59 Northwestern University Essay Samples

Prompt: In 300 words or less, help us understand how you might engage specific resources, opportunities, and/or communities here. We are curious about what these specifics are, as well as how they may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond.

Who, what, when, where, why, and how? These elementary-level questions drive my childlike obsession with foreign affairs. At the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences, I’ll incessantly seek the answers to the complex questions in global policy. Through the International Studies and Political Science programs, I’ll be able to take courses that will prepare me for the fluidity and comprehension needed to tackle global challenges.

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Assistant Professor Daniel Immerwahr captivated me with his didactic storytelling on the dynamics of U.S. foreign policy and expansion up until the present. Immerwahr’s tellings of manifest destiny, the seizing of the guano islands, and the forming of a ‘pointillist empire’ have remained persistently in my mind, and I can only imagine what I could learn face-to-face over 4 years instead of 400 pages. I hope to not only gain knowledge of foreign relations but also critical communication skills. Through intriguing seminars like Capitalism and Its Opponents and History, I’ll not only learn from my professors but also mutually with my fellow Northwesterners. As an International Studies and Political Science major at Northwestern, I’ll incessantly seek the answers to the complex questions in global policy.

Through Alianza, I’ll be able to ensure the diverse Latin American students at Northwestern are rightfully represented. Coming from a high school where I have had to organize events to ensure our Hispanic population is represented, I value Northwestern’s commitment to giving avenues to express diversity and multiculturalism. Knowing the resources available to me on campus, I’m ready to march through the arch.