UChicago vs. Northwestern
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Anonymous
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NU has a long history of famous actors and celebriries who have attended:
Arts and entertainment (film, TV, and theatre) Edit Ann-Margret Warren Beatty Edgar Bergen Zach Braff Stephen Colbert Zooey Deschanel Charlton Heston Julia Louis-Dreyfus Seth Meyers Jun Sung Ahn (B.A. 2015), musician, Youtuber Mara Brock Akil (B.A. 1992), creator and executive producer of Girlfriends and The Game, former supervising producer of The Jamie Foxx Show Claude Akins (B.S. 1949), actor (Inherit the Wind, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo) Ann-Margret (Olsson) (never graduated), Academy Award-nominated actress (Tommy, Carnal Knowledge) Sharif Atkins (B.S. 1999), actor (ER) Jayne Atkinson (B.S. 1981), Tony Award-nominated actress (Enchanted April, The Rainmaker); played Karen Hayes on 24, and currently portrays U.S. Secretary of State Catherine Durant in the Netflix series House of Cards Jane Badler (B.S. 1976), actress (V) Kate Baldwin, actress (1997, theater school) Bonnie Bartlett (B.S. 1950), Emmy Award-winning actress (St. Elsewhere, Twins, Ghosts of Mississippi) Warren Beatty (class of 1959, never graduated), Academy Award-winning actor/writer/director (Bonnie and Clyde, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Shampoo, Reds) Lee Phillip Bell (B.A. 1950), Emmy Award-winning co-creator of The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful Matt Bellassai, comedian ("Whine About It") Rob Benedict (B.S. 1993), actor (Threshold, Felicity) Richard Benjamin (B.S. 1960), actor (Catch-22, Westworld, The Last of Sheila); director (My Favorite Year, Mermaids) Edgar Bergen (attended, did not graduate), Academy Award-winning actor and ventriloquist (Charlie McCarthy) Greg Berlanti (B.S. 1994), screenwriter and producer (Dawson's Creek); creator of Everwood and Jack & Bobby; writer/director of Broken Hearts Club Eric Bernt (B.S. 1986), screenwriter (Surviving the Game, Virtuosity, Romeo Must Die) Craig Bierko (B.S. 1986), actor (Cinderella Man, The Thirteenth Floor); Tony Award nominee (The Music Man) Karen Black (attended, never graduated), Academy Award-nominated actress (Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces) Jeff Blumenkrantz (B.S. 1986), Tony Award-nominated musical theatre composer/lyricist (Urban Cowboy) Zach Braff (B.S. 1997), Emmy Award-nominated actor (Scrubs); writer/director (Garden State, Wish I Was Here) Cary Brothers (B.S. 1995), Grammy-nominated musician (Garden State) Clancy Brown (B.S. 1981), actor (Highlander, The Shawshank Redemption) Charles Busch (B.S. 1976), Tony Award-nominated playwright (The Tale of the Allergist's Wife) Frank Buxton (B.S. 1951), actor/writer/director Bruno Campos (B.S. 1995), actor (Nip/Tuck) Katie Chang (B.A. 2017), actress ("The Bling Ring") Josh Chetwynd, UK-based baseball analyst and former player Cindy Chupack (B.S. 1987), Emmy Award-winning executive producer and writer (Sex and the City, Everybody Loves Raymond) Jack Clay, acting teacher/director/actor Jeanne Clemson (M.A.), theater director, stage actress and teacher, preserved the Fulton Opera House Claire Coffee, actress (General Hospital, Grimm) Stephen Colbert (B.S. 1986), Emmy Award-winning comedian (The Colbert Report, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) Kate Collins, actress (All My Children) Robert Conrad (B.S. 1955), actor (The Wild Wild West, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Hawaiian Eye) Steven Conrad (B.A. 1991), screenwriter (The Pursuit of Happyness, The Weather Man) J Anthony Crane (B.S. 1993), actor (The Big Easy, The Lion King) Cindy Crawford (attended, never graduated), model Jan Crull Jr. (attended, never graduated), filmmaker, Native American