged every so often, and sometimes there’s the occasional sexual assault, but otherwise it’s pretty safe.</p>

52

<p>Can someone who is not part of a frat/sorority talk about the social life. I applied ED to nu and will be staying home if admitted. I understand this tread is meant for stating ones opinoins but I’m really starting to feel as if this school is quite depressing. Is there something someone truly LOVES about the school.</p>

<p>C’mon people lets be optimistic. :)</p>

53

<p>I was not part of a frat/sorority and I found plenty of stuff to do. I belonged to a Christian group and an ethnic student association. We hanged out and went out to Evanston or Chicago. There were always tons of shows and performances (theater/movie/musical) on campus. Then of course, there’s football game to go to. This thread was meant to be negative at the first place; so take it with a grain of salt. As far as student retention rate goes, it’s on par with most other top schools’.</p>

<p>Like arbiter, I found the engineers were very satisfied with their education. I was one of them by the way and we all thought our school was great with excellent research opportunities and industry connections. It also has an excellent co-op program that many schools don’t have (or even if they do, theirs are not as established and structured as ours). The Engineer First curriculum is way ahead of other engineering schools and has gotten very positive feedback from students. The only complain seems to be the workload but engineering is supposed to be intense in many places anyway.</p>

54

<p>Can someone describe the “low-key frats”? I mean, to what degree does the NU Greek scene differ from the stereotypical preconception?</p>

55

<p>Wow, I was just getting warmed to Northwestern :o
I went to the website he cites about the gossips. The college that I dream of has less than a page! :smiley: Perfect. Although this obsession is becoming unhealthy for me :(</p>

56

<p>This thread is mostly one extremely bitter malcontent- take the negativity with a mine’s worth of salt.</p>

<p>As for a low key fraternity/ how the scene differs: It differs extremely. Animal house this is NOT- the students are NU students, no matter how much some will want to forget that. The low key fraternities (mine is one) have no hazing, drinking is an occasional, but definitely not central element to our social lives. We mostly hang out at the house, play video games, have movie nights, play cards, boardgames, go see movies, etc. It’s like a big group of very close friends who have an awesome club house, and the budget to do cool things like massive group dates (salsa dancing, ice skating, whirlyball, etc.)</p>

<p>The people who go Greek generally love it. The vast majority of people who don’t don’t care at all. About 10% are virulently anti-Greek based entirely on pre-conceived notions, and are VERY vocal about it- just like the whiners who started this thread- the few people really unhappy at NU tend to be vocal without attempting to improve things.</p>

57

<p>I went to NU and loved it! The people were great. Good luck.</p>

58

<p>After two quarters here I have concluded the OP MUST have been talking about some other school.</p>

<p>Northwestern is an amazing place :)</p>

59

<p>My sister is an alumni pre-med from Northwestern (now a physician) and loved it. Her friends seem to love it too. I attended for summer quarter and sadly was also assualted by a fellow student as mentioned by the original poster. NU administration did try to cover it up especially as the assailants father was a donor and well known–that was 25 years ago. Evanston police were more helpful. Sad to hear it is still happening. I did not enjoy my class. Also the food was not great at all. I graduated from my flagship state school, and although it had its issues, it was a far better for me and much safer but I am sure there is a student(s) that had a bad experience there. Good luck to all. Individuals will have different experiences at the their universities, you cannot use that to predict how it will be for you. Visit, talk to the dean of students, meet with some professors and then decide.</p>

60

<p>I’m sure there are sexual assault cases EVERYWHERE, in all schools. You have to be careful but these things happen. It really doesn’t mean one school is safer than another.
And OP, just because you had a bad experience, you do not need to demand that nobody else apply to NU. There will always be unhappy students, even in top schools like HYPS. I had a friend who was miserable at Harvard but still decided to stay since harvard is…well…harvard. If you didn’t like your experience, maybe you should have done your research a bit more thoroughly when you applied. Instead of telling prospective students to scrap NU from their lists completely, it’s better to suggest for these students to do their research carefully.</p>