<p>I am torn between Brown and Northwestern for Mechanical engineering. I have been admitted to both and I like them both for very different reasons. I know that both are very prestigious Universities but Northwestern has a more established engineering department, where as Brown allows alot more freedom to create my own path. Which one will be offer me more opportunities after graduation?</p>
<p>I know nothing about NW engineering, but my hunch is the difference between the 2 schools in terms of opportunities is probably negligible. It’s possible that NW has more midwestern companies recruiting there, while Brown has more companies from the NE.</p>
<p>Brown’s undergraduate engineering program is the oldest in the Ivy League (1849) and is the third oldest in the country behind RPI and Union; Northwestern’s program dates back to 1909, so both are pretty well “established.” </p>
<p>One important difference that might matter to you: Brown’s program is much smaller (about 400 undergrads vs. 1400 at Northwestern; 150 grad students vs. 1100 at Northwestern).</p>
<p>Yes, that is true that they are both very established engineering schools. I think that the 400 undergrads at Brown would give me more one on one attention with professors, but I also think that not as many people apply to Brown University for engineering as other majors, but I may be wrong about that. I get the impression that Brown is focusing on developing their stem program. </p>
<p>I have visited both schools. The engineer facilities and labs at Northwestern are better than Brown, but I feel like I would fit in better at Brown. I had fun at the Northwestern Wildcat days, but I didn’t feel the same kind of energy as I did at Brown. I would probably have a richer experience during my college years at Brown , but that I would have more opportunites afterwards with an engineering degree from Northwestern. </p>
<p>If you compared the Universities as a whole, than Brown University is more prestigious than Northwestern. But if I said compare Northwestern Engineering to Brown Engineering, NU would come out on top. </p>
<p>I guess my heart is saying Brown and my brain is saying Northwestern…</p>
<p>Congratulations on your Brown acceptance! You will be in good company if you turn down top engineering schools for Brown engineering. </p>
<p>My daughter turned down Northwestern engineering, Penn engineering, Cornell engineering, Columbia SEAS, CMU engineering, etc… for Brown engineering.</p>
<p>She is thriving with an exciting internship opportunity at a San Francisco start up this first summer after her freshman year. She finds Brown engineering to be exciting, intellectual, collaborative, and entrepreneurial. And, engineering at Brown is clearly a focus of the institution right now, which makes it especially vibrant. My daughter was honored just a a few weeks ago to be one of just a few freshman students chosen to give a presentation to the new University president.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why you think you would have better job opportunities at Northwestern? From my vantage point at least, the opportunities seem greater at Brown unless you want to live around Chicago.</p>
<p>
Here’s probably why he thinks that’s the case:
- Mechanical engineering is ranked 12th
- One of the oldest (since 1940s) and largest co-op programs in the country with employers in different parts of the country participating, not just Chicago
- Unique, integrated, and hands-on Engineering First curriculum
- Great industry relation. For example, Crate & Barrel was a sigificant donor for the Segal Design Institue while Ford donated $10M toward a 84,000-square-foot design center
- Eight departments are ranked in the top-30, six in the top-20, and two in the top-5 (material sciences & engineering and industrial engineering & management sciences).</p>
<p>Sam Lee:</p>
<p>I hope I did not insult your school Northwestern. I am sure it is a very fine engineering school as you posted.</p>
<p>However, this is the Brown forum, and so I felt free to express my (probably) biased view of Brown and its engineering program. To be honest, my daughter never even visited Northwestern after being accepted by several Ivies. I am sure it is a wonderful school and engineering program!</p>
<p>My daughter turned down Northwestern engineering, Penn engineering, Cornell engineering, Columbia SEAS, CMU engineering, etc… for Brown engineering. </p>
<p>Thanks for your feedback camathmom. I was wondering if you could elaborate as to what some of the determing factors your daughter took into consideration when she chose Brown over some of her other choices. It sounds like she made a great choice for herself. Also congratulations to her for having such great choices!</p>
<p>ksbongi,</p>
<p>If I am not mistaken, Brown won’t really “allow alot more freedom to create [your] own path” if you are an engineering major. That applies to liberal arts majors for which other schools have core/distribution requirements. But in engineering, the difference becomes negligible because most other engineering schools only require few courses in non-engineering. OTOH, the engineering program at Brown is pretty structured like others in order to maintain accreditation. You would still have to take bunch of courses in basic engineering, sciences, and math along with the core courses. You wouldn’t have more electives than if you were at Northwestern.</p>
<p>Yes, that is very true. I will have a pretty structured curriculum at either school. That is a good point.</p>
<p>ksbongi: Sorry for not responding sooner, but I only check in at cc maybe once a week or so.</p>
<p>Basically, my D felt that Brown was the right fit and that it gave her the greatest freedom. As I mentioned, she never visited Northwestern, so I can’'t really comment on that from the “fit” perspective. One reason that she turned down Columbia was because she had understood that it was difficult to change out of SEAS in the event that she changed her mind, and moreover, the Core was just not that interesting to her. Although she is a surprisingly good writer, she really wants to concentrate on math engineering and science. Brown gives her that flexibility. An engineering major has extensive requirements, and she did not want to waste her time taking unnecessary distribution requirements.</p>
<p>PM me if you have more questions.</p>