rights activist, attorney Jane Curtin (attended, never graduated), original cast member of Saturday Night Live; Emmy Award-nominated actress (Kate & Allie, 3rd Rock from the Sun) Stephanie D'Abruzzo (B.S. 1993), Tony Award-nominated actress and puppeteer (Avenue Q) William Daniels (B.S. 1950), Emmy Award-winning actor (St. Elsewhere, Boy Meets World); former president of the Screen Actors Guild Zooey Deschanel (attended, never graduated), actress (Yes Man, Elf, Almost Famous, New Girl) Lydia R. Diamond (B.S. 1992), playwright Matt Doherty (B.S. 1999), actor (So I Married an Axe Murderer, The Mighty Ducks films) Anne Dudek, actress (House, Psych, Law and Order: CI, Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, Mad Men, White Chicks, The Human Stain) Teddy Dunn (B.S. 2003), actor (Veronica Mars) Nancy Dussault (B.A. 1957), actress (Too Close for Comfort); two-time Tony Award nominee (Do Re Mi, Bajour) Gregg Edelman (B.S. 1980), Tony Award-nominated actor (City of Angels, Into the Woods) Billy Eichner, comedian, actor Jennie Eisenhower (B.S. 2000), actress; granddaughter of Richard Nixon and the great-granddaughter of Dwight D. Eisenhower Temi Epstein (B.S. 1996), child actress (North and South) Joe Flynn, actor (McHale's Navy) Mary Frann (B.S. 1965), actress (Newhart, Days of Our Lives) Gerald Freedman (B.S. 1949, M.A. 1950), theatre director (The Gay Life, The Robber Bridegroom, The Grand Tour) David T. Friendly (B.S. 1978), Academy Award-nominated producer (Little Miss Sunshine) Penny Fuller (B.S. 1959), Emmy Award-winning actress (The Elephant Man); Tony Award nominee (The Dinner Party) George Furth (B.S. 1955), Tony Award-winning playwright (Company); actor (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) Daniele Gaither (B.S. 1993), actress, comic (MADtv) Frank Galati (B.A. 1965), Tony Award-winning director (The Grapes of Wrath), Academy Award-nominated screenwriter (The Accidental Tourist) Aimee Garcia (B.S. 2000), actress (George Lopez) Ana Gasteyer (B.S. 1989), actress (Mean Girls, Wicked); former cast member of Saturday Night Live Ileen Getz (B.S. 1985), actress (3rd Rock from the Sun) Gibi ASMR (B.A. 2017), cosplayer, YouTuber and ASMRtist[3] Zach Gilford (B.S. 2004), actor (Friday Night Lights) Eric Gilliland (B.S. 1984), writer/producer (Rosanne, My Boys) Ira Glass (attended, transferred), radio and TV personality Jonathan Glassner, TV writer/producer, most known for developing Stargate SG-1 Virginia Graham (M.S.J.), former daytime TV talk show host Michael Greif (B.S. 1981), Tony Award-nominated director of Rent and Grey Gardens Mamie Gummer (B.S. 2005), actress (Evening), daughter of Meryl Streep Anna Gunn (B.S. 1990), actress (Deadwood, Breaking Bad) Kathryn Hahn (B.S. 1995), actress (Crossing Jordan, Step Brothers, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, We're the Millers) Brad Hall (B.S. 1990), former cast member of Saturday Night Live; creator of The Single Guy, Watching Ellie Samantha Harris (B.S. 1996), Emmy Award-nominated co-host of Dancing with the Stars Bill Hayes (M.M. 1949), Daytime Emmy Award-nominated actor (Days of Our Lives) Heather Headley (B.S. 1997), Tony Award-winning actress and singer (Aida, The Lion King); Grammy Award-nominated R&B vocalist Kyle T. Heffner, actor, Flashdance Marg Helgenberger (B.S. 1982), Emmy Award-winning actress (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, China Beach, Erin Brockovich) Charlton Heston (attended from 1941-1943), Academy Award-winning actor (Ben-Hur) and National Rifle Association President Michael Hitchcock (B.S. 1980), writer, co-executive producer (MADTv); actor (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, Serenity ) Ron Holgate (B.S. 1959), Tony Award-winning actor (1776, The Grand Tour) David Hollander (B.S. 1990), creator, screenwriter, and