International Industrial Organization Conference Wieboldt Hall ...

Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private institution founded in 1851 to serve the Northwest
Territory, an area that now includes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. In 1853 the founders purchased a 379-acre tract of
land on the shore of Lake Michigan 12 miles north of Chicago. They established a
campus and developed the land near it, naming the surrounding town Evanston in honor
of one of the University’s founders, John Evans. After completing its first building in
1855, Northwestern began classes that fall with two faculty members and 10 students.
Today Northwestern is a major private research university located on lakefront campuses
in Evanston and Chicago. Approximately 2,300 full-time faculty teach 13,500 full-time
students, 7,700 of whom are undergraduates.
A freshman class numbering more than 1,900 is selected from nearly 15,000 candidates.
Sixty percent enroll with financial aid. Women constitute approximately half the
undergraduate population; more than a fourth of the undergraduates are minority
students.
Students come to Northwestern from all 50 states. Forty-four percent of this year's
entering class is from the Midwest, 21 percent from the East, 18 percent from the West, 9
percent from the South, and 7 percent from foreign countries.
The median secondary school ranking of the students in the current freshman class is in
the 96th percentile. Moreover, the median combined score of the Scholastic Aptitude Test
for the class as a whole is approximately 1400. More than 40 percent of the freshman
class was recognized by the National Merit Corporation for distinguished academic
achievement.
The Northwestern student body ranks among the top 15 schools nationally in the number
of National Merit and National Achievement scholars. About one-third of the freshman
class received some form of advanced placement upon entrance.
Although its primary function is academic, the University also provides a special kind of
community within the cities of Evanston and Chicago. Cultural, social, and athletic
events are available on campus. Extensive nonacademic programming is offered through
Norris University Center, the residential colleges, and various residential groups. The fine
and performing arts complex further enriches the Northwestern environment.
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