Anonymous wrote:So we all (almost all) agree:

No one attending Northwestern lives in the downtown business district of Chicago. Business districts are no more fun at night than 15th street near the white house.

Many grad students live in some of the largely residential neighborhoods on the north side.

Undergrads almost exclusively stay in Evanston.

Are you guys being hyper-literal with downtown? Streeterville & River North are "downtown". If you're being literal I guess only the loop is downtown.

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Chicago is a great city with a fun, laid back vibe. The lake is a great asset.

Violent crime is fun and laid back, yes.

A college student at Northwestern is very unlikely to be spending time in the Chicago neighborhoods where violent crime is an issue, unless he or she grew up (or has relatives living) there.

Many Northwestern kids move to downtown Chicago their junior and senior year and commute to Evanston on days they have class.

This just isn't true. Downtown Chicago is actually really boring after 7PM. Certainly not a place college kids would want to live.

I grew in the Chicago area and I have a lot of friends who went to Northwestern. Maybe things have changed, but undergrads used to stay in Evanston even if they moved off campus (although a few may live in Northside neighborhoods). Most grad students I know chose to live in various Northside neighborhoods since there is more to do and often the rent is cheaper. Andersonville, Edgewater, Rodgers Park, and Ravenswood are popular. None of these neighborhoods are much of a commute to Evanston either. No one lives downtown.

I went to Northwestern and lived in Lincoln Park my senior year.

So we all (almost all) agree:

No one attending Northwestern lives in the downtown business district of Chicago. Business districts are no more fun at night than 15th street near the white house.

Many grad students live in some of the largely residential neighborhoods on the north side.

Undergrads almost exclusively stay in Evanston.

I got into both schools and found NU's STEM offerings lackluster. Their research facilities and departments are great, but generally not coupled with access for undergraduates. Brown doesn't have as strong of a graduate focus, but their undergraduate emphasis on the liberal arts (which include the sciences) is among the best of the Ivies. I found myself liking Brown's immediate surroundings better; Providence is lively and full of culture, and you can get to Boston with a train. Evanston is alright but nothing great, and it takes around 20 minutes to get into Chicago. NU's campus impressed me more, however.

I would strongly recommend Brown; it is also one of the top feeders for STEM PhDs (ranked 21st in the nation including LACs; NU is 73rd)

Anonymous wrote:+1. Northwestern graduate here and I knew no one who lived downtown as an undergrad. 2 years on campus, 3rd year in the sorority house, 4th year in an Evanston apartment. Downtown Chicago was boring at night.

There are plenty of neighborhoods in Chicago that are not boring at night. Chicago is awesome.

+1 attended undergrad And grad at NU. Almost no one lives downtown. Some undergrads live in downtown Evanston, closer to Dempster than campus. Grad students may live elsewhere if they have a spouse.

I can't believe posters are concerned about the safety of Evanston. It is more like Bethesda or Arlington than not. Providence is a small old city. It has everything a college kid needs. It is not Chicago.

+1. Northwestern graduate here and I knew no one who lived downtown as an undergrad. 2 years on campus, 3rd year in the sorority house, 4th year in an Evanston apartment. Downtown Chicago was boring at night.

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Anonymous wrote:If enough Northwestern upperclassmen are moving off campus to downtown Chicago then that's a strike against the school for me. There's something unique about a tightly knit campus environment where most people live on campus or just off campus in areas that are by default extensions of the campus. It's a great vibe. I'm sure downtown Chicago has lively areas that are fun but why rush there when still in college when you have your entire adulthood ahead of you?

Providence is a lovely, small city and Brown is in a gorgeous historic part of Providence. While it's no Chicago there's easy access to both Boston and NYC for weekends and Rhode Island has waterfront areas too. Brown's outing club takes students up to the mountains in New Hampshire for camping, so the access to both urban and natural activities is great.

One really can't go wrong with either school. I've known plenty of graduates of both and going by them the schools are more similar than dissimilar. Go with gut instinct. But I will offer this advice: don't focus too much on amenities off campus or outside the campus neighborhood. The vast, vast majority of undergrads at the top colleges spend almost all their time on campus and with campus activities and clubs and if they live off campus, it's going to be right off campus. Agonizing how often you might go to the museum or bars or even camping is a moot point for most (some students certainly prioritize being in urban areas or right by camping/skiing/beaches but neither Brown or Northwestern fall in those categories as, say, Columbia and Dartmouth do).

Good thing it's not true in the slightest. I spent 4 years at NU for undergrad and 2 for grad school and never knew a single undergrad to live in downtown Chicago. Why would they want to? Downtown Chicago is not a particularly lively place for college students/young adults as a PP said and for those who have internships/jobs/whatever downtown - it's a very easy ride on the EL or Metra. The majority of undergrads at NU live on campus and those who don't almost always live in Evanston, right by NU.

I wish posters wouldn't spread such blatantly false information.

Totally agree.......are they just stupid or do they have an agenda?

Anonymous wrote:If enough Northwestern upperclassmen are moving off campus to downtown Chicago then that's a strike against the school for me. There's something unique about a tightly knit campus environment where most people live on campus or just off campus in areas that are by default extensions of the campus. It's a great vibe. I'm sure downtown Chicago has lively areas that are fun but why rush there when still in college when you have your entire adulthood ahead of you?

