 Following his mother 's successful career as a divorce lawyer , the family moved to Beverly Hills , where Schwimmer attended Beverly Hills High School . Schwimmer admitted to being an outsider during his time at the school , recalling , " When I was there I always felt : ' This is not me , I 'm surrounded by people with a different value system . And I just wanted to get out of California . ' " He was best at the subjects of science and math and thought he would become a doctor . Schwimmer enrolled in a drama class , where he appeared in stage productions . Encouraged by his school drama teacher to further his acting , he flew to Chicago for an acting workshop . He noted that the experience was both " enlightening and exhilarating " . In 1984 , Schwimmer graduated from Beverly Hills High and wanted to go straight into acting , but his parents insisted he go to college first so he would have something to fall back on . Schwimmer moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University , where he had attended a summer drama course when he was 16 years old . At the university , he studied theater was in an improv group with Stephen Colbert , the No @-@ Fun Mud Piranhas . After graduating in 1988 , with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater and speech , Schwimmer co @-@ founded the Lookingglass Theatre Company . Subsequently , he returned to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career . 
