Lusi

Northwestern isn't too far from the chicago city. The commute is decent I think. Congrats on getting accepted.

Aisha Dubaiwali

Thank you.

Dania

r u coming to chicago?

Aisha Dubaiwali

Yes in the near future!

X2

yeah but if someone is at northwestern, they should really stay on campus to take advantage of teh campus life, which btw is a very vibrant student life. getting downtown is not too difficult, depends on whether you are taking metra or el, 30 mins I would say.

Bint_e_Naeem

Area around Northwestern is not considered that safe since some time. There have been incidents of female students being sexually aasaulted & robbed at night time.

Congrats Aisha. Northwestern is considered THE best in Chicago. Its not that far from downtown, is also near the lake & on top of that Devon is not that far from there either. Although you might wanna stay away from Devon. There are many options in terms of halal food.

Since you might be living in a dorm I am assuming. Be really careful about choosing your place. Good luck.

Aisha Dubaiwali

What do you mean, careful in choosing a place. Is there more than one female dormitory on campus?!

X2

there are a number of shady areas in evanston, campus is still safe and the precautions in the larger evanston area are the same anyone would have anywhere.

Aisha, stay in the dorms, dont go out late at night alone or wander too far from campus, ask other students, and during orientation what is safe what is not.

and really no harm in being on devon..seriously, except for random chichoras off and on..

Aisha Dubaiwali

Chichoras are here as well. Anyways I will not be going to Devon alone. I will take someone with me. Oh so there is a post graduate orientation as well, thank god.

Bint_e_Naeem

I am not too sure about more than one female dorm on campus. Have no knowledge on that. By careful in choosing a place I mean if you have classes at night time & you plan to walk back to the dorm or your apartment whatever. There have been times when a student was walking alone back home & as soon as she opened the building door. Someone grabbed her from the back. Covered her face & took her to her apartment. Assaulted her & robbed her. 5,6 incidents in the past 2-3 years to be exact. Just make sure whatever place you choose the entrance is well lit up at night time too.

Oh & I don't mean to scare you. The area around Northwestern is considered one of the best around Chicago in terms of safe neighbourhoods but not even 3 miles far there are these 5,6 bad blocks where you can see homeless people walking & all. All incidents had something to do with homeless people. Just giving you a heads up on that.

Aisha Dubaiwali

Oh ok well I hope I do not get any night time classes. Will make sure I walk back with someone and not alone.

X2

Aisha

note all your questions, ask them at the international office, student services whatever. There is an active PSA there, you should connect with them before coming over they can be a good resource.

when you are new here and you need help getting stuff to help you get set up, let me know, begum and I can help you

yeah trips to devon should be a group affair, and really there is only two things I will tell you on this that you should apply everywhere.

1) anywhere, where you are new, no matter how safe it seems, be extra vigilant
2) once you become familiar with the place, do not become overconfident and less watchful/careful

when are you getting in town, and do you have family here?
if you need me to help get you settled in, dont hesitate to ask.

Bint_e_Naeem

Oh I am not saying don't go to Devon alone. You can def. do that. Heck I myself have gone to Devon alone many times.

Its not just the chichora guys X2 I mean the desi salons & all too. Also I don't know if you have noticed or not but a lot of "kallas" (not trying to be racist there) have been moving to Devon as well.

Being a new person in the city there is a lot you have to consider. Also PSA idea is the best.

Lusi

lol... yeah we should be carefull about everyone. Anyway, ps. kallas are not all that scary as ppl think. I have tutored low income African American kids at their homes in the eveining and they basically are people like us. Yes, we should be careful with everyone when all sorts of preditors are freely walking on the streets but we should try not to make generalizations. It is the same thing as gora ppl being scared/paranoid by Muslims because muslims might be suicide bombers.



Rest, ditto to whatever X2 said.

Bint_e_Naeem

Lusi when I say "Kallas" I mean the homeless kind. They are the kind who don't have anything to loose so they can be really dangerous if come across. I have worked in the South Subarbs of Chicago for 6 years. Have dealth with all sorts of Kallas. The educated professional ones, the wangsters, the gangsters, the survivors (ones transitioning from being bad to good), these homeless kinds, basket ball players (talking about big shots here), hip hop & R&B singers. Most of the time I can Alhumdulillah look at them & tell if I can turn my back on one or not. I am not generalizing here. Merely stating the facts if you live in Chicago. Also since I was warning Aisha about the safety precautions needed to be taken around Northwestern. In all those incidents Kallas were the culprits. I am not saying Kallas are bad. I find them to be like our Pathans, i.e "Jazbati" people. Good friends but bad enemies. But sometimes it is what it is.

phoenixdesi

Sorry aisha..I did not follow with up with you after asking you about your academic record… I have been extremely busy at work for last few weeks and haven’t had time to respond to my personal stuff in a timely manner…you have already received a great input from several people…so there is no need for me to add anymore...NW is of course one of the best institutions in the country (ranked among top 15 consistently)….enjoy your time in NW (and in Chicago)!

Aisha Dubaiwali

thank you.

Zulfi1

I didnt know either but the highest rank university in Chicago is University of Chicago (Rank 8).
Source: National Universities Rankings - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report

Impressive: Highest # (83) of affiliated Nobel Prize laureates- Nobel Laureates | The University of Chicago

*Home of Barack Obama and his family.

Aisha Dubaiwali

Well arghh UoC not going to go there, its NW for me for Masters!

mustanamalik

Aisha Dubaiwali, have you heard of Wharton school of business at University of Pennsylvania. I think you can get admission there based on your academic record. This school produces top executives.

After Wharton, I would prefer University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles or Stanford University for other studies.