How to Write the Northwestern University Essays

The Northwestern University supplement asks you to showcase who you are to admissions officers and share how your background will shape the kind of community member you will be at Northwestern. In order to tackle this prompt, it is helpful to break this question down into two parts. First, reflect on your experiences and values to answer the question:

What aspects of your background, identity, school, community, and/or household settings have most shaped you?

Begin with a vivid and specific anecdote that encapsulates a key aspect of your background. This could be a defining moment, such as a significant challenge you overcame, a cultural tradition that has deeply influenced you, or a community initiative you led or participated in. Explain how this experience has shaped your identity and influenced your worldview. Be sure to connect this personal story to your broader engagement with your environment, demonstrating how it has prepared you to contribute to Northwestern’s community. Highlight qualities like resilience, empathy, leadership, or a commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Then, reflect on what you want to study and why Northwestern is a good fit for you. As you answer, try to identify any connections between your values and your intended major. That will be your answer for the second question:

How will that impact what you do at Northwestern (academically, extracurricularly, culturally, politically, socially, etc.).

Be specific about how you see yourself contributing to and benefiting from Northwestern’s academic, extracurricular, and social environments. Mention particular programs, clubs, or initiatives at Northwestern that align with your interests and values. For instance, if you’ve been involved in community service, discuss how you plan to continue this at Northwestern through specific service organizations or projects. If your background has given you a unique perspective on cultural or political issues, explain how you will bring this perspective to discussions and activities on campus. Bear in mind that it is more impactful to cite programs, professors, research opportunities, and other unique opportunities you can find only at Northwestern, rather than generic clubs or courses offered at many universities.

Conclude by reinforcing how your background and experiences uniquely position you to enrich the Northwestern community, emphasizing your readiness to contribute meaningfully and grow alongside your peers in this dynamic and diverse environment.

“Trust me. Things just don’t make sense here…”

The wisdom and experience of my fellow HOPE Florida volunteers made it clear that there was nothing we could do to get Wanda enrolled in SNAP benefits since she didn’t have a permanent address. She was homeless—of course she didn’t have an address! There has to be a workaround. SNAP is designed to support low-income individuals to get access to nutrition.

Addressing and supporting the houseless community has been my passion since middle school. In my community, intersections are full of individuals asking for food. What began as storing and distributing snack kits from my parents’ glove compartment has turned into weekly volunteering and now, hopefully, systemic change.

Studying Learning and Organizational Change (LOC) at the School of Education and Social Policy will empower me to analyze diverse organizations, creating a personal framework for effective work in the public realm. The curriculum’s unique combination of learning sciences paired with business management and leadership development will allow me to better handle inevitable change and challenges.

As a teenager who has witnessed disparities within my own community, I’m committed to devoting my academic and extracurricular pursuits towards meaningful change. Education enables action, and Northwestern’s commitment to student experience resonates with me. Through my Junior Year Practicum, I will have the opportunity to gain first-hand professional experience and make an impact while still an undergraduate student receiving feedback from my professors.

Through the Community Engagement Certificate, I will take courses such as “Social Policymaking and Implementation,” where I will analyze the complexities of public policy and present a policy brief proposing alternative eligibility for federal benefits.

I am dedicated to serving marginalized communities, and I am certain that Northwestern’s dynamic curriculum, resources, and opportunities will allow me to realize my dream of making an impact.

In order to effectively answer this prompt, students should Google “The Rock” to have a visual as they write. Given the public nature of painting The Rock, this prompt is your opportunity to share a message, value, or cause that you believe others should be aware of. Aim to showcase something unique about yourself or your interests that might not be elsewhere on your application so far, and don’t be afraid to get creative!

Be sure to answer both parts of the question, first describing what you would write on The Rock and then offering a compelling reason as to why you would write it. Explain why this message or image is important to you personally. Share any relevant experiences, such as involvement in related activities or personal encounters that have shaped your perspective, and connect this to how you hope it will resonate with the Northwestern community. Discuss the broader impact you aim to achieve, whether it’s raising awareness, fostering a sense of unity, or inspiring action.

“FEED THE FUTURE: food drive! 10/15/24, 2 pm, Hinman Hall.”

Surrounded by drawings of fruits and vegetables, this announcement would advertise a partnership between Northwestern’s Purple Pantry and a local food pantry in a nearby Chicago neighborhood.

Throughout high school, I participated in local activism and volunteer work fighting food insecurity and bringing fresh produce to food deserts in my region. Food insecurity affects those from all walks of life, including students on college campuses across the country.

I hope to continue my work in nutrition activism within the Northwestern community as a future member of the Purple Pantry. I would love to work not only to ensure that those in the Northwestern community have access to the proper quantities of nutritious food, but also to spread awareness about pervasive food insecurity. By connecting with others who share my passion, I hope to be a part of a larger network of student activists who will fight for equity on campus and in their hometowns.

This question allows you to creatively present your academic interests while demonstrating your grasp of Northwestern’s interdisciplinary curriculum. While your response should reflect your distinct academic interests and research questions, note that the prompt is about collaboration, so it is essential that you reflect on how you might explore your interests in an innovative and community-oriented way.

