Anyone who stops by Northwestern University is sure to be impressed by its beautiful location on the shore of Lake Michigan. But the private university’s stellar academics are just as impressive. Northwestern has an acceptance rate around 7% and a 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
The long campus in Evanston, Illinois, is divided between the creative arts and journalism students on its south end and the engineering and pre-professional schools to the north. While Northwestern has the resources and size of a Big Ten school, it also fosters a feeling of community among its diverse student body of more than 9,000 undergrads — 74% of whom combine multiple areas of study — and 14,000 graduate students.
Northwestern students apply their high-school overachiever work ethic to busy extracurricular and academic schedules, and the school's quarter system keeps them jumping from exam to exam. Popular majors include biology, economics, engineering and neuroscience, plus drama and music.
Much of the social life at Northwestern centers on the active Greek scene, as well as the attractions of downtown Chicago, which are accessible via train (by both the L or Metra). But the winter weather can be a downside — you don't know wind chill until you've experienced a 15-below walk to class. Northwestern boasts a $15 billion endowment and a slew of famous alumni. That list includes Stephen Colbert, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, George R.R. Martin and Meghan Markle, plus 30 Pulitzer Prize winners and multiple Grammy winners.
