<p>i am a little scared about the party life at northwestern and the weather.
i know that even though northwestern is a great school, i dont want to feel stupid compared to all the smart people that go to the school.</p>
<p>colgate on the other hand is a great liberal arts school and is relatively smaller than NU.
i just dont know which to pick!</p>
<p>any thoughts or comments?</p>
<p>If you’re afraid of the weather and the partying at NU, you clearly have not visited Colgate.</p>
<p>arbiter is certainly right about the weather at Colgate!
Colgate is a really good school, but it is not on the same level as NU. In terms of the campus, it’s really a combination of good news and bad news, because its campus is gorgeous, but it’s located in a geographic wasteland.
Focusing just on geography for a moment, I can’t see passing up being in Evanston, with Chicago at your doorstep, for Hamilton, NY.
If you happen to feel that you would be much more comfortable in a smaller school, that might make you tilt toward Colgate, but otherwise, I would unhesitatingly recommend NU in this choice - it wins on academic strength, reputation, location, and breadth of offerings (both academic and extracurricular).</p>
<p>I was wondering whether this was a serious post. I couldn’t even decide if you meant that there was not enough partying or too much partying at Northwestern. :rolleyes:
Colgate is a fine liberal arts college, but really not on the same academic level as Northwestern. Colgate, unfortunately, is in the middle of nowhere, so there is a strong drinking culture. Yes, the weather is pretty brutal during the winter in Evanston, but I can’t imagine that upstate NY in winter is that much better. Sounds like you’d just feel better going to Colgate.</p>
<p>As for the weather … my S is a freshman at NU. He’s a SoCal native, who’s sole experience with that kind of weather was previously on short ski trips. He survived a rather brutal winter this year (there was an actual snow day) with hardly a ruffle to his feather, save for having to deal with a frozen bike lock (which ultimately was cut off by campus police at the cost of $40 but now he knows to place the lock with the key hole facing downward, so there’s less change of water seeping into and then freezing in said lock.)</p>
<p>To be fair FindAPlace, I know that too and I still had the key break off. The real trick is knowing not to try and force a lock. :(</p>
<p>don’t worry about the party life at nu. the opportunities for partying are endless. i went greek and i go out at least 3 nights a week, usually 4. plus when you’re an upperclassman you won’t want to go to frat parties. northwestern solves that problem with chicago–at colgate you’ll just be miserable.</p>
<p>What an odd post… You would be miserable at Colgate for what reason? Is the winter weather a deal breaker, or am I missing something. I see that you believe you can go out in Chicago as an upperclassman 4 days a week when you graduate from 3-4 days a week at fraternity parties? What about attention to academics?</p>
<p>Now about Colgate…</p>
<p>Colgate is unique among the most prestigious liberal arts colleges with Princeton Review top 20 rankings for most beautiful campus, best college library, happiest students, most accessible professors, best study abroad programs, lots of beer (ahem)- and some of those are top 10. It has 6 fraternities, 3 sororities (is that too many or not enough?), lots of themed houses, townhouses, and off-campus living options on top of traditional dorms. It has a world class lecture series, various institutes, D1 sports with the highest graduation rate in the nation and is solely dedicated to the liberal arts curriculum with a core. It’s larger by roughly 1000 students than most LACs, has a better than 10:1 student/fac ratio, 100% of courses taught by PHDs (or equivalent degrees), and a terrific, enthusiastic alumni body sponsoring more than 320 events a year (second only among LACs to Williams.)</p>
<p>I trust that this description is helpful in rounding out the previous poster’s negative opinion about Colgate- a community of 2,900 students in a charming (and safe) rural upstate NY setting less than an hour from Syracuse. The colgate.edu website will help you see what you would be missing if you were to overlook it out of hand!</p>
<p>Colgate is not in the same class as Northwestern on any level. If financially it is not significantly cheaper to go to Colgate, go to Northwestern.</p>
<p>That’s your opinion and you are entitled to have it. But I am not sure if it holds for everyone:</p>
<p>Firstly, there is the question of the elite LAC vs large university for teaching and engagement for undergraduates.</p>
<p>Another is tied to your own answer. No one but the applicant can or should rationalize the value of one institution of higher education in terms of “class” and then commoditize that value relative to the unknown difference(s) in financial aid packages.</p>
<p>Best to leave subjective judgements aside, right? The applicant can decide these things for himself or herself.</p>
<p>Except on many objective counts, NU is better lol. Mid-size, not large size, University, with a lower faculty to faculty ratio than Colgate offers (7:1 vs 10:1).</p>
<p>So what was that you were saying about teacher access?</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, Colgate is a great school. But comparing it to NU is a pipe-dream.</p>
<p>So NU is the better choice for everyone? Really? How can you be so judgmental? Is LOL your mantra?</p>
<p>My point was as follows: it’s up to the applicant who has some concerns about NU make his own evaluation based on many factors. NU and Colgate are very different in their offerings and settings. </p>
<p>About access, my point was based on the Princeton Review and what the liberal arts college setting offers e.g 100 per cent undergraduate instruction (less 10 or so MAT and MA students) are Phd taught, small classes etc. They frat scene is far smaller in absolute and proportional terms and the town life is clearly prescribed. Maybe, just maybe, some applicants like the program on offer?</p>
<p>Of course some clearly do choose Colgate over larger schools in suburban and urban settings, just as some choose it over far smaller LACs. So you see there is no pipe dream in this discussion. This is about the applicant’s perception and not your opinion.</p>
<p>I do trust that I have made my point clearer this time.</p>
