Apply to Medill, SESP, or Weinberg?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
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<p>Northwestern is one of my top 3 schools, and as I'm finishing up my RD application, I have to decide which school I want to apply to, either Medill, SESP, or Weinberg. I have some varied interests (Journalism, Secondary Education, and Political Science) that make this decision difficult.</p>

<p>With this being said, I have several questions:</p>

<p>1) Is it possible to get an undergrad degree from both Medill and SESP, e.g. BSJ from Medill and a BSEd from SESP? Or what about a BSJ from Medill, BA in History or Political Science, and teacher certification? (Obviously, this may not be easy, but is this doable/allowed?)</p>

<p>2) Out of the three schools, which school would be the most flexible in switching to a different school (in other words, is it easier to switch from Medill to SESP, Weinberg to SESP, SESP to Medill, etc.)?</p>

<p>3) Which school seems to be the best fit for me? (I have varied interests which maybe would fit Weinberg better; however, I really like Medill, and SESP also seems like a cool program.)</p>

<ol>
<li>Which school would I have the best chance at getting in to? (My scores are on the low end (800M, 720W, 580CR). I have a 3.96/4.0 UW GPA with the most rigorous course load my school offers.)</li>
</ol>

<p>The parts of my application that benefit each school in my opinion are:</p>

<p>Medill- wrote Common App essay about my attendance at a journalism camp (one of the best experiences of my life), I wrote for my local paper in middle school, I currently write for different news websites, and I was included in an Associated Press video</p>

<p>SESP- I have an Independent Study in which I teach and plan lessons for a 3rd grade class; I am currently implementing a new supplemental curriculum for the class</p>

<p>Weinberg- my eclectic interests (journalism, education, political activism)</p>

<p>Any thoughts, information, or advice? Thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>The perfect program for you is Medill, I don’t understand why you would consider any other school for RD! You are very qualified, and seem to be a very interesting person as well.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the reply! Anyone have thoughts on my questions? I don’t fully understand how double majoring in programs from two different schools works. The Northwestern website stated that in some cases you could complete two majors; however, you’d only be awarded one degree at graduation. Is this true? Does anyone have any personal experience doing this? Thanks in advance.</p>

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<p>you can take classes from any college you want, but you can only have one degree from one undergraduate college, unless you’re doing 5 year music + something else program. so no dual degree. work on getting your SAT reading score up because NU only looks at Reading and Math from SAT. id say SESP is the least competitive because although its the smallest, no one applies to that school. Medill and Weinberg are both very competitive and hard to get into. but its very easy to transfer into another school at NU, so if you decide to go to weinberg, but switch to medill, you can, and vice versa</p>

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<p>^I am not sure if you are totally correct. For SESP, it’s hard to tell if “no one applies to that school”. Historically, SESP tended to have lower SAT average than others except the music school but couple years ago, they had the second highest average. It’s difficult to switch into Medill from anywhere because Medill classes are capped at small size. But it’s easy to switch from Medill to Weinberg or SESP.</p>

<p>OP, if you pursue journalism major at NU, you would be getting the BSJ degree and if you pursue double-major, your transcript would indicate such but you wouldn’t be getting a dual degree (since you would’t fulfill the distribution requirements for Weinberg). For some reason, you have to have Medill as your home school to major in journalism. That is, you cannot be a Weinberg student while double-majoring in, say, history and journalism but you can do that as a Medill student.</p>

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<p>At any university you will generally receive an undergraduate BS or BA from only one given college as graduation requirements vary from school to school and your enrollment is tied to both the university and the individual school. However, you can certainly do a second major, minor, certificate, whatever, across schools. This is all pretty standard and pretty clear on a resume (when the day comes to build one). </p>

<p>e.g. Recieve a BSJ from Medill with a second major in International Studies or English or History, or a minor in Business Institutions, or a Certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications …</p>

<p>Have to disagree with aleksander about SESP also - the school generally takes a very small freshman class (about half of the ultimate graduates of SESP are transfers in from other NU colleges), the numbers vary year to year based on strength of applicants, and has admission stats similar to Medill and WCAS. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t try to game the system. While precise admissions stats vary between the 3, they are overall of similar competitiveness (e.g. SAT scores traditionally slightly higher at WCAS but acceptance percentages lower at Medill with ECs often stronger).</p>

<p>I’d suggest you apply to the school best supported by your ECs and interest. Look over the curricula and degree requirements in majors at Medill/SESP and make sure they fit. I will offer that my hunch is you’d be better served applying to one of these two than to WCAS.</p>

<p>Transfers over to SESP and WCAS are easy. Medill is a different story, varying from a bit harder to a lot harder depending on the year.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>Is there a place I can see admission stats for SESP? </p>