executive producer of The Guardian David Horowitz (M.S. 1961), former host of Fight Back! With David Horowitz Jeffrey Hunter (B.A. 1949), actor (The Searchers, The Last Hurrah, King of Kings, The Longest Day) Lew Hunter (M.S. 1956), Emmy Award-nominated screenwriter (Fallen Angel); chairman emeritus and professor of screenwriting, UCLA School of Theater Film and Television Ron Husmann (B.S. 1959), Tony Award-nominated actor (Tenderloin) Martha Hyer (B.S. 1945), Academy Award-nominated actress (Some Came Running, Houseboat, The Sons of Katie Elder, Bikini Beach) Rex Ingram, actor (Cabin in the Sky, The Thief of Baghdad, Sahara, Green Pastures) Laura Innes (B.S. 1979), Emmy Award-nominated actress (ER); Emmy Award-nominated director (The West Wing) David Israel (B.S.J. 1973), writer and producer (Midnight Caller, Turks, Tremors, Pandora's Clock, Mutiny, House of Frankenstein) David Ives (B.A. 1971), playwright (All in the Timing) Brian d'Arcy James (B.S. 1990), Tony Award-nominated actor (Sweet Smell of Success: The Musical) Tim Johnson (B.A. 1983), director (Antz, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas) Traci Paige Johnson (B.A. 1991), creator of Blue's Clues Jennifer Jones, Academy Award-winning actress (The Song of Bernadette, Since You Went Away, Love Letters, Duel in the Sun, The Towering Inferno) Adam Kantor, Broadway actor, singer, dancer, Rent Peter Kapetan (B.A. 1978), Broadway actor, singer, dancer (1956–2008)[4] Spencer Kayden (B.S. 1990), former cast member of MADTv; Tony Award nominee for Urinetown James Keach (B.S. 1970), actor (The Long Riders); producer (Walk the Line); director (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) Stacy Keach, Sr. (B.S. 1935), actor (Get Smart); director (Tales of the Texas Rangers) Clinton Kelly (M.S. 1993), co-host of What Not to Wear Richard Kind (B.S. 1978), actor (Mad About You, Spin City) Laura Kissel (M.F.A. 1999), filmmaker Richard Kline (M.A. 1967), actor (Three's Company) Robert Knepper (attended, never graduated), actor (Prison Break, Hostage, Carnivàle) Gary Kroeger (B.S. 1981), former cast member of Saturday Night Live Roger Kumble (B.S. 1988), writer/director (Cruel Intentions) Clyde Kusatsu (B.S. 1970), actor (All American Girl, In the Line of Fire) Mark Lamos (B.S. 1969), Tony Award-winning former artistic director of the Hartford Stage Sherry Lansing (B.S. 1966), former CEO of Paramount Pictures; Academy Award-nominated producer (Fatal Attraction); 2007 recipient of The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Britt Leach, actor (Weird Science) Cloris Leachman (B.S. 1948), Academy Award-winning and Emmy Award-winning actress (The Last Picture Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Spanglish) Katrina Lenk (B.M. 1997), actress and musician, recipient of 2018 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for The Band's Visit Harry J. Lennix (B.S. 1986), actor (The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Commander in Chief, Ray) Herschell Gordon Lewis, filmmaker Richard J. Lewis (B.A. 1982), Emmy Award-nominated director/producer (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) Laura Linney (attended for a year, then transferred), actress (The Truman Show, Love Actually) John Logan (B.S. 1983), Academy Award-nominated screenwriter (The Aviator, Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Hugo, Skyfall) Shelley Long (class of 1971, never graduated), Emmy Award-winning actress (Cheers, The Money Pit, Irreconcilable Differences) Julia Louis-Dreyfus (class of 1982, never graduated), Emmy Award-winning actress (Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Veep); former cast member of Saturday Night Live Paul Lynde (B.S. 1948), actor (Hollywood Squares, Bewitched, Bye Bye Birdie) J. P. Manoux (B.S. 1991), actor (ER, Phil of the