<p>My point was that you keep parading out objective measures on which Colgate fails to be superior to NU as subjective ones in Colgate’s favor, which just doesn’t make sense (Student:faculty ratio, 100% taught by PhDs (misleading since that’s true at NU less the schools where that wouldn’t make sense). </p>
<p>Your most recent post does a much better job of pointing out the areas of difference that are relevant in terms of experience. My “mantra” of “lol” applies only as a response to fallacious or misleading arguments.</p>
<p>Subjective determinations are the MOST important thing about picking a college. But none of what you’ve been posting has been in the least bit relevant to the OP, and much of it has been grossly misleading.</p>
<p>I never said NU is a better choice for anyone, let alone everyone. I merely pointed out that on the objective measures you pointed out, NU is superior. And how can I be so judgmental? Quite easily. But that word doesn’t seem to quite fit what I’ve been saying, does it?</p>
<p>Oh dear… I’ve struck a nerve! I never intended to suggest that Colgate was superior in any respect to NU which is well regarded indeed. I simply pointed out favorable aspects of Colgate in order to support the applicant’s appreciation of why he or she may be happy there. I made no direct contrasts. How can I possible explain to you that this thread is not horse race? Will you accept that? That said, I did read lots of opinions that NU was the clearly superior choice. Didn’t you see in earlier threads this very opinion and proffer that opinion yourself with the line “on many objective counts…”?</p>
<p>So to get back to business…Colgate is clearly distinguished, too. And different from NU in terms of size, location, mission etc. Got it?</p>
<p>Best let the applicant use the information contained in the thread to decide (subjectively) where he or she wants to attend.</p>
<p>Look at NU’s endowment now look at Colgate’s - yeah</p>
<p>Is your Yeah your mantra? And on that note, what’s with your judgmental behavior? Do you find it attractive and/or useful?</p>
<p>Now about endowments- and I am going to do a big favor for you here- there are lots of questions you can pose about how they contribute to a college’s wealth and well being. When you establish a framework for the analysis and subsequent discussion, you will see that there is a lot to consider. I won’t help you with the details which presumably you will understand when you make some effort to do so. Maybe that will be an exercise in rounding out your “Yeah” approach? Oh, and then I would be happy to review Colgate’s finances, its ambitions and ongoing initiatives in whatever context you like.</p>
<p>Good luck with your development and understanding of this area. Maybe you will even join a Board of Trustees, become a financial officer, or even the president of an educational institution. Believe me, no one at those positions can afford to be a “Yeah” person for long.</p>
<p>Other than being condescending and didactic, what was your point there exactly? Could you explain in what way having a smaller endowment, particularly that much smaller, is ever in a school’s interest? I can articulate several ways the wealth of NU can contribute positively to one’s experience- for instance, I spent two summers on NU provided research grants.</p>
<p>I’m perfectly happy to grant that Colgate is an excellent school which many people are very fond of, and clearly you are. But you come across as a ■■■■■ who uses complex vocabulary and and condescending tone to bully people into agreement without arguing on the merits of your point. It has nothing to do with your implying NU has flaws- of which it has plenty- but rather that you are merely insinuating them without basis, and implying failures as compared to colgate by highlighting Colagate’s strengths without comparing them to NU, thus suggesting NU fails to have equal or better characteristics on that point. </p>
<p>We get it, you like Colgate. A friend of mine went there, liked it well enough, and his dad loved it-- so much so that he actually IS on the board of Trustees. The school seems great. But your insistance on using misleading and fallacious tactics to debate objective points, rather than elucidating aspects that are actually unique to Colgate is extremely problematic.</p>
<p>Here’s an example: Colgate has a great, albeit lower caliber, sports scene than NU. However, if a student was really into Hockey, they would potentially like Colgate better than NU, since Colgate is a NCAA Hockey powerhouse. Likewise, a football fan would be nuts to go to Colgate over NU if that was important to them.</p>
<p>Glad to see that you are open to acknowledging that there’s lots to discuss as far as selecting a college is concerned. There is no need to get judgmental, use names (■■■■■?) or assert what my motives are- as far as you and your cohorts are concerned, is there?</p>
<p>About the substance of these exchanges, I do not allude to any flaws at NU apart possibly from the number of fraternities which the applicant seems to show a concern about in the context of the party scence. Further, I have never been to NU although I was accepted there early notification. So I won’t make discrete comparisons; I can’t do it. But I will not say, as I have read above, that NU is “better lol”- as you put it. Nor do I want to discuss endowment size relative to the balance sheets and ambitions of these schools- as I tried to explain in my last post. Remember, I did not bring up the point either.</p>
<p>The idea of this thread was/is/might as well be to offer the applicant who started this thread some element of balance on the merits of the 2 schools. This balance was missing, in my view. </p>
<p>I like your point that it’s useful to discuss “elucidating aspects” of Colgate. I am happy to do so if you or the applicant has something to ask. In the meantime I hope you can understand why I introduced the Princeton Review rankings etc as a means of getting discussion going. In a roundabout way this did happen but the process could have been cleaner. </p>
<p>I hope that this is useful to you. Good luck with your studies and support of NU.</p>
<p>“I was accepted there early notification”</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Are you confusing us with [Northeastern</a> University - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_university]Northeastern”>Northeastern University - Wikipedia) ?</p>
<p>Because NU’s only early admissions program is binding.</p>
<p>Nope. It was not binding at that time. I remember changing my Colgate application to ED, was accepted a week later, and then wrote to NU in Evanston, not Boston.</p>