Northwestern University Top Questions

I serve on the executive board of Rotaract, a student group dedicated to public service, a branch of Rotary Club for a younger crowd. I also write for various student publications, like North By Northwestern and The Daily Northwestern, where I have a dining column. Plus, I'm on the Medill Undergraduate Student Advisory Council, where I get to help plan special events, field trips and mentoring programs for Medill. Football games are popular social events, especially the tailgating parties before games, if you're not interested in the sport itself. You'll find people that don't party much at all to people who go out several nights a week. If you're a big partier, live in Bobb-McCulloch hall, a dorm known for its partying ways. I think residential colleges are a great way for freshmen to get involved. I have lived in two, CCI (College of Commerce and Industry) and ISRC (International Studies Residential College) and they are a little smaller and a great way to meet people around a particular interest. Plus, each residential college plans fun events around its theme and has plenty of fellows - professors who attend events, host tutorials and eat lunch with the students. This is a fantastic way to meet professors outside of a classroom setting and maybe find some good classes to take.

The BESTBESTBEST group on campus is NUMB! Also known as the Northwestern University Marching 'Wildcat' Band, also known as the finest band in the land! Members of the band move in a week earlier than everyone else (one week earlier than freshmen, two weeks earlier than upperclassmen) and participate in a week long, intensive, sun-up-to-sun-down band camp during which we learn all the awesome things we do before, during and after each home football game. (For evidence of awesome, go to youtube and search for "northwesternbands".) You will find NO ONE who bleeds more purple than we do. No one. We are an essential part of the "pageantry" (as Coach Fitz puts it) of college football, and we keep the fans going when things aren't looking so great. Sometimes the football players even go out of their way to come to our rehearsals, just to hang out with us. The reason NUMB is so fantastic is because we are a family. We rehearse as many as fifteen hours per week sometimes. NUMB, while it is a huge time commitment, is all pride, all fun, all the time. All my best friends are there, which is a huge advantage to a freshman in a strange city at a strange school as the only alumnus of my high school currently attending Northwestern. I was scared and insecure and NUMB made me feel so completely at home. There are also no auditions, so no matter your skill level, I'd highly encourage you to join if you're interested in marching band. If you are not musically inclined, that's okay. The band loves fans, and there are lots of other cool student groups including Greek life, Happiness Club, our LGBT group (which is effective, yet not too angry, which I appreciate), cultural clubs, Outdoor Club, BLAST (ballroom dancing) and pretty much everything else you could fathom. And if something you want isn't here, you can make your own club and probably get some sort of student government funding for it. We have an INTENSE a capella scene here. Hundreds of students audition for a spot in one of thirteen groups each year (or start their own after being rejected). My favorites are Purple Haze and the Undertones, but they're all good and put on shows throughout the year in dining halls, auditoriums, in the middle of campus, in your dorm, etc. They're all over the place. We do have a significant party scene. Last I heard, about 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of Northwestern students are affiliated with a fraternity or sorority. I wouldn't by any means call us a party school, but there is a definite social scene. However, if you do not want to rush, it's no big deal. There is no social divide (at all) between Greeks and non-Greeks. Students who don't party (like me) take advantage of the movie theater or the coffee shops (I think Evanston has approximately 325970673467 of them) and talk or go see speakers or make crafts or hop on the El and have a Chicago adventure or participate in the right of passage known as painting The Rock. Painting The Rock is a tradition as old as the dirt under the rock. It's a large boulder right in the busiest part of campus. The rule is that you have to guard the rock for twenty-four hours, and then you and your friends get to paint it however you want. Student groups often use it as an advertising tool, so it's a good way to keep up with events around campus. As I said earlier, students gain entry to all athletic events for free, so those are generally well-attended, especially the football games. Our women's lacrosse team has also been gaining popularity after winning something like 6 consecutive national championships. Other traditions include Dance Marathon, which raised over one million dollars for charity last year, and Dillo Day, an enormous spring music festival started by Texan students that brings big-name musical acts to campus for a weekend of fun and music out by the lake.

Dance Marathon is a HUGE deal on campus and everyone tries to experience it at least once before they graduate. It's literally 30 hours non-stop dancing to raise money for a charity. People go crazy over it. Also, Greek life is a big deal on campus. I believe about 1/3 of students are Greek; however, this doesn't mean that Greeks only hang out with their brothers/sisters since they're not too cliquish.

As much as I would hate to read this as a response as a prospective student, it's true. There's everything. Just in the journalism activities, there are at least a dozen magazines, several very high caliber daily or online publications, professional groups, blogs, everything. I tried several my first year before finding one that really suits what I like to do and where I feel like I need to grow. But of course, everyone is involved in around 3 or 4 activities ranging from cultural groups to music to theatre to intramurals to philanthropy to food.

As much as I would hate to read this as a response as a prospective student, it's true. There's everything. Just in the journalism activities, there are at least a dozen magazines, several very high caliber daily or online publications, professional groups, blogs, everything. I tried several my first year before finding one that really suits what I like to do and where I feel like I need to grow. But of course, everyone is involved in around 3 or 4 activities ranging from cultural groups to music to theatre to intramurals to philanthropy to food.

Alternative student break is a must! You make so many good friends and spend your break doing something meaningful.

There are too many activities to count. From dipping your feet into backyard Michigan Lake to painting the traditional Rock, Northwestern provides long traditions worth participating in. There is not a single interest that a group on campus would fail to foster and if there is, then you can easily make it a club. Football games are always great, weekend partying is always an option and simple chill sessions with a couple buddies are always welcome. My head hurts just thinking about how many of everything we have. TOO MANY TO NAME. TOO MANY TO TALK ABOUT.

See above.

GREEK LIFE IS TOO BIG AT NU -- it's damn annoying.

Greek life is pretty big here - 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of kids are affiliated. I enjoy being Greek because you always have something to do and are connected to a huge part of the student body. Dorms are the best way of making friends because who you live with you become close to. There are intermurals between dorms and the residental colleges do a bunch of stuff together. Big 10 Sports! All the games are so fun even if we are not killer at football the team is heavily supported. Lacrosee Games are awesome too!