Future, The Emperor's New School) Stephanie March (B.S. 1996), actress (Law & Order: SVU, Conviction) Michael Markowitz (B.S. 1983), Emmy Award-nominated writer and producer (Duckman, Becker) Garry Marshall (B.S. 1956), creator of Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Mork & Mindy; director (Pretty Woman, Beaches, The Princess Diaries) Marshall W. Mason (B.S. 1961), Tony Award-nominated director (Fifth of July, As Is) Jacquelyn Mayer (B.S. 1964), former Miss America Ralph Meeker (B.S. 1943), actor (Kiss Me Deadly, Paths of Glory, Picnic, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, The Anderson Tapes) Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, a.k.a. Rachel Meghan Markle, (B.A. 2003), former television actress (Suits), founder and curator of the now-defunct lifestyle blog, The Tig; wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Sussex Susan Messing (B.S. 1986), performer, teacher, and director at The Second City, ImprovOlympic, and the Annoyance Theatre Josh Meyers (B.S. 1998), actor (MADtv, That '70s Show) Seth Meyers (B.S. 1996), cast member of Saturday Night Live; host of Late Night with Seth Meyers; winner of the third Celebrity Poker Showdown Terri Minsky (B.S. 1980), creator, writer, executive producer of Lizzie McGuire, Less Than Perfect, The Geena Davis Show John Cameron Mitchell (B.S. 1985), writer/actor/director (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), executive producer (Tarnation) Karen Moncrieff (B.S. 1986), Miss Illinois 1985; writer and director of The Dead Girl and Blue Car Jason Moore (B.S. 1993), Tony Award-nominated director (Avenue Q) Andrew Moskos (B.A. 1990), co-founder of Boom Chicago in Amsterdam Megan Mullally (class of 1981, never graduated), Emmy Award-winning actress (Will and Grace) Dermot Mulroney (B.S. 1985), actor (About Schmidt, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Family Stone) Tony Musante, actor (Toma, As the World Turns) John Musker (B.A. 1975), writer/producer/director (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules) Margaret Nagle, screenwriter (Emmy Award-winning Warm Springs) Patricia Neal (B.S. 1947), Academy Award-winning and Tony Award-winning actress (A Face in the Crowd, Hud, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Subject Was Roses) Tom Neal, actor (Detour, Jungle Girl) George Newbern (B.S. 1986), actor (Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride Part II, Justice League Unlimited) Jamie Ray Newman (B.S. 2000), actress (Veronica Mars, Stargate Atlantis) Agnes Nixon (B.S. 1944), Emmy Award-winning writer/producer (All My Children, One Life to Live, Another World, As the World Turns, Loving) Denis O'Hare (B.S. 1984), Tony Award-winning actor (Take Me Out, Sweet Charity, Assassins) Dana Olsen (B.S. 1980), screenwriter (George of the Jungle, The 'Burbs) James Olson (B.S. 1952), actor (Rachel, Rachel, The Andromeda Strain, Ragtime, Commando) Jerry Orbach (class of 1956, never graduated), Tony Award-winning and Emmy Award-nominated actor (Law & Order, Promises, Promises, Dirty Dancing) Maulik Pancholy (B.S. 1995), actor (30 Rock, Weeds) Mary Beth Peil (B.S. 1962), Tony Award-nominated actress (The King and I, Dawson's Creek, The Good Wife) Jeff Pinkner, screenwriter (Lost) Jenny Powers (B.S. 2003), Miss Illinois 2000; Broadway actress (Little Women) Paula Prentiss (B.S. 1959), Emmy Award-nominated actress (Where the Boys Are, The Parallax View, In Harm's Way, The World of Henry Orient) Michael Prywes (B.S. 1996), writer and director of Returning Mickey Stern John Qualen, actor (The Grapes of Wrath, The Searchers, Casablanca, The High and the Mighty) Maeve Quinlan (attended, transferred to University of Southern California), actress (90210, South of Nowhere, Ken Park, The Bold and the Beautiful) Lily Rabe (B.S. 2004), actress (No Reservations, Steel Magnolias) Charlotte Rae (B.S. 1948), Emmy Award-nominated and Tony Award-nominated actress (The Facts of Life, Diff'rent Strokes, Queen of the Stardust Ballroom) Robert O. Ragland (B.S. 1953) American film score composer, arranger and orchestrator. Tony Randall (class of 1941, never graduated), Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor (The Odd Couple, Mister Peepers, Inherit the Wind) Keith Reddin (B.S. 1978), playwright Robert Reed (B.S. 1954), Emmy Award-nominated actor (The Brady Bunch, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, Roots) Daphne Maxwell Reid (B.A. 1970), actress (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) Tony Roberts (B.S. 1961), Tony Award-nominated actor (Annie Hall, Serpico, Play It Again, Sam) Marcia Rodd (B.S. 1960), Tony Award-nominated actress (Little Murders) Jeri Ryan (B.S. 1991), actress (Boston Public, Star Trek: Voyager, Shark) Ethan Sandler (B.S. 1995), actor (Crossing Jordan) Kristen Schaal (B.S. 2001), actress and comedian, contributor to The Daily Show David Schwimmer (B.S. 1988), Emmy Award-nominated actor (Friends, Band of Brothers, Madagascar) Kathryn Leigh Scott, actress Yuki Shimoda (Yukio Shimoda, B.A. in Accounting 1950s), Emmy Award-nominated actor Katherine Shindle (B.S. 1999), Miss America 1998, actress (Capote) Dan Shor, actor (Tron, Strange Behavior, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure) Candace Smith (J.D. 2002), Miss Ohio USA 2003; actress (Beerfest) Peter Spears (1988), Academy Award-nominated film producer (Call Me By Your Name)[5] Jerry Springer (J.D. 1968), host of The Jerry Springer Show; former mayor of Cincinnati Florence Stanley, actress (My Two Dads, Atlantis: The Lost Empire) McLean Stevenson (B.S. 1952), Emmy Award-nominated actor (M*A*S*H, The Doris Day Show); guest host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Peter Strauss (B.S. 1969), Emmy Award-winning actor (Rich Man, Poor Man, Masada, Soldier Blue, The Secret of NIMH) Nicole Sullivan (B.S. 1991), original cast member of MADtv; actress (The King of Queens); winner of the inaugural Celebrity Poker Showdown Hope Summers, actress (The Andy Griffith Show) Inga Swenson (B.S. 1953), actress (The Miracle Worker, Benson) Robin Lord Taylor (B.S. 2000), actor (Gotham) Leigh Taylor-Young (attended, never graduated), Emmy Award-winning actress (Soylent Green, Picket Fences, I Love You, Alice B. Toklas) Lloyd Thaxton (B.A. 1950), television show host, Emmy Award-winning producer of Fight Back! With David Horowitz Robin Thede (B.A. 2002), BET Award-winning creator, writer, and actor of A Black Lady Sketch Show; former host of The Rundown with Robin Thede David Thompson (B.S.J.), playwright and writer (The Scottsboro Boys, Steel Pier) Chuti Tiu (B.A. 1991), Miss Illinois 1994; actress (Desire) Deborah Tranelli (B.S. 1977), actress (Dallas) Robert Trebor, actor (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Raise Your Voice) Tom Virtue (B.S. 1979), actor (Even Stevens, Read It and Weep) Billie Lou Watt (B.S. 1945), actress (Search for Tomorrow, Astro Boy) Michael Weston (B.S.), actor (The Last Kiss, Coyote Ugly, Six Feet Under) Kimberly Williams (B.S. 1993), actress (Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride Part II, According to Jim) Pharrell Williams (attended, never graduated), Grammy-winning musician/producer[6] Fred Williamson (B.S. 1960), actor (MASH, Three the Hard Way, Black Caesar, Starsky & Hutch); former professional defensive back who played in Super Bowl I Edward D. Wood, Jr., filmmaker Mary Zimmerman (B.S. 1982, M.A. 1985, Ph.D. 1994), Tony Award-winning director/writer (Metamorphoses); librettist (Galileo Galilei) |
Anonymous
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Native Chicagoan here. Spent quite a bit of time on both campuses.
