This is a college essay submitted by a student who graduated from Northwestern University. Hopefully from reading this essay, you will be able to gain a better idea of what Northwestern University is looking for when answering the question, “Why Northwestern”. As you read this Why Northwestern college essay example, think about what you know about the school that really makes it resonate with you.
Prompt: What are the unique qualities of Northwestern — and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying — that make you want to attend the University? In what ways do you hope to take advantage of the qualities you have identified?
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply!” As potent as knowledge is, it is useless by itself. Only when we use the power that knowledge grants us can we surpass our own limits and achieve the extraordinary. For as long as I can remember, I have always been a doer. When I was four years old, I constructed a bridge made of pillows (and actually tried to cross it). Even though I was pretty bruised up after that incident, I never gave up that desire to apply what I knew. By the time I was thirteen, I had built my own computer with no instructions at all. Today, I am programming a momentum indicator for stocks. I believe innovation is the pinnacle of human imagination, and for that reason, I want to major in Computer Engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering.
