not your typical "smart school"

Introduction
My mother went to Northwestern and it was the first college I visited my junior year in high school. It had a great reputation but I didn't know much else about it. I really liked the campus so I applied to a program, CPP (The College Preparatory Program), was accepted, and spent the best summer of my life there. While I was there, I connected with current NU student, lived in the dorms, and took actually courses through the University. I even got credit. In my anthropology class, I really connected with the Professor and he ended up writing me a recommendation into the school. Spending your summers a colleges (i.e. NORTHWESTERN!) and getting in with the right people is so beneficial!

Campus Life and Social Life
I really thought I would be cattled in with extremely intelligent people who didn't have social lives. I was right and wrong. Sure there are the "geeks" but every college has those. I rushed and joined a sorority, got involved in Hillel and attended campus shows and made a ton of friends. Theres definitely an advantage to living on North Campus if you want a heavy social life, but I really like South Campus. I live on South Campus and its really artsy, and I simply walk for ten minutes to North campus on the weekends to party with friends. Even though it's cold, it's so worth it! Advertisement
Academics
My department is AMAZING. My major (Anthropolgy with a Human Biology Concentration) is mainly pre-med students, and I love it. I am getting a humanities education with a strong scientific influence. Med schools loce students with diverse interests and majors like this really help. The department is one of the smallest on campus which is also nice. I know all of the professors in the department so starting new classes for my major is never intimidating. The anthro classes aren't too hard but of course, my actual pre-med classes (Bio, chem, etc) are super intense. Students here either learn to deal with the overload of hard work, or they switch their major. Sometimes I lock myself in the library just to get a day or two free of work, but I know that it will pay off. If you're not motivated to learn and work hard, don't come here for pre-med or science.
In my department, I don't have any TA's, which is amazing, because the profs really are amazing and helpful. When I need help, they work their office hours around MY schedule, which is so rare in college.
The TA's in my other classes are definitely well-educated in the subject they are assisting in. They are equally amazing. Sometimes I go to a TA before my professor too, just because they have a different point of views on some topics.
Another amazing thing about NU is that even though I'm into the sciences, I have taken theatre classes and engineering course, etc. It's so easy to enroll in classes even if you're not in that particular school.
I also love love love the student radio here, WNUR. You can even stream it through your iTUNES through their website, wnur.org. I have friend involved with the radio and even I get involved. It's cool to voice your opinions and NU has a great way to do it.

Student Body
Weekends are fun! But like I said, I have to work extremely hard monday-friday morning to have fun. Sometimes your friends will turn you down for a night on the town to do homework. It's not personal, it's just the way it is here. In the winter is it extremely cold. You might not want to leave your dorm. Thats why I recommend living in a dorm vs. a residential college. They're bigger, mor diverse, and they tend to be more social. The sports scene here is what you make it. Yes, we're division one and in the Big Ten. But you can also choose to completely ignore it. The arts are also huge on campus. Dance and theatre majors always have shows and so do music majors.

In Closing...
Northwestern is the best of both worlds. We're in Evanston (or Heavanston?) which has an amazing downtown a block from campus but we're also just a 20 minute train ride from downtown Chicago. Be careful with scheduling classes because it can get complicated and if there's a mistake, the university is really apathetic and not much will get done. I have friends that didn't get into med-school because their transcripts were incorrect. Make sure you request a transcript, double check everything, and then send it on to grad school. That is the ONLY negative thing at Northwestern. You should atleast apply. I dare you.