I think if you go tour, as advised earlier in this thread, the differences will be truly stark and immediately obvious. U of C has a distinct culture that is pretty unique. It has a certain intellectual nerdiness that is amplified by core-curriculum approach. I would in a way compare it to the MIT and CalTech in that regard except it's full of liberal-arts geeks rather than STEM geeks. (Though U of C is also known for its math department, especially at the graduate level.) It's definitely an urban campus, surrounded by not-great neighborhoods (but good ethnic eats). Northwestern is going to feel like a smaller, academically more rigorous, more upper-middle-class version of a Midwestern state school. It's a big sprawling suburban-ish campus that's not too long of a train ride from the city. Evanston's downtown is pleasantly walkable and college-town-ish, but it does not feel at all urban. Also, the on-campus food service at Northwestern used to be terrible, but they revamped their dining service about a year ago -- theoretically should be a lot better now. |
Anonymous
Ha! NU grad here. This is spot-on. |
Anonymous
| Love Billy Eichner! |
Anonymous
We can all access Wikipedia you imbecile. |
Anonymous
| NP here. DH went to U of C and we have several friends who went to Northwestern, so we're familiar with both schools. The truth of the matter is that both schools have much more in common than most would care to admit. In our network we have friends who graduated from NU, U of C, Yale, Penn, Columbia, and a smattering of other schools, and the NU and U of C alums get along with each other better than most. You can perhaps chalk it up to something about the intellectual ambition mixed with Midwestern groundedness, but I suspect there is more overlap in campus culture than convention would suggest. Probably much more so nowadays, as U of C has become much more mainstream. |
Anonymous
I live in Chicago and this is totally false. Totally different schools, totally different reputations, totally different student bodies. |
Anonymous
| Are you a lifelong Chicagoan? |
Anonymous
harsh. i actually enjoyed scanning the list. |
Anonymous
| At undergrad level, both "feel" the same. Affluent dorky kids. Asian and Jewish majority. Biggest difference is Northwestern has D1 Big Ten sports. |
Anonymous
There's actually quite a fair amount of SES diversity at Northwestern. 1/5 of the student body is Pell Grant eligible. https://dailynorthwestern.com/2018/09/30/campus/with-new-freshman-class-northwestern-reaches-admissions-goal-of-20-percent-low-income-students/ |
Anonymous
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Related, and of interest.
Nick Jonas Dreamed of Playing Baseball at Northwestern University Seems like Northwestern has some peculiar cachet specifically with the Hollywood crowd. |
Anonymous
Most Chicagoans born and raised there can barely distinguish U of C from the University of Illinois-Chicago - unless you interact with the more affluent and learned, or out-of-town crowd. |
Anonymous
*Most notable recent graduate. The list of notable, high-profile undergrad alums as well as children of celebrities who attended Northwestern undergrad trumps U of C by a long shot. |
Anonymous
As a Chicagoan born and raised, I can tell you that this is tragically true. On the other hand, most of the country also can't distinguish the University of Pennsylvania from Penn State, either. |