Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois, aka the Chicago suburbs. Northwestern is probably most famous for its journalism and music programs, but the university has over 130 majors and minors. Their acceptance rate is around 7%, and they take around half of their class during early decisions. They also extended their test-optional policy for at least another year.
One odd thing about Northwestern is they have made the Common App essay optional. They say of this decision, “To that end, we welcome—but by no means expect—your submission of a personal essay or additional information in the Common Application.” That being said, just send them your personal essay. Unless you are only applying to Northwestern, it should already be completed… and please don’t just apply to Northwestern. That is simply not a balanced list, and to be real, they have a 7% acceptance rate (read: it’s tough to get in.)
We have written about Northwestern in the past, but they have changed their supplement this year, so we wanted to revisit it and share our tips and tricks for approaching the Northwestern supplement.
The following question is required for all applicants. Please respond in 300 words or fewer:
We want to be sure we’re considering your application in the context of your personal experiences: What aspects of your background, your identity, or your school, community, and/or household settings have most shaped how you see yourself engaging in Northwestern’s community, be it academically, extracurricularly, culturally, politically, socially, or otherwise? (fewer than 300 words)*
You need to do two things to answer this question: 1) tell a good story and 2) connect it to Northwestern specifically. Also, while they give you many options on how you will connect your experiences. Ideally, part of this should connect to academics.
The easiest way to write this is to start with a story about how you fell in love with what you hope to study at Northwestern and then connect it to the opportunities in the major, such as classes and professors on campus. The story should connect to “your identity” or “background.” That sounds really lofty, but it doesn’t have to be. Maybe you are a “woman in STEM,” or your mother instilled a love of history in you. These are parts of your background. Tell us about it.
However, there are many ways to approach this essay. Maybe you identify as a team player. Tell us a story about a time you exhibited that skill or learned that lesson. Then, connect it to who you want to be at Northwestern. How will this relate to your classes, extracurriculars, and community at Northwestern?
Whatever story you tell, you need to get specific. You want to show how you will exist at Northwestern. The reader should know what you want to get involved with on campus. Again, ideally, this would include academics. At college, academics come first. We want to understand the classes you will take, the professors you hope to work with, and the research you will do. Get those specifics in.
While the following essays are technically optional, we highly suggest writing them. Northwestern is hard to get into, and they give you a chance to stand out. You should take it. Some are easier to tackle than others. So, let’s break the options down.
The following questions are optional, but we encourage you to answer at least one and no more than two. Please respond in fewer than 200 words per question:
1) Painting “The Rock” is a tradition at Northwestern that invites all forms of expression—students promote campus events or extracurricular groups, support social or activist causes, show their Wildcat spirit (what we call “Purple Pride”), celebrate their culture, and more. What would you paint on The Rock, and why?
This is a fun question and an excellent opportunity to think outside the box. Whatever you choose to paint should come with a story about why it is meaningful to you. Choose a cause or topic you feel passionately about and have already interacted with, and think of an artistic way to convey that commitment. Speak to what you have already done with a group or for that cause and how it relates to what you would paint. Maybe you are a part of your school’s environmental club, and the club has been doing work on saving the local wetlands. Talk about the work that you have done and the beautiful egret that you want to paint and the slogan you would put next to it. Pardon the pun, but really paint the picture of what it would look like.
2) Northwestern fosters a distinctively interdisciplinary culture. We believe discovery and innovation thrive at the intersection of diverse ideas, perspectives, and academic interests. Within this setting, if you could dream up an undergraduate class, research project, or creative effort (a start-up, a design prototype, a performance, etc.), what would it be? Who might be some ideal classmates or collaborators?
We like this question a lot. This is a time to nerd out on a topic that you love. However, you want to ensure there is an interdisciplinary nature to whatever you write about. What you choose to write about doesn’t need to be connected to your major, but it can as long as you also bring in a second subject to explore. This is your chance to make your dream class or project. Maybe you love chemistry and history; you have to define the most exciting overlap and build something around it. Maybe that is a class with students doing traditional alchemy and then connecting the reactions to modern chemistry. What would that class or project look like?
Think of this essay as an actual pitch. You want the reader to be excited about the project or class. Make sure to answer the second half of this question. You can bring up specific Northwestern professors or people from your life. Introduce them and why they are right for this project.
3) Community and belonging matter at Northwestern. Tell us about one or more communities, networks, or student groups you see yourself connecting with on campus.
This question is good as long as it doesn’t overlap too much with the first required essay. If it feels too close to what you have written, skip this one. To write this question, you will need to research on-campus activities and opportunities on campus. Look for opportunities that correspond to what you are already doing. For example, if you play the drum in the marching band at your school, you could talk about joining Boomshaka, Northwestern’s drum, dance, and rhythm ensemble.
Write a short story about why the groups/interests you already have are important to you and then connect it to related activities at Northwestern.
4) Northwestern’s location is special: on the shore of Lake Michigan, steps from downtown Evanston, just a few miles from Chicago. What aspects of our location are most compelling to you, and why?
This is kind of a weird question, but if it calls to you, take it on. Usually, students mention where a college is as an afterthought about why they want to apply there. This question asks you to do the opposite. For this question, you need to look at the opportunities the Chicago metro area would afford you and how and why you would take full advantage of them. Again, this is weird. However, it can work primarily if you identify internship opportunities, academic resources, or cultural connections.
TLDR: think less about swimming in the lake and DA Bears and more about specific opportunities. Showing some general Chi-Town pride isn’t bad; just make sure it isn’t the only thing you talk about.
5) Northwestern is a place where people with diverse backgrounds from all over the world can study, live, and talk with one another. This range of experiences and viewpoints immeasurably enriches learning. How might your individual background contribute to this diversity of perspectives in Northwestern’s classrooms and around our campus?
This is a pretty standard supplement question. Honestly, if Northwestern isn’t your first supplement of the season, you may have already answered a very similar one to this. We have seen it pop up a lot this year.
This question isn’t bad, but it’s a lot for 200 words. On other supplementals, questions like this are usually more like 250 or 300 words. Due to the word count, we don’t think this is the best question to respond to on this list. However, if you find yourself drawn to it, just tell a good story. You want to write about your uniqueness and why that is important to you. Show your point of view and make sure it feels special. Sometimes students hear “diversity” and think the need to write about race, religion, or sexuality. Those are all great things to write about, but you don’t need to. There are hundreds of things that make you diverse and unique. Tell a story about how that has shaped your perspective.
We would encourage all students applying to Northwestern to write 3 essays. This is a tall order and will take some time and thinking. Make you give yourself enough time. Start early if you can! And if you need help, we can do that.
It’s what we do. Reach out here.