You may recognize me from my other poorly worded post. Well, I have created this new thread in hopes that I can turn over a new leaf and actually get some helpful information.
Note: I don’t care what clothes/brands people wear there. Please do not post anything about that. I want to know what kind of atmoshere is at NU. Competitive? Nice? Layed back? Snobby? Down to earth?
As an incoming freshman who’s been around the school my entire life with several family members who have been to NU, I would say compared to some other upper tier schools, Northwestern’s not that bad in terms of snobbiness. I mean yeah, anywhere those type of people inevitably exist, but it’s not really prevalent here from my experience. From what my family members have said to me, people at northwestern just seem to be extremely driven in their accedemic studies and activities. I don’t think it ever gets super competitive, but the setting’s not exactly layed back either. Compared to a few other schools I’ve visited like Vanderbilt, I would say campus atmosphere and the people you meet there are just more diverse, which makes it hard to stereotype the campus’ tone.
It all depends on who you hang out with really. There are some snobby kids around, but for the most part they aren’t I don’t really know many people I would consider snobby and I know a lot of people here.
Cold and Windy, mostly 
Cold, windy, and gray. Don’t forget the sun playing the longest game of peekaboo ever.
The atmosphere at NU is primarily nitrogen, with some O2, and trace elements of other molecules…
It’s not so much as competitive as driven to achieve. People are there to get things done and achieve their goals. Well… at least some of them…
From my observation, it’s not too far off if I say that the people I see are divided into 2 types: the ones that came to college to party their ass off and get piss drunk, and the ones that came for the opportunities/learning/whatnot.
^ There really is that large of a group at NU “that come to college to party their ass off…” that is even comparable to the size that didn’t?
There are plenty who drink and party sometimes. It’s a continuum, it’s not just two groups.
All I can tell you is that my daughter is wildly happy there. She has friends from all parts of campus, she’s involved in many activities, has had good and not so good class experiences, works hard and has lots of fun. My other daughter went to a large State school and NU’s party scene is milder than a State school - you certainly can find a party if you want one but it’s not crazy. I was very happy with how incoming freshman were indoctrinated to the school and campus. It’s practically impossible to be lonely your first week as there is so much going on. I think like most campuses, it’s diverse enough that you can find the environment you are looking for. But, I do think there is a midwestern feel to it – nice people, kind chill, down to earth. From a competitiveness perspective, I think that runs the gamut as well. I think people who feel competitive will find it anywhere. My daughter is in a very tough major but she does not find the atmosphere to be cut throat or competitive in a negative way. There is a lot of group work and collaboration. It is hard to generalize about a population of 8,000 students but I think my daughter found an environment that worked for her. Good luck.
Current student here. You can’t generalize the atmosphere of the entire school. It’s too big, too diverse, to be able to do that.
That said … I love it. There’s always something to do, no matter what your thing is, and there are always people hanging out. I find the place fairly chill, and I don’t find it competitive. During finals week, you will see how dedicated everyone is to academics, which is really cool (and stressful, yes). I think Northwestern is a great place.