<p>In terms of academics, student life, happiness, etc.</p>
<p>best- gorgeous campus, phenomenal location (love being right outside of chicago), professors are great, people are down to earth and not pretentious for the most part, chill atmosphere, so many schools (weinberg, bienan, etc.) and therefore SO many more subjects available than at most schools, and i love the quarter system</p>
<p>worst- prevalence of Greek life (good if you’re into that but mildly annoying if you’re not), you have to apply to virtually every club you want to join and it’s HARD because everyone here is so good at applying to things, and people are more self-interested (but i think that’s a result of such a large proportion of people coming from the Chicago area)</p>
<p>“people are more self-interested (but i think that’s a result of such a large proportion of people coming from the Chicago area)”</p>
<p>I don’t really know what you mean there- are you from the midwest but not a major metro, and thus suggesting Chicagoans are more self-interested?</p>
<p>absolutely</p>
<p>I think the combination of Northwestern being an elite (and therefore inherently competitive) school and being near Chicago explains this self-interestedness </p>
<p>i would hazard that this phenomenon is present at a lot of more competitive schools, as well and not something about Northwestern in particular </p>
<p>Deflation, professors that don’t give two ■■■■■, Evanston being next to the greatest city in the world (IMO) but very annoying to get to, snotty girls (and boys).</p>
<p>Pro - top professors
Con- very fast-paced quarter system
Pro- city of Chicago, area public transit
Con- over-importance of “Greeks”</p>
<p>I’ll stick up for the Greek system. My son and his GF, who both graduated from NU last spring, were Greek and loved it.</p>
<p>Greeks have GPAs well above the campus average (my son graduated summa cum laude and was an officer in his frat, and in several other activities). And unlike Greeks at almost all other universities (such as a Big 10 school my daughter attends) there is not much partying by Greeks at NU – and it is completely optional. Example: each frat usually hosts parties for specified sorority once a week, but typically only one-third of the students in those two houses attend. The rest are studying or doing other activities. Nearly everyone chooses to attend big events they have, such as dinner/dances in downtown hotels, themed casual parties, and philanthropy events. </p>
<p>Room, board and dues costs are typically much cheaper than NU dorms (and usually you don’t have to live in the frat/sorority house at all). Plus, also unlike many other universities, nearly every student who wants to go Greek at NU will get a bid to join a house (though not necessarily from their most favorite house). Greeks have a lot of opportunities for leadership roles, plus connections through their fellow members to help them get involved in other campus activities. I think these leadership roles in part contribute to the “importance” of Greeks on campus.</p>
<p>Rush is very informal for guys – starts with open dinners on Sunday nights about halfway into fall quarter (my son initially chose where to go based on the menu (restaurant)). Then guys have formal rush (nightly events for 4 nights) in January, though a lot of guys will get a bid the first night of formal rush if they got to know a few guys from the fall dinners. My son was an unpopular, shy “nerd” in high school and being a frat member greatly improved his social skills and personal confidence.
(Frats also have open parties in the fall that are open to non-Greek guys as well as girls, but those typically end after rush.) </p>
<p>For girls, there aren’t many informal events; there is more emphasis on the formal rush (“recruitment”) in January. </p>
<p>Unlike some other universities, you do NOT need to get any recommendations from alumni. </p>
<p>About one third of all NU students are Greek, which is a larger percentage than most universities, but the NU Greek system is not like most others. As a Greek student once said on this forum: “It is Northwestern, after all.” </p>
<p>And my daughter knew only three people who were Greek and it Greek system had absolutely no effect on her except for the brief rushing period sometime Freshman year. It’s as much or as little of an influence as you want it to be.</p>