The BESTBESTBEST group on campus is NUMB! Also known as the Northwestern University Marching 'Wildcat' Band, also known as the finest band in the land! Members of the band move in a week earlier than everyone else (one week earlier than freshmen, two weeks earlier than upperclassmen) and participate in a week long, intensive, sun-up-to-sun-down band camp during which we learn all the awesome things we do before, during and after each home football game. (For evidence of awesome, go to youtube and search for "northwesternbands".) You will find NO ONE who bleeds more purple than we do. No one. We are an essential part of the "pageantry" (as Coach Fitz puts it) of college football, and we keep the fans going when things aren't looking so great. Sometimes the football players even go out of their way to come to our rehearsals, just to hang out with us.
The reason NUMB is so fantastic is because we are a family. We rehearse as many as fifteen hours per week sometimes. NUMB, while it is a huge time commitment, is all pride, all fun, all the time. All my best friends are there, which is a huge advantage to a freshman in a strange city at a strange school as the only alumnus of my high school currently attending Northwestern. I was scared and insecure and NUMB made me feel so completely at home. There are also no auditions, so no matter your skill level, I'd highly encourage you to join if you're interested in marching band.
If you are not musically inclined, that's okay. The band loves fans, and there are lots of other cool student groups including Greek life, Happiness Club, our LGBT group (which is effective, yet not too angry, which I appreciate), cultural clubs, Outdoor Club, BLAST (ballroom dancing) and pretty much everything else you could fathom. And if something you want isn't here, you can make your own club and probably get some sort of student government funding for it.
We have an INTENSE a capella scene here. Hundreds of students audition for a spot in one of thirteen groups each year (or start their own after being rejected). My favorites are Purple Haze and the Undertones, but they're all good and put on shows throughout the year in dining halls, auditoriums, in the middle of campus, in your dorm, etc. They're all over the place.
We do have a significant party scene. Last I heard, about 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of Northwestern students are affiliated with a fraternity or sorority. I wouldn't by any means call us a party school, but there is a definite social scene. However, if you do not want to rush, it's no big deal. There is no social divide (at all) between Greeks and non-Greeks. Students who don't party (like me) take advantage of the movie theater or the coffee shops (I think Evanston has approximately 325970673467 of them) and talk or go see speakers or make crafts or hop on the El and have a Chicago adventure or participate in the right of passage known as painting The Rock.
Painting The Rock is a tradition as old as the dirt under the rock. It's a large boulder right in the busiest part of campus. The rule is that you have to guard the rock for twenty-four hours, and then you and your friends get to paint it however you want. Student groups often use it as an advertising tool, so it's a good way to keep up with events around campus.
As I said earlier, students gain entry to all athletic events for free, so those are generally well-attended, especially the football games. Our women's lacrosse team has also been gaining popularity after winning something like 6 consecutive national championships.
Other traditions include Dance Marathon, which raised over one million dollars for charity last year, and Dillo Day, an enormous spring music festival started by Texan students that brings big-name musical acts to campus for a weekend of fun and music out by the lake.