<p>I'm making my final decision and I'm leaning toward Northwestern.</p>
<p>They're such similar schools though- both in/near a city, great academics, mid-size - and that's what makes it so hard.</p>
<p>But I want to know more about WashU socially - I know Northwestern is a diverse, school where people have fun and there's a big frat/party scene. Is WashU similar? What's it like there? I've heard the social scene at WashU is lame a most ppl are just very studious...</p>
<p>If all you want to do is party, you'll not succeed at WashU.</p>
<p>on the other hand... i've got quite a few friends at washu and they are all really happy with their social lives (and parts of very different scenes). it is definitely not a school where you slack off, but i believe most people think it fits into the work hard-play hard description</p>
<p>I concur. (10 char)</p>
<p>My S chose wustl over nu.....he had narrowed it down to those two. He did two visits to washu in April and one to nu.....As for your question, if you put 6,000-8,000 undergrads on a college campus (whether washu or nu), there's going to be an active social life. It's time to make a decision, you should do what my S did and go with your heart.</p>
<p>I choose NU over WashU for a bunch of reasons. The first being NU Econ >>>> Olin. Other than that, I have heard that the social life at NU is better than that of WashU. Chicago is definitely a more active and fun city than St. Louis, and the greek scene is much much better at NU.</p>
<p>Remember, at these levels, it's your performance that will matter at either school. If greek system is important to you, you'll definitely have it at both schools, however, it certainly felt like it played a bigger role in nu life. I believe (for greek life) nu is 38% of student body and washu is 25% (give or take). Chicago is a fantastic city, but, keep in mind that, without traffic, it's a 35-40 minute ride to the Loop. I'm sure that it's more than that on the el. We spent a lot of time at both schools....students at both places seemed to be very happy with their respective social lives.</p>