First, brainstorm a creative title for your course, project, or creative effort that will catch your reader’s eye instantly. Next, identify ideal classmates and collaborators who bring diverse perspectives and expertise to the table. Consider students from different majors, highlighting how these varied backgrounds will enrich the project and foster a dynamic exchange of ideas. You should also showcase your knowledge of Northwestern by mentioning specific faculty members whose research aligns with your project and could provide mentorship, as well as any unique resources at Northwestern, like research centers or labs, that would support your endeavor.

EDU 305: Educational Technology and Social Change

The last few decades have seen great strides in educational technologies and their applications in fields such as the digital humanities. I would ideally develop a class that taught the ways in which these technologies can be used outside the classroom—whether in the workplace, nonprofit organizations and foundations, or the public square—to increase equitable access to information. I believe that democratizing knowledge and providing diverse thinkers with unique tools to process and better understand information will be a catalyst for social change. I would love to collaborate with Jennie Magiera, whose TED Talk on educational technology and equity inspired my interest in the topic, and I would hope to fill the class with students who share my passion for forward-thinking solutions toward a more inclusive future.

With this prompt, admissions officers are seeking to envision you as a member of the Northwestern campus community. Where might they find you spending your time? This prompt is very similar to the first prompt, so be sure not to repeat yourself or mention the same communities. This is a great opportunity to write about research opportunities, clubs, study abroad programs, or other opportunities that are of interest to you. While you don’t want to repeat your response in the first essay, be sure to choose opportunities that fall in line with the hook you present in the rest of your application!

The sounds of the rhythmic banging on trash cans thunder behind me. I move my body in accordance to the choreography we spent weeks perfecting, perfectly in sync with the dancers to my left and to my right.

This is how I envision spending my free time as a Northwestern student: exploring the sounds of classical, hip-hop, and contemporary music along with my peers. Boomshaka appeals to me primarily because it embraces its members’ strengths to experiment with new mediums of expression.

This is a philosophy I hope to bring beyond the dance studio as a member of the Northwestern community, whether as a member of Girl Up at Northwestern, where I hope to find a community of like-minded women who want to further women’s rights initiatives, or MiniChefz, where I can dedicate myself to educating Chicago’s youth about the importance of nutrition and making healthy choices. Though my work advocating for the houseless community allows me to feel comfortable in advocacy roles, I look forward to using my strengths to explore new opportunities in the future, as well as connecting with like-minded individuals who similarly want to enact change in their communities.

You should never use a school’s location as the primary reason for your desire to attend when answering a “why this school?” type prompt. However, this prompt provides you a specific opportunity to tell the admissions committee why you’re interested in completing your undergraduate studies in Chicago. The best way to answer this question is to research opportunities Northwestern uniquely offers because of their geography: perhaps a club or organization is involved in a specific Chicago neighborhood, or offers an internship or partnership opportunity in collaboration with a Chicago-based business. Be sure that you are not only highlighting the opportunities that Chicago has to offer, but also how Northwestern connects students to the broader community as well.

X marks the spot.

A large red X, intricately painted as part of a geometric mini-mural on the lakefill rocks, indicated to me that I had found my spot. It was as though with the most literal metaphor the spot was asking me to claim it as my own. Overlooking Lake Michigan, the colorfully painted rock provided a peaceful refuge on campus. During my campus visit to Northwestern, the spot afforded me the time to soak in all of the many joys and anxieties of the college application process, and I could envision myself as a student at Northwestern returning there to ruminate on future milestones. I imagined coming there to read and study on chilly fall days, to get away from the stress of exams and the rigor of classes, or to play spikeball with classmates on an unusually warm spring day.

Though you have likely written about one of your primary identities in the Common App personal statement, this is a great place to write about an aspect of your background or identity that you have not yet addressed elsewhere in your application. You can choose to write about an aspect of your sexuality, religion, or race or ethnicity that informs your viewpoint as a student. Pay attention to the latter half of the prompt—as you discuss this facet of your identity, be sure to explicitly address how it will contribute to the diverse tapestry of Northwestern’s campus community.

“I’d like to discuss what would happen if we were to propose amendments to the fundamental laws by which they run their society.”

Last spring, my English teacher asked our class to split into groups and write creative pieces about Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” Some of my group members proposed stories about the experience of the single child upon whose misery the utopia relies. Others wanted to write about the fictional characters’ lives in the city, and another proposed writing about a young teenager who chose to walk away.

I, on the other hand, drew on Jewish tradition, and proposed a story about changing Omelas’ laws. Growing up in a Jewish household has taught me to question everything I am taught to believe, and as a result, I often take a macro-level approach to problem solving. My group ended up writing the story of a political revolution, ending in a change in Omelas’ functioning. The collective society would share the emotional load; each experiencing misery for one day. As I continue my educational journey, I hope to carry that skepticism and curiosity that has propelled my learning into this new season of discovery.