847-467-4975

This is Northwestern University calling alumni to ask them for money. If you are not an NU alum the call is a mistake. If you are an NU Alum, there's better things to do with your money than give it to a school that charges 50,000 dollars for tuition.

agreed. if they did a better job of helping me find a job, even then id maybe consider it. but seeing as how i have a meager income that goes to loans as it is...ill pass on the donation.

If I give them $10 will they go away?

Tell them you read this http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-09-18 ... de-alan-cubbage 

and it's become clear to you that slight possibility that the ranking would go up 1 or 2 slots isn't enough to convince you that you should throw more money at the school :)

and no, they won't go away. Your number will be recycled on the alumni list annually.

My god its nice to see that other people are as pissed off by this as I am. Thank you!

When you pick up, just say "Please take me off the list." I work at this office. We will remove you from our pools permanently if you say this, but you have to use the word "list". It's a legality thing. Don't just ignore the calls. We don't want to waste our time or yours, nor do we want to bother you.

Yeah. What all of the above said. I didn't pick up tonight, as it's dinnertime, but given the opportunity, I have a standard response. "I don't give money to universities with professional sports teams and coaches who pull down multi-million-dollar salaries. I donate to the University of Chicago, MIT, and Caltech."

I don't know what the musclehead who "coaches" those academically brilliant student-athletes gets these days, but a bit over 2 years ago it was $2.2 million.
http://btn.com/2013/11/07/usa-today-ranks-football-coach-salaries/
and
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/20 ... y-2011/2763163/

I got through NU with a few smaller academic scholarships, but mostly my old man worked two jobs. We never borrowed a penny, never asked the university for financial aid, and I worked what I could, when I could to pay expenses. Our family couldn't afford the social-butterfly lifestyle of on-campus living so I commuted from the NW side of Chicago. Fortunately I got a fellowship for grad school. In my own way, I paid my dad back.

Since those days, it appears that "higher education" has become a bit of a scam. With lots of temporarily "free" money floating around in the form of "student loans," the institutions have cranked up their tuition way faster than the rate of inflation. It wouldn't be so bad if those loans were used to get an education in something useful, but so often, I see people majoring in "Xxx Studies." Anything with "Studies" in the name is a worthless degree.

(My BS and MS from NU are in mechanical engineering).

Thank you for letting me vent...

They keep calling and begging for money. I just keep telling them that, number 1, they got enough of my money when I was going there for tuition and number 2, I keep seeing news stories that rich people send them million dollar donations all the time, which means they don't need anything else from me!

Still happens. Same number`

It’s Northwestern Alumni association calling begging for money. Just tell them you paid enough already for tuition and they should use some of that $14.3 billion endowment they have if they need money so badly!