Providence is a lovely, small city and Brown is in a gorgeous historic part of Providence. While it's no Chicago there's easy access to both Boston and NYC for weekends and Rhode Island has waterfront areas too. Brown's outing club takes students up to the mountains in New Hampshire for camping, so the access to both urban and natural activities is great.

One really can't go wrong with either school. I've known plenty of graduates of both and going by them the schools are more similar than dissimilar. Go with gut instinct. But I will offer this advice: don't focus too much on amenities off campus or outside the campus neighborhood. The vast, vast majority of undergrads at the top colleges spend almost all their time on campus and with campus activities and clubs and if they live off campus, it's going to be right off campus. Agonizing how often you might go to the museum or bars or even camping is a moot point for most (some students certainly prioritize being in urban areas or right by camping/skiing/beaches but neither Brown or Northwestern fall in those categories as, say, Columbia and Dartmouth do).

Good thing it's not true in the slightest. I spent 4 years at NU for undergrad and 2 for grad school and never knew a single undergrad to live in downtown Chicago. Why would they want to? Downtown Chicago is not a particularly lively place for college students/young adults as a PP said and for those who have internships/jobs/whatever downtown - it's a very easy ride on the EL or Metra. The majority of undergrads at NU live on campus and those who don't almost always live in Evanston, right by NU.

I wish posters wouldn't spread such blatantly false information.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chicago is a great city with a fun, laid back vibe. The lake is a great asset.

Violent crime is fun and laid back, yes.

A college student at Northwestern is very unlikely to be spending time in the Chicago neighborhoods where violent crime is an issue, unless he or she grew up (or has relatives living) there.

Many Northwestern kids move to downtown Chicago their junior and senior year and commute to Evanston on days they have class.

No NU kids move downtown......why are you spreading falsehoods?

70% of Northwestern's undergrads live on campus. All Freshmen and Sophomores are required to. Most of the off campus listings are for rentals in Evanston. https://www.places4students.com/Places/Roommate.aspx?SchoolID=NVsZANgxV9E%3d

If enough Northwestern upperclassmen are moving off campus to downtown Chicago then that's a strike against the school for me. There's something unique about a tightly knit campus environment where most people live on campus or just off campus in areas that are by default extensions of the campus. It's a great vibe. I'm sure downtown Chicago has lively areas that are fun but why rush there when still in college when you have your entire adulthood ahead of you?

Providence is a lovely, small city and Brown is in a gorgeous historic part of Providence. While it's no Chicago there's easy access to both Boston and NYC for weekends and Rhode Island has waterfront areas too. Brown's outing club takes students up to the mountains in New Hampshire for camping, so the access to both urban and natural activities is great.

One really can't go wrong with either school. I've known plenty of graduates of both and going by them the schools are more similar than dissimilar. Go with gut instinct. But I will offer this advice: don't focus too much on amenities off campus or outside the campus neighborhood. The vast, vast majority of undergrads at the top colleges spend almost all their time on campus and with campus activities and clubs and if they live off campus, it's going to be right off campus. Agonizing how often you might go to the museum or bars or even camping is a moot point for most (some students certainly prioritize being in urban areas or right by camping/skiing/beaches but neither Brown or Northwestern fall in those categories as, say, Columbia and Dartmouth do).

^^Obviously people live downtown. I meant not many Northwestern students live downtown.

I would also say Evanston is a very safe suburban town. Most of the violent neighborhoods are on the South Side and West Side. The cool hipster/bar/whatever neighborhoods are on the Northside. It's kind of incredible the degree to which the neighborhoods that are the most violent are entirely avoidable if you are a yuppie/college kid at Northwestern/upper middle class person in the Northern suburbs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chicago is a great city with a fun, laid back vibe. The lake is a great asset.

Violent crime is fun and laid back, yes.

A college student at Northwestern is very unlikely to be spending time in the Chicago neighborhoods where violent crime is an issue, unless he or she grew up (or has relatives living) there.

Many Northwestern kids move to downtown Chicago their junior and senior year and commute to Evanston on days they have class.

This just isn't true. Downtown Chicago is actually really boring after 7PM. Certainly not a place college kids would want to live.

I grew in the Chicago area and I have a lot of friends who went to Northwestern. Maybe things have changed, but undergrads used to stay in Evanston even if they moved off campus (although a few may live in Northside neighborhoods). Most grad students I know chose to live in various Northside neighborhoods since there is more to do and often the rent is cheaper. Andersonville, Edgewater, Rodgers Park, and Ravenswood are popular. None of these neighborhoods are much of a commute to Evanston either. No one lives downtown.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chicago is a great city with a fun, laid back vibe. The lake is a great asset.

Violent crime is fun and laid back, yes.

A college student at Northwestern is very unlikely to be spending time in the Chicago neighborhoods where violent crime is an issue, unless he or she grew up (or has relatives living) there.

Many Northwestern kids move to downtown Chicago their junior and senior year and commute to Evanston on days they have class.

This just isn't true. Downtown Chicago is actually really boring after 7PM. Certainly not a place college kids would want to live.